Fermin Aldeguer reaches agreement with Ducati to race for VR46 in MotoGP 2027

Nadia Padovani’s team still cannot reach an agreement with Ducati to renew its contract as a satellite team for 2027 and, along the way, has lost its two current riders

Gresini rider Fermin Aldeguer is set to join VR46 for the start of MotoGP's 850cc era in 2027.

It emerged in the Goiania paddock that Aldeguer has negotiated a significantly improved contract with Ducati for next year, as part of a deal that will see him join Valentino Rossi’s team.

It follows KTM and Alex Marquez reaching an agreement for the two-time world champion to replace Pedro Acosta in the Austrian marque's factory line-up next year.

Marquez and Aldeguer's anticipated departures will leave the Gresini squad, owned by Nadia Padovani, without riders for 2027 and, for the moment, without bikes, since the team founded by the late Fausto Gresini has not yet managed to close an agreement to remain a satellite Ducati team.

Motorsport.com understands that talks between Gresini and Ducati are still open, but the Bologna-based manufacturer's terms are far from the budget currently available to the Faenza-based team.

The unique aspect of 2027 is the implementation of new technical regulations featuring 850cc engines and new motorcycles, meaning that all riders racing Ducatis next year will be using the same machinery, which drives up the price.

In parallel, the championship promoter MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group (formerly Dorna) remains in open discussions with the MSMA (the manufacturers’ association) to renew the five-year contract between both parties that expires at the end of the year. That agreement will determine what amount each team will receive for participating in the world championship, and it will be then when Gresini will know exactly what money it has to negotiate with Ducati and sign riders.

Fermin Aldeguer, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

While that is happening, VR46 has moved ahead by securing a rider it has been pursuing since 2023, when it emerged that Luca Marini was going to leave his brother’s team to join Honda.

At that time, Ducati maneuvered to secure then-Moto2 rider Aldeguer, who signed for four years (two+two). The deal had an exit clause at the end of the second season, but he is not going to execute it, although he could have done so, having had offers to join factory teams.

According to what Motorsport.com has learned from the rider’s camp, the Spaniard has reached a full agreement with Ducati to complete the two remaining years of his contract until 2028, with a significant increase in salary and bonuses.

“We have not yet signed the new contract, but we have shaken hands. Fermin will continue two more years with Ducati and the contract is with the factory, with material and treatment of a factory rider, receiving updates almost at the same time as the factory team riders, although we will race with VR46,” the sources confirmed.

VR46's Pablo Nieto commented that “the interest in having Fermin is great and has been known for some time, we believe he is a very interesting rider. Now it only remains t see who will be the second rider at VR46, a seat “that right now is very open” and for which the two current riders, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli, are candidates, but also “other young riders with potential.”