Ducati in the World Superbike Championship: Dominance in its 100th anniversary year

This year, the long-established Italian motorbike manufacturer Ducati celebrates its 100th anniversary. Founded on 4 July 1926 in Bologna, the company initially specialised in electromechanics. In 1936, it moved into a new factory in the Borgo Panigale district of Bologna.

In 1947, it began producing auxiliary engines and mopeds. Its motorsport activities were initially limited to a few endurance races.

In the 1960s, there was a brief resurgence with a 125cc racing machine. Later, following the ban on four-stroke engines in Grand Prix racing, the company entered Formula TT, winning the TT F1 World Championship in 1978 with the veteran champion Mike Hailwood. In F2, between 1981 and 1983, there was no getting round Tony Rutter and Ducati.

In 1985, Ducati and Cagiva merged to broaden their model range. Whilst Cagiva competed in Grand Prix racing, Ducati focused on the newly launched Superbike World Championship. In 1990, Raymond Roche brought the first title to Bologna. After that, it was Doug Polen (2), Carl Fogarty (4), Troy Corser, Troy Bayliss (3), Neil Hodgson, James Toseland and Carlos Checa who secured further world championship titles for Ducati. Having produced the world champion 14 times in the first 24 years of the Superbike World Championship, the team went through a lean spell following Carlos Checa’s title win in 2011, which Alvaro Bautista brought to an end in 2022. In 2023, he successfully defended his title.

With the return to four-stroke engines in the Grand Prix circuit – MotoGP – in the 2002 season, Ducati’s interest in this scene also grew, culminating in the team’s entry in 2003. Right from the start, Loris Capirossi secured third place on the V4 Desmosedici at the season opener in Suzuka and claimed his first MotoGP victory at the sixth race of the season in Barcelona. By the end of the year, the diminutive Italian had finished fourth in the World Championship and Troy Bayliss sixth. The team reached its initial peak in 2007, when it won its first World Championship in Grand Prix racing with Casey Stoner.

The Italian manufacturer, which has been part of the Volkswagen Group since 2012, had to wait until 2022 for its next World Championship title with its racing division, Ducati Corse, before Pecco Bagnaia secured it. Since then, the team has won four consecutive MotoGP titles: again with Pecco Bagnaia in 2023, followed by Jorge Martín in 2024 and Marc Márquez in 2025. After a tough start to the 2026 season, they are now back in the title race. Ahead of the Sachsenring GP from 10 to 12 July, Italian rider Fabio di Giannantonio of the Ducati satellite team Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing sits third in the standings, behind the Aprilia duo of Jorge Martín and Marco Bezzecchi. Marc Marquez of the Ducati Lenovo factory team is fifth, 40 points behind the championship leader, whilst his team-mate Pecco Bagnaia, riding another Desmosedici GP26, is eighth overall, 63 points behind, and is by no means out of the running. Following the sprint and main races at the Sachsenring, the 22-round World Championship series has reached the halfway point.

2026: Ducati aces dominate with the Panigale V4R

In the 2026 Superbike World Championship, the next title win is almost inevitable. The Italian Nicolo Bulega has won every race – all sprints and two of each main race – at the seven events so far this season. That makes a total of 21 races with a clean slate. With a maximum haul of 434 points, the number 1 rider in the Aruba Ducati works team is 121 points clear of the runner-up in the standings. The Spaniard Iker Lecuona is, in a sense, the backup option in the Ducati works team. Further assurance that the 2026 World Championship title will be secured comes from the Italian Yari Montella, who rides another ‘Duc’ (Panigale V4R) for the Barni Spark Racing Team and is third in the standings. In the production-based World Superbike Championship, the next round will also take place from 10 to 12 July at Donington Park.