Ducati opens a new MotoGP era: Pedro Acosta alongside Marc Márquez from 2027, Bagnaia moves to Aprilia
Ducati Lenovo Team is entering a new MotoGP era with one of the most important moves in the rider market in recent years. Ducati Corse announced on June 24, 2026, that it had reached an agreement with Pedro Acosta for the 2027 and 2028 seasons, meaning the Spanish rider will move into the factory garage from Borgo Panigale after the end of the current season. Marc Márquez has already been confirmed in the same structure for the next technical cycle, so from 2027 Ducati will have at its disposal a combination of a current MotoGP star and one of the fastest-rising talents of the new generation. Francesco Bagnaia will leave the Ducati Lenovo Team at the end of the 2026 championship, and MotoGP.com reported on June 25, 2026, that the Italian rider had signed a four-year contract with Aprilia Racing from 2027. In just a few days, this completed a series of decisions that will strongly shape the order of the factory teams ahead of MotoGP’s major regulatory turning point.
Acosta gets a factory Ducati at a key moment in his career
According to Ducati Corse’s official announcement, Acosta will become a Ducati Lenovo Team rider at the end of the 2026 season and will make his debut on the factory Desmosedici GP motorcycle. In its statement, Ducati emphasized that it sees the 22-year-old Spaniard as one of the most talented riders in the MotoGP paddock, but also as a long-term investment in the team’s development project. Such wording clearly shows that this is not merely a short-term reinforcement, but a strategic decision for a period in which engines, tyres, aerodynamics and the overall technical philosophy of the class will change. Acosta comes to Ducati from KTM’s competitive environment, where he has gained a reputation in the premier class as a rider capable of adapting very quickly to the highest level. His move into red is therefore not just a change of garage, but also one of the key symbols of MotoGP’s transition toward the generation of riders that will define the rules from 2027 onward.
Ducati and MotoGP.com particularly highlighted Acosta’s rapid rise through the world championship in their announcements. The Spaniard won titles in the Moto3 and Moto2 categories within just three years of arriving in the world championship, and in MotoGP he already won rookie of the year recognition in his debut season in 2024. According to data cited by MotoGP.com, he finished the 2025 season fourth in the overall standings and had collected 13 podiums in the premier class by the time the transfer was announced. Such performance explains why Ducati was ready to open a place in its factory line-up precisely for him, even though the team had already had an extremely strong rider roster in recent years. In his new role, Acosta will not be treated only as a project for the future, but also as a rider from whom a contribution to the fight for victories is expected very quickly.
Márquez remains the anchor of Ducati’s project
Acosta’s arrival follows the earlier confirmation that Marc Márquez will remain with the Ducati Lenovo Team for the 2027 and 2028 seasons. Ducati Corse announced on June 23, 2026, that it had renewed its agreement with Márquez, meaning the Italian manufacturer first secured continuity around one of the most successful riders of the modern era, and then added to him a younger teammate with great development potential. According to Ducati’s announcement, Márquez achieved 14 sprint victories, 11 main race wins and the 2025 MotoGP world title in his first season with the factory team, with a record 545 points in a single season. That result gave Ducati a strong argument for continuing the cooperation, but also a framework within which it can introduce a new generation without giving up its current competitive strength. From the team’s perspective, the Márquez-Acosta pairing combines experience, speed, technical feedback and long-term market value.
In Ducati’s announcement, Márquez said he was happy to remain part of the Ducati Lenovo Team family, stressing that when he arrived at Ducati he believed it was the most competitive project. Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding, emphasized that continuing with Márquez gives continuity to a successful project and maintains the ambition for Ducati to remain at the top of MotoGP. That message fits with the decision on Acosta, because Ducati is not only trying to preserve its existing dominance but also to build in advance the structure for a period in which the previous technical advantage will not necessarily carry the same weight. In such a context, Márquez is not only the team’s first star, but also a reference point for motorcycle development and for the adaptation of his new teammate. For Acosta, sharing a garage with Márquez will be both an opportunity and a pressure: he will get the fastest possible comparison, but also daily insight into the standard Ducati wants to maintain.
