Diogo Moreira or David Alonso HRC MotoGP decision “a no-brainer”

Cal Crutchlow, who spent six MotoGP rounds as Diogo Moreira’s team-mate, is in no doubt that the rookie deserves a factory HRC seat for 2027.

Although Moreira and Moto2 race winner David Alonso both have Honda contracts for next season, the manufacturer is yet to announce who will partner Fabio Quartararo at HRC and who will join Johann Zarco at LCR.

“[Moreira] deserves to be there before David Alonso, in my opinion,” Crutchlow said during an appearance on the MotoGP world feed at Aragon.

“He's had a year at it. He's regularly beating the other Honda riders, or there or thereabouts, in his first year as a rookie.

“So in my opinion it’s an absolute no-brainer.

“The other side to that is if David Alonso goes to LCR, that's also a perfect scenario. Same as Diogo did to grow up in MotoGP.

“The bikes are no different, I think you just have less pressure. Yes, of course, maybe sometimes some different parts, but these guys have all got factory contracts.

“So in that sense, there's really no difference. It's just to say you're riding for a factory team, or you're riding for a satellite team.

“But now, as you see in MotoGP, basically every team is a factory team.”

"Give him three years"

Crutchlow said of Moreira's strengths:

“Everybody knows good talent when you see it. But there's a difference between talent and a good head, and he's got both. I like him. He's a great kid. Give him three years and he'll be, in my opinion, able to be MotoGP World Champion.

“I can see from the data, I can see the way he rides. For a first-year rookie to be doing what he's doing, on a bike that’s still progressing as well - it's not as if he's jumped on a Ducati or Aprilia that's winning races every week. And he's doing superb.

“The way he manages races, the way he fights, he's not scared. I like that about him. He never complains – I mean he knows if it's him, if it's the bike. He's very intelligent. It was good fun to have him as a team-mate for those six races.”

Marc Marquez-style braking ‘trick’

Crutchlow also revealed that Moreira, who regularly trains with Marc Marquez, uses a braking ‘trick’ similar to the nine-time world champion.

“At the start of the year, what I believed, and even watching from TV, is he didn't understand the tyre and how to manage it,” Crutchlow said of Moreira’s progression.

“Now he's getting there, and he understands that a lot more. So you'll see his race paces are a lot more consistent. He stopped being this passenger on the bike, and he's controlling the bike a lot more.

“Braking, there's no doubt about it, he's strong. And what he does in the braking area with the bike, I can't really say, because it's actually a little bit of a trick and I don't want to give it away for him!

“But he does very much like Marc Márquez did. I tried to do it, and that was every time that I fell on my head for all those years!”

Moreira went on to finish as the top Honda rider in both Aragon races, taking seventh in the Sprint and ninth in the Grand Prix.