Ex-Valentino Rossi MotoGP crew chief set to partner Jorge Martin at Yamaha
Jorge Martin will switch crew chief for his move to the factory Yamaha squad next season
One-time MotoGP world champion Jorge Martin is reportedly being paired with a former Valentino Rossi crew chief when he moves to Yamaha’s factory team next season.
The 2024 title winner will move to his third manufacturer next year, after signing a deal to join Yamaha’s factory squad alongside Ai Ogura.
Jorge Martin’s Yamaha deal was first reported in the pre-season, in the wake of news that Fabio Quartararo would be moving to Honda.
His switch to Yamaha looks like it will be an almost completely clean break from Aprilia, with the majority of Martin’s current crew staying put.
According to Motorsport, Martin will be partnered with a new crew chief in the form of David Munoz at Yamaha.
Munoz currently works with Alex Rins at the Japanese manufacturer, though the engineer was previously paired with Valentino Rossi.
After parting ways with Silvano Galbusera, nine-time world champion Rossi brought Munoz from his VR46 Moto2 team to be the Italian legend’s crew chief for his final two campaigns in 2020 and 2021.
Martin currently works with Daniele Romagnoli at Aprilia, who he brought from Pramac following his title-winning 2024 season on Ducati machinery.
Though there is a close bond between Martin and Romagnoli, the latter will instead remain with Aprilia in 2027 and work with the incoming Pecco Bagnaia.
Bagnaia has worked with Christian Gabbarini as his crew chief for years, and was a key part of his 2022 and 2023 championships.
But Gabbarini will remain with Ducati to be paired with Pedro Acosta, who will leave Paul Trevathan behind at KTM.
Logic would dictate that Trevathan, and Brad Binder’s crew chief Phil Marron, will remain at KTM next year to work with Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio.
However, Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez’s crew chiefs for 2027 are yet to be finalised.
While riders build trust in their crew chiefs, and often bring them along when they move brands, that isn’t always possible.
Marc Marquez wasn’t allowed to bring Santi Hernandez with him to Gresini in 2024, as he refused to sign a multi-year deal to ride Ducati bikes at that point.
He was paired with Frankie Carchedi at Gresini, before Ducati put him with Marco Rigamonti when he moved to the factory team in 2025.
But Marquez won races in 2024 with Carcehdi and dominated the 2025 campaign with Rigamonti.
