Tony Arbolino will stay in Moto2 and become Forward Racing’s lead rider next season. His two-year agreement arrives as the team begins to turn a long rebuild into a more credible competitive project.

The move follows a career that has shifted sharply in recent seasons. Arbolino finished second to Pedro Acosta in the 2023 Moto2 standings, then fell to tenth the following year as Pirelli replaced Dunlop as the championship’s tyre supplier. In 2025 he switched from Marc VDS/Kalex to Pramac Yamaha/Boscoscuro, a move that put him on a possible route to MotoGP and an M1. After an early podium at COTA, however, he finished the season 19th overall.

This season Arbolino has been racing a Kalex chassis with Fantic. Fifth is his best result so far, while he was in the fight for victory at Silverstone before crashing. Forward has made its own progress at the same time. Alex Escrig took the team’s chassis to fourth in Brazil and then delivered Forward’s first podium in more than a decade at Silverstone.

A project gaining momentum

Escrig will join Italtrans next season, leaving Arbolino to take over the lead-rider role. Forward’s recent points totals show the scale of the change: four in 2023, 10 in 2024 and 28 in 2025. Following the Silverstone and Goiania results, the team had reached 63 points in the 2026 season. Arbolino is therefore joining a platform that has already produced measurable progress rather than simply inheriting its earlier record.

Arbolino told Crash.net that he made the decision “with my heart” and that the project genuinely motivates him. Forward’s Martina Cuzari pointed to his experience, speed and motivation, describing the partnership as a new stage for the Forward Factory Team. Arbolino’s former teammate Izan Guevara, meanwhile, will move to MotoGP with Pramac Yamaha next season.