2027 MotoGP rider market: The top-rated free agents on the grid

As of 22 January, only a handful of riders on the current MotoGP grid have deals which take them through to the end of the 2027 season.

Crucially, none of those contracts concern riders at factory teams.

At the moment, just Johann Zarco and Diogo Moreira (both HRC-contracted) have deals in place at LCR for 2027, while Pramac’s Toprak Razgatlioglu holds a multi-year deal.

Ahead of the opening round of the season on 1 March in Thailand (as of 22 January), all factory team seats are up for grabs for the new regulations cycle beginning in 2027.

Reigning champion Marc Marquez said during Ducati’s launch event that he expects the main rider market names to have deals in place by the time the season gets underway in Thailand.

Crash.net has decided to look at the main free agents at this stage of the year, splitting them into three categories based on their standing within the market.

The idea is that the current priority riders ultimately control what the rest of the grid will look like come 2027, with their deals setting off the dominoes that will decide other riders’ futures.

2027 MotoGP rider market: High priority signings

Marc Marquez

The most obvious name at the top of the rider market free agency list is reigning world champion Marc Marquez, who dominated the 2025 campaign with Ducati to win his seventh world title five years after a serious arm injury.

There is little doubt that Marquez will remain a factory Ducati rider into 2027. A recent Motorsport report claims a deal has already been agreed, which will keep Marquez on the Italian manufacturer’s factory machinery to the end of 2028.

Naturally, any decision Marquez makes on his future will have massive ramifications on how the rest of the grid will shape up. That was already proven in 2024, when he muscled his way into a factory Ducati contract at the expense of Jorge Martin (who signed for Aprilia) and Pramac (who switched to Yamaha machinery).

Pedro Acosta

Entering his third season of MotoGP in 2026, Pedro Acosta’s stock remains incredibly high despite not having won a race yet.

The second half of his 2025 on the KTM was undeniable proof of the impact he can have for a team, especially one not yet fielding machinery capable of fighting for championships. Therefore, a move to better machinery is all but a guarantee of success for Acosta and whoever secures his signature.

Linked to VR46 Ducati and Honda early last year as his frustrations with KTM’s lack of progress boiled over, Acosta is being touted in multiple corners as securing a deal to become Marc Marquez’s team-mate.

If true, that removes both factory team Ducatis off the board, while leaving the likes of Pecco Bagnaia out on the kerb and opening up the possibility for someone like Fermin Aldeguer to be poached by a rival factory.

If Acosta signs elsewhere, there are a number of names who would be clawing at Ducati’s door to get the second GP27 alongside Marquez.

Fabio Quartararo

Entering his eighth year with the Yamaha organisation in 2026, Fabio Quartararo’s time with the brand has delivered well below what his talents merit. His 2021 title aside, there have been fewer high points than expected, as the Frenchman’s speed has not been met by consistently competitive machinery.

Over the last few years, especially, he has been given bad bikes with which he has extracted more than the rest of his Yamaha stablemates combined have mustered. In 2025, he scored 201 points while Yamaha's other three riders combined for 190.

Yamaha’s switch to a V4 engine for 2026 is hoped to return it to the front of the grid. But its timeline for that is at complete odds with Quartararo, who turns 27 this year, and his ambitions for success now.

At Yamaha’s livery launch in January, team boss Massimo Meregalli said no discussions had taken place with Quartararo yet over a possible 2027 deal. It seems unlikely that partnership will continue.

Quartararo has been linked to Honda, Aprilia and Ducati during this off-season, with all three set to gain one of the grid’s AAA riders if they can get a deal together.

Marco Bezzecchi

It’s almost impossible to see how Marco Bezzecchi doesn’t remain with the factory Aprilia team.

His run to three victories and third in the standings last year came as he stepped up in a big way for Aprilia, taking on the role of leader that was originally intended to be Jorge Martin’s.

Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola told Crash late last year that re-signing Bezzecchi was a priority. That has only been heightened, however, by Rivola’s admission at Aprilia’s livery launch in January that rival marques have been offering “a lot of money” for Bezzecchi.

Bezzecchi’s stock has risen significantly over the course of the last 12 months. The Marquez-challenging speed he showed, as well as the strong development work he did on the RS-GP, makes him an elite prospect in the 2027 rider market.

2027 MotoGP rider market: Priority signings

Pecco Bagnaia

With all of the rumours surrounding the factory Ducati team, Pecco Bagnaia’s time in Bologna red looks to be over ahead of the 2026 season. Undoubtedly, his miserable 2025 season, in which he won just two races and slumped to fifth in the standings, has done irreparable damage to his hopes of staying put.

He is a double world champion at MotoGP level, however. And at this stage, 2025 does hold some grace as potentially being a blip for a rider who has otherwise consistently been one of the grid’s strongest.

Given his knowledge of the Ducati, the brand would likely be keen to retain that somehow, perhaps with a move into Fabio Di Giannantonio’s factory-backed seat at mentor Valentino Rossi’s team.

