Been meaning to do this article for a little bit, and we recently got words from the Motorsport Network (Good ol’ Uri Puigdemont), that there’s enough framework in the Concorde-esque agreement between MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group and the Manufacturers for 2027 that it’s rumoured that rider announcements will finally be happening soon, which were reportedly intentionally snuffed out by the series. The only exception was Marco Bezzecchi, which allegedly upset some people back in January due to the ongoing negotiations.
With that in mind, I thought I’d write a cheat sheet and talk about the state of the 2027 grid. For this task, I’ve split said grid into three categories – The “almost-locked in” teams, likely just waiting for the timing and green light to unveil the team. The “probables”, the teams that we think are in place, or have maybe one spot to tie up, and the “maybes” that have heavy speculation still rife over both their seats. Let’s weigh up MotoGP’s 2027 grid.
The Almost-Definites
These are the teams on the grid that we’ve known are almost certainly done deals already, and have been for sometime, since around January when we were still curious about how the Sepang Test would work out. Either that or we’ve had some degree of official confirmation that another piece of the puzzle is leaving alongside.
Ducati Lenovo Team: #37 – Pedro Acosta / #93 – Marc Marquez ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This isn’t a MotoGP team. It’s a 17-year old’s wet dream on the Milestone video games. This will be the final form, the endgame of what Ducati’s been trying to assemble for nearly half a decade of trial, error and money. Create the ultimate MotoGP team. And it’s hard to argue against it for talent.
Marc Marquez, the greatest to ever ride a bike, at least in my opinion. Seven-time premier class Champion, and while he may be entering the twilight of his career entering his Age 34 season, he’s still absolutely formidable and will force you to work very hard to beat him at his best.
It’s also funny how Pedro Acosta at time of writing still hasn’t won a MotoGP Grand Prix yet and he’s about to walk into the best team in the business and no-one’s really questioning it. Pedro’s now an elite rider in the sport, a constant podium and race-winning threat, a marketer’s dream and is still only 22. He’s the future of Grand Prix of Motorcycle racing, and remember, Ducati are dumping the most successful rider in their history (Pecco Bagnaia), to bring him in. Telling.
Yamaha: #89 – Jorge Martin ⭐ / #79 – Ai Ogura
Yamaha were wrapped up in the middle of all their dominos falling in the pre-season. Fabio Quartararo decided enough was enough after seeing Yamaha’s first V4 engine, and did the ultimate defection, moving to Honda. Yamaha had the cash to write an open cheque for whoever wanted the opportunity, and Jorge Martin is all but confirmed to be moving to the factory team for a bumper payday and the chance to headline one of the biggest names in the business.
Shortly after what was deemed a breakthrough performance in Austin before his engine died, Ai Ogura was confirmed to be leaving Trackhouse for the factory Yamaha squad. Easy for Ai to be tempted, he’s easily the most talented Japanese rider the top flight has had since Shinya Nakano and Makoto Tamada of the 2000’s 4-stroke era. Home team pull factor and a big increase in salary. It’s amazing how you can fall up despite horrendous recent results.
Note: Could you imagine how f***ing crazy it would be if Jorge Martin defected with the #1 plate to another factory TWICE IN THREE YEARS?!
Pramac: #07 – Toprak Razgatlıoğlu / #28 – Izan Guevara
Getting this one out of the way while we’re here, because Toprak is off-sequence on a two-year deal he signed in the middle of 2025, and it’s looking increasingly likely that Moto2 Championship runner-up (as of now) Izan Guevara is joining the team for Jack Miller’s seat in 2027.
For Yamaha to have a 2024-level shitshow of a season and land THIS good a set of riders is obscene. Goes to show you Lin Jarvis knew what he was doing on the way out.
KTM (Factory): #73 – Alex Marquez / #49 – Fabio di Giannantonio
Welcome to the “Run me my money” team, brought to you by Venmo. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that KTM has snagged two more jilted riders from the Ducati ranks, who both likely wanted that factory paycheck and the rights to be Red Bull athletes (Something a lot of people take for granted given their resources and facilities). Fun fact: Most customer riders in MotoGP are on about 250k-350k a year, and make a large chunk of their money in win bonuses. It’s why one of the major proposals for the riders is a 500k minimum salary increase. Factory deals will likely add a zero to those old salaries.
And this is a really solid team. Alex Marquez proved last year that he could win races on merit and challenge the very best on the GP24, arguably the greatest MotoGP bike ever made, and Diggia’s proven to be Ducati’s new excellent safety valve, having not finished a GP outside of the Top 6 so far this season. My only fear is, what happens when you take these talented riders and put them completely out of their comfort zones. Alex Marquez has been a Ducati rider for sometime, and Ducati is all that Diggia’s ever known, just what will KTM be with the new regulations when they land in 2027?
