Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez looks set to welcome a new teammate to Borgo Panigale in 2027, with Ducati now widely expected to replace Francesco Bagnaia with KTM’s Pedro Acosta.
The Bologna Bullets are moving early in the MotoGP rider market to secure their line-up for next season, as Marquez and Bagnaia are both out of contract at the end of 2026. Marquez is expected to sign a new contract, but Ducati look set to drop Bagnaia for Acosta next year.
A report by Motorsport.com claims Ducati felt ‘forced’ to sign Acosta now, with his two-year contract essentially ‘already sealed’. The only cause for delay in formalising the agreement is Ducati’s wish to finish agreeing the final details about Marquez’s new two-year contract first.
Once Marquez has officially signed his new deal, which is expected to come before the start of the 2026 season, Ducati will wrap up their swoop to sign Acosta. The Bologna Bullets feel they have to sign the KTM talent now due to the speed at which the 2027 market is moving.
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Jorge Lorenzo is ‘surprised’ that Marc Marquez is not trying to stop Ducati from signing Pedro Acosta
Acosta insists “the truth” is he has “not spoken to anyone” about 2027, let alone sign a deal to join Ducati next year. The Spaniard also suggested ahead of pre-season testing in Sepang that he wants to see how each team starts the 2026 campaign before considering his future.
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All the signs point to Acosta signing for Ducati, though, and Jorge Lorenzo is “surprised” that Marquez has not tried to stop the Borgo Panigale natives from bringing in a potential threat. But Lorenzo likes Marquez’s stance, as it proves he is not “afraid” of a young star like Acosta.
Lorenzo told Motosprint: “Pedro Acosta’s situation is a little different [to Fabio Quartararo and Jorge Martin’s]. He is intelligent, as are his manager [Albert Valera] and [Ducati general manager] Luigi Dall’Igna. That’s how the agreement was born.
“I was surprised that Marc Marquez did not secretly try to avoid this move. He showed that he’s not afraid of a young, therefore good, rider.”
Pedro Acosta and manager Albert Valera insist he has not signed a contract for 2027 yet
Valera, who is the manager of both KTM’s Acosta and Aprilia’s Martin, has told SPEEDWEEK that they are “currently continuing to evaluate the best options” for 2027, amid claims that they are holding talks to leave their current teams and join Ducati and Yamaha respectively.
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It is said that Yamaha are in advanced talks with Martin about a move to Iwata in 2027, with claims also emerging that Quartararo has agreed to leave Yamaha for Honda in 2027. Martin and Quartararo are both out of contract at their current teams in 2026 like Acosta is at KTM.
No moves have formally been confirmed, but teams are moving early to secure the best two riders for their 2027 line-ups as only three pilots on the 2026 grid have contracts beyond the end of this season. MotoGP is also introducing new regulations with 850cc bikes from 2027.
Honda have LCR duo Johann Zarco and Diogo Moreira tied down on multi-year works deals, with the latter’s deal also including options to promote him into their factory line-up. Yamaha handed Toprak Razgatlioglu a two-year works deal to debut in MotoGP with Pramac in 2026.
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