Vinales and Ducati, Acosta and Marquez: Who Wants to Learn From Whom in 2027

• Ducati confirms talks with Vinales about a test rider role alongside Michele Pirro, nothing has been decided yet
• At Ducati, Acosta first wants to understand the team and then learn from Marquez
• Toprak Razgatlioglu is already training again after his shoulder surgery on October 26

The Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang kicks off the last four race weekends of the 2026 MotoGP season. In the paddock, however, much of the talk is already about next year. In 2027, displacement drops to 850 cc, Pirelli supplies the tires, and many riders take on new roles. The full-time seats for next season are filled. What remains open is who will enter the new era in which role: as a test rider, as a promotion to a factory team or as a young rider looking to prove himself next to a champion.

Will Maverick Vinales become a Ducati test rider in 2027?

It is possible, but not decided. According to Ducati, the manufacturer is looking for a second test rider alongside Michele Pirro and is also talking to Vinales, but there is no agreement so far.

The need is easy to explain. Pirro has been testing for Ducati since 2013 and is now 40 years old. This season he was supported by Nicolo Bulega, who worked on the new 850cc prototype and thereby also prepared himself for MotoGP. In 2027, however, the Superbike world champion will race full-time for Valentino Rossi’s VR46 team. That leaves Pirro on his own again for the time being.

Vinales came into the picture after the Japanese Grand Prix in early October. At Motegi, he had been seen walking from the offices to the hospitality together with Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi. A week later in Indonesia, Tardozzi explained that the two have been friends for a long time, partly because Vinales’ masseur is a childhood friend of his son. That, he said, is how the story came about. He did admit, however, that given Pirro’s age, Ducati will probably need someone in the future. Who that will be is open. With a wink, he added that perhaps the rumor had even given Ducati the idea in the first place.

Sporting director Mauro Grassilli was more explicit on the Friday of the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island: “Apprezziamo molto Maverick e non è un mistero che siamo alla ricerca di un test rider da affiancare a Pirro. Ne stiamo parlando, ma non c’è niente al momento.” In English: “We value Maverick very much, and it is no secret that we are looking for a test rider to work alongside Pirro. We are talking about it, but there is nothing at the moment.”

How does Vinales himself feel about a test rider role?

Vinales has opened up his stance somewhat in recent weeks. In Indonesia, he still stressed that he wants to race, not test. He said he did not know whether a role as a test rider would satisfy him. In his own words, he thinks every evening about how things should continue. Because he has hardly ridden in the past two years, he says he still has a lot of energy.

After Grassilli’s comments, he sounded different at Phillip Island. He said he does not want to simply disappear from MotoGP next year and has to find a way to stay connected to the sport. He can also imagine a role as a replacement rider. His priority, however, is his left shoulder. The weekend in Australia showed how much it is still holding him back: he was the slowest KTM rider in qualifying and retired from the sprint after seven laps. For Vinales, this was a clear sign, because on this track he is normally fast even with his eyes closed. Once the shoulder can take the strain again, he wants to look at whether a return to racing is possible in the years after that. He had already ruled out a move to the Superbike World Championship in the summer.

As a test rider in 2027, he would not be able to gain much track time anyway. Following a rule change, test riders will no longer be allowed to compete as wildcards. He would, however, be on standby as a replacement if a full-time rider gets injured. He would bring plenty of experience. The 31-year-old has been racing in the premier class since 2015, has won races with Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia, and has ten victories in total. He finished third in the championship twice. At KTM, his fourth manufacturer, he remained winless, and after the dispute over his contract for 2027, there is no longer a place for him there.

What does Pedro Acosta say about his future teammate Marc Marquez?

Acosta sees their time together at Ducati above all as a chance to learn. The 22-year-old first wants to understand how his new team works and then gradually pick things up from Marquez while that is still possible.

Acosta does not name beating Marquez right away in the first year as his primary goal. After six years at KTM, he knows every process there, whereas he does not yet know anything about Ducati. For a young rider, he says, it is one of the last opportunities to experience Marquez up close before he ends his career.

Acosta is relaxed about the fact that Marquez is unlikely to voluntarily reveal his secrets. He is counting on his teammate having to show everything in the races anyway if he wants to stay at the front. His respect is huge: he puts Marquez on a par with Valentino Rossi and considers both to be the best in history. He sees the difference in their impact. Rossi moved the masses beyond the racetrack, albeit in a very different era. Marquez, on the other hand, achieved an enormous amount on track, beating riders such as Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and Rossi. The only one he never raced against was Casey Stoner. Acosta takes comparisons with Marquez as a compliment, but sees himself as a completely different person.

The goal behind the move is clear nonetheless. KTM CEO Gottfried Neumeister had said that, during talks about an extension, Acosta told him he wanted to beat Marquez on the same machinery. Even the prospect that KTM might have the better bike under the new regulations did not change that.

