MotoGP™ 2024: Complete Guide to the Teams and Riders

Explore the complete guide to MotoGP™ 2024 – discover the top teams, star riders, and major transfers that shaped a thrilling World Championship season.

The line-up of MotoGP™ teams and riders for 2024 included five prestigious manufacturers and an array of riding talent, with 13 World Champions on the grid. It was also a special season as it marked the 75th anniversary since the FIM World Championship was first held in 1949.

There were 11 teams and 22 full-time riders taking part in the 2024 MotoGP™ World Championship, with 20 races hosted in 15 different countries, including the Grand Prix de France which attracted a record-breaking crowd of 297,471 fans across the weekend in Le Mans, making it the highest-attended Grand Prix in history. 

As we reflect what made the World Championship so special in 2024 we will cover the top teams, MotoGP™’s star riders, an epic title fight which went down to the very last race and the major MotoGP™ rider transfers which shaped the championship.

If you want to catch-up on everything that happened in MotoGP™ in 2024 you can re-watch every race in full with the motogp.com VIDEOPASS

Top MotoGP™ teams of 2024: Aprilia, Ducati, Honda, KTM & Yamaha all on the grid

There were five ‘factory’ teams in MotoGP™ in 2024, representing the following manufacturers in Grand Prix Racing:

Brand

Factory team name

Aprilia

Aprilia Racing

Ducati

Ducati Lenovo Team

Honda

Repsol Honda Team

KTM

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Yamaha

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ Team

 

Those factory teams were directly fielded by each respective manufacturer in terms of budgeting, development of technology and provision of the most up-to-date motorcycles and components for racing. 

Meanwhile the other teams in the championship were ‘non-factory’ and referred to as Independent Teams. These teams are generally one step removed from the manufacturer and operate by buying or leasing the bikes from the brands. In some cases though, they do have factory support - whether that be engineers from the factory working with them, or the same new parts as the main team.

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Petronas Grand Prix of Malaysia

This is the full list of the MotoGP™ teams and riders in 2024, including the bikes they used, the riders’ racing numbers, their nationalities and the unique characteristics of each squad.

Full MotoGP™ teams and riders 2024 line-up

Factory Teams: MotoGP™ 2024's Powerhouses

Aprilia Racing

Bike: Aprilia RS-GP24

  1. Maverick Viñales (Spain)
  2. Aleix Espargaro (Spain)

The factory Aprilia team, featuring the highly experienced Spanish pair Viñales and Espargaro. Aprilia were the only manufacturer other than Ducati to win a full-length MotoGP™ race in 2024, courtesy of Viñales’ victory at the Grand Prix of the Americas.  

Ducati Lenovo Team

Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP24

  1. Francesco Bagnaia (Italy) 
  2. Enea Bastianini (Italy)

The Ducati factory team have been the strongest performers in MotoGP™ in recent seasons and they continued to rack up race wins in 2024 courtesy of double MotoGP™ World Champion Bagnaia, who battled to try defend his title right down to the final race of the season.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Bike: KTM RC16

  1. Brad Binder (South Africa)
  2. Jack Miller (Australia)

The talented pairing of Binder and Miller did not get the race wins they aspired for in 2024, with Miller departing at the end of the campaign, switching to Yamaha machinery for 2025. It was Binder’s fifth year with the team and he finished fifth overall in the 2024 MotoGP™ standings.

Repsol Honda Team

Bike: Honda RC213V

  1. Luca Marini (Italy)
  2. Joan Mir (Spain)  

One of the most successful teams in MotoGP™ history, known for its championship-winning bikes and riders over many years. The factory Honda team were striving to return to very the top in MotoGP™, with former premier class title winner Mir spearheading their efforts.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ Team

Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1

  1. Fabio Quartararo (France)
  2. Álex Rins (Spain)

The factory Yamaha team and a major player in MotoGP™ with multiple world titles to their name, the most recent of which was won by Quartararo in 2021. Quartararo and Rins worked to return Yamaha to winning ways throughout 2024, but did not achieve the results they were aiming for, but their quest would continue into 2025 with the pair staying with the team.