Bagnaia closes the most successful Ducati story
The biggest casualty of the new arrangement in the factory garage is Francesco Bagnaia, the rider who brought Ducati back the title in the premier class after a long wait. Ducati Corse announced on June 24, 2026, that Bagnaia and the factory team would go their separate ways after the end of the 2026 season, following eight shared seasons in Ducati’s system, six of which he spent with the Ducati Lenovo Team. In its statement, the manufacturer from Borgo Panigale described him as the most successful rider on the Desmosedici GP, highlighting two MotoGP titles, 31 victories and 28 pole positions achieved during that period. It was especially emphasized that the 2022 title returned the MotoGP crown to Ducati 15 years after Casey Stoner’s 2007 title, while the second title in 2023 consolidated the marque’s most successful period in the premier category. For that reason, Bagnaia’s departure has sporting, emotional and historical significance for Ducati.
Ducati’s announcement was phrased with pronounced respect toward the rider who was the central figure in the marque’s rise during the first half of the decade. Domenicali pointed out that Bagnaia had written some of the most memorable pages in Ducati’s history, while Luigi Dall’Igna, General Manager of Ducati Corse, stated that the project built around Bagnaia’s talent had the goal of bringing the Desmosedici GP to its full potential. The team also announced that it would continue working with Bagnaia in the best possible way until the end of the 2026 season, which is important because the departure will be announced in the middle of the competitive year. In MotoGP, such situations often require precise management of information, technical development and relationships inside the garage, especially when a rider moves to a direct rival. Bagnaia therefore remains key to Ducati’s results until the end of the season, but at the same time a new chapter of his career is opening.
Aprilia gets a rider around whom it can build its next step forward
The day after Ducati confirmed the split, MotoGP.com reported that Francesco Bagnaia had signed a four-year contract with Aprilia Racing starting from 2027. According to that announcement, Bagnaia will ride the RS-GP alongside Marco Bezzecchi, giving Aprilia an all-Italian factory line-up and one of the most decorated active riders in the premier class. MotoGP.com states that Bagnaia has three world titles in his career, one in Moto2 from 2018 and two in MotoGP in 2022 and 2023, as well as a total of 41 victories, 86 podiums and 35 pole positions. For Aprilia, this is a signing that changes the perception of the project: from the role of an ambitious challenger, the team from Noale moves into a phase in which it can claim to have a rider proven capable of winning titles. In the era of new rules, such a combination may prove just as important as the level of the motorcycle itself.
Massimo Rivola, CEO of Aprilia Racing, said in the MotoGP.com announcement that Bagnaia’s arrival represents confirmation of the value of Italian sport and fills Aprilia with pride. Although the statement is strongly focused on the project’s national identity, the sporting message is broader than that: Aprilia is trying to use the 2027 regulatory reset to reduce or eliminate the gap to Ducati. Bagnaia’s experience with the Desmosedici and the factory system that for years has been the benchmark of the category could have great value in motorcycle development, in the organization of garage work and in understanding the details that decide races. Aprilia has already shown increasing competitiveness in recent seasons, and bringing in a rider of such a profile increases expectations and internal pressure. In that sense, Bagnaia does not arrive only as a replacement for an individual rider, but as the foundation of a possible new Aprilia cycle.
The new rules from 2027 raise the stakes in every decision
The reason why this transfer is so significant lies not only in the names of the riders, but also in the moment in which it is happening. According to MotoGP’s explanation of the 2027 rules, engine capacity in the premier class will be reduced from 1000 to 850 cubic centimetres, aerodynamics will be more strictly limited, and ride-height devices and start holeshot systems will be banned. MotoGP has also confirmed that from 2027 fuel in all Grand Prix classes will have to be 100 percent of non-fossil origin, while a separate announcement stated that Pirelli will become the official tyre supplier for MotoGP from 2027. Such a set of changes means that 2027 will not merely be a continuation of the existing balance of power, but the beginning of a new development race in which rider adaptability and technical feedback will have additional value. That is precisely why Ducati is already shaping its line-up for a period that could redefine the balance of power in the championship.
