The Franco Morbidelli VR46 exit is official. Valentino Rossi’s team has confirmed the Italian will leave at the end of this season, opening the door for Nicolo Bulega’s MotoGP arrival in 2027.
“At the end of this season, our journey with Franky will come to an end,” VR46 said in a social media post announcing the split, as reported by Crash.net. “There have been podiums, battles and plenty of moments to celebrate, but what we’ll take with us goes far beyond the track.”
What the Franco Morbidelli VR46 exit means for 2027
Morbidelli is expected to effectively swap seats with Bulega, moving to the factory Aruba.it Ducati squad in World Superbikes, where the Italian is champion-elect. Bulega will complete Ducati’s 2027 MotoGP line-up, a switch we reported was edging closer back in July.
A career that peaked in 2020
The 2017 Moto2 champion was promoted to the premier class the following season and has since raced for Marc VDS Honda, Petronas Yamaha, Monster Yamaha, Pramac Ducati and, since the start of last year, VR46. His best campaign remains 2020, when he won three grands prix and finished title runner-up on a satellite Yamaha. A three-year podium drought followed, spanning his entire factory Yamaha spell, before he returned to the rostrum with Pramac at the 2024 Misano Sprint.
Morbidelli was the first official member of the VR46 Riders Academy, and its first world champion and MotoGP race winner. He claimed three podiums early in his first VR46 season, but this year, aside from a wet Sprint rostrum at Jerez, he has rarely broken into the top ten. He starts this weekend’s home San Marino Grand Prix at Misano 16th in a championship led by Jorge Martin from a charging Marc Marquez, riding satellite-spec GP25 machinery.
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