Independent Teams: MotoGP™'s Competitive Contenders

Trackhouse Racing

Bike: Aprilia RS-GP24 & RS-GP23

  1. Miguel Oliveira (Portugal)
  2. Raul Fernandez (Spain)

Making their debut in MotoGP™ in 2024 Trackhouse Racing quickly recruited Oliveira and Fernandez to work under the guidance of the highly respected and experienced Team Principal Davide Brivio, on Aprilia machinery.

Prima Pramac Racing Ducati

Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP24

  1. Franco Morbidelli (Italy)
  2. Jorge Martin (Spain)

Martin made history by securing the 2024 World Championship title as an independent (non-factory) rider in dramatic style in the final MotoGP™ race of the year in Barcelona. It was a major milestone and a historic achievement for the Prima Pramac Racing Ducati team.

Gresini Racing MotoGP™

Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP23

  1. Alex Marquez (Spain)
  2. Marc Marquez (Spain)      

It was a season of pure excitement for Gresini Racing MotoGP™ with six-time premier class title winner Marc Marquez joining their ranks from Honda, to ride alongside his brother Alex. Marc would not disappoint, regularly featuring on the podium and winning three races, including an emotional first MotoGP™ win in over 1000 days in front of his home fans at the Aragon Grand Prix.

Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team

Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP23

  1. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Italy)
  2. Marco Bezzecchi (Italy)

The team owned by MotoGP™ Legend and one of the biggest stars in global motorsport Valentino Rossi, the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team bring their own touch of style and colour to the MotoGP™ grid. It was announced during the 2024 season that as of 2025 Fabio Di Giannantonio would ride a factory Ducati Desmosedici GP25, whilst remaining within the VR46 team.

LCR Honda

Bike: Honda RC213V

  1. Johann Zarco (France) – riding for Castrol Honda LCR
  2. Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) – riding for Idemitsu Honda LCR

Popular Frenchman Zarco is a MotoGP™ race winner and double Moto2™ World Champion. He rode under management of Lucio Cecchinello, one of the most experienced independent team managers in the sport. On the other side of the Honda LCR garage was the sole Japanese rider on the 2024 grid, Nakagami. In August of 2024 it was announced that Nakagami would leave the team at the end of the season to become an HRC Development Rider in 2025.

Red Bull GasGas Tech3

Bike: KTM RC16

  1. Pedro Acosta (Spain)        
  2. Augusto Fernandez (Spain)

The Tech3 team run by Herve Poncharal – one of the longest running Team Principals in the sport – recruited the exciting rookie (debutant in the premier class) Acosta for the 2024 campaign. Former Moto3™ and Moto2™ World Champion Acosta notched up an impressive five podiums in his debut season in the premier class, earning him a move to the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team for 2025. Augusto Fernandez had a tougher sophomore season and now moves to Yamaha to be test rider in 2025. 

MotoGP™’s star riders of the 2024 season: Jorge Martin, Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez

The 2024 MotoGP™ rider line-up featured 13 World Champions on the full-time grid, with 26 World Championship titles between them in Grand Prix racing at the start of the season.

Of the 22 riders commencing the season 16 riders were already premier class race winners, with 136 wins between them. As they began their campaigns all 22 riders had at least one Grand Prix victory across all classes to their names, with a total of 347 victories between them.

The star riders of the 2024 MotoGP™ season were undoubtedly Jorge Martin, Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez, all three of them riding on Ducati machines. Between them they won 17 races, with Bagnaia picking up a remarkable 11 victories on the Desmosedici GP24, whilst Martin and Marquez won three races each on the Desmosedici GP23.