Honda: #20 – Fabio Quartararo ⭐ / #80 – David Alonso
Man, would this team be a boatload of fun if it wasn’t for the fact it was on a Honda. As mentioned earlier, Fabio did the unthinkable and defected from Labour to Tory, while David Alonso was being eyed-up as far back as his 14-win record breaking Moto3 season back in 2024. Helps when you’re Colombia’s finest export since… anyway!
But yeah, Fabio rumoured to be done in January, before even the Sepang Test was done, and Alonso rumours started coming around Brazil time. And hey, Davide Brivio has also been snagged from Trackhouse to return to HRC to replace Alberto Puig, who’s moving to an advisory desk job in the back. Will a clear upgrade in riding talent make up for what’s been a regressive 2026 for Japan’s premier brand?
Note: LCR aren’t really in this conversation because both Johann Zarco and Diogo Moreira signed multiple-year contracts entering 2026, so they’re technically off-sequence.
The Probables
These teams have either one confirmed rider, and one probably about to join them, or have genuine speculation about at least one of their seats for 2027.
VR46: #54 – Fermin Aldeguer / 🇮🇹 (Probably Nicolo Bulega)
Fermin Aldeguer caused quite the rift amongst Ducati’s temperamental family earlier in the year, when the loving parents (Dall’Igna and Tardozzi, bad cop and good cap to their friends), tanked Aldeguer out of Gresini to move him to the VR46 squad because the latter are their official customers – Alex Marquez was just too good not to give a package to. This pissed off Nadia Padovani two-fold, one because they were losing their project rider and talisman of the future, and two, because Ducati liked keeping pairs of riders and crew chiefs, it meant losing Frankie Carchedi, arguably the best in the sport to a direct competitor. They almost rejoined Honda out of spite! In any case, landing Fermin Aldeguer for VR46 is like actually signing Xabi Alonso as your coach instead of Ireola. Even if he’s Spanish, the first non-Italian to ever ride for the team.
Valentino Rossi gave the game away in Barcelona, that he wants an Italian rider on the second bike, which essentially whittled the list down to four names:
– Franco Morbidelli (Cooked)
– Luca Marini (Awkward family reunion, we’ve all been there?)
– Celestino Vietti (…Erm, party favour?)
– Nicolo Bulega (You know he likes Pirelli’s, right?)
According to GPOne, Bulega is close to joining. Genuinely delighted for him, and glad we’ve had a mini-revival of riders getting opportunities to cross the waters. (Ignore the fact it took two generational seasons for that to happen, sssh). It leaves World Superbikes in a really precarious situation, but that’s for another column. Bulega’s won 22 straight in this series, and probably another 10 by the time you read this, and because he has Pirelli knowledge he can bring to MotoGP, he’s even more valuable. Win, win!
Aprilia: #72 – Marco Bezzecchi / #63 – Pecco Bagnaia ⭐⭐
Don’t you just hate it when the rival across your office desk always seems to land that promotion and you don’t? That’s Pecco Bagnaia, who was unceremoniously dumped out of Ducati for not being able to adapt to poor internal development, only for him to allegedly be on a FOUR-YEAR DEAL WITH NOALE. Seriously, how fortunate was the timing on this one?
Marco Bezzecchi couldn’t wait for his honeymoon period, so we already knew he was staying put with the team via the wedding ceremony back in January, to the horror of the other factories (It was because of pre-Concorde deal talks, not having Smooth Jazz at the reception.)
This is still a ridiculous formidable team. Obvious question marks about Bagnaia. He’s been seen as a “Goldilocks” rider, but Aprilia is known to be more user-friendly than any other bike on the grid. If we get 2023-2024 Pecco… look out.
Gresini: #36 – Joan Mir / #96 – Dani Holgado
As mentioned earlier, Honda made up their mind sometime ago that they would be clearing the decks in what will turn out to be Alberto Puig’s last major decision in charge of HRC. It means Joan Mir hits the open market again for the second time in four years and he’s got a very good landing spot with Gresini. A very understanding and supportive team that’s had a knack of getting the best out of the talent it’s had, and of course a Ducati GP26 isn’t a bad consolation prize for being forced to leave Honda. Mir crashes a lot but has exceptional raw speed in a vacuum, and could still be something worth chasing if Gresini can unlock it.
