Marco Bezzecchi
The MotoGP grid for the 2025 season has undergone a major reshuffle with the likes of Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez signing contracts at new teams with fresh wages.
Only the factory Yamaha and Honda teams will run unchanged rider line-ups in 2025 having each retained the services of Fabio Quartararo plus Alex Rins and Joan Mir plus Luca Marini. Meanwhile, Ducati held the keys to the rider market as they weighed up their factory squad.
In the end even fighting Ducati star Francesco Bagnaia for the MotoGP title aboard his GP24 with Pramac was not enough for Martin to convince the Bologna Bullets that he deserved to graduate into their main team over Marquez, who got the bike over the eventual champion.
So, Martin will take the No1 plate with him as the Spaniard joins Ducati’s Italian rival, Aprilia, in place of his retiring friend Aleix Espargaro. A raft of rookies will also graduate from Moto2 in 2025, such as Ducati-backed Fermin Aldeguer plus Thailand’s first MotoGP rider Ai Ogura.
With that in mind, MotoGP News runs you through the contract details of the 22 riders who make up the 2025 grid – including their wage and the year each pilot’s deal is due to expire.
Aprilia Racing: Jorge Martin
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £3.5m
Aprilia and Jorge Martin swiftly reached an agreement on a multi-year contract starting from the 2025 MotoGP season in June 2024. Martin leapt at Aprilia’s deal once Ducati ignored the Spaniard after back-to-back title bids at Pramac to place Marc Marquez in their rider line-up.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Aprilia from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy
The exact length of Martin’s Aprilia contract is unconfirmed and so is his salary, but the 2024 MotoGP champion is believed to earn in the region of £3.5m a year with the Italian outfit. It marks an increase on his wage with Pramac, where Martin made an estimated £560k a year.
Aprilia Racing: Marco Bezzecchi
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £250,000
Aprilia convinced Marco Bezzecchi to quit VR46 Racing Team in June 2024 with the offer of an initial two-year factory contract to complete their star-studded rider line-up for the 2025 MotoGP season. Bezzecchi became a goal at Aprilia after Maverick Vinales signed for Tech3.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Marco Bezzecchi from net worth to race number
The Italian stood out for Aprilia as the Tuscan team wanted an emerging star who is a native of their nation aboard one of the brand’s bikes in 2025. Bezzecchi also appreciated a chance to ride for a factory MotoGP team, and got that chance with a £250k a year deal for Aprilia.
Trackhouse Racing: Raul Fernandez
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £250,000
Of the five Aprilia bikes to hit a track in 2024, Raul Fernandez was the only one to at first still pilot a 2023 machine for the Italian brand’s satellite squad, Trackhouse Racing. Still, his early efforts with the RS-GP23 secured Fernandez a new contract with Trackhouse in July 2024.
Fernandez started his second season strongly – including qualifying third for the Grand Prix of Catalunya – for the team he joined using the RNF name from KTM Tech3 during 2023. But Trackhouse only put a £250,000 a year deal on the table to keep Fernandez through 2026.
Trackhouse Racing: Ai Ogura
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: Unconfirmed
Trackhouse sprung a bit of a surprise in August 2024 when the satellite Aprilia team chose to sign Ai Ogura to a two-year MotoGP contract over the Japanese pilot’s American Moto2 rival Joe Roberts. Ogura was second in the 2024 Moto2 rankings as Trackhouse signed him.
Team manager Davide Brivio was instrumental in Trackhouse deciding to bet on Ogura, who would justify the American team’s decision by winning the 2024 Moto2 title. Three victories in 19 races sealed his intermediate class crown by 40 points, whilst Roberts finished in ninth.
Ducati: Francesco Bagnaia
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £6m (rising to £8.5m)
Ducati and Francesco Bagnaia agreed to a new, multi-year contract in March 2024 to reward his back-to-back MotoGP titles over the previous two seasons. The deal locked the Italian in until the end of 2026 and also moved Bagnaia’s wage for Ducati to an initial £6m per season.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Ducati from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy
Bagnaia can also get a further £2.5m each year through bonuses based on his results, such as winning further championships. Ducati were happy to compensate his crowns in the 2022 and 2023 seasons having not handed Bagnaia a new contract since before his first title win.
Ducati: Marc Marquez
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £10m
After deciding to part with Enea Bastianini after the 2024 season, Ducati elected to promote Marc Marquez from Gresini to partner Francesco Bagnaia in a powerful rider line-up. Ducati even gave the six-time premier class champion a two-year contract to race in red from 2025.
The precise value of his wage for Ducati remains unconfirmed. Yet Marquez, who tore up his £13m-a-season contract at Honda to join Gresini in 2024, is said to be the joint-highest paid rider on the 2025 MotoGP grid after Ducati gave him an annual salary of £10m on his arrival.
