Gresini launched its 2026 campaign at a presentation in Kuala Lumpur held after the Sepang shakedown, confirming BK8 as title sponsor. Alex Márquez attended the event; teammate Fermin Aldeguer missed it after breaking his left femur in Valencia in January. Both riders remain on Gresini’s roster for 2026 and are out of contract at the end of the year.

Márquez will ride a factory-spec Ducati GP26 in 2026 — his first factory-spec machinery since 2020 — reflecting Ducati’s expansion of GP26 allocations to four bikes. Aldeguer is set to run year-old 2025-spec GP25 equipment, confirming a two-tier setup within the team.

Márquez’s upgrade follows a strong 2025 in which he won at Jerez, Barcelona and Sepang and finished runner-up. Aldeguer was Rookie of the Year after a win in Indonesia. Transfer-market chatter linking Márquez to KTM alongside Maverick Viñales was mentioned at the launch but remains speculative.

Gresini confirmed its immediate testing schedule around the official Sepang pre-season tests on Feb. 3–5 and a second test on Feb. 21–22, ahead of the season opener at Buriram on Feb. 27–Mar. 1. Márquez is scheduled to run the GP26 at the first Sepang test; Aldeguer will miss that session as he continues rehabilitation but is in contention for the Feb. 21–22 test and the season opener.

The launch tied together sporting momentum, sponsorship continuity and near-term logistics as Gresini builds toward the opening rounds. With a string of wins since switching to Ducati in 2022 and a second-place finish in the 2025 teams’ standings, the team enters 2026 aiming to convert that form into another competitive campaign.

Sources