Ducati Corse () is the racing division of Ducati.
Organization The company is split into four departments with 100+ employees working for the Ducati Corse, almost 10% of the Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. workforce.
Ownership Between 1998 and 2004 the racing division existed as a subsidiary company named Ducati Corse S.r.l., fully owned by Ducati Motor Holding.
Technical research and development Technical research and development is composed of two teams responsible for the design and development of the motorcycles that compete in the MotoGP and Superbike championships.
Sporting activities The sporting activities department is responsible for the factory teams that take part in the MotoGP class of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, the Superbike and Supersport, together with national championships.
Commercial activities The commercial activities department is responsible for providing private teams with motorcycles and spare parts.
It also provides consultancy services and technical assistance to Ducati privateers take part in the Superbike World Championship and in national Superbike championships.
Marketing and communication The marketing and communication department's goal is to increase and manage the Ducati brand image in racing.
It is also responsible for Ducati Corse official merchandising line.
History Ducati's history with motorsport began with speed records on Cucciolo motorized bicycle factory racers in 1951, followed in 1954 with bringing in Fabio Taglioni to found a road-racing program with the 100 Gran Sport.
MotoGP
When the MotoGP technical rules changed in the season, Ducati decided to return to MotoGP in 2003.
Capirossi era
2003 Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi were signed to the then-named "Ducati Marlboro Team" for the season. Capirossi got a podium in the opening round of the championship in Japan, and won in Catalonia. Capirossi finished fourth in the final championship standings and Bayliss sixth. Ducati finished an impressive second in the Constructors' standings, behind Honda and ahead of Yamaha.
2004 A large part of was already over before Ducati's bike became competitive. Bayliss scored his only podium position of the season at the penultimate round in Phillip Island, and Capirossi at the final round in Valencia.
2005 In Bayliss was replaced by Spain's Carlos Checa, and Ducati switched tyre suppliers to Bridgestone. Capirossi took two wins at Motegi and Sepang, while Checa scored two podium positions. They finished sixth and ninth in the riders' standings.
2006 The season proved turbulent for Ducati. Checa was replaced by fellow Spaniard Sete Gibernau.
The team took its first win of 2006 in the opening round at Jerez, followed by a podium in Qatar. Capirossi led the championship for a short time, but at the start of the Catalan Grand Prix, Capirossi and Gibernau collided. Both riders ended up injured and in hospital, with Gibernau sustaining a broken collar bone.
Capirossi struggled at the Dutch TT a week later, while Gibernau was replaced by German Alex Hofmann for several rounds after undergoing additional surgery. With Gibernau also sidelined for the final round of the season at Valencia, Ducati recalled Bayliss, who had recently been crowned Superbike World Champion. Bayliss won the race, his first MotoGP victory, with Capirossi taking second place for the first Ducati 1–2 finish.
Stoner era MotoGP reduced the allowed engine displacement for the 2007 season. Ducati started development of its 800cc motorcycle extremely early: according to racing chief Filippo Preziosi, by August 2006, Ducati had already built twenty 800cc engines with various specifications.
2007 Casey Stoner joined Ducati as Capirossi's latest teammate in . Ducati's bike was fast, and Stoner was particularly able to maximise its speed on tracks with long straights. Stoner dominated the field for most of the season. He became Ducati's first world champion in MotoGP at Motegi on September 23, 2007, with three rounds to spare. Ducati also secured the Constructors' and Teams' championships to secure their first "triple crown".
At the end of season, Ducati's chief engineer Alan Jenkins was awarded the Sir Jackie Stewart Award for brilliance throughout the season.
2008 Casey Stoner was partnered by Marco Melandri in . Melandri had a difficult time adapting to Ducati's GP8 bike, and his two-year contract was reduced to one year by mutual agreement with Ducati midway through the season. Stoner won six races, and finished second in the riders' standings behind Valentino Rossi.
2009 Casey Stoner was partnered by Nicky Hayden in . Halfway through the season, Stoner missed three races due to illness and was replaced by Finnish rookie Mika Kallio. He still managed four race wins, and finished fourth in the standings behind Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, and Honda rider Dani Pedrosa. Hayden took a podium at Indianapolis and finished thirteenth.
2010 Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden were retained for the season. On 9 July 2010, Casey Stoner announced that he would leave Ducati for a more competitive bike at Honda in 2011. In his last season with Ducati he took three race wins and finished fourth in the standings again despite five DNFs.
Rossi era
2011 On 15 August 2010, Valentino Rossi confirmed he had signed a two-year deal to ride for Ducati in 2011 and 2012. Nicky Hayden was retained to partner him. The Ducati-Rossi marriage did not prove to be a happy one: Rossi endured his first winless season in the premier class in . He finished seventh in the standings, and Hayden eighth.
2012 Rossi's struggles on the Ducati continued with another winless season in 2012. He decided to return to his old team Yamaha.
Dovizioso era
2013 Nicky Hayden signed a one-year contract to remain with Ducati in 2013. He was joined by Italian rider Andrea Dovizioso. The best race result achieved by either rider all season was a fourth place for Dovizioso in Le Mans, but the team saw relatively consistent performance. They finished eighth and ninth behind a group of utterly dominant Hondas and Yamahas.