VR46 Racing Team: Fabio Di Giannantonio
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £350,000
Ducati decided to award Fabio Di Giannantonio a two-year factory MotoGP rider contract in August 2024, which also secured the Italian a full factory-spec bike at VR46 Racing Team for both seasons. VR46 received the third and final full factory Ducati bike Pramac held in 2024.
Di Giannantonio, who had only ridden on year-old machinery through his first three seasons in MotoGP, also had a two-year Yamaha contract offer via their Pramac satellite team on the table when he agreed to sign a deal directly for Ducati which is only worth £350,000 a year.
VR46 Racing Team: Franco Morbidelli
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £850,000
VR46 confirmed that Franco Morbidelli would switch Pramac for the satellite Ducati team in the 2025 season in August 2024, having agreed a one-year contract worth £850k. It linked the Italian, who was the first VR46 Academy member, with the team Valentino Rossi owns.
Joining VR46 further secured Morbidelli his second year aboard a Ducati after an injury-hit first year aboard the Desmosedici in 2024. His results improved during the European part of the 2024 term after recovering from a head injury which ruined his pre-season preparation.
Consistent top-10 results, plus podium finishes with his P3s in the 2025 Argentina and Qatar Grands Prix, also secured Morbidelli a one-year contract extension with VR46 in September. The Roman was also sixth in the 2025 riders’ standings when VR46 confirmed his extension.
Gresini Racing: Alex Marquez
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £750,000
Gresini may have lost one of the Marquez brothers for 2025 with Marc moving to Ducati but locked Alex up in July 2024 with a new two-year contract. Alex Marquez and Gresini reached an agreement worth £750k a year as a reward for his transition from Honda to Ducati bikes.
Gresini Racing: Fermin Aldeguer
- Contract until: At least the end of 2026
- Yearly salary: £250,000
Ducati signed Fermin Aldeguer to a two-year factory MotoGP contract in March 2024 having emerged as a rising talent in Moto2, before securing the Spaniard a seat at Gresini in August 2024 for his graduation into the premier class. It was also the final Ducati bike left available.
Initially, the plan was to place Aldeguer at Pramac but Ducati had to shift focus to facilitating a place at Gresini following the former’s defection to Yamaha. Ducati also only agreed to put a low base wage in Aldeguer’s contract with him set to earn just £250,000 a year as a rookie.
Additionally, Ducati included options for the Bologna Bullets to extend Aldeguer’s contract through the 2027 and 2028 MotoGP seasons in his initial two-year premier class deal. The Borgo Panigale squad believe in the Murcian’s potential to be a future face of their brand.
Honda: Joan Mir
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £2.5m
While a troublesome Honda bike saw Joan Mir fail to finish 10 of the 20 Grands Prix in 2024 and also consider retiring, the 2020 MotoGP champion agreed to sign a new contract in July 2024 that is worth £2.5m a year. Honda sought to retain Mir’s services for the 2025 MotoGP season as the Japanese squad valued the Spaniard’s influence in developing their package.
Honda: Luca Marini
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £350,000
The 2025 MotoGP season was always due to be a big year for Luca Marini, as he entered the term looking to help Honda improve but also secure his future on the grid. Marini kicked off 2025 chasing a new contract, having joined Honda from VR46 in 2024 with a two-year deal.
Marini even reportedly considered trying to break out of his contract with Honda following a frustrating first year aboard the RC213V, having only secured six points-scoring finishes over 20 Grand Prix. But he saw out the season with Honda, who pay Marini just £350,000 a year.
Marc Marquez’s replacement at Honda also produced consistent results during 2025 to see the Japanese brand hand him a one-year contract extension in September 2025. Marini got a reprieve after Honda failed to sign Jorge Martin owing to Aprilia’s refusal to let him leave.
LCR Honda: Johann Zarco
- Contract until: End of 2027
- Yearly salary: £3.5m
After a three-race stint with the team at the end of the 2019 season, Johann Zarco returned to LCR Honda for the 2024 MotoGP season having secured a two-year contract after leaving Pramac. The salary of LCR Honda’s contract was key for Zarco, who loved the £3.5m a year.
His results on the RC213V during the 2025 MotoGP season also saw Zarco emerge regularly as the top Honda rider. LCR even saw Zarco win the 2025 French Grand Prix to become the first home rider to win at Le Mans, which helped convince Honda to give him a new factory contract to remain with their satellite crew through the 2027 campaign in September 2025.
