Aprilia has warned MotoGP ‘may not be attractive’ for manufacturers looking to enter the series due to the 2027 regulation changes costs.
The new rules for the 2027 MotoGP season bring a plethora of changes, most notably the introduction of 850cc engines, which have forced the manufacturers to reshape the entirety of their current machinery.
The Noale-based factory is run on one of the tightest budgets and there are fears that the Italian manufacturer may be a step behind its competitors for 2027.
Head of Vehicle Department Marco De Luca revealed that manufacturers will “have to revise everything”, which will increase costs ahead of the 2027 season.
“The bike will be completely new,” De Luca told GPOne at Misano.
“You have to revise everything, because in top-level competition you have a smaller, lighter engine which will be positioned differently.
“The exhaust will be different, the cooling system will be completely different, the air intake, everything will be different. So you cannot take the new engine and put it on this bike. That would be a losing game.”
De Luca also admitted he expected the factories with greater resources to take advantage of the new regulations, which may be off-putting to potential new entrants into the championship.
“In my experience, when you introduce more changes, whoever has more firepower in terms of simulations, models and budget has an advantage. So it may not be attractive for those who would like to come in.”
“We are working from scratch, as presumably are doing but apart from some things you can reuse, it’s a completely new bike. From an economic view, it’s a big challenge for us.”
Marco De Luca: ‘The Pirelli test was crucial’ to help Aprilia with MotoGP development
The second decisive change coming for the 2027 season is the introduction of Pirelli as the series’ main tyre supplier.
MotoGP has signed with the Italian supplier for 2027 following the end of its contract with current tyre maker Michelin, which had been the championship’s sole supplier since 2016.
Despite Pirelli’s entrance into Moto2 and Moto3, as well as its long-standing partnership with WorldSBK, it’s unclear just how the introduction of the new tyres will impact MotoGP.
“We are speculating, we don’t know how they will behave, and we don’t have a model yet,” De Luca said of the incoming change.
However, there was an official test organised for all manufacturers to take part in one day after the final in-season test programme in Misano, in which Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori participated.
De Luca said the Pirelli test was “crucial” for the manufacturers to take some data from heading into 2027, but further stressed that those with bigger budgets were likely to be the benefactors.
“The test that took place place on September 16 at Misano, the first with the official test riders, was crucial. The tyres are expected to behave similarly to the Superbike tyres but it all remains to be verified.”
“From the promoter’s point of view maybe yes, to shuffle the cards. For an engineer, it is a more complicated exercise. Whoever has more firepower in simulations and budget will have an advantage.”
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