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Ahead of the most chaotic off-season imaginable \u2013 one where just five of this year\u2019s 22 full-time riders will turn up at Valencia for the first pre-season test of the brand-new 850cc machinery set to compete for the 2027 championship with the same teams as they raced for this year \u2013 the final nine rounds of 2026 will be the end of a long era for some team and rider combinations, the final laps of marriages of convenience that didn\u2019t quite work out, or nine rounds of being in limbo where one or both parties can\u2019t stand the sight of one another, but have to make it work as best they can. <\/p>\n
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\u201850 PER CENT CAPACITY\u2019<\/a> Champ\u2019s battered body stuns in \u2018endurance\u2019 quest, Aussie made to wait<\/p>\n MILLER DIGS IN<\/a> How Aussie found \u2018one of his best moments\u2019 after being given marching orders<\/p>\n Marc Marquez (factory Ducati), Marco Bezzecchi (factory Aprilia), Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia), Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha) will all rock up to Valencia on December 1st and roll into familiar garages, that quintet all staying with their current teams for 2027. <\/p>\n Diogo Moreira will be either riding for his current LCR Honda team or the Honda factory in \u201927, so the machinery the Brazilian rookie throws his leg over won\u2019t change. Ducati\u2019s Fermin Aldeguer will swap the blue of Gresini Ducati for the fluoro yellow of Valentino Rossi\u2019s VR46 Ducati team, so things will be the same, but different.<\/p>\n Other than that? <\/p>\n There\u2019s no fewer than 10 riders \u2013 Ai Ogura (switching from Aprilia to Yamaha), Fabio Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez (both moving from Ducati to KTM), Luca Marini (Honda to KTM), Pedro Acosta (KTM to Ducati), Enea Bastianini (KTM to Aprilia), plus world champion quartet<\/a> Jorge Martin (Aprilia to Yamaha), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati to Aprilia), Joan Mir (Honda to Ducati) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha to Honda) \u2013 set to step into different pit boxes on the first day of the northern hemisphere winter. <\/p>\n Another five \u2013 KTM\u2019s Brad Binder, Ducati\u2019s Franco Morbidelli and KTM\u2019s Maverick Vinales, plus Yamaha pair Alex Rins and Aussie Jack Miller \u2013 will be off to pastures new, their MotoGP time in the rear-view. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a crazy amount of change<\/a>, but not every parting will be amicable, December possibly coming as blessed relief for some rider\/team alliances that have been fraying at the seams the longer 2026 has gone, and with the genesis of their divorces forged long before.<\/p>\n Sure, separations can be amicable \u2013 Acosta continues to give his all for KTM<\/a>, Miller diligently works at Yamaha\u2019s fledgling (but largely floundering) V4 engine project, and both Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez are sunny personalities seeing out time at satellite teams with reputations for immaculate vibes. <\/p>\n But some break-ups will be \u2013 or have high potential to be \u2013 messy. <\/p>\n Adelaide unveils MotoGP circuit plans | 00:59<\/p>\n PUBLIC CRACKS APPEAR IN ONCE-PERFECT MARRIAGE<\/p>\n Of all the separations set to finally take place come December in Valencia, Quartararo and Yamaha always had the potential to be the ugliest. <\/p>\n The most recent race in Aragon only brought that into sharper focus. <\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n ADELAIDE UNVEILED<\/a> A first look at the street circuit set to host MotoGP in 2027<\/p>\n TALKING POINTS <\/a> Aussie\u2019s big statement after sacking, inside \u2018amazing\u2019 315km\/h duel<\/p>\n Quartararo has started all 146 of his premier-class Grands Prix with Yamaha, firstly with its satellite Petronas-backed team in 2019, then with the factory squad from 2021 onwards. Success was immediate, and sustainable \u2013 he took six poles as a rookie in 2019, won his first trio of races a year later, then five more in 2021, when he won the world championship. <\/p>\n Since? Pickings have been slim. <\/p>\n Quartararo built a 91-point championship lead over Ducati\u2019s Bagnaia by winning the 2022 German Grand Prix, then famously squandered it to lose the title at the final round in Valencia just 10 races later. That June day at the Sachsenring remains his \u2013 and Yamaha\u2019s \u2013 most recent MotoGP victory. <\/p>\n Quartararo won three Grands Prix in his failed title defence in 2022 … and none since. