Ducati will not use its new engine in 2025

Even before the start of the 2025 season, MotoGP, Ducati had a crucial decision to make. The testing of Ducati's Desmosedici GP25 clearly did not go as the Italian brand had imagined when it designed its new machine over the winter.

Engineers and riders alike have expressed some concerns about the engine part of this new bike. The GP25's power unit would indeed be "more radical" and therefore less consistent than that of the previous season. The men of the Italian manufacturer were therefore wondering if it was not better to play it safe, starting with the 2024 base to tackle the season that will begin in just two weeks.

The importance of this decision for the Borgo Panigale brand, derives above all from the fact that last October, MotoGP made official the freezing of engines for the 2026 season. The engine that will be homologated for the Thailand Grand Prix, the weekend of February 28 to March 02, will therefore have to be kept until the end of the 2026 season.

The Buriram Trials Dilemma

After the first day of action in Thailand, nothing was certain yet. But the brand's management, as well as the drivers, seemed to be heading towards a return to the 2024 specification of the engine.

"The decision has not yet been made, but it seems that we are heading towards the 2024 version, confided Davide Tardozzi, brand manager, after the first day of testing in Thailand. Gigi [Dall'Igna] and the engineers will make a decision quickly. Nothing is certain yet, but that's my feeling."

This is in fact the decision that was taken at the end of the second day of testing, as confirmed by Davide Tardozzi in the morning. “The decision is made. The engine for the 2025 and 2026 seasons will be the 2024 engine. Gigi [Dall'Igna] and the engineers don't want to take any risks. The guys at the factory will have work to put two together before the first race. But if Gigi has made this decision, that's where we're going.”

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Marc Marquez at the Buriram Test © Michelin

Ducati riders want to play it safe

A point of view widely shared by the drivers of the official team, Marc Marquez and Pecco Bgnaia. « They worked really hard. The goal was to try to understand what is the best base, added the Spaniard. We have a very good base starting from the 2024 bike. So we had to be absolutely sure that the 2025 is better. But it seems that the 2024 works better. And it is more consistent.

As Pecco Bagnaia points out, it is not a question of starting the season with the old bike, but with last year's engine. The double world champion explains that Ducati "doesn't want to take a huge risk." But the factory has above all "not enough time to sort it out. »

The times of Ducati's satellite riders, who are only discovering the GP24, are quite encouraging, since they have no trouble propelling themselves to the top positions in the standings. Knowing that this decision only concerns the power unit, the risk taken by Ducati by playing it safe does not seem enormous.

As a reminder, exceptions to the engine freeze are provided for two reasons. The first does not concern Ducati at all, since it excludes Rank D factories. Those that score less than 35% of the available points over a calculated period. The second concerns safety issues.