One expert is convinced: MotoGP riders will have to adapt massively for 2027

They are black, round – and, from 2027, supplied by Pirelli. After eleven years on Michelin tyres, MotoGP riders will be competing on standard tyres from northern Italy rather than Michelin from next season onwards. For some motor racing fans, this may not be a particularly exciting topic, but the impact on the development of the motorbikes is enormous.

The five manufacturers competing in the premier class – Aprilia, Ducati, Honda, KTM and Yamaha – will have to, by 2027, when the new technical regulations come into force for the first time, not only develop engines with 850cc instead of 1000cc and devise significantly less innovative aerodynamic packages; the future machines will also be built around the Pirelli tyres, whilst doing away with height-adjustable suspension.

On 22 June, in Brno, Czech Republic, a number of regular MotoGP riders took to the track together for the first time on next year’s bikes; SPEEDWEEK.com published an exclusive photo series on the occasion. The next test will take place on Monday (21 September) at the Red Bull Ring, following the Austrian Grand Prix.

Raul Fernandez

Foto: David Ulrich

Toprak Razgatlioglu

Foto: David Ulrich

Luca Marini

Foto: David Ulrich

Fermin Aldeguer

Foto: David Ulrich

Dani Pedrosa auf der KTM mit Tarnkleid

Foto: David Ulrich

Augusto Fernandez

Foto: David Ulrich

Marco Bezzecchi

Foto: David Ulrich

Marc Marquez

Foto: David Ulrich

Marc Marquez mit der 850er-Ducati beim Brünn-Test

Foto: David Ulrich

Pol Espargaro

Foto: David Ulrich

Raul Fernandez

© David Ulrich

“We’re providing all manufacturers with various options and will then decide which range we’ll use later on,” explained Pirelli’s head of racing, Giorgio Barbier, in a one-on-one interview with SPEEDWEEK.com. “That’s why the Brno test was so important for us, as was the one at Misano a month earlier. When all manufacturers are on the track on the same day, we get the best feedback.”

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Manufacturers and riders have a lot of work ahead of them

It quickly became apparent that some motorbikes are better suited to the future standard tyres than others; there is still a great deal of work ahead for everyone involved before the start of the season in Thailand in early March 2027.

“The reason the riders don’t like certain aspects of our tyres is that the motorbikes are tuned for the current ones,” Barbier noted. “Up until now, they’ve had to ride in a specific way to suit the tyres’ characteristics – that’s what they’ve learnt over the last eleven years. But the new tyres have different strengths because they’re made by a different manufacturer. We won’t be producing Michelin-Pirelli tyres, but Pirelli tyres. And they need to learn how to make the most of them. That means some will have to change their riding style. And the engineers may need to adjust certain aspects of their motorbikes. Because if you’ve been developing your machine for eleven years with a specific manufacturer in mind, and that manufacturer changes, it inevitably has consequences.”

Of next year’s 22 MotoGP riders, only six have extensive experience with Pirelli: the four riders moving up from Moto2 – David Alonso, Daniel Holgado, Senna Agius and Izan Guevara – as that class has been supplied by the Italian brand since 2024. Added to these are Toprak Razgatlioglu, who has won three world championships and 78 races in Superbikes on Pirelli tyres and can hardly wait for the switch – as he still isn’t particularly keen on the Michelin front tyre – as well as his prospective successor in the production-based championship, Nicolo Bulega.

Pirelli-Rennchef Giorgio Barbier

Foto: gold & goose