But Bagnaia will be a name rival factories will have a conversation about, if they can get him for the right price. Given his downturn in form last year, he won’t be going to the market in the same shape he did last time when he’d just won back-to-back titles.

That said, if you’re a struggling manufacturer or a competitive one with a strong second rider in place, Bagnaia is worth the risk.

Jorge Martin

In something of a similar situation to Pecco Bagnaia’s, Jorge Martin’s standing within the 2027 rider market has taken a bit of a knock following a difficult 2025.

Aprilia’s big-money signing the summer before, Martin competed in just seven rounds last season due to a raft of injury problems. The contract dispute with Aprilia, as he looked to try and engineer a move out of the Italian marque with an alleged Honda offer on the table, won’t have sat well with some factory bosses on the grid.

He is likely still an option for Honda, especially if it can’t secure Pedro Acosta. Aprilia says it would be good to retain Martin if he performs this year, because he is a world champion after all.

However, he is set to miss more seat time in the pre-season due to recent surgeries. When you’re trying to secure the best deal for yourself after a rotten 2025 season, Martin’s situation has gotten a lot more complicated.

Fermin Aldeguer

Ducati’s prized youngster proved to be incredible value for money in his rookie season, as he stormed to a maiden victory at the Indonesian Grand Prix.

Flashes of speed across the campaign elevated Fermin Aldeguer’s stock, as he cast aside the doubts that mounted following his lacklustre final year in Moto2.

When he was signed by Ducati, he was set to end up at Pramac on works machinery. Than never happened, and by the end of 2026 he’ll have done two years on older bikes. Those are still competitive machines, but he’ll feel he has already earned a look at a factory bike for 2027.

His knowledge of Pirelli rubber from Moto2 will be a useful asset for any manufacturer. With Ducati’s factory team looking set to be Marquez/Acosta, the brand can still do a lot to keep Aldeguer within its ranks as he has an option on his contract for a further two years.

However, it will also be running the risk of losing him to a rival factory if the allure of a works team ride proves too great. Just 20 years old, there is a lot of future potential in Aldeguer for a brand if he keeps up the trajectory he is on.

A serious pre-season injury has complicated his situation somewhat, but that isn’t likely to stop him from being short of offers.

2027 MotoGP rider market: Important signings

Alex Marquez

Alex Marquez’s 2025 season excelled anything he has done in grand prix racing, and that includes his title-winning campaigns in Moto2 and Moto3.

Three wins and runner-up spot in the championship saw him own the role of Ducati’s insurance policy in case Marc Marquez dropped the ball or was injured. Doing so on older machinery has also earned him a factory GP26 for this season.

Much of the same, if not more, will be expected of him this time around. Turning 30 this year, Alex Marquez’s chances of joining a factory team again following his sole season with Honda in 2020 are becoming remote.

Certainly, for the next contract cycle, joining Marc Marquez at the factory Ducati team is off the table.

Happy in his surroundings at Gresini, he could still become a factory Ducati-contracted rider and remain where he is. At this stage, that seems most likely.

But it’s hard to imagine other factory teams not kicking the tyres on the younger Marquez brother, and the right offer could tempt him away.

Luca Marini

Of Honda’s current factory team stable, Luca Marini has done a lot more to warrant remaining with the marque beyond this year.

While his first season on the bike was less than impressive, he stepped up in 2025 to become a consistent top 10 campaigner on an ever-improving RC213V. Team-mate Joan Mir may have been out-and-out faster, scoring two grand prix podiums late-season, but threw too many good points away because of crashes.

Honda clearly has eyes on snaring top names again, as evidenced by the Jorge Martin situation last year.

Re-signing Johann Zarco for two more years at LCR has ensured it will have an experienced hand in its ranks for the 850cc bike switch. Honda loves Marini’s analytical approach to development, which makes him a strong option to stay put.

Depending on how Diogo Moreira performs at LCR, the highly-rated rookie could get the factory team nod alongside a bigger ticket signing. In that scenario, Honda may wish to keep Marini and move him to LCR.

But with strong development riders likely to be a big draw on the market for 2027, Marini's time at Honda may see some offers come his way from outside of the HRC stable.

Maverick Vinales

Linking up with Jorge Lorenzo as his rider coach, Maverick Vinales is either headed for his best season ever in MotoGP or a massive falling out with the three-time premier class world champion.

But Vinales’ first season with KTM at Tech3, as injury-disrupted as it was, saw him return to something closer to the rider who stunned at Suzuki and in his first Yamaha season in 2017. With KTM likely to lose Pedro Acosta for 2027, and the rest of its stable proving hugely underwhelming last year, Vinales stands to gain a lot out of the coming contract cycle.

Undoubtedly, KTM will want to keep him around. And if he excels again where Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder struggle, KTM will need him more than ever.

But his experience of KTM, Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia machinery is something that won’t go unnoticed by the market. What will stop him from being a priority target is his age (he turned 31 in January) and his hit-and-miss reputation in his decade in the top class.

The confirmed 2027 MotoGP grid so far