The strikingly familiar Gresini Ducati 2026 MotoGP livery was launched in Kuala Lumpur as Alex Marquez headlined a monumental upgrade to factory-spec Ducati Desmosedici GP26.
This development positions the Italian satellite team as a formidable contender heading into the new season, building on their impressive 2025 campaign where they secured second place in the teams’ championship.
The unveiling took place following the MotoGP Sepang shakedown test, hosted by title sponsor BK8, marking a first for the team in choosing an international setting outside Europe for such a high-profile event.
Alex Marquez was present at the launch alongside team owner Nadia Padovani, while teammate Fermin Aldeguer was absent due to a fractured left femur sustained during winter training at the Aspar circuit in Valencia earlier in January.
Gresini Ducati 2026 MotoGP livery retains the signature sky blue base color that has defined the outfit since their switch from Aprilia in 2022, now with bold black highlights replacing the silver ones from the previous year, complemented by red touches for added aggression.
However, the real game-changer lies beneath the paint: Alex Marquez steps up to the latest factory-spec Ducati Desmosedici GP26, identical to his brother Marc Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia, and VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio.
Ducati’s strategic expansion to four factory-spec bikes marks a vote of confidence in Gresini, elevating them to near-factory status and rewarding Marquez’s stellar 2025 form where he clinched three Grand Prix victories, 12 podiums, and runner-up honors in the riders’ standings with 467 points.
For Marquez, this upgrade represents his first factory machinery since his 2020 Repsol Honda rookie year, a far cry from the year-old GP24 that carried him to several triumphs last season.
Entering his fourth year with Gresini, the Spaniard has transformed from a midfield Honda struggler—managing just two podiums across three injury-plagued seasons from 2020 to 2022—into Ducati’s most consistent performer outside the factory squad.
His 2023 debut on the GP23 yielded two podiums and ninth in the championship, building to 2024’s steady eighth place before exploding in 2025 with wins at Spain, and additional poles and fastest laps that showcased his tactical acumen and raw speed.
Complementing Marquez is Fermin Aldeguer who enjoyed a stellar 2025 rookie campaign headlined by his maiden MotoGP win in Indonesia to seal Rookie of the Year honours.
The promising sophomore will run on year-old spec GP25—the bike that delivered Marc Marquez’s title but proved trickier for others like Bagnaia—positioning him to build on last year’s highlights where he outpaced Marquez in select races like Qatar and showed rapid adaptation to MotoGP’s demands.
However, Aldeguer will also miss next week’s Sepang Test as a result of his injury, and the Spanish youngster faces a tight recovery timeline with only one month to go before the season kicks off in Thailand on 27 February – 1 March.
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