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n Since, there\u2019s been occasional podiums, five astonishing pole positions last year on a troubled bike he somehow dragged to ninth in the championship, and a healthier bank balance; the Frenchman\u2019s two-year contract extension in 2024 was reportedly worth 12 million Euros (A$19 million) per season, making him one of the sport\u2019s highest-paid riders. <\/p>\n The frustrations, though, continued to mount, and \u2013 underwhelmed by Yamaha\u2019s efforts to fast-track its brand-new V4 engine project to the grid in 2026 \u2013 Quartararo agreed to move to Honda for 2027-28 before this season even began, the deal finally being announced in July<\/a>. <\/p>\n With the 850cc regulation change approaching the speed of an Aprilia \u2013 if not Yamaha\u2019s sluggish YZR-M1 \u2013 time testing the new bikes, to be shod with new tyres from new supplier Pirelli, is precious, and appears to be at the heart of the Quartararo\/Yamaha public spat after Aragon, where Quartararo failed to complete the sprint after an engine let go before finishing last after a listless ride in the Grand Prix proper. <\/p>\n Afterwards, it came to light that Yamaha had barred Quartararo from testing its 850cc bike on Pirelli tyres for the one-day test at the Red Bull Ring on September 21, the Monday after the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix. <\/p>\n It\u2019s not unusual for teams to park riders who are heading elsewhere for the following season when it comes to testing new machines at any time, let alone when MotoGP is about to embark on its biggest regulatory change in 15 years. That said, KTM (with Acosta) and Honda (with Mir and Marini) have or are giving track time to riders set for pastures new. <\/p>\n That \u2013 and Quartararo\u2019s simmering disgust at being 15th in this year\u2019s standings, his worst-ever season \u2013 was the tipping point. <\/p>\n In an interview session with French media after the Aragon GP, the 2021 world champion pulled no punches. <\/p>\n \u201cFor the future, I am not in a position to help \u2026 and for personal reasons, I don\u2019t want to help,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to do the tests in Austria, but unfortunately, Yamaha doesn\u2019t want me to ride on Pirelli tyres. I wanted to do something, but they won\u2019t let me.<\/p>\n \u201cPersonally, I don\u2019t want to develop the [Yamaha] bike for the 2027 riders. If we can improve something for this year, I\u2019ll do it, but I\u2019m not going to push myself to the limit and act as a test rider like I did this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n Yamaha\u2019s management, typically very measured and corporate in matters of conjecture or controversy, reacted strongly. <\/p>\n With Quartararo\u2019s teammate Rins and Pramac Yamaha stablemate Miller both likely off to World Superbikes \u2013 Rins almost certainly with another manufacturer \u2013 next year, the Japanese brand will use Miller\u2019s teammate Razgatlioglu at the Austria test, and is set to call up the Australian\u2019s 2027 replacement, Spanish Moto2 rider Izan Guevara, to ride its new bike. <\/p>\n It was the departing Miller<\/a> that Yamaha factory team director Massimo Meregalli brought up in an interview with French publication L\u2019Equipe in response.<\/p>\n Miller to leave Pramac at seasons end | 00:35<\/p>\n \u201cFabio should follow Jack\u2019s example \u2013 he always gives his all and makes sure that, even if things get tough, everyone stays in good spirits,\u201d Meregalli said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll be using Razgatlioglu and most certainly Guevara for the test in Austria because they\u2019ll be with us next year. <\/p>\n \u201cAll the manufacturers have taken this decision [not to run riders who are leaving]. Martin and Ogura won\u2019t be testing the Aprilia, Bagnaia won\u2019t be testing the Ducati, Acosta won\u2019t be testing the KTM. We won\u2019t be letting Miller test our 850cc, either.\u201d<\/p>\n In the same L\u2019Equipe story, Yamaha Motor Racing managing director Paolo Pavesio \u2013 who came to the role five months after Quartararo was retained on huge money by Yamaha in 2024 \u2013 expressed a similarly unimpressed tone. <\/p>\n \u201cFabio regularly complains that we\u2019re not developing the bike, and when we ask him to test new parts, he criticises us for it, saying he loses his way,\u201d Pavesio said. <\/p>\n \u201cHe lacks a bit of objectivity. Of course, we\u2019re not at the level we\u2019d like to be. But like our rivals, we\u2019re trying to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n All eyes, then, will be on Quartararo\u2019s response and approach to this weekend\u2019s 14th round of the season at Misano, the same track where he became the first French premier-class world champion five years ago. <\/p>\n If there\u2019s a relationship that may not last the rest of the season \u2013 given Yamaha has test rider Augusto Fernandez on hand, the Spaniard having already appeared as a wildcard at four events this season while simultaneously testing the 2027 850cc machine \u2013 this might be one of two \u2026<\/p>\n Quartararo, the 2021 world champion, will move from Yamaha to Honda next season. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n THE OTHER ALLIANCES COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS<\/p>\n Other end-of-season break-ups aren\u2019t as likely to end as harshly as Quartararo\/Yamaha, no matter what fence-mending goes on in public over the coming weeks. <\/p>\n But the union between Maverick Vinales and KTM could come close. <\/p>\n Just as Aprilia was beginning to show signs of the form in 2024 that has led the smaller of MotoGP\u2019s two Italian factories to become its number one force this season, Vinales left for KTM at the end of that season, the same campaign where he was the only rider to deny Ducati a clean sweep of the entire 20-race calendar by winning the Grand Prix of the Americas in Texas. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a move that hasn\u2019t gone well, besides one remarkable Vinales ride in round four of last season in Qatar<\/a> where he qualified sixth, led for five laps, crossed the line in second just 1.8secs behind a rampaging Marc Marquez \u2026 and was then demoted to 14th by a 16-second tyre pressure penalty. <\/p>\n Seven rounds later in Germany, Vinales crashed in a wet qualifying session and badly damaged his left shoulder. He\u2019s barely been seen since, missing 13 of the subsequent 25 rounds as his recovery lingers, and has scored just 13 world championship points in the past 14 months. <\/p>\n Out of contract and out of other seats to grab for 2027 \u2013 the two unconfirmed seats on next year\u2019s grid are slated to go to runaway World Superbikes leader Nicolo Bulega (at VR46 Ducati) and Australia\u2019s Senna Agius (at Vinales\u2019 current employer, Tech3 KTM) \u2013 the Spaniard\u2019s return if and when it happens could be tense. <\/p>\n Vinales has missed almost as many races as he\u2019s started since joining KTM for the 2025 season. (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve already accepted that I\u2019ll probably be out of MotoGP, I don\u2019t want to stay here at KTM,\u201d he said at this year\u2019s German Grand Prix, pouring petrol on a fire already blazing.<\/p>\n \u201cThey sent me a contract, I signed it, and two weeks later they told me it wasn\u2019t valid.\u201d <\/p>\n Vinales\u2019 time with Yamaha from 2017-21 ended in controversial circumstances where, just one race after qualifying on pole and finishing second to then-teammate Quartararo at Assen in 2021, he was suspended by Yamaha after being accused of trying to blow up his bike\u2019s engine in Austria, and never raced for the brand again.<\/p>\n KTM test rider Pol Espargaro, as he has for the past two rounds, will deputise for Vinales this weekend at Misano<\/a>, it would surprise few if Espargaro is drafted in for the majority of the final run to Valencia, particularly through the gruelling five-round \u2018flyaways\u2019 outside of Europe through Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia and \u2013 should it go ahead \u2013 Qatar. <\/p>\n Of the other alliances on the grid looking forward for Valencia to come and go, the Bagnaia\/Ducati marriage \u2013 one that has produced 31 wins and two premier-class world titles \u2013 has been headed towards an uneasy conclusion ever since Ducati opted to sign Acosta to partner Marc Marquez in an all-Spanish super team<\/a> straddling generations for the next two seasons, Bagnaia moving to Aprilia next year on a four-year deal. <\/p>\n Coincidence or not, Bagnaia\u2019s form has faceplanted ever since Marquez arrived in the sister garage \u2013 he finished fifth overall last year for his worst championship result since 2020, and has slumped further to eighth this year, his last-round crash in Aragon one of 12 DNFs in his past 19 Grands Prix starts. <\/p>\n Bagnaia\u2019s mostly successful stint at Ducati is headed for a quiet, underwhelming conclusion. (Photo by Mirco Lazzari gp\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n The Bastianini\/KTM relationship \u2013 which always felt like a second-choice option for both parties \u2013 will likely peter out as the Italian rider finally gets his wish to be back on an Italian bike, \u2018The Beast\u2019 heading to Trackhouse Aprilia for next season. <\/p>\n