Gresini also tend to have a knack of going for younger riders out of Moto2 to develop, and they’ve made no exception again by taking Dani Holgado from the Aspar team. Now Holgado’s been a little inconsistent lately in the class, I suspect Aspar isn’t quite as strong as they were in 2025 compared to other teams like Guevara’s Pramac and the Dynavolt team of Gonzalez and Agius, but he’s still won three Moto2 races in his career, and at times, looks like a real contender.
The Maybes
These teams have heavy speculation over both their seats, and it’s still up in the air as to who may end up on the team, with multiple riders in play. This is where the fun begins!
Trackhouse: ???
For me, this is the most intriguing team on the entire grid. Trackhouse is in a really interesting place and I think their dynamic as a team has shifted in the last 18 months. Beforehand, they were recovering from the CryptoData mess that Razlan Razali had left them with, they spent big on getting new Aprilia’s, Davide Brivio from Alpine to run the team and investing big on Ai Ogura.
That investment has paid off. Aprilia is now the arguably best bike on the grid. Raul Fernandez has become a race winner. Ogura’s knocking on the door and has vastly improved from his rookie season. But Ogura’s now gone, and there’s still question marks about Fernandez from a consistency and discipline standpoint.
And look at the bigger picture. Pramac proved in 2024 that you actually could win as a customer team with the right rider. Now Trackhouse weren’t blessed to have a World Champion level rider fall on their laps from Day 1, but they need to me, they need to be thinking that if they have the best bike, they need at least a contender. Is Fernandez that? Genuinely don’t know for sure. You could absolutely talk yourself into either side of the debate.
What may go for Fernandez here, is that every option on the table has drawbacks or compromises. Enea Bastianini’s been heavily linked to the team. A proven contender on a Ducati (Customer and Factory), with half a dozen victories, but is he still the same rider after a pretty disastrous two years at KTM?
Luca Marini’s in play – A safe pair of hands and an engineer’s dream when it comes to feedback. But he lacks ultimate speed. Teammate Joan Mir has the leash that he has because if everything goes to plan, he can punch you an outlier result or three, even with the high crash count. Manu Gonzalez is crushing Moto2 and is on a white-hot streak at the perfect time. But in the eyes of the top brass, he’s too old (23?!), been in Moto2 too long (Year 5), and hasn’t got a spicy passport that helps to get you over (You’re not David Alonso)
The more I think about it, the more I keep Fernandez, and take the experienced hand in Bastianini if he’s on the market. That’s still a heavy hitting team and if everything goes to plan, maybe you take 4-5 wins across a season. But there’s many ways Justin Marks light this candle and I’m fascinated to see which way he goes.
Tech3: ???
Guenther Stiener’s already made his first major move as a MotoGP team owner – Resisting a switch to Honda power and staying with KTM on a new three-year agreement. Now comes the difficult part – Who’s riding for you?
They’re seemingly giving Maverick Vinales every chance to get a clean bill of health before deciding on his future. He broke off a chunk of his shoulder when he had his sickening highside nearly a year ago and has been in constant recovery since, including getting a broken screw removed in April. Again, hard to know what Maverick actually is right now and if he’s worth keeping. At his best, he was giving Pedro Acosta a bloody nose, but is that Maverick still even a thing anymore?
Brad Binder is probably done. The former “best of the rest” non-Ducati ace has been completely derailed since Pedro Aocsta became his teammate and I’m not sure I want two more years of his poor form. Guenther openly admitted he’s prepared to take a punt on a Moto2 rider if the circumstances fit, and that’s had people talk about Senna Agius, the 21-year old Australian who’s won two races so far this season and is sitting third in the Championship. Agius has definite speed and upside. Not sure he’s ready for the jump, there’s safer picks they can take. LIKE MANUEL GONZ- *is escorted out of the room*
So this is what I think the 2027 grid will look like when it’s all said and done:
Factory Ducati: Pedro Acosta and Marc Marquez
Gresini: Joan Mir and Dani Holgado
VR46: Fermin Aldeguer and Nicolo Bulega
Aprilia: Marco Bezzecchi and Pecco Bagnaia
Trackhouse: Raul Fernandez and Enea Bastianini
HRC: Fabio Quartararo and David Alonso
LCR: Johann Zarco and Diogo Moreira
Yamaha: Jorge Martin and Ai Ogura
Pramac: Toprak Razgatlioglu and Izan Guevara
KTM: Alex Marquez and Fabio di Giannantonio
Tech3: Maverick VInales and Senna Agius
What do you think? Any more twists in the tail? Let me know your thoughts on how 2027 may look on social media somewhere on the Internet and I’ll catch you back here for an F1 DRR on Sunday night.
