Silly Season Is Upon Us: MotoGP Edition

It's the summer time, which for motorsport means it's time to find out who will be racing where in the coming season. MotoGP, is no different. It's called silly season because rumours are flying around, the media and teams are speculating about who will be where and which teams will turn up with a good package and a good rider come the next season, and social media becomes a minefield of false information.

The 2025 season has largely been dominated by one man and one team, Marc Marquez and the factory Ducati have been a formidable duo; but the last four races have yielded four different winners, so it's not a straight domination for the Spaniard. There are 11 teams confirmed for entry in 2026, and currently there are four seats currently available, although if you believe the rumours about Jorge Martin, there might be five! Below is a list of the confirmed and available seats.

'+' presumed to be Franco Morbidelli
'*' contract dispute

I have not included sponsorship names, because these could change. To complete the list: Aprilia will be running their RS-GP26 for all their bikes, Ducati will run GP26 bikes for the factory team plus Di Giannantonio and GP25 bikes for Gresini and the second VR46 bike, Honda will run their RC213V for all riders, KTM will run their RC16 for all riders, and Yamaha will run their YZR-M1 for all riders.

The unfamiliar name at Pramac Yamaha is double World Super Bike Champion Toprak, a Turkish racer currently riding for BMW Motorrad WorldSBK, who is trying his talents in the prototype world for 2026 and beyond. The four riders missing from that list are Johann Zarco (Honda LCR), Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha), Luca Marini (Honda HRC), and Franco Morbidelli (VR46).

Jorge Martin Situation

If you haven't read out Jorge Martin story, there exists a contract dispute at the moment between Martin and Aprilia. The reigning world champion is contracted for 2026 with the Italian manufacturer, but believes there is a performance clause that he can execute to get out, even though the situation leading to that was his own fault. His injuries have been substantial, but technically speaking it started with lack of care and attention during pre-season and recovery training. The snowballing of his injuries has lead to him competing in only 1 Grand Prix all season.

If the pair come to a settlement and Martin remains at the team, the rumours of who could move to Aprilia go away. But assuming Martin either goes to Honda, as expected, or takes a year out, there opens up a factory seat at the second-best manufacturer of the 2025 season. Bezz has been doing very impressive things on that bike this year, taking the fight to Marquez on multiple occasions and securing a race win at Silverstone. It would make sense that Ogura or Fernandez would move up to the factory team, but as both are relatively junior, a more experienced rider could take that seat.

Honda Seats Available

Of the four seats available for 2026, three of them are at Honda. That doesn't mean the Japanese manufacturer won't extend current riders, it just means that all their contracts expired at the same time. French Grand Prix winner Johann Zarco, who currently rides for the satellite Honda team (LCR), is currently in talks with Honda for a ride at the factory team (HRC) replacing Luca Marini. His chances are pretty good since he has been the standout Honda rider of the season, but he's up against the most consistent rider of the season.

Marini was the only rider to have scored points at every Grand Prix in 2025 so far, and Honda have confirmed talks are underway. His streak came to an end after a crash in testing for the 8 hours of Suzuka, but the problem gets even more complicated when we factor in Jorge Martin. If Martin is looking to leave Aprilia, after making a rash move to a factory team when he lost the seat to Marquez, it's unlikely he would kick up such a fuss to move to LCR Honda. So that would mean there are three people competing for one seat at HRC Honda, who have been the less impressive of the two Honda teams all season. If I were Zarco, I'd stick around at LCR, he seems content there and the performance is equal if not better. It also takes him out of the Marini/Martin fight for that seat.

In none of this have we discussed Somkiat Chantra, who currently races for LCR Honda. Chantra is in his first season in MotoGP but signed a one-year deal with the satellite team. He has struggled so far this season to find pace, and isn't helped by the lack of fundamental pace from Honda and arm pump surgery following the Spanish Grand Prix. It's likely Honda are waiting to see what happens with Martin before they decide on Chantra's future, since they might move Marini to the satellite team instead.

KTM and VR46 Rumours

KTM have locked in their riders for 2026, but that hasn't stopped the rumours. The Austrian manufacturer have had their struggles this year, financially speaking, and there's still a question mark as to whether they will still be here in 2026 and beyond. As such, it makes sense that a talent such as Acosta would keep an eye on a potential move to another team. He has been linked to the spare seat at VR46, in place of Morbidelli. Acosta is a KTM Academy rider, but Rossi has stated that he "likes Acosta very much".

Acosta is not particularly happy with the state of the KTM development program at the moment as the team seemed to be struggling to find pace in the early part of the season. After Silverstone, Acosta spoke to Spanish media stating he "can't wait all his life to be champion". After the Dutch GP, it was reported that Acosta will be staying with KTM for 2026, but that doesn't mean he couldn't be tempted by a Ducati ride.

It's likely VR46 will announce Morbidelli for 2026 shortly, the Italian rider has put a decent performance in this season, despite a bit of bullish behaviour at Mugello. Two Italians at an Italian team run by an Italian is probably pretty good for marketing too, so it makes sense they stick with what they have.

To add to KTM woes, it was rumoured on Sky Sports that KTM rider Enea Bastianini might be looking elsewhere, after moving from Ducati to KTM Tech 3 this year. He has maintained his late race pace but hasn't started above 17th on the grid and has suffered because of it. There's a potential twist in the tale for Yamaha as he has been linked to the Pramac team, presumably to partner Razgatlioglu. He's also been linked to Aprilia, should Martin decide or is able to leave the team.