Five current MotoGP riders are losing their seats: what’s in store for them in 2027

MotoGP is a tough business: anyone who fails to live up to expectations is likely to lose their seat sooner rather than later. The 2026–2027 season will see the biggest shake-up in years, with five of the 22 regular riders set to lose their places in the premier class. They have three things in common: they are all over 30 years old, multiple MotoGP winners, and were ranked in the bottom half of the World Championship standings at the summer break.

Overall, the most successful of the three is Maverick Viñales, with 10 MotoGP wins and 35 podium finishes for Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia. The 31-year-old finished third in the World Championship in 2017 and 2019, both times on a Yamaha. Due to injury, he has endured two very difficult years with KTM since 2025; the 22nd-placed rider in the World Championship is expected to announce his retirement from professional racing at the end of this season.

Alex Rins (6 wins, 18 podium finishes) enjoyed his best MotoGP season in the Covid-19 year of 2020, when his Suzuki team-mate Joan Mir became World Champion and Alex finished third. With Suzuki’s withdrawal from MotoGP, Rins’s career went into decline; the 30-year-old has not managed to finish higher than 18th in the World Championship in the two years he has spent with Honda and the two and a half years with Yamaha; he is currently 19th. The curly-haired rider has expressed an interest in the Superbike World Championship, but no factory team has him on their list. His only remaining options are with Ducati privateer teams, though these demand a fee of several hundred thousand euros.

Jack Miller made headlines

Jack Miller (31) made quite a few headlines when he demanded a salary of one million euros a year from the factory teams interested in him for the World Superbike Championship. Only Honda and BMW could afford that. However, the Japanese manufacturer would first have to set up a satellite team from scratch for there to be a vacant seat at all. Somkiat Chantra, who has a valid HRC contract for 2027, would then be moved there, and Miller could ride alongside Jake Dixon. BMW is also interested in the entertaining Australian, but despite four MotoGP wins and 23 podium finishes, he is not at the top of their wish list. This is because in 2025 and 2026, ‘Jackass’ was clearly overshadowed by his Yamaha team-mate Fabio Quartararo; and, in 20th place overall, he is just one place ahead of his rookie team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu and has a mere seven points more to his name.

Brad Binder (30) has the best chance at BMW, having won twice in the premier class and finished on the podium eleven times. The South African is said to have the right riding style for Superbikes; for inexplicable reasons, he has struggled to find his form on the KTM RC16 this year, but as 13th in the World Championship, he is by far the best of the riders leaving MotoGP. Binder has been riding for the Austrian manufacturer in the top category since 2020 and has finished the World Championship in 11th, 6th, 6th, 4th, 5th and 11th place since then.

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Bright prospects for Franky Morbidelli

Alongside Binder, Franco Morbidelli (31) also has a bright future ahead of him. The 2020 World Championship runner-up on a Yamaha has three wins and eight podium finishes to his name and is the leading candidate for the seat alongside Iker Lecuona in the Aruba Ducati SBK works team. The Roman rider has to make way at VR46 for the up-and-coming Superbike champion Nicolo Bulega; as an Italian, ‘Morbido’ fits in well with the Aruba concept.

The newcomers to MotoGP have also already been confirmed. Alongside Bulega at VR46 Ducati, they are Daniel Holgado (Gresini Ducati), David Alonso at Honda (expected to be with the LCR team), Izan Guevara at Pramac Yamaha and Senna Agius at Tech3 KTM.

2027 MotoGP line-up: