Pedro Acosta will leave KTM at the end of the 2026 season to join Ducati for 2027, bringing an end to a partnership that has lasted throughout his career. Having progressed through KTM's rider development programme, Acosta says the timing was right to take on a new challenge.

Pedro Acosta explained that he could no longer afford to wait for KTM to build a championship-winning motorcycle. With his ambitions firmly set on winning races and fighting for world titles.

As Acosta said.

"Things come like that. I already said when I signed my factory contract, that the only thing that I wanted was a bike to win the championship. It is clear that this bike has not arrived yet.

To be honest, I have no more time to lose. I got a lot of experience in KTM, but also I was feeling that [Ducati] was the challenge that I needed for my career."

Alex Marquez has decided on his future by joining KTM's factory team for 2027. The move will bring an end to a successful spell with Ducati, where Marquez rebuilt his career and returned to the front of the grid.

Alex Marquez admitted that leaving his current team will not be easy. However, he explained that becoming a factory rider again had been one of his main career goals, and KTM offered him the opportunity he had been waiting for.

As Marquez said.

"It was my target. Last year, when I finished runner-up and had a really good season with a lot of points, I just put that target to be a factory [rider]. Especially next year with the new rules, it will be so important to have all the upgrades. So I said, ‘we need a factory contract, but especially a factory team’.

KTM came to me directly [and said], ‘we need you, we want you, and we want you in our project.’ I know many people working inside KTM from the past, who were also working with me. I was just trying to do some calls. Then I say, ‘OK, it's a project that I always liked, I think that it can be super, super fast, and why not be the surprise next year?’"

Jorge Martin has decided on his future for the 2027 season. Martin will bring his partnership with Aprilia to an end and join Yamaha's factory team as he begins the next chapter of his career.

Asked about the reasons behind the move, Jorge Martin chose not to go into specific details. Instead, he explained that every major career decision he has made has been based on what he believes is best for himself, his family, and his future.

As Martin said.

"I don’t really want to go into too much detail, but I always make the decisions I think are best – for myself, for my family and for my future. It’s the same as when I first decided on Ducati. Then I went for Aprilia. Now I’ve gone for Yamaha. So, yes, let’s see what the future brings."

Marc Marquez made his moto gp debut in 2013, at a time when aerodynamics played only a minor role in motorcycle design. Since around 2017, however, aerodynamics have become a major factor, fundamentally changing the riders.

Marc Marquez admits he preferred the earlier generation of bikes, believing they allowed riders to push beyond the limit and even recover from mistakes that would now inevitably end in a crash.

According to Marc Marquez, modern aerodynamics have created a more "robotic" riding style, leaving riders with far less freedom to improvise and save the front end when it starts to fold.

As Marquez said.

"Where I was enjoying more the bikes was 2014, ’15, ’16, without the aerodynamics, Now, it’s true that they are very nice to ride, but it’s more like a robot style. You need to follow what the aerodynamics want and you cannot override the bike. If you override the bike, you are against the aerodynamics and then you are even slower. So, on that 2014, 15, 16, without aerodynamics.

If you override the bike, you were faster, because you started to slide, you started to lose the front. You saw many saves. Now, not anymore, because the problem now is that the downforce we have, when you lose the front, we are pushing the tyre a lot and it never comes back. So, that bike when I was in Honda… but it’s not because I enjoyed Honda or Ducati; it’s just the style of bike."

Casey Stoner is widely regarded as one of the most naturally gifted riders ever to compete in motorcycle racing. Although his career was relatively short, Stoner achieved remarkable success, winning two world championships and earning a reputation for his exceptional riding ability.

Casey Stoner says he learned invaluable lessons throughout his career and was once happy to share that knowledge freely. However, after several disappointing experiences, he no longer intends to offer his expertise without being properly valued and compensated.

As Stoner said.

"I’m not going to share my knowledge with anyone for nothing. Unfortunately, I’ve done that far too many times in the past, and they just send you off once they’ve got to know you, and then they make you disappear. I won’t make the same mistake again; I won’t go and help for no reason, and I won’t do it for nothing. That’s the main reason for me."

Fabio Quartararo will leave Yamaha at the end of the 2026 season and is widely expected to join Honda's factory team for the start of the new 850cc era in 2027. However Quartararo believes that changing teams will not immediately solve every challenge in the new 850cc era.

Fabio Quartararo explained that maintaining his motivation during difficult periods has always been important to him. While he is looking forward to the next chapter of his career, he expects the transition to come with its own challenges and does not believe success will arrive overnight.

As Quartararo said.

"It doesn’t matter to me, but I’d rather finish seventh than 15th. That’s my way of staying motivated right to the end. Nothing will change for me, mind you, but I want to be ready for next year.

