Pedro Acosta made a sacrifice Pecco Bagnaia refused to accept to land 2027 Ducati seat

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Pedro Acosta was desperate to join Ducati at any cost, while Francesco Bagnaia, the rider he’s replacing, drew a line in the sand.

Ducati confirmed the signing of Acosta on Wednesday, shortly after announcing that two-time MotoGP champion Bagnaia would depart the team.

24 hours later, Aprilia unveiled Bagnaia as their newest rider, with the #63 forming an all-Italian line-up alongside Marco Bezzecchi as Jorge Martin heads to Yamaha.

Pedro Acosta accepts pay cut to join Ducati after Francesco Bagnaia refusal

Bagnaia seemed untouchable at Ducati when he won back-to-back titles, but his stock fell sharply during the 2025 season following the arrival of Marc Marquez. As his teammate dominated the standings, he dropped to fifth – his first time outside the top two since joining the factory team.

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But his departure may not have been inevitable. It was reported last December that an extension was possible, but Bagnaia had to take a pay cut as the team prepared for Marquez’s expensive renewal.

This was corroborated in February, by which point his impending exit had become an open secret. It was made clear in negotiations that there would be a ‘substantial reduction’ in Bagnaia’s salary if he stayed on.

It’s no coincidence, then, that Motorpasion Moto are now reporting that Acosta ‘has given up a significant portion of his pay cheque’ at KTM to secure the seat. The youngster has prioritised a competitive bike and the opportunity to benchmark himself against Marquez.

It would be wrong to say Bagnaia was financially motivated, though. According to Massimo Rivola, Bagnaia turned down larger offers from the Japanese teams, Yamaha and Honda, to join Aprilia.

The bigger concern was that, by asking him to re-sign on heavily reduced terms, Ducati were implicitly indicating that they no longer valued Bagnaia to the same extent.

Luigi Dall’Igna wasn’t totally opposed to giving the Italian another shot, as long as it was on his terms. Bagnaia wasn’t prepared to accept that, and ultimately both parties concluded that it was the right time to move on.