- Diogo Moreira waited until the Japanese Grand Prix to learn he had the 2027 factory Honda seat, and the 22-year-old says he was in no hurry for the answer (per Motorsport.com).
- Honda confirmed on Tuesday, October 20 that the reigning Moto2 champion joins Fabio Quartararo in the factory team, with David Alonso moving to LCR.
- Moreira says the Austria test lap times point to a Honda that can fight for the title next year, and he admits nobody will know where the rivals stand until Malaysia next year.
The Rookie Who Waited Out Honda’s Decision Now Talks Title Chances on the New Bike
“I was not in a hurry.” Diogo Moreira says it about the wait for Honda to name its 2027 factory line-up, and he gives his reason in the next sentence: “I have another two years on my contract, so I would have been happy either way.”
The wait ended on the Saturday of the Japanese Grand Prix, when Honda told him internally that he was in. The public announcement followed on Tuesday, October 20. Moreira, a 22-year-old Brazilian born in Guarulhos, São Paulo, sat down for an interview at Phillip Island to talk about the promotion.
Asked what he feels most, the excitement or the respect that comes with a factory seat beside a rider like Quartararo, he picks the first. “It is definitely the excitement about everything that lies ahead.” His contract covers the rest of this season and two more years, and he says he is looking forward to learning what being a factory rider means.
A Wait He Understood
Moreira understands why Honda took its time. He stayed relaxed, he says, and the reason was simple: he felt he was doing his job properly and the results were coming. In his view the logical choice was obvious even before the confirmation arrived.
His sprint podium came in the same Japanese Grand Prix weekend as the news, which raises the question of whether a second place at Motegi pushed Honda to announce. Moreira rejects the idea. “It was not intentional.” Things came together for him that weekend, he says, and he was not thinking about his contract or trying to prove anything. Sunday’s race was going well too, he adds, “until I crashed.”
Sixth in Hungary and second in the Motegi sprint are his most notable results of the season. Through the Australian Grand Prix weekend the Motegi podium remains Honda’s only official podium of 2026. Moreira has also finished inside the top 10 on five occasions.
On the day Honda confirmed the move, Moreira sat 15th in the championship on 74 points. Quartararo, then still a Yamaha rider, was 14th on the same total. Among Honda riders only Luca Marini was ahead of Moreira, with 34 more points. Those numbers belong to October 20 and the table has moved on, but they describe the rookie season that caught the attention of Honda’s Japanese executives.
Honda’s own statement carries his reaction to the call. “It’s an amazing feeling to join the factory team; it’s something every rider dreams of when they are young,” Moreira said. He thanked everyone at HRC for the opportunity to take the next step in the project.
Why Honda Chose Him Over Alonso
The choice reshapes the route of a young rival. David Alonso, the Colombian who dominated Moto3 in 2024, had agreed a deal with HRC months earlier for a move up to the premier class in 2027. Under the new arrangement he goes to LCR, the satellite team, and takes the seat Moreira leaves behind.
Alonso’s second Moto2 season fell short of its target. He began it aiming for the title, and that goal slipped away as the year went on. A single win at Assen and four podiums put him fifth in the standings, 99.5 points behind Manuel Gonzalez as of Honda’s announcement.
The Wasserman Group, the agency that represents Alonso, consistently pushed for him to be placed in the factory team. That position ran against the view of several influential figures inside Honda, who felt the pressure Alonso would face as a premier-class rookie would be excessive.
Johann Zarco, Moreira’s LCR teammate this season, backs the call. The 36-year-old is the oldest rider on the grid. Alonso makes his premier-class debut at 20, which leaves a 16-year gap across the LCR pair. Zarco’s verdict on Moreira is short. “Yes. He deserved it. The factory team needs two top riders, and Diogo is one of them.”
Zarco thinks Quartararo will lead the team, and he sees the safer bet for results in “two riders that already know MotoGP” rather than one who is new to the class. He also sees LCR as the right classroom for the younger man. “And the place to learn for David is in LCR.”
On the crew side, Andres Madrid, who joins HRC from KTM, is expected to work with Moreira at first. Santi Hernandez, who heads up Joan Mir’s side of the garage, will oversee Alonso’s adaptation to the premier class.
The Partner and the Path
Moreira joins a garage with a world champion in it. Quartararo won the 2021 title and arrives from Yamaha as part of an all-new Honda factory line-up for the 850cc and Pirelli era. Moreira calls the pairing a chance to grow. “I think the challenge will help me grow as a rider and raise the level of the team.” He praises Quartararo’s “enormous talent and a great work ethic,” and the experience of a champion. Both of them can have a good season, he says, and help Honda keep improving.
His own route ran through the satellite team. His Honda rider profile lists eighth in Moto3 in 2022 and again in 2023, then 13th in Moto2 in 2024, then the 2025 Moto2 world championship, and he is the first Brazilian to win the class title. One season at LCR later, he is in the factory team at 22 with the number 11 on his bike.
He calls the direct jump rare. “It is very difficult to move straight from Moto2 into a factory MotoGP team.” In his view very few riders have done it, and among those racing now he names only Marc and Alex Marquez. For rookies he sees the path he took, and the one Alonso is taking, as the logical approach. He expects Alonso to reach a factory team in a few years.
He speaks well of the man taking his seat. Alonso arrives in an interesting year, with Pirelli tires and a bike that Moreira believes will be easier to ride than the current 1,000cc machines. LCR knows how to work with rookies, Moreira says, and everything went very well for him from the start. “I am convinced David will do well.”
What the Austria Test Tells Him
The question that follows him into 2027 is how good the new Honda is. Moreira’s answer carries a title claim and a warning. “Looking at the lap times from the test in Austria, I would say Honda could fight for the world championship next year.”
He attaches a caveat. Nobody knows what the other manufacturers are holding back, he says, or what Honda keeps up its own sleeve. “We will not be able to draw any conclusions until next year in Malaysia.” He still sees a good foundation, and he says Honda is working hard on the new project and has put a lot of time and extra resources into it.
Moreira expects the opening grands prix to favor the team that arrives best prepared, with the best overall package, as both the bikes and the tires change. He points to Moto2, where a similar change came when Pirelli introduced its tires. Ai Ogura and Sergio García flew in the opening races of that season, and Ogura went on to win the championship. “I think something similar could happen in MotoGP.”
The first season has taught him a lesson about the bike. “I have been surprised by just how much the bike dictates performance.” In Moto2, he says, the rider can make more of a difference and play around with the bike. MotoGP today leaves almost no room for that, and people had warned him before he arrived. He now feels it himself.
He hopes the new machine shifts that balance. With the new engine and new aerodynamics, he expects riders to use their bodies more and to have a greater influence on overall performance. He adds that the team will see whether the new bike changes things a little.
He says his mindset will change at the factory team and that the first job is to see where Honda stands. His ambitions will be high all the same. “I want to fight for more.”
Sepang Comes Next
Moreira has a plan for the races that remain. “I am treating the remaining races as a kind of pre-season for next year.” He wants to arrive physically and mentally prepared for the extra pressure and added responsibility, in his physical preparation and in the tests. He says he knows more pressure and more work are coming, and he adds that it motivates him.
The next stop is the Malaysian Grand Prix, round 19 of the world championship at Sepang. The weekend runs from October 30 to November 1, with the first MotoGP practice session on Friday at 10:45 a.m. local time. Moreira goes in as a factory rider in waiting and the man who did not rush Honda.
He will have to work and think differently in 2027, he says, and he will have a new bike, a world champion in the other seat and a rookie in his old one. Through all of it he keeps one rule. “If I enjoy myself on the bike, I go fast.”
