2027 SILLY SEASON: Morbidelli and Bulega swap seats, Miller and Binder head to WorldSBK

Musical chairs, silly season… call it whatever you want, it’s here in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. Riders are starting to be confirmed for the 2027 season while there are others with contracts in place already, and rumours are starting to swirl as well. So, who’s going where for 2027?

ALREADY CONTRACTED

Several riders headed into 2026 with a contract for next season under their belt. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) signed a two-year deal when he signed his latest contract, while Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha), Stefano Manzi (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and teammate Remy Gardner all have contracts with Yamaha Motor Europe covering 2027. Jake Dixon (Honda HRC) signed a multi-year agreement with Honda when moving across from Moto2 to WorldSBK.

SIGNED UP FOR 2027

Aside from the riders above who entered 2026 already with contracts for 2027, announcements have started about next year’s grid. At the Emilia-Romagna Round, the Kawasaki WorldSBK Team announced that Garrett Gerloff would remain with them heading into next season, becoming the first rider to be announced for next year outside those already contracted. Also at Misano, the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team confirmed that Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani would remain with the team in 2027. At World Ducati Week, the Barni Spark Racing Team announced Yari Montella would remain in place for 2027 – his fifth year with the team across WorldSSP and WorldSBK. Early in the summer break, Aruba.it Racing – Ducati announced Iker Lecuona's renewal for 2027 and 2028. Before WorldSBK action resumed at Magny-Cours, Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was confirmed to stay with BMW for “2027 and beyond”.

Just after the French Round concluded, it was announced that Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) would leave Yamaha next season, with Jack Miller making the switch from MotoGP to WorldSBK for 2027. A day later, and it was announced that Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) would be heading to MotoGP, ending the long-running saga about his future. On the same day, BMW announced that Brad Binder would partner Oliveira in 2027. Superbike Advocates have had a strong debut campaign with Tommy Bridewell, and they’ve agreed to stay together next season. Vierge will remain in the paddock next year as he links up with the Barni Ducati outfit, replacing Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) as the team confirmed Montella for 2027 earlier this year. One of the most coveted seats, replacing Bulega, has also been filled: ahead of Estoril, it was announced Franco Morbidelli would replace ‘Bulegas’ at Aruba.it Racing – Ducati. It effectively creates a straight swap between the pair. In the leadup to 2026’s penultimate round, Honda HRC announced a renewal between the Japanese team and their Thai rider Somkiat Chantra through 2027. Just before track action started at Estoril, Motocorsa Racing confirmed that 2026 breakout star Alberto Surra would remain with the team next season.

RUMOURS BEGIN SPREADING…

Of course, as seats get filled and others lose their spot, rumours begin to fly. Alex Rins confirmed earlier this year that he would not stay with Monster Energy Yamaha Racing in MotoGP and, at the German GP, said he was looking for something in WorldSBK. At BMW, the German manufacturer have confirmed Oliveira for at least next season, while he will have a new teammate for 2027. Danilo Petrucci confirmed at Magny-Cours that he would not race for BMW next year, and is not actively looking for WorldSBK options. Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) stated at Mangy-Cours that he will “probably stay” at Motocorsa Ducati.

IN THE MEDIA

With several MotoGP riders currently without a seat in their paddock for 2027, talks of a jump to the WorldSBK paddock are a hot topic at the moment. Earlier in the year, Alex Rins was, according to GPOne in talks with Team GoEleven for a seat on their bike, alongside Lorenzo Baldassarri should the team run two bikes next year. However, at the San Marino Grand Prix, Rins said he will “stop on two wheels”, ending the links with WorldSBK despite having "two possibilities.” The rumours have not stopped there, however. Despite earlier saying he was not looking for options in WorldSBK, Petrucci said at Estoril that GoEleven Ducati could be an option to remain in the paddock. He also confirmed that MotoAmerica with BMW is on the table.

Confirmed 2027 grid

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