Why does Acosta think the 2027 balance of power is open?

In Acosta’s view, no manufacturer has shown everything yet. The only certainties are that the tires will change and the bikes will be slower; everything else is hard to judge before the Valencia test.

In his view, this applies to KTM as much as to Aprilia and Ducati. He therefore does not consider it a given that Ducati will automatically have the strongest package again under the new regulations. He explains why there were no more successes at KTM after his first MotoGP win with the competition. Ducati raised the level considerably, Marquez lifted the entire championship on the factory bike, and Aprilia took a big step. KTM did not manage that step in three years.

Acosta is very open about how important his first win was to him. At the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg, he won one day after crashing out of the lead in the sprint. Before that, he had been plagued by many doubts because things were not working out in MotoGP, even though a lot had come easily to him in the smaller classes. Looking back, he believes that in this frustrated phase he would not have ridden well on another bike either. Only when the results returned and he was able to pull away from the other KTM riders did he feel ready for a challenge like Ducati.

Why is Honda choosing Moreira over Alonso for the factory team?

Honda is betting on Diogo Moreira because he already brings one season of MotoGP experience. That is how his LCR teammate Johann Zarco and team manager Alberto Puig see it, both of whom believe David Alonso is better off at LCR in his first year.

Zarco expects Fabio Quartararo, who is coming from Yamaha, to take on the leading role in the factory team. As a complement, a second rider who already knows the premier class is needed. A rookie would be the riskier choice for that, even if he is good. The Frenchman considers it possible that riders stepping up from Moto2 will need less adaptation with the new bikes than before. With two experienced riders, however, a better overall result can be secured. For Alonso, LCR is the right place to learn.

Puig sees it the same way. The split had been discussed months in advance, and everyone involved knew about it. One point is important to him: at LCR, Alonso gets exactly the same material and the same treatment as the riders in the factory team. The difference lies in the environment. Those who are not at the center of the factory team face less additional pressure. With two young and two experienced riders spread across both teams, Puig sees Honda as well positioned.

Alonso himself supports the decision. He says LCR is the best solution for his debut, professional and family-like at the same time. He wants to benefit from Zarco’s experience and sees it as a good combination with his own enthusiasm. He is not disappointed; it simply was not yet his time for a factory team. Moreira is just as calm about his promotion. For him, nothing changes for now; he wants to finish the season with LCR and enjoy the last races. He had already sensed during the year that the step into the factory team was realistic. The final decision was made after the Japanese Grand Prix, where he finished second in the sprint.

What was behind Marc Marquez’s exhaustion?

Marquez does not cite a lack of fitness as the reason, but the consequences of his shoulder injury and the mental strain that comes with it. In the first half of the season, he says he woke up on Sundays so drained that he would have preferred to stay on the sofa all day.

The problems go back to his crash in Indonesia last year, shortly after winning the title. At the start of the season, sudden sensory disturbances in his arm were added. They were only resolved with surgery on the weekend of the French Grand Prix. The cause was a trapped nerve in the arm, the so-called radial nerve. Even after that, the right side of his upper body needed a lot of physiotherapy and recovery. At the same time, a race weekend has become considerably busier since the introduction of sprints in 2023.

According to him, it was not down to conditioning. The figures from cycling training and the other sessions were good, and from a cardiovascular point of view he was fit. What weighs more heavily is that with an injury you constantly think about your own body and can hardly switch off. Marquez drew his conclusions from this. At the track, he spends less time outside the garage and office and pays more attention to his condition. Since then, he says he feels better and has more energy. Perhaps it also helps that he firmly believes in this method.

This is also the reason for his noticeably restrained celebrations on the podium, most recently after his seventh sprint win of the season in Japan. In Mandalika, he even skipped the ride to the podium after the sprint and took off his leathers beforehand. Tardozzi made it clear that this was not a protest against the organizer. Marquez had been severely overheated and needed rest for physical reasons.

How is Toprak Razgatlioglu doing after his shoulder surgery?

The surgery on his right shoulder on October 26 went well, and Razgatlioglu has already started training again. His goal is to start the new era of 850cc bikes and Pirelli tires fit in 2027.

The Pramac Yamaha rider dislocated his shoulder in the second free practice session in Indonesia. He finished the sprint in pain and retired from the Grand Prix after eight laps. Further examinations in Milan showed that surgery was unavoidable. After the Australian Grand Prix, the 30-year-old will therefore also miss Sepang, Doha, Portimao and Valencia.

One day after the procedure, he posted on Instagram. He speaks of a difficult phase, because for the first time in his career he has to end a season early. Following the races on TV feels very strange, he says. He chose surgery in order to come back stronger and wants to be back on the bike as soon as possible. He thanked Yamaha, his team, the doctors and the fans for their support. The three-time Superbike world champion has not lost his sense of humor: he also posted a mirrored photo in which the scar appears to be on his healthy left shoulder.

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