{"id":449397,"date":"2026-01-31T11:12:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T11:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/449397\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T11:12:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T11:12:33","slug":"alex-marquez-targeting-factory-motogp-seat-at-yamaha-and-ktm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/449397\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Marquez targeting factory MotoGP seat at Yamaha and KTM"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex Marquez<\/a> is chasing a factory seat in MotoGP for 2027 following his breakthrough campaign in MotoGP last year.<\/p>\n

After spending much of his career in the shadow of his older brother Marc Marquez<\/a>, the Gresini rider emerged runner-up in 2025 with an impressive campaign that included three grand prix victories, three Sprint wins, twelve podiums and a pole position.<\/p>\n

His results last season have not gone unnoticed by other teams, and the Spaniard (who will turn 30 on 23 April) does not want to let the opportunity to ride for a factory team slip through his fingers at the peak of his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The younger Marquez made the step up to MotoGP in 2020, signed to replace the unexpectedly retired Jorge Lorenzo<\/a> at the factory Honda team. That was also the year his brother Marc was sidelined by injury, and Alex endured a difficult campaign \u2018alone\u2019 in the HRC garage but still managed two second-place finishes as a rookie.<\/p>\n

The following season, Honda moved him to its satellite LCR team, where he became one of the casualties of the Japanese manufacturer\u2019s technical decline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2023, Marquez switched to Gresini, securing a seat aboard a satellite Ducati through his personal sponsors and lining up alongside Fabio Di Giannantonio<\/a>, then the team\u2019s lead rider under owner Nadia Padovani.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That move changed his career trajectory \u2014 and also mirrored the path his brother later took \u2014 but financial realities have not reflected his on-track performance. In 2024, Gresini paid him around \u20ac350,000, a sum that increased slightly in 2025 but still sits far below what a championship runner-up and multiple winner would typically command.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Alex <\/p>\n

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing<\/p>\n

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography \/ LAT Images \/ via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Jump to a factory seat<\/p>\n

With the factory Ducati seats effectively closed \u2014 following the Italian marque\u2019s agreement to retain Marc M\u00e1rquez and bring in Pedro Acosta<\/a> \u2014 Alex Marquez is quietly but swiftly exploring opportunities to secure a factory ride for 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His top targets are Yamaha and KTM, with Aprilia remaining a fallback option. A return to Honda is not currently seen as a realistic prospect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

KTM would be a natural destination given Alex\u2019s long association with Red Bull as a sponsor, and because his personal backing has helped bolster his earnings in the past. However, financial uncertainties surrounding the Austrian manufacturer \u2014 which remains in a significant crisis \u2014 lead many to believe Yamaha is the Spaniard\u2019s primary objective.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At Yamaha, he would also face internal competition for the seat, particularly from Francesco Bagnaia<\/a>, who is understood to be among the riders vying for the same position.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aprilia, with a much smaller budget, would likely pursue Enea Bastianini<\/a> as its priority after failing to secure a response from Bagnaia\u2019s representatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, Alex Marquez’s journey in MotoGP is not necessarily over if a factory ride does not materialise. His ties with Gresini remain strong, and should his ambition of stepping up to a factory squad not come to fruition for 2027, the doors at the outfit where he has enjoyed his best results will remain open beyond 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photos from Sepang shakedown – Day 2<\/p>\n

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\"Andrea<\/p>\n


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\n Sepang shakedown – Day 2, in photos
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\"Lorenzo<\/p>\n


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\"Jack<\/p>\n


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\"Mika<\/p>\n


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\"Fabio<\/p>\n


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\"Toprak<\/p>\n


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\"Andrea<\/p>\n


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\"Augusto<\/p>\n


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\"Jack<\/p>\n


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\"Diogo<\/p>\n


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\"Dani<\/p>\n


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\"Toprak<\/p>\n


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\"Pol<\/p>\n


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\"Alex<\/p>\n


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\n Sepang shakedown – Day 2, in photos
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\"Dani<\/p>\n


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\"Lorenzo<\/p>\n


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\"Fabio<\/p>\n


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\"Toprak<\/p>\n


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\"Pol<\/p>\n


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\n Sepang shakedown – Day 2, in photos
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\"Toprak<\/p>\n


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\"Toprak<\/p>\n


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\"Alex<\/p>\n


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\"Alex<\/p>\n


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\"Aleix<\/p>\n


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\"Jack<\/p>\n


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\"Aleix<\/p>\n


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\"Alex<\/p>\n


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\"Aleix<\/p>\n


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\"Dani<\/p>\n


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\"Alex<\/p>\n


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\"Michele<\/p>\n


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\"Fabio<\/p>\n


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\"Toprak<\/p>\n


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Read Also:<\/p>\n

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Take our 5 minute survey.<\/a><\/p>\n

– The Motorsport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex Marquez is chasing a factory seat in MotoGP for 2027 following his breakthrough campaign in MotoGP last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[8454,232503,5743,64,63,10735,5745,806,805,803,804,10670,85,42935],"class_list":["post-449397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-alex-marquez","tag-alex-marquez-targeting-factory-motogp-seat-at-yamaha-and-ktm","tag-aprilia-racing-team","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-gresini-racing","tag-motogp","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-red-bull-ktm-factory-racing","tag-sports","tag-yamaha-factory-racing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}