Marco Bezzecchi
Marco Bezzecchi is still the only rider to have announced his 2027 contract, as Aprilia went ‘against the wishes’ of the paddock to sign him.
It is widely believed that most deals for the 2027 MotoGP season have been signed. The MotoGP rider market moved fast, particularly for the factory seats.
Aprilia jumped the gun and announced that Bezzecchi has extended his contract until 2028. While he joins Toprak Razgatlioglu and Johann Zarco with deals for 2027, he is the only rider to have an announcement made for next season.
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Aprilia signed Marco Bezzecchi for 2027 ‘against the wishes’ of the rest of the teams
Several deals are already said to have been agreed. Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta will race for Ducati, Yamaha have signed Jorge Martin and Ai Ogura, Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio will join KTM, while Fabio Quartararo is off to Honda.
Aprilia have signed Francesco Bagnaia for 2027 alongside Bezzecchi, but this deal, and the rest of them for that matter, have not been announced. Teams are holding off as they negotiate the next Concorde Agreement with MotoGP SEG, formerly Dorna.
Negotiations have been stalling, with Yamaha, Aprilia and KTM opposing MSEG’s proposal at Jerez. No rider announcements will be made until an agreement is reached, meaning Bezzecchi was signed ‘against the wishes’ of the other teams.
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Journalist David Emmett discussed the rider market on the Paddock Pass Podcast. When asked if Bagnaia’s move to Aprilia would be confirmed at Mugello this weekend, he shut that down.
“No. Given that Massimo Rivola is one of the leading negotiators in the whole MSEG, MSMA shenanigans, then I doubt that’s likely,” he said.
“Also, because Rivola has slightly overplayed, or Aprilia have slightly overplayed their hand by announcing Marco Bezzecchi against the wishes of the rest of the paddock. So I think that would be a bit much.
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“I mean, the deals are all done, or most of the deals are done. There are a lot of deals which have already been done, especially for the factory rides.
“We’re just waiting for the press releases, and we’re waiting for the MSMA and MSEG to agree terms. I keep on hearing rumours of bits and pieces of the deal which will be going forward.
“So that suggests that they are very, very close to a deal. I am not 100% convinced that the deal has been signed, but I do think that it is much, much closer than it was previously.”
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