--- title: "MotoGP Pirelli Test Row Exposes Absence of Riders’ Union" canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2026/09/20/motogp-pirelli-tyre-test-row-riders-union/" type: "post" language: "en-GB" author: "James Wilson" section: "MotoGP News" published: "2026-09-20T19:20:00Z" modified: "2026-09-20T19:20:00Z" --- # MotoGP Pirelli Test Row Exposes Absence of Riders’ Union MotoGP’s move to a single tyre supplier in 2027 was meant to be a technical story. Instead it has turned into a fairness row, with riders warning that some of them will walk into next season having never turned a wheel on the new rubber. Enea Bastianini and Fabio Di Giannantonio have both spoken out this week, and their frustration points at something bigger than one test day. Neither rider has an organised body to take their complaint to. ## Inequity on the Grid Drives Call for Collective Action From 2027, MotoGP bikes drop from 1000cc to 850cc engines and lose a chunk of their current aerodynamics. Pirelli takes over as the championship’s sole tyre supplier, replacing Michelin after more than a decade in the paddock. That is a huge shift for every rider on the grid, but not every rider is getting the same run up to it. Some factories have their development riders out on track already. Others are being told to wait. Bastianini and Di Giannantonio are both changing teams at the end of the season, and both say that has left them short of information other riders already have. Their solution is one MotoGP has never had: a proper riders’ association with the power to insist on equal access. ## Inside Bastianini’s Rejection and the Testing Disparity According to Enea Bastianini, he went to KTM directly and asked for a chance to try the Pirelli tyres before he leaves Tech3 for Trackhouse Aprilia next year. He says the answer was no. > “For me it would have been nice to try the Pirelli tyres, also here next Monday. I tried to negotiate with KTM to see if it was possible to test the bike, but they said no”, Bastianini said. That leaves Bastianini with a single day at the post season Valencia test to get his first feel for the tyres he will race on all through 2027. It is not a comfortable position for a rider changing manufacturer at the same time. > “It would have been better for everyone to try the Pirellis before Valencia. It would have been better if it had been mandatory for everyone, but that is not the plan, it wasn’t scheduled for us.” He is not asking for anything exotic either. Bastianini has floated a simple compromise: let outgoing riders sample the new tyres on the bikes they already know, rather than waiting for a brand new package. > “I don’t think we necessarily had to run the 850cc bike. The test would have been fine even with a 1000cc bike.” The contrast with Nicolo Bulega is stark. The World Superbike racer is already heavily involved in developing Ducati’s 850cc MotoGP machine, effectively gathering the kind of tyre and chassis data that riders like Bastianini can only guess at. One rider is shaping the future bike. Another cannot even get a session confirmed. Bastianini says even limited running would have been worth having. > “At least we could have had some feedback to understand what to expect next year and what to work on. It seems like a small advantage, but in my opinion it’s quite big.” He also raised the obvious practical worry: a single Valencia day leaves almost no margin if the weather turns. > “I think having a riders’ association could help in these circumstances, because we will arrive in Valencia without ever having tried the Pirellis and we will have one day of testing, and if it rains, what do we do?” ## Comparative Disadvantage and the Lack of GPDA Structure Fabio Di Giannantonio, who leaves Ducati for KTM at the end of this season, backs Bastianini’s point but is honest about why nothing has changed. MotoGP riders have never organised themselves the way Formula 1 drivers have through the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association. > “It’s really difficult because at the moment, as usual, we don’t have a riders’ association or anything like that. But at the moment even the riders who could be part of it could be against the other riders.” That is the real difference with F1’s GPDA. Formula 1 drivers, whatever team they race for, have a forum where they can push manufacturers and organisers together on shared safety and fairness issues. MotoGP riders switch manufacturers constantly and often find their interests pulling in opposite directions, which makes a united front much harder to build. Di Giannantonio also pointed at where the real power sits. > “It’s a complicated situation now and I think the parties involved can’t do much, apart from MotoGP itself, which can decide how much time a rider has available before the first race.” He went further on how the imbalance shows up away from tyre testing too, pointing to the strict limits on how riders can use training bikes between events. > “Even the regulations we have for the training bikes are strict. Certainly, the situation is not the same for everyone.” It is not the first time a rider’s exit has exposed how little say individual competitors have over their own preparation. [Jack Miller’s departure from the grid](https://readmotorsport.com/2026/08/28/motorsport-talking-points-jack-miller-motogp-exit/) raised similar questions about how much control riders actually hold once a move is confirmed. ## Bridging the Gap to 2027 Without a Unified Voice None of this means every team has already tested the Pirelli tyres or the 850cc package. Several factories, including Bastianini’s current and future employers, appear to be treating the transition cautiously rather than throwing open test sessions to everyone who asks. The frustration is not confined to tyre testing either. [Fabio Quartararo’s development frustration](https://readmotorsport.com/2026/09/01/fabio-quartararo-yamaha-development-refusal-aragon/) earlier this season showed a similar pattern: riders wanting more say in how their machinery evolves, with little formal route to push for it. Bastianini and Di Giannantonio are not claiming a riders’ association is being set up, only that one might have stopped this row before it started. Without a body like the GPDA, the responsibility for fixing the imbalance sits with MotoGP itself, and with the manufacturers who decide who gets track time. With 2027 now under two seasons away, riders changing teams this winter will feel the gap most sharply. Some will arrive with real data behind them. Others, on the evidence of Bastianini’s account, will still be working it out on a single day in Valencia. For a fuller account of the testing dispute and the riders involved, [Motorsport.com’s original report on the row](https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/pirelli-test-row-riders-union-gpda/10857127/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=RSS-MOTOGP&utm_term=News&utm_content=www) carries the full comments from both riders.