Valentino Rossi snub gets most sought-after MotoGP seat

The Italian has signed for current championship competitors Trackhouse through to the end of 2028.

It’s a swap to a new manufacturer for Bastianini, who has spent his MotoGP career first with Ducati and currently with Tech3 KTM.

In a statement, the 28-year-old said: “I am extremely excited to join the SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team for the next two MotoGP Championships.

Team owner Justin Marks added: “It’s a very exciting moment for the SuperFile Trackhouse team to welcome someone like Enea to race our Aprilias.

A seven-time MotoGP race winner, Bastianini will be partnering Raul Fernandez, who is staying with Trackhouse after his win last time out at Silverstone.

Fernandez is in the 2026 title fight, sixth in the standings, and so is teammate Ai Ogura in third, showing just how sought-after the final Aprilia-powered seat was.

Bastianini is a Moto2 world champion and finished third in the 2022 MotoGP world championship on a satellite Ducati Gresini.

Things didn’t quite work out in the following years at Ducati and KTM, but the Rimini native continues to show the pedigree that his hero, Valentino Rossi, passed up.

Bastianini is the only Italian on the grid to not be affiliated with Rossi’s VR46 Academy.

Fabio Di Giannantonio was the only other Italian not to have come through the academy, but ended up signing for VR46 Racing in a new affiliation.

Explaining why he’s the black sheep among Italians, Bastianini said: “It’s a question that a lot of people have asked me all the time, ever since I started racing. But the answer, in my opinion, is quite simple. I was never actually asked to join the Academy.