– Ducati has returned from the MotoGP summer break with a setback. While Marc Marquez had impressively ended the first part of the season with his victory at the Sachsenring, underlining his title ambitions, a different balance of power was evident at the British Grand Prix.
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At Silverstone, Aprilia was the benchmark, while the Desmosedici was unable to seriously fight for the win throughout the weekend. For Gigi Dall’Igna, the result is therefore sobering but not a reason to sound the alarm bells.
The Ducati racing chief openly admits the weaknesses but warns against drawing fundamental conclusions from a single difficult weekend. “Silverstone once again showed how unpredictable this track is,” explains Dall’Igna in his weekend analysis on the official Ducati website.
The circuit proved to be very demanding for Ducati again. The weekend was disappointing, and now the right lessons must be learned.
Dall’Igna: “We were never really in the game”
Ducati simply lacked the decisive overall package at Silverstone. Already in qualifying, the team was not on par with Aprilia, and in the sprint, the problems worsened due to strong tire wear. Aprilia took the top 3 spots, while Alex Marquez was the best Ducati rider in fourth place. Fabio Di Giannantonio finished fifth, and Marc Marquez had to settle for ninth.
Dall’Igna sums up the situation unusually soberly: “There is not much to say: We were never really in the game.” From qualifying to the race, Ducati simply did not find a competitive rhythm.
In addition, the riders lacked the necessary feel for the Desmosedici. However, this is not cause for concern: “Nothing particularly worrying.”
In fact, the handling of the tires became a problem. Marc Marquez reported a drastic drop in rear tire performance after the sprint. From the third lap onwards, the tire degraded significantly. As a result, the Ducati became practically undrivable. “It was impossible to accelerate,” said Marquez.
Marquez and Bagnaia describe Silverstone problems
Although the tire problem was less drastic on Sunday, Ducati still fell short of expectations. Marc Marquez finished seventh, while Francesco Bagnaia retired after a difficult weekend due to a crash.
Alex Marquez held the Ducati flag highest on Saturday and Sunday in fourth place. Di Giannantonio brought his VR46 Ducati home in sixth place.
Alex Marquez impresses even without a podium
Alex Marquez stood out particularly positively for Dall’Igna. The Gresini rider was the strongest Ducati rider for much of the race and even had chances for a podium in the Grand Prix. However, a mistake cost him a better position.
“Alex Marquez was our best representative on Saturday and Sunday,” praises Dall’Igna. The younger of the two Marquez brothers kept a race that had already become difficult for Ducati early on alive for a long time. “A mistake in the middle of the race probably cost him a podium place, but despite everything, he once again showed what he is made of.”
Thus, Alex also fulfilled a role that Ducati urgently needed at Silverstone: He showed that the Desmosedici could fundamentally be competitive despite the clear gap to Aprilia, if rider and setup fit together.
MotoGP: British Grand Prix (Silverstone) 2026
Di Giannantonio also receives explicit recognition from Dall’Igna. The VR46 rider collected important points. “He is back in the points and shows consistency,” says the Ducati boss. That was also mentally important. Looking at the world championship, the starting position remains completely open.
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Marquez: His right arm also holds him back
Two factors came together for Marc Marquez at Silverstone. On the one hand, the track did not suit the Ducati optimally, and on the other hand, the world champion was not physically at 100 percent. This was especially noticeable on Sunday.
Marquez explained after finishing seventh that he was not physically at his normal level. “I had no control over my right arm,” he said in a video released by Ducati. This increased the risk of crashing in some corners, while he also complained about problems with the front wheel.
Dall’Igna assesses Marquez’s weekend similarly: “Marc himself had warned that it would be a difficult race, and exactly that happened.”
In the race, Marquez started strong and stayed as close to the podium as possible for as long as he could before losing position after position. “However, he fought stubbornly until he finally had to settle for a not exactly brilliant race without taking unnecessary risks.”
Bagnaia experiences a “weekend to forget”
The weekend was even more difficult for Bagnaia. The Italian had used the summer break to undergo surgery on his right forearm due to compartment syndrome and carpal tunnel syndrome. The physical strain was already noticeable on Friday: Bagnaia did not make it directly into Q2 and complained especially about pain in right-hand corners.
At Silverstone, a fundamental problem was added: a lack of grip. Bagnaia found no solution throughout the weekend and retired from the Grand Prix after a crash. Dall’Igna calls it a “weekend to forget.”
At the same time, he makes it clear that the track was particularly unfavorable for Bagnaia after the operation. However, this is explicitly not an excuse: “He is not looking for excuses, as his comments confirm.”
Aprilia continues to put Ducati under championship pressure
The sporting tension of the Silverstone weekend lies mainly in the comparison with Aprilia. The RS-GP claimed the podium both in the sprint and the Grand Prix, underlining its particular strength on the fast, flowing circuit.
At the Sachsenring, Marquez had still won confidently and continued his comeback in the championship. However, before the summer break, Jorge Martin was still leading the overall standings. Silverstone intensified this trend again.
Dall’Igna does not want to derive a fundamental power shift from this. For him, Silverstone is rather a reminder of how close and changeable the MotoGP 2026 is.
“We acknowledge that a track has abruptly brought us back to the reality of a fiercely contested championship against strong and unyielding opponents,” he says. The consequence is therefore not to question everything but to regain focus. “Now the priority is to find the spirit we had before the summer break again and give everything once more.”
Ducati’s hope is thus directed at the upcoming races. There are still numerous Grands Prix to be contested, and Dall’Igna assumes that the competition will also experience difficult weekends. At the same time, he knows: “There will certainly be more favorable days for us again.”
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What is crucial is to be ready when the balance of power shifts again: “In such a great championship as MotoGP, success will belong to those who best respond to the challenge of the day.”
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