The newly developed Ducati 2025 MotoGP engine has been abandoned in favor of the proven GP24 variant.
The decision comes amidst a backdrop of significant changes in the championship, particularly with the impending two-year engine freeze mandated by the FIM that will take effect from the start of the 2025 season.
The decision to drop the Ducati 2025 MotoGP engine and instead revert to the GP24 engine was confirmed by team principal Davide Tardozzi during the recent Buriram MotoGP test in Thailand.
Tardozzi highlighted the importance of risk management in this decision, stating that the team could not afford to homologate an engine that was not definitively superior to its predecessor.
With the engine freeze looming, which prohibits any modifications or developments until 2027, Ducati’s leadership opted for caution, prioritizing reliability and performance over untested innovations.
“The engine will be the 2024 one for all Ducati riders,” Tardozzi told Autosport. “Will we get it in time? Well, all that has to happen in about eight or nine days, when the usual calendar would give us about three weeks.
“The most difficult thing this winter for Ducati has been deciding not to use new elements in which we believed a lot – the Ducati 2025 MotoGP engine or the chassis, things that have not worked as we expected.
“The moment Gigi decided not to take risks [with the 2025 bike], that has made us change the entire established programme.”
The GP24 engine already boasts an impressive track record, having secured 16 victories out of 20 races in the 2024 season.
Therefore, Ducati’s engineers will have a busy few weeks preparing three more 2024-spec engines ahead of the first race in Thailand which will be used by Marc Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Di Giannantonio.
“It is not just a question of humility, but of reality,” Tardozzi continued. “At Ducati we are realistic, and we have seen that things did not work as we wanted.
“We have had to accept that we have not managed to improve what we had. The GP24 is an exceptional bike… I do not dare to say perfect, but exceptional.
“It will be difficult to improve it, although we will try to do so starting from the test after Jerez.”
Marquez and Bagnaia: Ducati 2025 MotoGP engine ‘very weak’
The Ducati 2025 MotoGP engine drop comes after a series of challenges faced during preseason testing. Factory riders Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia reported concerns regarding the new engine’s performance, particularly its weak braking that could jeopardize their competitiveness against rivals.
Marquez, an eight-time world champion who joined Ducati for the 2025 MotoGP season, was particularly vocal about his concerns. Speaking after the Buriram test, he highlighted that it would be too risky to homologate an engine that wasn’t a definitive improvement over its predecessor.
“I mean one thing is the engine and the other thing is all the small pieces that we have, new pieces,” Marquez said after dominating Day 1 at the Buriram MotoGP test.
“Today basically we concentrated most of the day to the GP24 engine, because looks like if tomorrow doesn’t change a lot, it looks like it is the way [for the season].
“Why? Because Ducati is very realistic and they know, and they are very smart, that we cannot take the risk to homologate an engine that if we are not 100% sure is better than 2024 because if we homologate the engine we homologate it for two years.
“So, we understand from the first day to today that the Ducati 2025 MotoGP engine is a little bit more up and down: very strong in some points, but has very weak points.”
Francesco Bagnaia echoed similar sentiments, describing the GP24 engine as “a fantastic machine” that had already proven its capabilities.
While he acknowledged that the GP25 engine showed promise in certain areas, he admitted that it lacked the refinement needed to justify its adoption under such high-stakes conditions.
“Honestly, it’s a very difficult choice and in this moment we are both leaning, and the team also, in the same direction: to go with the 2024 engine,” Bagnaia said. “Just because, not that the Ducati 2025 MotoGP engine is not competitive, but we are still struggling to find a balance on braking.
“It would be like a ‘limbo’ to start the season with an engine that we are not finding any solution to solve this problem.”
As preseason testing concludes and teams gear up for the opening race of 2025 MotoGP, all eyes will be on Ducati to see how this decision plays out on track.
