2025 MotoGP Schedule

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Diogo Moreira is reported joining LCR Honda next year in MotoGP, and the deal is now being finalized. So much for the rumors he was going to Yamaha for 2026.

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Pramac Yamaha announced they have signed Miller for another year so he will be with the team through 2026, alongside Toprak who is on contract through 2027. Oliveira is out.

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Zarco has signed a 2-year deal to stay at LCR Honda with confirmation that he will be defending his Suzuka title with Honda next year as well. The other seat at LCR is the only one on the grid remaining that has not been officially announced but it is expected to go to Moreira.
The two riders left out in the cold this year, Oliveira and Chantra may be moving over to WorldSBK.

The end of the '26 season is going to be crazy! Only 2 riders - Razgatlioglu and Zarco - will be on contracts. And the 2027 season will be the start of the new regulations; 850cc, tire change from Michelin to Pirelli, less aero, and banning of ride-height & holeshot devices.

And this biggest news of the week is the acquisition of the Tech3 KTM team by former F1 boss Guenther Steiner. Despite the ongoing denials from Poncharal in recent weeks the deal was officially announced at Barcelona. Poncharal is reported to be staying on next year as a consultant. I hope the new owners keep him around and don't push him out because I really like the guy. His personality and humor will be missed on the grid. 

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Where is Yamahas V4...?

Yamaha plans to test the V4 engine it has been developing for its M1 MotoGP machine at a private test in Valencia on Tuesday and Wednesday this week
https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/yamaha-test-v4-motogp-engine-valencia/10713449/

Yamaha confirms MotoGP V4 engine testing is underway but won't commit to switch unless it beats current inline-four.
https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/1068023/1/yamaha-have-started-test-v4-engine

Yamaha has confirmed that they are planning to run their new V4 with a wildcard rider in a race this season after the summer break.

Source: BikeSportingNews.com

Yamaha is running their V4 in the Monday test tomorrow after the Catalonia round.
They also announced that they will be running the new V4 bike in the race weekend next week at Misano with test rider Fernandez.

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Today is the day! The new Yamaha V4 will be on track and out in public for the first time.

And Augusto Fernandez has signed for another 2 years as test rider. Crutchlow has been let go.

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https://youtu.be/3NM2VbCLly4?feature=shared

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After the recent test where the current team riders got to jump on the new bike, Fabio didn't have anything good to say about the new engine. He wasn't impressed to say the least. Miller (who's had V4 experience on several other brands) basically said it's a start but has a long way to go. He's usually very opinionated but in this case he gave a very politician-like response.

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The Liberty Media acquisition of MotoGP was approved by the European Commission. They now hold 84% at a cost of roughly $4.8B, with the deal closing on July 3. It will be interesting to see how this goes.

Liberty is already making changes. Not for the good either. Hopefully they don't totally f*ck up the best racing series in the world.
https://www.crash.net/motogp/feature/1082004/1/libertys-reported-erasure-motogp-history-worrying-display-ignorance
Evidence of their shift has already been visible during the past few weeks.
So MM93 is now only a 7-time champion instead of 9-time, same with Rossi. Ago is no longer a 15-time world champion, but an 8-time. And Hailwood has been demoted from 9-time to 4-time champ. And the guy who probably got the worst of it is poor old Angel Nieto "Mr. 12 + 1", who now does not have any championships recognized.
Pretty stupid! Sure hope they don't turn it into the clown show that's F1.

They've also introduced a new Hall of Fame, which is in addition to the Legends honor that has been going for 25 years.