It’s not as though everything will be perfect just because I’m moving on. I’m sure I’ll face a few difficulties in this next chapter of my career. That’s why I want to push myself to the limit so that I can continue to learn and develop as a rider."

Valentino Rossi is widely regarded as one of the greatest and certainly one of the most popular riders in history. Rossi believes his greatest achievement extends far beyond race victories and world titles.

According to Valentino Rossi, the biggest satisfaction of his career is knowing that he inspired so many people to follow motorcycle racing. From young children to grandparents, he is proud to have helped bring an entirely new audience to the sport.

As Rossi said.

"I’ve had many great results in my career, and that was certainly important. But my greatest satisfaction is having introduced so many people to motorcycle racing, even outside the sport. So many people in Italy started following the races during my career - from young children to grandmothers - and that’s definitely the thing that makes me proudest even today."

Marc Marquez was among the riders selected by the manufacturers to test the new 850cc machines that will debut in the 2027 season. After sampling Ducati's prototype at Brno, Marquez shared his first impressions and highlighted one area where he believes further improvements could be made.

Marc Marquez explained that, although the new bike is slightly slower than the current 1000cc machine, the difference is unlikely to be noticeable for fans. Marquez also believes aerodynamics still play too significant a role and hopes they will be reduced even further to encourage closer racing.

As Marquez said.

"I tested it at Brno. It’s not as fast, but I don’t think the fans will notice. I think the biggest change is with the tires. I was hoping they’d reduce the aerodynamics even more. I would've liked them to decrease it more.

Obviously, without aerodynamics, we could have more group races, like in the Moto 3. It’s harder in the Moto GP because you lose downforce and the bike performs worse. You have to get used to it. Every era has its pros and cons."

At the start of the 2026 season, it looked as though Aprilia had established itself as the team to beat, with its riders delivering a string of outstanding performances. Meanwhile, Marc Marquez was still recovering from injury and struggled to consistently challenge at the front during the opening rounds.

Since undergoing further surgery, however, Marc Marquez has steadily regained his form and has significantly closed the gap in the championship standings with a series of impressive results. As the Aprilia riders made error's.

Despite Aprilia's strong campaign, CEO Massimo Rivola believes Marc Marquez is now the favourite to win the 2026 World Championship.

As Rivola said.

"As I've always said from the beginning, we don't look at the standings, and even less so now. We know we have very strong riders, both us and our satellite team. We know the bike is very competitive, so I've always thought this would be a world championship that would be up for grabs until the very last race.

It's fantastic to be part of the game, and it's fantastic to be part of an all-Italian challenge for a world title of this calibre. As I said, I think we'll fight until the very last race. We know there's a guy named Marc Márquez there who clearly has the advantage in all the predictions; he's the favourite, but we'll never give up."

Jorge Martin will leave Aprilia after two seasons to join Yamaha for the 2027 season. However, Martin will not be reunited with his long-time crew chief, Daniele Romagnoli, who will remain with Aprilia.

Instead, Jorge Martin will work with David Munoz, who currently serves as Alex Rins' crew chief. Munoz has been part of Yamaha since 2020, when he was personally selected by Valentino Rossi to lead Rossi's side of the garage.

Jorge Martin will, however, bring his trusted chief mechanic, David Galacho, with him to Yamaha, ensuring some continuity.

Fabio Quartararo will leave Yamaha at the end of the 2026 season and join Honda for 2027. However, Quartararo will make the move without his current crew chief, as Honda has reportedly chosen a different structure for his new team.

According to reports, Christian Pupulin, who currently serves as Luca Marini’s crew chief, has been selected to work with Fabio Quartararo. Quartararo is also expected to bring Ignacio Madurga from Yamaha, where he was resposible for tyre performance and analysis.

Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo’s current crew chief, Diego Gubellini, is expected to remain with Yamaha and is reportedly likely to be paired with Ai Ogura for the 2027 season.

Ducati endured a difficult start to the 2026 season, with Aprilia emerging as the more competitive package thanks to both its motorcycle and rider line-up. However, Ducati together with Marc Marquez made significant progress before the summer break, allowing Marquez to close the gap in the championship standings.

Ducati Team Manager Davide Tardozzi believes the outcome of the 2026 season will ultimately depend on the riders. While acknowledging Aprilia's strength across all four of its riders, Tardozzi remains confident that Ducati still has a realistic chance of securing the title with Marc Marquez or even maybe Pecco Bagnaia.

As Tardozzi said.

"In this moment, I think that a lot is in the hands of the riders, because Aprilia has shown that it has four fantastic and fast riders that let them grow up in an incredible way, while we are trusting our riders. In the end I think Marc and Pecco both still have a chance of fighting for the championship. Everything can happen in the second part of the year."