MotoGP could ban spare bikes from the 2027 season, restricting every rider to a single fully assembled machine.
Riders condemn the one‑bike proposal
Spanish rookie Pedro Acosta warned that a mandatory single bike would erase the safety net that allows a rider to re‑enter a race after a crash or a technical glitch, citing his own rescue at the Catalan Grand Prix when a red‑flag stoppage forced a switch to his backup machine.
Luca Marini echoed the concerns, stressing that the drama of swapping bikes after a qualifying tumble – a spectacle that fuels fan excitement – would disappear, and doubting any real cost reduction, because teams already keep a second chassis hidden behind the garage.
Yamaha champion Fabio Quartararo added that flag‑to‑flag races, which rely on a wet‑weather backup bike, would become impossible, while Aprilia’s Jorge Martin simply stated his preference for retaining two bikes.
Team logistics and financial impact
Marini argued that limiting riders to one bike would not meaningfully cut expenses; the same number of mechanics would still be required to rebuild a wrecked machine within a tight timeframe, and the biggest budget items remain engine development, not the count of spare chassis.
Honda’s Joan Mir was the only rider to see a potential upside, noting that parity would exist if every competitor faced the same single‑bike constraint, mirroring the conditions in Moto2 and Moto3 where one bike suffices.
Despite the manufacturers’ push for cost‑saving measures, the consensus among MotoGP’s elite suggests that the proposed rule could undermine the sport’s competitive integrity and diminish the on‑track drama that fans have come to expect.
"