When the MotoGP technical rules changed in the season, Ducati decided to return to
MotoGP in
2003.
Capirossi era 2003 Troy Bayliss and
Loris Capirossi were signed to the then-named "Ducati Marlboro Team" for the season. Capirossi got a
podium in the opening round of the championship in
Japan, and won in
Catalonia. Capirossi finished fourth in the final championship standings and Bayliss sixth. Ducati finished an impressive second in the Constructors' standings, behind Honda and ahead of Yamaha.
2004 A large part of was already over before Ducati's bike became competitive. Bayliss scored his only podium position of the season at the penultimate round in
Phillip Island, and Capirossi at the final round in
Valencia.
2005 In Bayliss was replaced by Spain's
Carlos Checa, and Ducati switched tyre suppliers to
Bridgestone. Capirossi took two wins at
Motegi and
Sepang, while Checa scored two podium positions. They finished sixth and ninth in the riders' standings.
2006 The season proved turbulent for Ducati. Checa was replaced by fellow Spaniard
Sete Gibernau. The team took its first win of 2006 in the opening round at
Jerez, followed by a podium in
Qatar. Capirossi led the championship for a short time, but at the start of the
Catalan Grand Prix, Capirossi and Gibernau collided. Both riders ended up injured and in hospital, with Gibernau sustaining a broken collar bone. Capirossi struggled at the
Dutch TT a week later, while Gibernau was replaced by German
Alex Hofmann for several rounds after undergoing additional surgery. With Gibernau also sidelined for the final round of the season at
Valencia, Ducati recalled Bayliss, who had recently been crowned
Superbike World Champion. Bayliss won the race, his first MotoGP victory, with Capirossi taking second place for the first Ducati 1–2 finish.
Stoner era MotoGP reduced the allowed engine displacement for the 2007 season. Ducati started development of its 800cc motorcycle extremely early: according to racing chief Filippo Preziosi, by August 2006, Ducati had already built twenty 800cc engines with various specifications.
2007 Casey Stoner joined Ducati as Capirossi's latest teammate in . Ducati's bike was fast, and Stoner was particularly able to maximise its speed on tracks with long straights. Stoner dominated the field for most of the season. He became Ducati's first world champion in MotoGP at
Motegi on September 23, 2007, with three rounds to spare. Ducati also secured the Constructors' and Teams' championships to secure their first "triple crown". At the end of season, Ducati's chief engineer Alan Jenkins was awarded the Sir Jackie Stewart Award for brilliance throughout the season.
2008 Casey Stoner was partnered by
Marco Melandri in . Melandri had a difficult time adapting to Ducati's GP8 bike, and his two-year contract was reduced to one year by mutual agreement with Ducati midway through the season. Stoner won six races, and finished second in the riders' standings behind
Valentino Rossi.
2009 Casey Stoner was partnered by
Nicky Hayden in . Halfway through the season, Stoner missed three races due to illness and was replaced by Finnish rookie
Mika Kallio. He still managed four race wins, and finished fourth in the standings behind Yamaha duo
Valentino Rossi and
Jorge Lorenzo, and Honda rider
Dani Pedrosa. Hayden took a podium at
Indianapolis and finished thirteenth.
2010 Casey Stoner and
Nicky Hayden were retained for the season. On 9 July 2010,
Casey Stoner announced that he would leave Ducati for a more competitive bike at
Honda in 2011. In his last season with Ducati he took three race wins and finished fourth in the standings again despite five DNFs.
Rossi era 2011 On 15 August 2010,
Valentino Rossi confirmed he had signed a two-year deal to ride for Ducati in 2011 and 2012. Nicky Hayden was retained to partner him. The Ducati-Rossi marriage did not prove to be a happy one: Rossi endured his first winless season in the premier class in . He finished seventh in the standings, and Hayden eighth.
2012 Rossi's struggles on the Ducati continued with another winless season in
2012. He decided to return to his old team
Yamaha.
Dovizioso era 2013 Nicky Hayden signed a one-year contract to remain with Ducati in
2013. He was joined by Italian rider
Andrea Dovizioso. The best race result achieved by either rider all season was a fourth place for Dovizioso in
Le Mans, but the team saw relatively consistent performance. They finished eighth and ninth behind a group of utterly dominant Hondas and Yamahas.
2014 Dovizioso remained with Ducati in
2014, where he was joined by former team-mate
Cal Crutchlow. Dovizioso scored a podium finish in
Texas, and finished an impressive fifth in the riders' standings behind the Honda and Yamaha factory duos. Crutchlow finished thirteenth after suffering eight DNFs, but also scored a podium finish in
Aragon.
2015 Dovizioso remained with Ducati in
2015. Crutchlow was replaced by
Andrea Iannone, a promotion from Ducati satellite team
Pramac. They rode the highly anticipated GP15, a full redesign of the Desmosedici by new team race director
Gigi Dall'Igna which debuted at the second test in
Sepang. Dovizioso took three consecutive second-place finishes to start the season, and an additional two podiums. Iannone took three podiums but rode with slightly more consistency, and fewer technical problems, than his teammate. Dovizioso finished seventh in the standings, and Iannone fifth.
