MotoGP's 2027 rookie influx begins with Gresini announcement
Gresini Racing has confirmed that 2020 MotoGP world champion Joan Mir and Moto2 frontrunner Dani Holgado will join its ranks for 2027.
They take the two spots being vacated by the departure of Alex Marquez (for a factory KTM ride) and Fermin Aldeguer's move to fellow Ducati team VR46.
Mir will receive a factory spec Ducati as he joins Gresini and becomes a satellite team rider for the first time in his somewhat bizarre MotoGP career.
He still only has one MotoGP race win to his name despite winning the 2020 title in only his second season in the premier class and taking third in the standings the following year.
He moved to Honda for 2023 following Suzuki's exit but has had a crash-strewn and largely unsuccessful time there.
The Gresini news also marks the first confirmed MotoGP rookie signing of 2027, albeit with more expected in the coming days as Holgado's current Aspar Moto2 team-mate David Alonso is joining Fabio Quartararo at a revamped factory Honda squad and Tech3 KTM is choosing between Moto2 title leader Manu Gonzalez and his current Intact team-mate Senna Aguis for one of its seats.
Gonzalez's closest current Moto2 challenger Izan Guevara is also expected to graduate to MotoGP with the Pramac Yamaha team, while a rookie signing of a different kind will come when dominant World Superbike Championship leader Nicolo Bulega is confirmed at VR46.
Holgado, who has been linked to Gresini for some months and is seen by many as the perfect fit for the team given its past record for nurturing young talent like rookie race winner Aldeguer, steps up after an admittedly somewhat mediocre start to his 2026 Moto2 season.
Though a race winner in Brazil at the second round, he nonetheless hasn't yet recaptured the excellent form from the second part of his debut season last year where he consistently fought for wins and podiums.
Nonetheless, as 2024 Moto3 championship runner-up (second to Alonso), he's been highly-rated within the paddock for some years and the promotion to the premier class comes as little surprise.