Franco Morbidelli will leave MotoGP and join the factory Aruba.it Ducati team in WorldSBK for 2027. The 31-year-old Italian will share the garage with Iker Lecuona, beginning a new phase after a career that has included major highs as well as extended setbacks.

The switch is part of a broader reshuffle across the two paddocks. WorldSBK champion Nicolo Bulega is heading to VR46 Ducati in MotoGP, where he will be partnered by Fermin Aldeguer after the latter’s move from Gresini. Jack Miller and Brad Binder are also expected to make the journey from MotoGP to WorldSBK for 2027.

The road to MotoGP

Morbidelli was the first official member of the VR46 Riders Academy and came under Valentino Rossi’s guidance early in his career. His route into Grand Prix racing did not include Moto3: he arrived through Moto2 after winning the 2013 European Superstock Championship. He took his first podium with Italtrans in 2014 before joining Marc VDS in 2016. The following year became his most productive Moto2 campaign, bringing eight victories.

In MotoGP, Morbidelli’s strongest season came in 2020, when he won three Grands Prix and finished second in the championship behind Joan Mir. A serious head injury in a superbike training accident marked the start of 2024, but he returned to the podium later that year in the Misano Sprint with Pramac Ducati. He ended the previous season seventh overall, his best championship finish since 2020.

His current campaign on a satellite-spec GP25 has been more difficult. Third place in the wet Jerez Sprint is his standout result, while top-ten finishes have otherwise been uncommon. At Aruba.it Ducati, Morbidelli will try to apply his Michelin experience to a different championship. He described the move as a new chapter, thanking Ducati and Aruba for the opportunity and stressing that he wants to meet the demands of a team that has competed at the front for years and has just won the Superbike World Championship.