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The signing of Marco Bezzecchi with Aprilia is anything but a surprise. Massimo Rivola had made no secret of wanting an Italian rider and, having seen the option of Enea Bastianini vanish due to the lightning-fast reaction of his manager Carlo Pernat who had diverted him to KTM the day after the Mugello GP, only two options remained: Bezzecchi or Di Giannantonio.
The choice fell on the former, despite the fact that this year the Roman rider has shown greater speed in adapting to the Ducati GP23.
At this point, there are still only two free seats left in the official factory teams: one in Yamaha alongside Fabio Quartararo, but it is hard to see why Lin Jarvis would not confirm Alex Rins (unless the Spaniard doesn't want to remain) and the other in Honda, in the box next to Luca Marini. But even here Joan Mir would seem to have realized that, at least economically, there are no better options.
Then, of course, there are better bikes than the M1 and the RC213-V: apart from the two Aprilias of the Trackhouse team, there are as many as four 'safe' Ducatis, albeit unofficial, those of the VR46 team seem already assigned: barring unforeseen events, one will remain in the hands of Di Giannantonio and the second could easily go to Franco Morbidelli. As for the Gresini team, we see no better alternative than the team's current rider Alex Marquez, so there is only one vacancy. And it is destined for a rider who is not interested in the paycheck, as Marc Marquez already was the past year when he left Repsol Honda.
Then there is the long-standing talk surrounding the Pramac team: on paper for Paolo Campinoti there is Fermin Aldeguer, who should ride a GP24 in 2025, but in no case, having lost Jorge Martin, does there seem to be on the market a rider capable of deserving a 100% official and updated Ducati, except, perhaps, Franco Morbidelli, who showed signs of resurgence at Mugello.
Certainly it would still be a downsizing for Pramac, since it would hardly be in contention for the world championship again.
Looking at things this way, the situation would seem favorable for Pramac's much-talked-about move to Yamaha, perhaps with better economic conditions and, perhaps, even paid riders...but which riders?
On the market in fact are the best of the second tier: Jack Miller in the first place, then Augusto Fernandez. Takaaki Nakagami, although still not confirmed in LCR, seems destined to stay there or, at most be replaced by a compatriot because of sponsorship.
At the moment, the top remaining MotoGP riders have all embraced the test-rider profession: Aleix Espargaro with Honda (not official yet) and then Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargarò with KTM.
Among the Moto2 papables, except for Aldeguer, who is not living up to expectations this year and whom we have talked about separately, there are only Joe Roberts (whom Liberty Media would love to have even if not in an American team), and then Sergio Garcia and Ai Oguma, although to tell the truth the only rider to have really impressed this year has been David Alonso with five wins out of seven races held in Moto3.
Could he be made to do what Livio Suppo did with Jack Miller in 2015 by promoting him directly to MotoGP with Honda? It might happen, but it would be a risk. Besides, with what bike?
Whichever way things go, two facts seem certain: Pramac should no longer be an opponent in the title race for the official Ducati team, but at most a support team for young riders, as it was initially; the second is that Yamaha will struggle not a little to have a second high-level and experienced pairing, which is also what it would like and Quartararo demands.
This anticipated 2024 rider market, however, has clearly shown a direction that is being taken: the manufacturers do not want to have rivals under the same roof who can do better than them (as is happening in Ducati with Pramac and in KTM with GasGas) and as a second new aspect they have tightened the purse strings of hirings.
And in any case, 2025 will probably be the last year with big differences between the bikes of the factory and satellite teams. They are moving toward a planned freeze to avoid having to develop in 2026 a prototype destined to be scrapped at the end of the season.
