Fabio Quartararo has become the fourth MotoGP world champion to switch teams for the first year of the 850cc regulation revolution set for next season, the Yamaha star inking a two-year deal to move to Honda.

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Quartararo has spent his entire eight-season, 144-race career with Yamaha since 2019, and won the 2021 world championship for the Japanese manufacturer, the last time any brand other than Ducati won the title.

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With 11 premier-class wins, Quartararo trails only Marc Marquez (76) and Francesco Bagnaia (31) for victories on the current grid, but the Frenchman hasn’t won a race since the German Grand Prix in June 2022 as MotoGP’s balance of power has shifted from Japan to Europe, Yamaha yet to win another race since Quartararo’s Sachsenring triumph over four years ago.

The 27-year-old sits 14th in the rider standings at the halfway mark of the 2026 season, which would be his worst finish in MotoGP should that sustain.

Quartararo’s move to Honda means that four of the past five world champions will switch manufacturers for 2027, with 2020 world champion Joan Mir moving from Honda to satellite Ducati team Gresini Racing, 2022-23 champion Bagnaia leaving Ducati to become Marco Bezzecchi’s teammate at Aprilia, and 2024 champion Jorge Martin effectively taking Quartararo’s seat at Yamaha, where he’ll be partnered by 2026 rising star Ai Ogura.

Quartararo has 11 Grand Prix wins, but none since the German Grand Prix of June 2022. (Photo by JOSE JORDAN / AFP)Source: AFP

Quartararo’s contract for 2027-28 was confirmed on Wednesday night (AEST), but was agreed as early as late January while not publicly announced as MotoGP’s manufacturers, under the umbrella of the Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers Association (MSMA), was locked in negotiations with series promoters MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group (MSEG, formerly known as Dorna) for a new five-year deal to run the sport from 2027-31, which was announced at the Czech Grand Prix in late June.

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Following that announcement, a raft of rider moves that had been agreed for several months – Martin, Mir and Bagnaia among them – were publicly announced, as was a two-year contract extension at Ducati for reigning world champion Marc Marquez.

Of the 22 full-time riders on this year’s grid, eight have already announced they’ll be riding for new teams next season.

Also on Wednesday night, Honda announced it had signed Moto2 front-runner David Alonso to a “multi-year” contract without announcing which of its two MotoGP teams the 20-year-old Colombian will ride for next year, with satellite team LCR Honda already having contracts with French veteran Johann Zarco and Brazilian premier-class rookie Diogo Moreira for 2027.

Moreira, the 2025 Moto2 champion, appears the most likely to partner Quartararo in Honda’s factory team for next season after an impressive rookie campaign, where the 22-year-old has three top-10 Grand Prix finishes in his first 11 starts.

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The Quartararo and Alonso announcements leave just six of the 22 seats on the 2027 grid up for grabs, with the vacant VR46 Ducati spot set for runaway World Superbikes leader Nicolo Bulega (Italy), and Jack Miller’s seat at Pramac Yamaha set to go to Moto2 graduate Izan Guevara (Spain).

Trackhouse Aprilia and Tech3 KTM are yet to confirm any riders, with current Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez likely to stay on.

Tech3, run by former F1 team boss Guenther Steiner, has indicated it will select a partnership of one experienced rider and one rookie for 2027, and looms as a possible landing place for fast-rising Australian Moto2 star Senna Agius if he steps up to the premier class next season.

Of the full-time riders on this year’s grid, Fernandez, Luca Marini, Enea Bastianini, Brad Binder, Franco Morbidelli, Alex Rins, Maverick Vinales and Miller do not have confirmed deals for 2027.

Every single line-up will contain at least one new rider next season, with five of the 11 teams featuring all-new partnerships in the biggest shake-up of the rider market in recent memory.

The 2027 MotoGP grid

Ducati Factory Team: Marc Marquez, Pedro Acosta

Gresini Ducati: Joan Mir, Dani Holgado (rookie)

VR46 Ducati: Fermin Aldeguer, TBC

Aprilia Factory Racing: Marco Bezzecchi, Francesco Bagnaia

Trackhouse Aprilia: TBC, TBC

KTM Factory Racing: Alex Marquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio

Tech3 KTM: TBC, TBC

Honda Factory Team: Fabio Quartararo, David Alonso (rookie)/Diogo Moreira

LCR Honda: Johann Zarco, David Alonso (rookie)/Diogo Moreira

Yamaha Factory Racing: Jorge Martin, Ai Ogura

Pramac Yamaha: Toprak Razgatlioglu, TBC