The rider market for the 2025 season is progressing quickly and free seats are decreasing. Which riders risk saying goodbye to the premier class?
While the rider market for the 2025 MotoGP season is in full swing, all the pieces are gradually falling into place. However, saddles are starting to decrease and there are many riders still without bikes, so someone will inevitably have to migrate to other championships. How many and which riders will remain without a saddle? Today it is difficult to know for sure, but the path is marked and we will try to carry out an analysis that will lead us to understand who are the main suspects in leaving MotoGP.
What saddles are currently available for the 2025 season?
To date, there are not many free seats from the official teams for 2025. Aprilia negotiates for Jorge Martin’s teammates, with Marco Bezzecchi and Joan Mir competing for the place. Yamaha, on the other hand, is waiting to understand the destination of Prima Pramac Racing after the long courtship that began in March, but in all likelihood Alex Rins will once again join Fabio Quartararo. However, the second seat of the HRC team is uncertain, with Mir now leaving, Jack Miller seems the most likely to take the Spaniard’s place, but together with him Miguel Oliveira is also an option.
However, the situation regarding the satellite teams is less obvious, with numerous free bikes. The only certainties we have in this sense are those of the RedBull KTM Tech3 team which recently announced Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales, and of Johann Zarco who has another year of contract with the LCR Honda team. So who risks being left without a saddle in view of the next MotoGP season? Let’s find out who the main suspects are.
Augusto Fernandez
The Spanish KTM rider, dumped by the Mattighofen company after the announcement of the Tech3 team, is in real danger of having to abandon MotoGP starting from 2025. There don’t seem to be any opportunities for the world champion rider who won in 2022 in Moto2, the only hope is represented by the Prima Pramac Racing team should the latter move to Yamaha. However, this hope is weak given the heavy competition and Fernandez’s lack of results.
Takaaki Nakagami
Takaaki Nakagami, rider of the LCR Honda team for 7 seasons now, is experiencing a situation of uncertainty. One of the two seats in the satellite team is occupied by Johann Zarco who has a contract valid for 2025, while the opposite side of the garage will certainly be occupied by a Japanese driver due to the sponsor Idemitsu. Nakagami is certainly an option, but from Moto2 Ai Ogura, currently third force in the championship in Moto2, is becoming more than a suggestion and could embark on a new experience in MotoGP. If this were to be the case, the current rider on the Idemitsu pit side would find himself in a very uncomfortable situation, as there are no other possible destinations in MotoGP on the horizon.
Jack Miller
The Australian driver’s situation is certainly more enigmatic than that of his teammate Augusto Fernandez. Miller, who will certainly not race with KTM in the 2025 season, has a concrete opportunity which is the road that leads to HRC, a road on which, however, Miguel Oliveira is also traveling in parallel and is not certain of his future in Aprilia. However, there seems to be no plan B for the former Ducati rider, a situation resulting from a season below expectations for the official KTM rider. In short, it’s all or nothing for Jack Miller, who is waiting to know his future, which has never been so uncertain during his experience in MotoGP.
The premier class market has accustomed us to various twists and turns in recent years, and reversals cannot be ruled out in view of 2025. So we just have to wait, time will tell us who will be part of the MotoGP grid for the 2025 championship.
READ: “Aprilia: who will replace Viñales in 2025?”
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