LCR Honda: Somkiat Chantra
- Contract until: End of 2025
- Yearly salary: Unconfirmed
LCR Honda completed their 2025 MotoGP rider line-up in August 2024 with the signing, plus promotion, of two-time Moto2 race winner Somkiat Chantra. The Thai will ride aboard their Idemitsu-branded bike which Takaaki Nakagami had owned since 2018 for the 2025 season.
KTM Factory Racing: Brad Binder
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £850,000
Brad Binder has been a KTM rider throughout his world championship career having raced for the Ajo Moto3 and Moto2 squads before his graduation into MotoGP in 2020. The 2016 Moto3 champion is also under contract with KTM through to the end of the 2026 campaign.
KTM and Binder last agreed on a new contract in August 2023, which also sealed the South African a wage estimated to be in the region of £850,000 a year. It marked an increase in his salary of over 100%, having earned around £400,000 a year on Binder’s previous contract.
KTM Factory Racing: Pedro Acosta
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £1.5m
KTM handed Pedro Acosta a fresh, two-year contract in June 2024 which also secured him a factory bike from 2025 in place of Jack Miller. The Spaniard was primed to be out of contract at the close of 2024 but KTM were loath to lose Acosta after excelling as a rookie in MotoGP.
His new contract also secured Acosta a wage estimated to be in the region of £1.5m a year to ride for the factory KTM MotoGP team. But if the 2021 Moto3 and also 2023 Moto2 title winner continues to shine at the front of the grid, Acosta may expect another pay rise soon.
KTM Tech3: Enea Bastianini
- Contract until: At least the end of 2026
- Yearly salary: £2m
Ducati releasing Enea Bastianini after the 2024 MotoGP season saw the Italian land a multi-year contract with KTM to ride for the Austrian brand’s satellite Tech3 squad. Bastianini will get a factory-spec RC16 as Tech3 return to Red Bull colours after two years in GASGAS red. The Italian even earns £2m per year to ride for KTM’s satellite squad in the 2025 campaign.
KTM Tech3: Maverick Vinales
- Contract until: At least the end of 2026
- Yearly salary: £3.5m
Alongside signing Ducati exile Enea Bastianini to a factory contract in June 2024, KTM gifted Maverick Vinales a multi-year contract to swap the factory Aprilia team for Tech3 in 2025. In a show of faith in KTM, Vinales even bought shares in the Austrian motorbike manufacturer, who had also awarded the Spaniard a salary of £3.5m a year to ride for their satellite outfit.
Yamaha: Fabio Quartararo
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £10m
While Yamaha have slipped off the pace of Ducati in recent years, the offer of a £10m-a-year salary plus the Japanese brand’s improving results convinced Fabio Quartararo to sign a new contract in April 2024. His two-year deal made Quartararo the highest-paid rider in MotoGP.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Yamaha from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy
Quartararo openly held talks with rival teams about a switch following the 2024 season, but Yamaha secured a huge boost by retaining their lead rider and 2021 MotoGP champion. The Frenchman would go on to score 113 of Yamaha’s 144 total points over the 2024 campaign.
Yamaha: Alex Rins
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £1.8m
Yamaha saw enough from Alex Rins in the first half of the 2024 MotoGP season to hand the Spaniard a new, two-year contract that August. His £1.8m a year deal was a show of faith in Rins by the Japanese brand, as the Barcelona native scored eight of their 31 points in 2024.
Pramac: Jack Miller
- Contract until: End of 2026
- Yearly salary: £2.5m
After a frustrating two-year stint with KTM following his exit from Ducati, Jack Miller jumped onto a Yamaha bike for the first time in his MotoGP career in the 2025 season after agreeing to re-join Pramac. The Australian had raced a Ducati with Pramac over 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Yet despite Miller’s past for Pramac, he only signed a one-year contract to re-join the Tuscan team worth £2.5m as they become a de facto second factory Yamaha crew. Miller’s future in MotoGP was also likely to be for KTM before they pulled a U-turn to promote Pedro Acosta.
Despite having to adapt to a new package, Miller often emerged as the second-best Yamaha rider through the first half of the 2025 season. Eventually, his form convinced the Iwata crew to extend Miller’s contract to race for Pramac through the 2026 season in September 2025.
Pramac: Miguel Oliveira
- Contract until: End of 2025 (Yamaha option to terminate 2026 season)
- Yearly salary: £650,000
Alongside no longer running Ducati bikes from 2025, Pramac fielded a new rider line-up with Yamaha also placing Miguel Oliveira at the Italian team. Yamaha handed Oliveira a two-year factory contract in September 2024, which even secured him full factory support at Pramac.
Yet Yamaha inserted a performance-based release clause in Oliveira’s multi-year deal worth £650k a season, which gave the Iwata outfit the option to terminate the 2026 term. Oliveira had to avoid being the worst-scoring Yamaha rider by the 2025 summer break, but he was.
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