The 2025 MotoGP™ season has welcomed four winners in the last four Grands Prix amidst a crazy opening quarter of the year. However, whilst the track action is red hot and producing storylines previously unimaginable and a Championship battle between brothers that we’ve longed for. Now in Europe, silly season is ramping up and so are the rumours – we analyse them all below.
CONTRACTS UP FOR RENEWAL
There are four seats on the grid that haven’t been confirmed for 2026; Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) is at the end of his two-year deal, Jack Miller has a one-year contract at Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP, Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) is concluding his two-year agreement and Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was signed up for a year. However, like always with silly season, there tend to be additional rumours regarding other riders who may well be under contract but there are clauses that can be activated if either party (the rider or team) wish to do so for whatever reason.
THE SHOCK RUMOUR: Jorge Martin
Safe to say it’s been a tough start to 2025 for reigning World Champion Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing), with a long run of injury struggles side-lining him from all but one of the Grands Prix so far. After the French GP, seemingly out of nowhere, it was suddenly reported by Motorsport.com that the #1 is exploring the possibility of leaving his contract early at the end of 2025. They say there is a clause that if he isn’t a title contender, he’ll be able to pursue other offers for 2026.
If that’s true, the options are limited for Martin. There aren’t many seats on the rider market according to what we know but should a factory seat become available at the Noale factory, you can be sure that it will trigger movement elsewhere too. Silly season was expected to be a rather quiet affair in 2025 – perhaps, it could be one of the most surprising for a while?
ACOSTA RUMOURS: under contract with KTM for 2026 but…
The first thing to mention is that Pedro Acosta has a contract for 2026 with KTM. The Spaniard graduated to the factory team this season but has been linked to an array of seats, including the VR46 squad and Honda. Valentino Rossi spoke at Lusail that he “likes Acosta very much” but is likewise “happy” with his current line-up. Acosta stated that “the dream is still there” with regards to what he wants to achieve at KTM. Previous messages of the Jerez test being “crucial” and ‘turning points’ with his manager haven’t clarified the situation much.
For both Acosta and Martin, they’re likely to be looking for more than a one-year deal if they’re intent on leaving
ZARCO AND MARINI: the latest on the Honda seats available
Johann Zarco has already confirmed himself that he’s having positive talks with Honda about remaining in their family in MotoGP – and those talks would have been bolstered by the Frenchman’s excellent performance to win his home GP at Le Mans. He’s made it no secret that he’d like to be in the factory Honda squad, but also underlined in France that that’s no ding on LCR. The “available” seat is Marini’s, but the Italian also confirmed ahead of the French GP that discussions were underway between himself and Honda about renewing their existing deal. Meanwhile Lucio Ceccinello, LCR team owner, has stated his wish to keep Johann in his team. What is not up for discussion, however, is the increasing competitivity of Honda, who have made giant strides forwards from 2024.
BASTIANINI LOOKING ELSEWHERE? A surprise mover and shaker
Enea Bastianini’s (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) move from Ducati red to KTM orange has been a tricky one. Still with his trademark late-race pace but struggling in qualifying – starting no higher than 17th all season – could a change be on ‘The Beast’s horizon? Rumours surfaced on Sky Sport’s broadcast in Italy about a potential switch to Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP, with Jack Miller’s seat being the only one available. However, he may have some competition if other rumours are to be believed.
WorldSBK ARRIVALS? Razgatlioglu and Bulega rumours
Over the course of the last four years, Toprak Razgatlioglu has continuously been linked with some sort of move to MotoGP. A title winner in World Superbike with Yamaha in 2021 and BMW in 2024, there’s no doubting the Turkish star’s talent. However, a test with Yamaha in 2023, whilst being reasonably impressive, didn’t precede a move to MotoGP coming to fruition and he was lured away from the Japanese manufacturer to BMW. However, Sky Sport report the star of WorldSBK has solid interest from Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP. This comes after the Turk was linked to Honda and one-year deal in WorldSBK for 2026 before moving in 2027, so he’s aligned with the tyre change and in a year where everyone starts from zero with the new bikes in MotoGP. However, the story has gone quiet, even if it existed before – something Toprak’s manager Kenan Sofuoglu confirmed to worldsbk.com back in April.
Then, there’s the form of Championship leader in WorldSBK and rookie revelation in 2024, Nicolo Bulega. The Italian, who left Moto2™ at the end of 2021 and changed to WorldSBK, has also been reported on by Sky Sport. A deal that could consist of one more year in WorldSBK in 2026 – whilst testing the 2027-spec Ducati MotoGP machine – would come before a full-time move to MotoGP in 2027, also in line with the tyre change. As for where he’d fit, that problem is not immediate, given it would be for 2027; remember, Ducati signed Fermin Aldeguer two seasons ahead of his arrival and that’s not gone bad so far…
SILLY SEASON FOR A REASON: announcements and confirmations await
So, what do you think? Until we have an announcement in our hands from the respective team, factory or rider, there’s no way of knowing what’s 0% true, what’s 90% true or what is even talk put out there to improve someone’s negotiating position. The biggest shock rider move of the last few years – Marc Marquez to Gresini – wasn’t even announced until we arrived in Indonesia. Watch this space and let’s see what other rumours we get over the next few GPs…