HONDA CONFIRMS MOREIRA FOR 2027 FACTORY SEAT, ALONSO TO GET FACTORY MACHINERY AT LCR

Honda has officially confirmed Diogo Moreira will join Fabio Quartararo at its factory MotoGP team in 2027, with David Alonso moving to LCR alongside Johann Zarco. The announcement settles the destination of Alonso, whose multi-year Honda contract was confirmed in July without specifying which team he would join.

Moreira, currently in his rookie premier-class season with LCR, earned the promotion after an encouraging campaign. He scored Honda’s first official podium of the season in the Motegi Sprint and impressed at the recent 850cc/Pirelli test at the Red Bull Ring. The reigning Moto2 champion will become the first Brazilian to race for Honda’s factory team since Alex Barros in 2004.

Honda had appeared likely to place Alonso in the factory squad, but the Colombian will instead take Moreira’s LCR seat. He is fifth in the Moto2 standings and is due to make his MotoGP debut at the post-season Valencia test in December. Honda has reportedly guaranteed him factory-spec machinery at LCR, as stipulated in his HRC contract. Alonso has said he would be “fine” there in 2027 provided he receives that equipment.

The choice reflects Moreira’s progress in MotoGP. The 22-year-old claimed his first premier-class podium in the Japan Sprint and topped the timesheets at the latest test in Austria. Former Honda rider Cal Crutchlow, who partnered Moreira while standing in for the injured Zarco, backed him for the factory ride. “He deserves to be there before David Alonso, in my opinion,” Crutchlow said at Aragon. Noting Moreira’s performances against Honda’s other riders as a rookie, he added: “So in my opinion it’s an absolute no-brainer.”

Alonso’s 2026 Moto2 results may also have played a part. He has one win and four more podiums, but sits fifth after being taken out at Turn 1 in Indonesia by team-mate Dani Holgado, who is also expected to move to MotoGP in 2027. Former rider Neil Hodgson has argued Alonso’s results do not merit a factory seat.

Crutchlow has described LCR as a suitable place for Alonso to develop, pointing to the lower pressure and the increasingly close relationship between factory and satellite teams. “It’s just to say you’re riding for a factory team, or you’re riding for a satellite team,” he said. “But now, as you see in MotoGP, basically every team is a factory team.”

Quartararo, Moreira, Alonso and Zarco are set to form Honda’s four-rider line-up for the new 850cc/Pirelli era. Current HRC riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini are moving to Gresini Ducati and Tech3 KTM respectively. Moreira has described his first test on the new bike as “Christmas Day.”