In the existing 1000cc era, Ducati has built a reputation as the manufacturer that best combines engine, aerodynamics, electronics and depth of rider roster. The reduction in capacity, the change of tyres and the ban on certain systems could put part of that advantage to a new test. Márquez brings enormous experience with different generations of prototypes to such an equation, while Acosta brings the aggressive adaptability of a rider who has already shown at an early stage of his career that he can extract a great deal from a motorcycle that has not always been the reference of the class. Bagnaia, on the other hand, brings Aprilia knowledge of a winning factory structure and of the way Ducati developed to the top. For that reason, the consequences of this rider market will only be measured once the 850cc motorcycles begin competing at full intensity. The stakes are not only the 2027 title, but positioning for an entire multi-year cycle.
Championship stability and unrest in the rider market
MotoGP Group announced on June 24, 2026, that it had reached an agreement with 11 teams for the period from 2027 to 2031, confirming the teams’ long-term participation in the world championship and securing the commercial and governance basis for the new era. The official announcement stated that this framework complements the agreement with the manufacturers and should provide stability for the teams, the fan experience and the global development of the championship. Paradoxically, precisely that institutional stability comes at the moment of one of the most turbulent reshuffles of the rider market. Ducati has decided to pair Márquez and Acosta, Aprilia has attracted Bagnaia, and the other factory structures will have to assess how quickly they can respond to such a balance of power. For the championship, this is an attractive scenario because the new rules are not arriving in a vacuum, but together with major stories that can increase interest in the first season of the new cycle.
For Ducati, the decision carries clear logic, but also significant risk. The team gets perhaps the most exciting duo on the grid, but the shared garage of Márquez and Acosta will require precise management of ambitions, development priorities and sporting authority. For Acosta, this is an opportunity to get, for the first time, a package that should enable him to fight regularly for victories, while for Márquez it represents the arrival of a teammate who can be both an ally in development and an immediate rival for status. Bagnaia gets room at Aprilia to prove himself anew after the end of a cycle in which he reached the top with Ducati. If Aprilia uses his feedback and the new rulebook, the transfer could become just as important as Acosta’s move to Ducati.
What is already clear is that Ducati has decided to tie the future of its factory team to Márquez and Acosta, while Bagnaia closes one of the most successful chapters in the marque’s history and opens a new one in Noale. In the 2026 season, that change will still live in the shadow of the current battle for points, but every race until the end of the year will also be viewed through the question of what comes after Valencia. Ducati will try to end the Bagnaia era with results worthy of their shared history, while at the same time preparing the garage for the pair that is supposed to carry the red colour in the new technical period. Aprilia, meanwhile, will get with Bagnaia the clearest confirmation that its ambitions are no longer just gradual growth, but an attack on the top. MotoGP is entering a new rule of the game from 2027, and the rider market has already shown that the biggest players are behaving as if that era began before the first race.
Sources:
- Ducati Corse – official announcement on the agreement with Pedro Acosta for the Ducati Lenovo Team until 2028. (link)
- Ducati Corse – official announcement on Francesco Bagnaia’s departure from the Ducati Lenovo Team at the end of the 2026 season. (link)
- Ducati Corse – official confirmation of the continuation of cooperation with Marc Márquez for the 2027 and 2028 seasons. (link)
- MotoGP.com – announcement on Francesco Bagnaia’s four-year contract with Aprilia Racing from 2027. (link)
- MotoGP.com – announcement on the agreement between MotoGP Group and 11 teams for the 2027–2031 period. (link)
- MotoGP.com – official explanation of the new technical rules for 2027 and the change to 850 cubic centimetres. (link)
- MotoGP.com – announcement on Pirelli becoming the official tyre supplier for MotoGP from 2027. (link)
- MotoGP.com – announcement on 100 percent non-fossil fuel in Grand Prix classes from 2027. (link)