Official: Francesco Bagnaia extends Ducati MotoGP contract

As rumoured, Ducati has reached an agreement to keep reigning MotoGP title runner-up Francesco Bagnaia at its factory team for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

After two seasons at Pramac, the former Moto2 champion enjoyed a breakthrough 2021 campaign at the Official Ducati team, taking four wins and finishing behind only Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) in the world championship standings.

"Being a Ducati rider in MotoGP has always been my dream, and knowing that I can continue with the Ducati Lenovo Team for another two seasons makes me happy and proud," Bagnaia said.

"I have found a serene environment in the factory team: I feel very much in tune with my team and know that we can do great things together. Now I can only concentrate on doing well in this Championship. A big thank you to Claudio, Gigi, Paolo, Davide and all the Ducati Corse staff. I'll try to repay their trust with my results on the track!"

Gigi Dall'Igna, General Manager of Ducati Corse, added: "We are delighted to have Bagnaia with us for another two seasons. Since he arrived at Ducati in 2019, Pecco has shown great talent and the ability to interpret our Desmosedici GP very well, adapting to ride it in any condition. He did it, especially in the last season, during which he had significant growth and got to play for the World Title.

"The way he managed the races at Aragón, Misano, Portimão and Valencia, scoring four fantastic victories, is proof of his maturity as a rider. With these great qualities, we are sure that he has the potential to aim for the title with us".

Bagnaia thus joins Marc Marquez (Honda), Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha) and Brad Binder (KTM) in having a confirmed place on next year's grid.

Double 2021 race winner Jack Miller currently rides alongside Bagnaia but Enea Bastianini (Gresini) and Jorge Martin (Pramac) have also made their factory team ambitions clear.

Ducati's only MotoGP riders' title to date came with Casey Stoner in 2007.