There is a statistic sitting in the Ducati garage that nobody in Bologna wants to look at. Five MotoGP grands prix without a win. It is their longest such run since 2021, and the factory Ducati Lenovo Team have not even stood on a Sunday podium since the Japanese Grand Prix in 2025, a drought that stretches back further than any point since 2014.
For a manufacturer that spent the last three seasons treating the MotoGP podium as a personal territory, this is uncomfortable territory.
The question now is simple. Can Ducati use the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez to stop the bleeding?
How Did It Come to This?
Twelve months ago, Ducati swept to wins in all three of the first sprints and grands prix of the 2025 season. In 2026 they have just one grand prix podium from the opening three rounds — a third place for VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio in Brazil.
The landscape has changed fast. Aprilia now have the reference bike on the grid ahead of Ducati, with Marco Bezzecchi winning the last five full length races in the premier class, the final two of 2025 and all three so far in 2026.
Reigning world champion Marc Marquez has yet to breach the top three on a Sunday in 2026. That is not a sentence anyone expected to write at the start of the season.
The Marquez Problem
Marquez is still recovering from a shoulder injury. Ducati has yet to fully unlock the potential of its 2026 bike, and both Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin have emerged as formidable forces at the front.
In the first three races of 2026 he has never managed to make it onto the podium. That makes nine grand prix races without a win for Marquez. His only bright spot has been the Sprint race in Brazil, where his raw speed reminded everyone of what he is capable of on a Saturday. Sundays have been a different story entirely.
Jerez has not traditionally been one of Marquez’s strongest circuits. Since his world championship debut in 2008, he has raced there 16 times across all categories, taking just three wins in 2014, 2018 and 2019. He also crashed badly there in 2020, suffering the arm injury that changed the trajectory of his career. The circuit carries complicated memories.
Bagnaia’s Quiet Crisis
If Marquez’s situation is difficult to process, Bagnaia’s is harder to explain. After three rounds the Italian sits ninth in the championship with just 25 points. A double world champion reduced to fighting in the midfield.
Bagnaia arrived in 2026 looking for redemption after a difficult 2025 campaign. He had only two grand prix wins last season and struggled with consistency, suffering several DNFs towards the end of the year. The new season has not delivered the fresh start he needed.
Last year’s Jerez winner was Alex Marquez, who delivered a stunning victory in front of a capacity crowd. After a lowkey start to 2026, the younger Marquez brother would love nothing more than to repeat that result. It would at least give Ducati something to celebrate — even if it comes from a satellite machine rather than the factory.
The Aero Gamble
Ducati are not standing still. Although their 2026 package was already homologated at the Buriram test, they are allowed one aero upgrade for the season, and there is every chance it could be introduced as early as the post Jerez test.
Test rider Michele Pirro was already seen evaluating parts at the Spanish circuit in recent weeks, and Ducati will lean heavily on his feedback given that concessions prevent Marquez and Bagnaia from conducting private testing.
Ducati general manager Gigi Dall’Igna branded the US Grand Prix a wake up call for the manufacturer. That is honest language from the man who built the most dominant MotoGP programme of the modern era. When Dall’Igna calls something a wake up call, the paddock pays attention.
Jorge Martin, the 2024 world champion who now rides for Aprilia alongside Bezzecchi, believes Jerez will see something of a reset. He knows Ducati better than almost anyone. Whether his confidence in them is genuine or tactical, only the race will tell.
What Jerez Means
The Spanish Grand Prix carries extra weight in 2026 for reasons beyond simple points. This is the opening round of the European leg of the season the stretch of races that traditionally define title campaigns. Ducati need to arrest this slide before it becomes a story that writes itself.
For Marquez it is a home race. For Ducati it is the first real opportunity to show their new aerodynamics direction can close the gap to Aprilia.
Bezzecchi will arrive in Jerez with 81 points, a perfect Sunday record and the confidence of a man who cannot be touched on race day. Stopping him will require Ducati to find something they have not shown in five races. Whether that comes from Marquez’s shoulder finally feeling right, from Bagnaia rediscovering his 2023 brilliance, or from a genuine step forward in machinery, something has to give.
Five races is a drought. Ten would be a crisis. Ducati understand the difference. Jerez is where they prove it.
