Ducati has handed VR46 rider Fabio Di Giannantonio a factory MotoGP contract for the 2025 and 2026 MotoGP seasons.
That arrangement includes formal confirmation that Di Giannantonio will ride Ducati's third and final factory-spec bike, which Ducati's press release suggests will be the case in both 2025 and 2026.
It also follows the announcement last week that the VR46 team will take over from Pramac as Ducati's top-level satellite team starting next season.
Yamaha had shown interest in Di Giannantonio for a Pramac team that will become its satellite outfit in 2025, but by the end of the German Grand Prix weekend before the summer break Di Giannantonio dropped a heavy hint that he would be staying put - essentially saying a deal had been agreed but not signed at that point.
Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi also indicated at the British GP last weekend that VR46's line-up would feature Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli.
Di Giannantonio said signing a factory contract was a "proud" moment.
"This represents a milestone and a significant starting point for my sporting growth," he said.
"With Ducati's support and having an official bike, we can continue to grow and achieve great things together. I want to thank Ducati for its trust."
Ducati general manager Luigi Dall'Igna said Di Giannantonio had "always shown great confidence in our project, and his dedication and talent have led him to grow steadily in MotoGP".
"We are confident that together with the VR46 Racing Team and having an official Desmosedici GP, he will have even more opportunities to bring out his full potential."
Though he is one of only two Ducati riders yet to finish on the podium this season, Di Giannantonio has largely followed up on the promise of his late-2023 breakthrough with Gresini last year, establishing himself as on average the second-fastest Ducati Desmosedici GP23 rider this season behind Marc Marquez.
And with Ducati's rider ranks increasingly depleted by exits for the likes of Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini and Marco Bezzecchi, it had to move to ensure Di Giannantonio was not also lured away.
VR46 claimed during the German GP weekend it had a team-side option on the 25-year-old anyway, but simply activating that option without an upgrade in status would've been a recipe for having an unsettled rider.
But now Di Giannantonio will receive a coveted Ducati GP25 next year, the only rider outside of the factory team to receive one as Ducati eyes an even split between GP25s and GP24s.
Ducati state of play
Di Giannantonio's renewal means Ducati's rider roster for 2025 seems to have taken concrete shape now.
He will be one of four riders under Ducati factory contract, alongside the works line-up of Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez and rookie Fermin Aldeguer.
Alex Marquez, meanwhile, has extended his Gresini stay for the next two years, while Morbidelli - though not yet formally confirmed - is widely expected to move over to his mentor Valentino Rossi's VR46 team as Di Giannantonio's team-mate - as following his current team Pramac into the Yamaha stable is a non-starter.
Morbidelli is on a GP24 this season and is set to continue on one next season - which will would effectively mean a downgrade in status.
The younger Marquez is also set for a GP24 at Gresini, and it is difficult to see how either him or Morbidelli could find themselves on a works-spec machine in the near future.
This is also because Aldeguer is reported to be on the same kind of deal Bagnaia had graduated to MotoGP with five years ago, with flexibility over bike spec for year one in 2025 - which means Aldeguer is set to learn the ropes in the premier class on a GP24 - but a works-spec upgrade the following year.
Were that to be the case, and assuming Di Giannantonio will have a factory bike for both years of his new deal, there should again be four works-spec Ducatis in 2026.
