MotoGP World Champions Start Preparations for 2026 Season
For MotoGP world champions, the World Championship of 2026 begins immediately after winning the 2025 World Championship, another year where the Borgo Panigale brand dominated the stage, this time with Marc Marquez at the forefront.
The Spanish rider visited the company’s headquarters in Bologna, where he met Francesco Bagnaia for a team photoshoot. Despite his achievement in returning as champion six years later, #93 could not celebrate as expected due to an injury to his right shoulder, sustained after being hit by Marco Bezzecchi at the beginning of the Indonesian Grand Prix, right after celebrating his win in Japan.
The accident forced him to undergo surgery and be absent until the end of the championship. The injury made the Catalan rider spend the winter focusing on his recovery. His target is to be in the best condition for the collective test in Malaysia scheduled for February 3-5.
Marquez’s absence in the last four races of the previous season allowed the main dominator of the competition to take advantage of the December break to attend various events, galas, and TV and radio programs. The Catalan rider combined these appearances with gym sessions and physiotherapy before being able to enjoy racing on two wheels again.
Campioni In Pista with Marc Márquez
It all started with mountain biking on December 13, then switching to flat track motorcycling nine days later (December 22), almost three months after the accident in Lombok. The cycle finally closed last week at the Aspar circuit in Valencia, riding the Ducati Panigale. After returning from Bologna, Márquez will ramp up his preparations, which will be interrupted between January 18 and 21 when he will attend the official Ducati presentation in the mountain resort of Madonna Di Campiglio.
Ducati wanted to rent the Portimão circuit at the end of January, but the rider from Lleida does not plan to go to the Portuguese circuit for training, although he is likely to do so at Spanish circuits with the Panigale.
Although very protective of everything he wants to keep private, Marquez remains active on social media, a tool used and exploited far less by Bagnaia than himself. To shake off his worst MotoGP season, the rider from Turin vacationed for ten days in the Maldives with his wife, Domizia Castagnini.
Later, he participated in the traditional 100 KM dei Campioni race at Valentino Rossi’s ranch, where he won with partner Augusto Fernandez. Not much is known about his training, except for the material posted by the VR46 Riders Academy, of which Bagnaia is a member.
Last week, he was one of the torchbearers for the Olympics journey between the cities of Bra and Turin before arriving in Borgo Panigale on Monday.
Like Márquez, Bagnaia will not race in Portimao, but will likely race in Mandalika, along with other VR46 members, in an event organized by Pertamina as last year. After the event ends on January 29, Valentino Rossi’s students will fly directly to Malaysia to participate in the first pre-season test session in Sepang from February 3-5.
Marquez dan Bagnaia Dominasi Jadwal MotoGP Ducati 2026
