Who will ride where in MotoGP 2027: Full Silly Season predictions

Teams have four weeks to rest and recover from a wild first half of the season on and off the track.

The top five in the riders’ championship is the closest it’s ever been after 11 races, and it has to be, with members of the grid desperate to prove themselves to 2027 employers.

A new era of regulations meant almost all of the 22 riders didn’t have a contract for the next campaign, but we now have 12 names nailed down.

Among the biggest headlines is Pedro Acosta joining Marc Marquez at Ducati, pushing Francesco Bagnaia out to Aprilia, who in turn have seen Jorge Martin switch to Yamaha.

However, there are still 10 seats up for grabs, including two at the most successful team in the sport’s history, which is where we begin our predictions…

Honda’s main race seat is perhaps the easiest to predict of all the ten up for grabs, with Fabio Quartararo long-rumoured to have been snapped up.

The 2020 World Champion has already been replaced by Martin and Ai Ogura at Yamaha, and Honda will want a proven winner to front their new era, having deteriorated since their last championship with Marquez in 2019.

The other seat is harder to predict, but we’re going with Diogo Moreira. The reigning Moto2 champion has kept pace with the vastly experienced Johann Zarco at LCR Honda and gotten a deal with HRC until the end of 2028. He could still stay at the satellite squad, but a call-up seems more likely for the Brazilian.

VR46 look well set to do what would’ve been unimaginable during the peak of Valentino Rossi’s rivalry with Marquez - signing a Spaniard.

The autonomous team was initially founded to bring through the best Italian talent, but things are getting serious in 2027 with the very likely signing of Fermin Aldeguer.

VR46 bosses as good as confirmed the deal by saying they want an Italian in the other seat, and Aldeguer has since seen current squad Gresini bring in Joan Mir and Dani Holgado.

That Italian is also very predictable with Nicolo Bulega destroying World Superbikes this season. A former VR46 Academy rider and already a Ducati rider, team boss Claudio Domenicali has said they’re trying to finalise a deal to bring him back to the sport.

One of the most surprisingly in-demand rides on the grid, Trackhouse can offer a race-winning bike to any prospective riders, at least in 2026.

The Aprilia satellite squad have already lost Dutch Grand Prix winner Ogura to Yamaha, but we expect them to keep Raul Fernandez.

Partnering him should be Enea Bastianini. The Italian seven-time race winner has long been rumoured to have agreed a switch, but KTM had an option to retain him which has now passed.

Johann Zarco is signed through to the end of 2027, but there are even doubts about him given his injury that’s kept him out of six races already and will continue for a seventh in Silverstone.

Having predicted Moreira to HRC, we think Moto2 talent David Alonso will get the second LCR seat as he was previously linked to the main squad. This is one of the hardest to call, though, with Alonso’s title challenge faltering, perhaps causing LCR to look elsewhere.

Turkish talent Toprak Razgatlioglu has signed for 2027 and will almost certainly have a new teammate, with the man currently on the other side of the garage, Jack Miller, candidly admitting ‘I don’t have a job next season’.

Moto2 title contender Izan Guevara looks like the safest bet to replace the much-loved Aussie.

KTM reportedly had options to keep current satellite riders Bastianini and Maverick Vinales, but those have now expired, strongly suggesting the team will have a brand-new line-up next season.

Like the other satellite squads, Tech3 are linked to Moto2 title contenders, this time Spaniard Manuel Gonzalez and Australian Senna Agius.

However, new team owner Guenther Steiner is probably still having flashbacks from his infamous 2021 Haas F1 team pairing of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

As such, we predict he’ll get one experienced benchmark rider in - Luca Marini - and then the higher-ranked Moto2 rider - Gonzalez.