Marco Bezzecchi
Pedro Acosta’s move to Ducati could inspire MotoGP teams to introduce a transfer window, Lucio Cecchinello says.
Ducati still haven’t confirmed that they will sign Acosta from KTM due to the protracted negotiations over the 2027 commercial agreement, but it has been an open secret for months.
Acosta’s move was part of a wave of early 2027 transfers over the winter that also saw Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) and Jorge Martin (Yamaha) commit to new teams.
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MotoGP could bring in transfer window after Pedro Acosta to Ducati exposed issue
It’s believed that Acosta signed his Ducati contract last December, even before riding the final version of KTM’s 2026 bike.
The timing of this move, as well as other transfers, has caused disquiet within the paddock. Yamaha boss Paolo Pavesio called for a transfer window because the current situation is not ‘healthy’.
And now, IRTA chief Cecchinello says teams could be barred from signing riders in the summer under a new proposal. This will ensure they can get the full ‘commercial’ value from their line-up.
“It’s one of the topics we’re discussing at IRTA together with the teams,” he told GPOne. “We’re considering a regulation that would allow teams and riders to sign contracts only within a predetermined time window, for example, from June to September or from July to October.
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“The goal is to avoid situations like those we’ve seen recently, with riders signing contracts well in advance.
“Manufacturers invest millions of euros in riders’ salaries and their public image, and they want to be able to capitalise on that image without finding themselves in the paradoxical situation of promoting a rider whom everyone already knows will be racing for another team the following year.
“Because clearly, today, if you have Acosta – who’s racing for KTM but whom we know will be racing for another team – appear in a commercial, it doesn’t make sense from a communications standpoint.
“We want to avoid this, the manufacturers want to avoid this, and so we’re considering shifting the window and creating a new timeframe.”
Under the timeframes Ceccinhello sets out, Acosta would have been prevented from signing for Ducati for at least another seven months.
In practice, he may simply have reached an informal, verbal agreement instead.
It’s also unclear at this stage what penalties riders or teams would face for signings that occur outside the window, and whether they would be considered invalid.
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