Quartararo is making a bombshell move, and it’s started an early chain reaction in the rider market.
Fabio Quartararo is leaving Yamaha. Words that fans have been semi-expectant of given the tensions over the last couple of years. But what does that mean for the rest of the MotoGP paddock? Well, the rumours are already swirling and “silly season” has arrived early. Let’s take a look at some of the key players that may show their hand in the wake of Quartararo’s move.
Jorge Martín
The Madrid-born racer won the World Championship in 2024, riding for Pramac Racing. He had his sights on Ducati, but they chose to bring in Marc Márquez from their satellite team, Gresini. Martín signed with Aprilia for the 2025 season, but it wasn’t exactly the smoothest campaign.
First, and injury in pre-season testing, then another whilst training for the first race. Sounds bad enough, right? At the fourth race of the season in Qatar, Martín crashed and was run over by Fabio Di Giannantonio. 11 broken ribs and a collapsed lung meant a slow recovery process. During this time, news started to spread that he was trying to actively part ways with Aprilia, but they wouldn’t release him from his contract early.
Martín returned to racing at round 12 in Brno, where he managed to finish inside the top 10. Five rounds later in the Japan Sprint Race, another big crash resulted in a displaced fracture in his collarbone. This was effectively game over for the season, although he did manage a brief stint at the final race in Valencia. Now the door is open at Yamaha, and Martín has reportedly almost finalised a deal to race with them for 2027 and 2028.
Francesco Bagnaia
Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia first joined Ducati in 2019, when he raced for their satellite team, Pramac Racing. In 2021 he was moved up to the factory Ducati, where he has been ever since. The move resulted in a second-place finish in the championship, just 26 points behind Quartararo. In 2022, Bagnaia took the title and made history as he completed the largest ever points overhaul in the premier class. What’s more, he managed to successfully defend the title the following year. This made him only the third rider in the MotoGP era to win back-to-back titles after Valentino Rossi and Marc Márquez.
In 2024, despite racking up 11 feature race wins, he conceded the title to Jorge Martín. Marc Márquez became his teammate in 2025, and Bagnaia suddenly found himself struggling for form. He was unable to match the pace of Márquez, and a string of retirements just added to his woes.
Despite Bagnaia saying that the 2026 Ducati has given him confidence, his seat is on the line after a disappointing 2025 season. There’s rumours that Ducati are eyeing up Pedro Acosta to partner Márquez. Bagnaia has it in him to win more championships, and with Martín reportedly on his way out of Aprilia, there’s a potential spot open. It would be a logical move for Bagnaia, as the Aprilia was able to really bring the fight to Ducati in 2025. Where he’ll end up though, only time will tell.
Joan Mir and Luca Marini
Honda HRC currently has both Joan Mir and Luca Marini in their line up, but both rider contracts are due to expire at the end of 2026. Quartararo’s move to the team in 2027 has added some extra spice to the mix.
Mir joined the team in 2023, under their former name of Repsol Honda and partnered with Marc Márquez. It was a lacklustre season for the team, and Márquez left for Gresini at the end of the year. With Márquez’s seat vacant, Honda secured a deal with VR46’s Luca Marini.
Both riders provide their own value to the team. Mir is a two-time world champion, with 10 years of MotoGP racing experience. Marini has been instrumental in developing Honda’s RC213V. It’s well known that Marini consistently provides methodical feedback to the engineers that has provided crucial answers to technical problems.
Whether either rider will remain with Honda is yet to be seen, but it’s safe to say they won’t be the only ones fighting for a spot on the MotoGP grid at the end of 2026.
What Next?
We haven’t even hit the first race of 2026, and there’s still three team launches to take place. Yet Quartararo has sprung “silly season” upon us in record time. A number of contracts are due to expire at the end of the year. There’s pressure on the riders to show they are worth signing. The teams aren’t immune to the pressure either, needing to show they can provide race winning bikes if they want to keep their riders. I think it’s easy to say that the 2026 MotoGP season is going to keep everyone on their toes.
Feature image credit – Aimee Edwards