Honda Want Six Bikes in 2027. Gresini Are the Key. But Nothing Is Settled Yet.

The 2027 MotoGP season is 12 months away. The regulations change completely. Pirelli replace Michelin. The engines drop from 1000cc to 850cc. Every manufacturer starts from a different position on the development ladder. And right now, in the background of every race weekend, the most significant transfer story of the modern era is playing out in meeting rooms, paddock corridors and phone calls between team owners and factory bosses. Honda want Gresini. Ducati want to keep them. And Gresini owner Nadia Padovani is caught in the middle of a tug of war that could reshape the entire 2027 grid.
How Did We Get Here?
Gresini and Honda go back a long way. The partnership began in 2002 and ran for over a decade, producing some of the team’s finest moments including three consecutive runner-up finishes in the standings in 2003, 2004 and 2005. The Italian team left Honda for Aprilia in 2015, becoming the factory entry that helped lay the groundwork for the RS-GP project. Then in 2022 they switched again, this time to Ducati, and the results were immediate. Enea Bastianini won four races in his debut season with the team and finished third in the championship.
Since then Gresini have won races with every rider they have fielded on Ducati machinery. Bastianini, Di Giannantonio, Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez and most recently Fermin Aldeguer have all contributed to what has become one of the most successful satellite operations in the sport. On paper, leaving Ducati makes no sense whatsoever. The results are there. The machinery is competitive. The relationship works.
So why is Honda even in the conversation?
The Money Problem
The answer is financial. Reports suggest Gresini can no longer afford to continue buying Ducati prototypes at the current price point. Ducati, emboldened by years of grid dominance, has raised its demands. For an independent structure like Gresini, that price has become difficult to sustain. Honda, on the other hand, is actively courting satellite teams and offering structured support packages as part of its ambitious plan to return to the front of the field.
Honda explored a possible alliance with Trackhouse as well as Gresini, but the American outfit has no intention of breaking ties with Aprilia. That left Gresini as the primary target. The logic from Honda’s perspective is clear. Transforming Gresini into an HRC satellite team from 2027 would not only expand their presence on the grid, it would directly weaken Ducati at a moment when the Bologna manufacturer is already facing uncertainty across its satellite structure.
The Six Bike Plan
Honda’s goal is specific. Six bikes on the 2027 grid. The factory team, LCR and a second satellite outfit would achieve that number. Currently LCR has no available space, with Johann Zarco contracted until 2027 and rookie Diogo Moreira locked in until 2028. A Gresini switch would solve the problem immediately and give Honda the platform to develop the new 850cc RC213V across more data points, with more riders, in more race situations.
Honda is also planning around Fabio Quartararo, whose departure from Yamaha at the end of 2026 has been reported by multiple sources. If the Frenchman joins the factory Honda squad, it is unlikely he would be paired with a rookie, making a Gresini satellite berth important for managing the promotional path of highly rated 19 year old David Alonso.
The Riders
Both of Gresini’s current riders appear to be leaving the team regardless of which manufacturer they run. Alex Marquez is heading toward KTM after Ducati chose Pedro Acosta for the 2027 factory seat. Fermin Aldeguer is moving to VR46, with Ducati exercising its option to extend his factory contract and place him alongside Morbidelli or Di Giannantonio at the Valentino Rossi backed outfit.
The departures of both riders clearly angered Nadia Padovani, with reports suggesting she was unhappy at the unexpected nature of Aldeguer’s move to VR46, a decision that came directly from Ducati’s Borgo Panigale headquarters rather than through any consultation with Gresini. That friction matters. It explains why Honda’s approach landed at a moment when the relationship between Gresini and Ducati had already been strained.
Should the Honda switch happen, Enea Bastianini is the name that has been most frequently mentioned as a potential 2027 signing. He knows the team, he knows the structure, and his four win 2022 season with Gresini remains the defining campaign of his MotoGP career. A return to the team where he established himself, now carrying the weight of Honda machinery on the eve of a new regulatory era, would make enormous sense for both parties.
The Ducati Counter
Here is where it gets complicated. The most recent reporting from Motorsport.com suggests that despite everything, Gresini is now finalising the details of a renewal with Ducati rather than completing the Honda switch. Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi told Sky Italy that Ducati do not want to lose them and believes they want to stay, adding that Gresini debuted with Bastianini’s victory in Qatar in 2022 and have been a great team ever since.
The prospect of assembling an attractive rider lineup, with Dani Holgado reportedly in the picture, appears to have convinced Nadia Padovani that staying with Ducati remains the more competitive option for the short term. If that is the case, Honda must look elsewhere for their second satellite partner and the Tech3 route is gaining momentum as the most likely alternative.
The Bigger Picture
What this story tells you about 2027 is more important than any single transfer. The regulation change is creating a genuine power vacuum. Ducati have dominated for years. Aprilia are currently leading both championships. Honda are rebuilding with serious intent and financial muscle. KTM are restructuring after their parent company’s financial difficulties. Yamaha are two seasons into a complete engine overhaul.
Every team owner, every manufacturer and every rider on the grid is making decisions right now that will define not just their 2027 season but potentially the next five years of the sport. Gresini choosing Honda or staying with Ducati is one piece of that puzzle. But it is a significant one. And the fact that it remains genuinely undecided with 12 months to go tells you everything about how uncertain the landscape truly is.
The 2027 grid is being built in real time. Racing60 will keep you across every move as it happens.