Kayla Yaakov is the First Woman to Ride a Ducati Desmosedici GP Machine

Kayla Yaakov is now the first woman to ride a Ducati MotoGP motorcycle. Following World Ducati Week’s Centenary celebration at Misano, the MotoAmerica Supersport racer stayed on in Italy for Ducati’s exclusive two-day MotoGP Experience, where she piloted the actual factory Desmosedici GP26 currently competing in the 2026 MotoGP World Championship — the machine belonging to Marc Márquez’s Ducati Lenovo Team.

Riding Márquez’s Desmosedici GP26 and Bulega’s WorldSBK Panigale

Kayla Yaakov also completed laps on Nicolò Bulega’s Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R WorldSBK machine, giving her a rare side-by-side comparison of Ducati’s two most advanced racing platforms — MotoGP and WorldSBK — on the same circuit in the same visit. The Ducati MotoGP Experience is hosted jointly by the Ducati Lenovo Team and DRE Academy, pairing an exclusive group of Ducatisti with team engineers and academy instructors ahead of their laps on the GP26. Kayla Yaakov received direct coaching throughout from Casey Stoner, two-time MotoGP World Champion, and Michele Pirro, Ducati Corse’s MotoGP test rider — the same Pirro whose Lenovo V2 Future Champ Academy has spent this year developing young riders for Ducati.

“To have the opportunity to ride Marc Márquez’s Desmosedici GP26 is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Kayla Yaakov said. “Riding a MotoGP bike was an unbelievable honor. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do since I was three years old.”

From Misano to Laguna Seca: Yaakov’s MotoAmerica Season Continues

Kayla Yaakov is already one of America’s fastest young road-racing talents, currently a frontrunner in the 2026 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship aboard her Ducati Panigale V2 for Rahal Ducati Moto. The timing here is worth sitting with: she went from lapping Misano on a factory MotoGP bike to lining up for her next Supersport round within the same week. Kayla Yaakov continues her 2026 season this weekend, July 10–12, at Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.

Ducati has framed the experience as part of its broader investment in developing riders and creating opportunities beyond raw race results. For Kayla Yaakov specifically, riding two of the most advanced motorcycles Ducati builds — in the same Centenary year the brand gathered its full racing history at Misano — is the kind of moment that tends to matter more in hindsight than it does in the week it happens. A three-year-old’s dream, a factory MotoGP bike, and a championship weekend at Laguna Seca four days later — that’s a genuinely remarkable stretch for any rider, at any age.

About The Author

Allan Lane

Philadelphia born and bred, Allan Lane is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of digital magazines. He launched his first publication, SportBikes Inc Magazine in 2010, followed by dosage MAGAZINE in 2019. Recently, Allan launched his third online publication, Club For Man. As a journalist, Allan covers fashion, lifestyle, culture, art, and motorcycles.

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