Franco Morbidelli insists his 2026 Ducati MotoGP package “not fixed yet”

VR46 MotoGP rider Franco Morbidelli says the specification of Ducati package that he will race next year is “not fixed yet” and is wary of the ‘struggles’ others have had on the GP25.

Ahead of last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, Ducati announced that it would be adding a fourth GP26 to its roster for next season after electing to promote Gresini’s Alex Marquez to a factory spec bike.

VR46 MotoGP team boss Pablo Nieto then revealed that Ducati had offered that bike for Franco Morbidelli, but the decision was made for him to run the GP25 instead.

The GP25 has won 13 of the 17 races run so far this season and dominated the championship with Marc Marquez.

However, Pecco Bagnaia struggled for much of the season on the bike prior to some “unconventional” changes made for Motegi, while Fabio Di Giannantonio has had mixed form on the package.

Speaking at an event in Indonesia on Tuesday, Morbidelli says he is not sure what spec of bike he will ultimately race until he tests it as he is wary of suffering the same issues Bagnaia and Di Giannantonio have in 2025.

“That’s a difficult thing for me because things are not fixed yet,” he said in response to a question from Crash.net.

“We have still to decide what package we are going to ride next year.

“For sure, in theory, it’s the GP25. But we know that many riders have had problems with that package, even if that package won the championship.

“But we know DiGia sometimes and Pecco many times struggled on it. So, I don’t know.

“First of all I would like to try it and then have an idea on it, talk with the team and make my decision on it.

“Nothing is fixed yet. First of all we need to try it, talk with the team first and then Ducati.”

VR46 has clarified that Morbidelli means he will have the best non-official package possible and can run 2024 parts on the GP25 if he chooses, rather than remain on a full GP24.

With engine development frozen for all but Honda and Yamaha for 2026, Ducati’s GP26 will not be a huge change from the current GP25.