Pit exit: All the riders leaving MotoGP in 2027
With all the riders for the upcoming season having been announced and amid the excitement of plenty of rookies joining the grid, we are unfortunately forced to say goodbye to some beloved figures as well.
Today we are taking a look back at the careers of the retiring MotoGP riders and what they have in store next.
Franco Morbidelli
One of the first success stories of the VR46 Academy, Franco Morbidelli had been racing in MotoGP for nine years.
He won the Moto2 championship in 2017, earning his spot at the highest level of two-wheel racing. He continued his Moto2 partnership with the Marc VDS team in his debut season and won the Rookie of the Year award.
He stepped up to the series in 2019, racing Yamaha bikes up until 2023. This tenure was best known for a runner-up finish in 2020, his sophomore campaign. He won three races that season, his only victories in MotoGP.
Morbidelli’s MotoGP run was affected by multiple injuries, some at key points in his career. Coming off the high of his 2020 result, a knee injury cut off his momentum in 2021, while his switch to Ducati machinery in 2024 came with a brutal pre-season crash.
Still, Morbidelli continued to fight and managed some great performances in recent seasons. A moment which highlighted all his hard work over the years came at the 2026 Jerez Grand Prix, where he finished on the sprint podium for the first time since the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Italian will now race in WorldSBK alongside Aruba.it Racing for 2027. He will be paired up with Iker Lecuona. The latter’s former teammate Nicolò Bulega will step up to MotoGP, replacing Morbidelli at the VR46 Racing Team.
Jack Miller
A MotoGP veteran, Jack Miller first joined the premier class grid alongside Honda in 2015. He switched manufacturers four times, scoring his best results with Ducati in 2021 and 2022.
Throughout his career, Miller made a name for himself as a rider capable of excelling in the most difficult conditions. His maiden win in MotoGP came at Assen in 2016 amid torrential rain, even more impressively accomplished from down in 18th on the grid.
The Australian rider also claimed an impressive win at his home race in Moto3, thrilling the public and getting a corner named after him in 2022 (Turn 4, now known as the “Miller Corner”).
During the 2026 season, Miller announced that he will continue his partnership with Yamaha in WorldSBK, stating: “I have really enjoyed working with the brand these past few years in MotoGP and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to see what we can do on the R1.
“I have had a small taste of the bike at Suzuka over the last couple of years, and while the WorldSBK-spec bike is a bit different, I am really looking forward to this next chapter in my career, and hopefully we can do something really strong over there.”
The Australian rider will join the WorldSBK championship for the 2027 and 2028 seasons.
Maverick Viñales
Following multiple misunderstandings with KTM Tech3, Maverick Viñales has been left without a seat for the 2027 season.
The Spaniard did not hide his dissatisfaction with his former team, publicly blaming them by stating: “Ultimately, if I’m not in the world championship, it’ll be because of one party, and that’s KTM - it’s not anyone else’s fault.”
Yet, beyond the harsh words, KTM expressed a desire to support their rider for the remainder of the 2026 season.
The Spaniard has been competing at the highest level of motorcycle racing since 2015, racing for four different manufacturers in his career. He won the Moto3 championship in 2013, and a third-place finish in the Moto2 championship the following season was enough for him to make the step up to MotoGP with Suzuki.
Viñales made the move to Yamaha in 2017, where he stayed for five seasons and enjoyed the best years of his career. At the 2024 Grand Prix of the Americas, the Spaniard became the first rider to win races in MotoGP with three different manufacturers (Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia).
Viñales’ racing future remains uncertain, with no WorldSBK deal confirmed so far.
Álex Rins
Perhaps one of the most intriguing decisions on the current grid, Álex Rins has confirmed that not only will he leave MotoGP in 2027, but he will leave two-wheel racing altogether. The Spaniard teased that the future of his career will be in car racing, but the details about his next move are yet to be confirmed.
The Spaniard has been competing at the highest level of two-wheel racing since 2017, winning six races in MotoGP. Almost all his wins came dramatically, with Rins managing to defeat some of the sport's biggest names at key moments in their careers.
His maiden MotoGP win happened in 2019 at the Grand Prix of the Americas, where Rins outsmarted nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi, who also happened to be one of his racing idols. In the same season, Rins also beat Marc Márquez to the finish line at the British Grand Prix by just 13 milliseconds.
Forever bringing drama to the track, Rins will surely find a way to impress in his future racing endeavours as well.
Brad Binder
Binder’s MotoGP career started in 2020, and his maiden win came just three races later. At the 2020 Czech Grand Prix, he became the first South African to claim a MotoGP victory.
One season later, Binder took a huge risk at the Austrian Grand Prix, staying on slick tyres while torrential rain hit the track on the last lap. This gamble paid off and gave the rider his second career win.
Binder will also join WorldSBK with BMW, partnering with another former MotoGP rider and teammate Miguel Oliveira. The two of them have crossed paths at multiple points in their careers, including at the KTM Factory team.
When asked about their reunion, Oliveira stated: “That’s exactly what we also need in the garage,
is that positive mindset, attitude, even when the times are hard, to just make the bike in a good place.
“I think Brad is a good candidate to do that. Hopefully we will still get along as we did in the past, and build a good team environment and push the whole project forward.”
Which retiring rider will you miss the most in the upcoming 2027 season?
Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
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