2016 Dovizioso and Iannone were retained for
2016. Both suffered a string of DNFs but took one race win each in
Malaysia (Dovizioso) and
Austria (Iannone). They finished fifth and ninth in the standings.
Casey Stoner renewed his relationship with Ducati as a test rider; he outpaced both factory riders on the final day of preseason testing in Sepang.
2017 Dovizioso signed for a further two seasons. Five-time world champion
Jorge Lorenzo also joined Ducati on a two-year contract, replacing Iannone. The
2017 season was the closest Dovizioso ever came to winning a MotoGP championship: he scored six race wins and remained in contention for the title all season long against Honda's dominant lead rider
Marc Márquez. At the final race in
Valencia, Dovizioso crashed, leaving Márquez to secure the championship without pressure. Lorenzo struggled to adapt to the Ducati, taking three podium positions but finishing a distant seventh in the standings.
2018 Dovizioso and Lorenzo were retained for . Dovizioso was again Márquez's closest challenger, but finished the season 76 points adrift of him in the standings. Lorenzo took three race wins, just one less than Dovizioso, but suffered from heavy inconsistency and finished the season in ninth. Ducati finished second in the Teams' Championship behind Honda.
2019 Dovizioso was retained for
2019, while Lorenzo left to join Márquez at
Honda. He was replaced by Italian rider
Danilo Petrucci, who was promoted from Ducati satellite team
Pramac. Dovizioso was championship runner-up for a third consecutive season, but this time finished a colossal 171 points behind Márquez. He scored two race wins, in
Qatar and
Austria. Petrucci also won a race, in
Mugello, and finished sixth in the standings. Ducati finished second in the Teams' Championship behind Honda again.
2020 Dovizioso and Petrucci were retained for the truncated
2020 season. Dovizioso took a race victory in
Austria, while Petrucci won in
Le Mans. They finished fourth and twelfth in the standings respectively. Despite a mediocre fourth-place finish for the factory team in the Teams' Championship, Ducati won the Constructors' MotoGP World Championship for the second time. Dovizioso announced his upcoming departure from Ducati in August, citing his broken relationship with general manager
Gigi Dall'Igna. Petrucci was also disposed of.
Bagnaia era 2021 Italian
Francesco Bagnaia and Australian
Jack Miller joined the newly rebranded "Ducati Lenovo Team" for
2021. Bagnaia made a strong start to the season, with three podium finishes in the first four races. After a relative mid-season slump, his performance picked up at the end of the year, and he scored four race wins across the last six rounds to finish championship runner-up. Miller finished in fourth with two race wins. Ducati won the
Constructors' Championship for the third time, as well as the
Teams' Championship.
2022 Bagnaia and Miller were retained for
2022. Despite a relatively slow start to the season and five DNFs, Bagnaia picked up momentum and scored seven race victories across the season. After finishing ninth at the final race in
Valencia, Bagnaia became Ducati's second-ever MotoGP World Champion. Ducati also won the Constructors' and Teams' championships to secure their second "triple crown".
2023 Bagnaia was retained for
2023, to be partnered by satellite team
Gresini promotion
Enea Bastianini in an all-Italian lineup. Bagnaia weathered three DNFs and a DNS to retain his title. He became the first Ducati rider to win multiple and consecutive MotoGP championships. Ducati retained the Constructors' title, but lost the Teams' title to their own satellite team
Pramac. An injury-ridden season saw Bastianini finish in fifteenth place in the standings.
2024 Bagnaia and Bastianini were retained for
2024. Bagnaia took eleven race wins in 2024, over triple that of any of his competitors. However, plagued by three DNFs and poor performance across the sprint races, he lost the championship to Ducati Pramac satellite rider
Jorge Martín at the final race of the season. Bastianini finished in fourth place. The factory team secured the Teams' championship. Ducati broke many constructors' records that season. They took fourteen podium lockouts, seventeen 1–2 podium lockouts, and nineteen race wins, falling just one short of a clean sweep. They retained the Constructors' championship with staggering dominance.
Márquez victory 2025 Speculation was rife throughout 2024 as to who would occupy the second Ducati factory seat opposite Bagnaia in
2025. It was reported that
Jorge Martín had been promised the seat. On 5 June 2024, it was announced that
Marc Márquez would instead join the factory Ducati team on a two-year contract. Martín then defected to
Aprilia. A championship battle between Bagnaia and Márquez was anticipated but did not materialise, as Bagnaia struggled to adapt to the new GP25 bike. He won two races, but his performance continued to slump, and he ended the year with five consecutive DNFs to finish fifth in the standings. Márquez romped through the season to clinch a relatively unchallenged ninth world title in
Japan with five rounds to spare. He became the factory Ducati team's third MotoGP champion. Ducati won the "triple crown" again: the Riders', Constructors', and Teams' championships. Ducati decided not to use its flawed GP25 engine for the 2025 season, resorting to a hybrid GP24-GP25 labelled the "GP24.9". This engine will also be used for the 2026 season, before homologation rules are changed in 2027.
2026 Bagnaia and Márquez will be retained for the
2026 season. ==Superbike==