Jorge Martin’s coming of age

  • It was Martin’s overall consistent podium form, including his performances in the Saturday Sprints which gave him the 2024 MotoGP™ World title by ten points.
  • Securing the crown on the final day of the season, the 2018 Moto3™ World Champion deservedly became the king of the premier class at the conclusion of his fourth campaign in the MotoGP™ class.
  • It was a sweet finale for Martin after he missed out on the 2023 title to Bagnaia in the final race of that year.

Francesco Bagnaia’s strong title defence

  • For his part, Bagnaia put up an incredible title defence as he went in search of a third successive title.
  • To have taken so many victories yet not finish the year as World Champion was hard to take, so after winning the final three races of 2024 his determination would be to take that fine form into 2025 and reclaim the crown.

Marc Márquez: winning again after more than 1000 days

  • One of the highlights of the year for many MotoGP™ fans was the victory of Marc Márquez at Motorland Aragon in September, 1043 days after his previous premier class win.
  • The eight-time World Champion and six-time winner of the MotoGP™ had seriously struggled for several seasons with injuries and complex surgeries, having even considered retirement from racing, so to see him back on the top step of the podium brought joy to millions of fans around the world.

Hats off to Bastianini, Viñales & Espargaro

Another rider to taste victory in MotoGP™ in 2024 was Enea Bastianini, who won at Silverstone and Emilia-Romagna, only losing his factory Ducati seat in exceptional circumstances – with a new chapter in 2025 awaiting him with Red Bull KTM Tech3. 

A special mention should also go to former Moto3™ World Champion Maverick Viñales as the only non-Ducati rider to win a feature-length race in 2024. In style too, from outside the top ten after a tougher start, he stormed back through in one of the races of the year. It was a season of mixed emotions at Aprilia, with the announcement in May that Viñales’ teammate Aleix Espargaro would retire at the end of the year.

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing, Motul Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona
Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing, Motul Solidarity Grand Prix of Barcelona

After 339 Grand Prix races - including three cherished MotoGP™ victories - Espargaro’s adventure would conclude after the final weekend of 2024 at his home venue, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Right down the road from his hometown of Granollers.

His diligent work in helping to make Aprilia a competitive force again will not be forgotten and his next move would be to join HRC in an important role as a test rider.

Key rider transfers and what they meant for MotoGP™ in 2024

Each season in the World Championship there are comings and goings, with MotoGP™ rider transfers attracting huge media attention and causing excitement amongst the fans.

As certain riders retire or leave the championship, others are promoted to the premier class, whilst some switch from one team to another, depending on their performance levels and contract situation.

The MotoGP™ teams and participating manufacturers are all competing to attract the most talented and highest performing riders, with almost constant speculation about rider moves throughout the season.

Two huge 2024 MotoGP™ moves: Marquez to Gresini and Acosta’s debut with Tech 3

The two highest profile transfers for the start of 2024 were the moves of Marc Marquez from Honda to Ducati - with Gresini Racing MotoGP™ - and the arrival of rookie Pedro Acosta at Red Bull GasGas Tech3.

Both riders rode excellently for their respective independent teams and the pair each secured moves into factory teams for 2025, Marquez with Ducati Lenovo Team and Acosta with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing.

Also settling into new roles in 2024 were Fabio Di Giannantonio at the VR46 Racing Team and Álex Rins at the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ Team, both occupying seats that they would remain in for 2025.

After the historic move for Marc Marquez to join Bagnaia at Ducati, the other bombshell MotoGP™ rider transfer at the end of the 2024 season would be that of Martin from Prima Pramac Racing Ducati to the Aprilia Racing factory team.

Arriving in his new role as the recently crowned World Champion, Martin would be joined by MotoGP™ race winner Marco Bezzechi at Aprilia.

Other big names making switches as 2024 concluded were Bastianini and Viñales to Red Bull KTM Tech3, Franco Morbidelli to VR46 Racing Team and Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira to the new Prima Pramac Yamaha set-up.

Want to check out the current full rider line-up in MotoGP™? Visit our MotoGP™ riders’ section.

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