BASTIANINI SEEKS EXTRA TESTING FOR RIDERS SWITCHING MOTOGP BRANDS

Enea Bastianini is renewing his call for MotoGP to adjust its testing rules ahead of the 2027 technical reset, arguing that riders switching manufacturers risk starting the season with far less preparation than their rivals.

The 2027 bikes will have 850cc engines, revised aerodynamics, Pirelli tyres and no ride-height devices. Several riders have already sampled prototypes at official tests in Brno and at the Red Bull Ring. Marc Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer have ridden Ducati’s machine; Toprak Razgatlioglu has tested Yamaha’s; Marco Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez have tried Aprilia’s; and Diogo Moreira has ridden Honda’s. Luca Marini and Joan Mir, who are changing brands, have also tested Honda’s 850, while Pedro Acosta has had time on KTM’s bike.

Ducati test rider Nicolo Bulega has accumulated the most mileage, including in private sessions since spring. As a rookie, he is also eligible for the Sepang Shakedown before the official test. By contrast, Bastianini, who is moving from Tech3 KTM to Trackhouse Aprilia, will not ride an 850cc machine until the post-season Valencia test. Jorge Martin, Ai Ogura, Francesco Bagnaia, Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio are among other riders who have missed the official 2027-bike tests so far.

That gap could leave some riders with only a single day on their new machines before February’s Sepang test, while others will have completed several sessions. Bastianini wants full-time riders changing manufacturers to be allowed into the two-day Sepang Shakedown, giving them extra time to learn their new bikes before the season begins.

He first raised the proposal in Indonesia, but says there has been no movement since. “There hasn’t been any progress,” Bastianini said, according to GPOne. He added that the issue still needed discussion, both with MotoGP and with the other riders, and said he was unsure whether talks could happen that weekend or after the paddock returned to Europe.

“We’ll have very few laps available to get comfortable with the new bikes and go straight into racing under these conditions, while other riders will have had the chance to do a lot of testing – that’s not fair,” he said.