2014 Dovizioso remained with Ducati in 2014, where he was joined by former team-mate Cal Crutchlow. Dovizioso scored a podium finish in Texas, and finished an impressive fifth in the riders' standings behind the Honda and Yamaha factory duos. Crutchlow finished thirteenth after suffering eight DNFs, but also scored a podium finish in Aragon.
2015 Dovizioso remained with Ducati in 2015. Crutchlow was replaced by Andrea Iannone, a promotion from Ducati satellite team Pramac. They rode the highly anticipated GP15, a full redesign of the Desmosedici by new team race director Gigi Dall'Igna which debuted at the second test in Sepang.
Dovizioso took three consecutive second-place finishes to start the season, and an additional two podiums. Iannone took three podiums but rode with slightly more consistency, and fewer technical problems, than his teammate. Dovizioso finished seventh in the standings, and Iannone fifth.
2016 Dovizioso and Iannone were retained for 2016. Both suffered a string of DNFs but took one race win each in Malaysia (Dovizioso) and Austria (Iannone). They finished fifth and ninth in the standings.
Casey Stoner renewed his relationship with Ducati as a test rider; he outpaced both factory riders on the final day of preseason testing in Sepang.
2017 Dovizioso signed for a further two seasons. Five-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo also joined Ducati on a two-year contract, replacing Iannone.
The 2017 season was the closest Dovizioso ever came to winning a MotoGP championship: he scored six race wins and remained in contention for the title all season long against Honda's dominant lead rider Marc Márquez. At the final race in Valencia, Dovizioso crashed, leaving Márquez to secure the championship without pressure.
Lorenzo struggled to adapt to the Ducati, taking three podium positions but finishing a distant seventh in the standings.
2018 Dovizioso and Lorenzo were retained for . Dovizioso was again Márquez's closest challenger, but finished the season 76 points adrift of him in the standings. Lorenzo took three race wins, just one less than Dovizioso, but suffered from heavy inconsistency and finished the season in ninth. Ducati finished second in the Teams' Championship behind Honda.
2019 Dovizioso was retained for 2019, while Lorenzo left to join Márquez at Honda. He was replaced by Italian rider Danilo Petrucci, who was promoted from Ducati satellite team Pramac.
Dovizioso was championship runner-up for a third consecutive season, but this time finished a colossal 171 points behind Márquez. He scored two race wins, in Qatar and Austria. Petrucci also won a race, in Mugello, and finished sixth in the standings. Ducati finished second in the Teams' Championship behind Honda again.
2020 Dovizioso and Petrucci were retained for the truncated 2020 season.
Dovizioso took a race victory in Austria, while Petrucci won in Le Mans. They finished fourth and twelfth in the standings respectively. Despite a mediocre fourth-place finish for the factory team in the Teams' Championship, Ducati won the Constructors' MotoGP World Championship for the second time.
Dovizioso announced his upcoming departure from Ducati in August, citing his broken relationship with general manager Gigi Dall'Igna. Petrucci was also disposed of.
Bagnaia era
2021 Italian Francesco Bagnaia and Australian Jack Miller joined the newly rebranded "Ducati Lenovo Team" for 2021.
Bagnaia made a strong start to the season, with three podium finishes in the first four races. After a relative mid-season slump, his performance picked up at the end of the year, and he scored four race wins across the last six rounds to finish championship runner-up. Miller finished in fourth with two race wins. Ducati won the Constructors' Championship for the third time, as well as the Teams' Championship.
2022 Bagnaia and Miller were retained for 2022. Despite a relatively slow start to the season and five DNFs, Bagnaia picked up momentum and scored seven race victories across the season. After finishing ninth at the final race in Valencia, Bagnaia became Ducati's second-ever MotoGP World Champion.
Ducati also won the Constructors' and Teams' championships to secure their second "triple crown".
2023 Bagnaia was retained for 2023, to be partnered by satellite team Gresini promotion Enea Bastianini in an all-Italian lineup.
Bagnaia weathered three DNFs and a DNS to retain his title. He became the first Ducati rider to win multiple and consecutive MotoGP championships. Ducati retained the Constructors' title, but lost the Teams' title to their own satellite team Pramac. An injury-ridden season saw Bastianini finish in fifteenth place in the standings.
2024 Bagnaia and Bastianini were retained for 2024.
Bagnaia took eleven race wins in 2024, over triple that of any of his competitors. However, plagued by three DNFs and poor performance across the sprint races, he lost the championship to Ducati Pramac satellite rider Jorge Martín at the final race of the season. Bastianini finished in fourth place. The factory team secured the Teams' championship.
Ducati broke many constructors' records that season. They took fourteen podium lockouts, seventeen 1–2 podium lockouts, and nineteen race wins, falling just one short of a clean sweep. They retained the Constructors' championship with staggering dominance.
Márquez victory
2025 Speculation was rife throughout 2024 as to who would occupy the second Ducati factory seat opposite Bagnaia in 2025. It was reported that Jorge Martín had been promised the seat. On 5 June 2024, it was announced that Marc Márquez would instead join the factory Ducati team on a two-year contract. Martín then defected to Aprilia.