The biggest losers in MotoGP’s 2025 rider market reshuffle

The 2025 MotoGP rider line-up is now complete following Yamaha announcing it had signed Jack Miller to race for Pramac next season.

Miller’s appointment came as little surprise on the eve of the Pramac-sponsored Emilia Romagna GP, though it had been reported as done for several weeks following a British Grand Prix in which the Australian’s future in MotoGP looked a lot bleaker than it does now.

While the biggest shock in the rider market came in June courtesy of Ducati and Marc Marquez’s powerplay to secure the available factory team seat at the Italian marque, there haven’t been many surprises when it comes to names who have been left standing after the music has stopped.

Nevertheless, there are several names who stand out both in MotoGP and in Moto2 who are now looking from the outside into the 2025 party.

We pick the most notable names.

Joe Roberts

Arguably, Moto2 frontrunner Roberts has been the most surprising name left out of the 2025 MotoGP picture.

When it was first suggested that Trackhouse Racing would be spreading its wings out of NASCAR and into MotoGP to take the place of the defunct RNF squad, Roberts’ name was already linked to a potential 2025 seat.

After all, an American team fielding a US-born rider just made sense.

And after a strong start to the 2024 Moto2 campaign with the American Racing squad, in which he led the championship after the Spanish GP and has remained in the hunt ever since despite picking up an injury at Assen, a Trackhouse move looked likely. 

While we know Roberts was spoken to by Trackhouse for a 2025 seat, he lost out to Ai Ogura - current championship leader in Moto2 - in a surprising move by the American squad.

But with consistency an issue for Roberts over the last six rounds while Ogura remained strong, there is no denying that the better rider got the nod. But when a US team decides not to promote the paddock’s only viable American option right now, that will sting and it’s perhaps permanently slammed the MotoGP door in Roberts’ face.

Sergio Garcia

Garcia being overlooked for a 2025 MotoGP ride is one of the harshest examples of how having a Spanish passport - contrary to popular belief - can be a major problem for you.

The MT Helmets Moto2 rider was one of the names in the mix notably for the Pramac seat alongside Miguel Oliveira, which has now gone to Jack Miller.

Garcia later confirmed that he had offers from three MotoGP teams, but all avenues were closed on him. At least when it came to the Pramac ride, the championship’s keenness to keep an Australian on the grid worked against Garcia.

A long-time championship leader, winning twice this season so far, Garcia warranted a step up to MotoGP. But when his options dried up, the psychological knock he has taken as a result has seen his form nosedive. Since Austria, he has scored just six points and lost the lead in the standings to team-mate Ogura at the San Marino GP.

At least for 2025, Garcia’s MotoGP hopes are on hold. But if his team and his entourage can’t get him out of his own head over his unfair 2025 knock back, there may be no chances at all.

Alonso Lopez

The Spaniard hasn’t had as good a season in Moto2 as someone like Ogura or Garcia, but has been a solid campaigner and remains in championship contention.

But where Lopez has lost out is the fact that, of the two Speed Up team riders - himself and Fermin Aldeguer - he has been consistently matched his much more highly rated team-mate.

But before the season had started, Aldeguer had already signed a two-year deal with Ducati to step up to MotoGP in 2025 with a satellite team. Lopez has been linked to Yamaha before, and with the Japanese marque getting a satellite squad for 2025 he was one of the names in contention.

Missing out on that opportunity at Pramac, Lopez will remain in Moto2 for another season. But given Aldeguer has not exactly lived up to his billing from 2023, Lopez will rightly feel like he’s done just as good a job this year as his team-mate to deserve a MotoGP step.

Takaaki Nakagami

When Ai Ogura’s move to Trackhouse was first rumoured as likely happening, it appeared like Nakagami’s chances of staying with LCR Honda for 2025 were pretty secure.

Heading into the summer break, Nakagami looked like he’d made the decision to carry on racing in 2025 despite the difficulties facing the Honda project recently.

But then Somkiat Chantra came into the picture and the draw of having a popular Thai rider on the grid proved to be a better move for Honda than retaining a journeyman rider whose passport has played a big hand in him holding onto his LCR seat for so long.

While Nakagami has hardly set the world on fire lately, his feedback has been vital for Honda as it continues to work on its RC213V and arguably this alone was enough to justify another year on the bike in 2025.

At the very least, Nakagami will remain within the Honda fold as a development rider and will likely get some wildcard opportunities next season. So, it’s not worked out too badly for the Japanese.