Questions surrounding whether Guenther Steiner would continue to use KTM machinery for the Tech3 team have justifiably been floated. But among all the MotoGP satellite teams, there has been more speculation about which manufacturer the VR46 squad will use going into 2027 than any other. Ducati has provided the team with bikes since it entered MotoGP in 2022, but that contract expires in 2027, and other brands have been circling.
It's hard to imagine switching from Ducati to any other brand if you're a MotoGP satellite team. We needn't look further than the Pramac 2024 vs 2025 season as a reminder. In 2024, Pramac's rider, Jorge Martin, won the MotoGP Rider's World Championship, and his teammate, Franco Morbidelli, took 9th. Then both riders left, Pramac switched to Yamaha machinery, and the team's top rider in 2025, Jack Miller, finished in 17th in the rider's championship.
It's not crazy to think that VR46 could've switched to Yamaha, given the fact that the Japanese manufactur has reportedly tried to provide the satellite team with bikes over the years. There were also reports that Yamaha would've supplied the team at a discounted rate, given the fact that Valentino Rossi, the owner of the team, is a Yamaha global brand ambassador. Rossi stuck with Ducati, but recently, there was an arguably more attractive offer from Aprilia.
Motorsport reported that Aprilia initiated contact with VR46 about supplying bikes for 2027, when the new 850cc era begins. More recent reports suggest that the team is very close to signing a new contract with Ducati for 2027. At the end of the 2025 season, re-signing with Ducati would've sounded like a no-brainer, but now, it's not as clear-cut.
Aprilia has been making waves with its new F1-inspired aero, whether that's behind how successful Aprilia was during the first round of the season, claiming a one-two finish, it's unclear. But the bikes were the best on the grid during the opening round of the season, and ended Ducati's run of 88 consecutive MotoGP races with at least one bike on the podium, which started back in 2021. So, choose Aprilia, right? Not necessarily. Even if the entire 2026 season played out similarly to the first race weekend of 2026, Aprilia still wouldn't be a shoo-in pick.
Ducati has been so far ahead in terms of MotoGP bike development for so long, the pressure of chasing tenths has been largely off the OEM, at least, when compared to its rivals. In theory, Ducati has been in a better position to develop the best bike for the 850cc era; whether things pan out like this remains to be seen. If you were Rossi, what OEM would you have wearing your team's very distinctive livery?
