It is official: Diogo Moreira is moving up to the Honda HRC Castrol factory team for 2027, where he will partner Fabio Quartararo under a multi-year agreement as a brand-new era kicks off.
The twenty-two-year-old Brazilian makes the leap from LCR Honda. He spent his rookie premier-class campaign there after inking an HRC contract following a stellar Moto2 World Championship run. His path from entering the World Championship in 2022 straight through to MotoGP in 2026 has been nothing short of meteoric, backed by five wins, 13 podiums, and nine pole positions across the lightweight and middleweight categories.
It is a fantastic feeling to arrive to the factory Honda HRC team in MotoGP, it is something that every rider dreams of when they are young,
After sealing the Moto2 World Champion crown in 2025 during just his fourth season on the global stage—sparked by a brilliant maiden intermediate-class victory at Assen—his raw pace and composure under fire convinced HRC he was ready for the heavy hitters. That bet has paid off immediately. His debut year in MotoGP saw him methodically build his understanding of the Honda RC213V, highlighted by a breakout top ten finish at the Catalan GP. A sprint podium at HRC's home round in Motegi ultimately sealed the deal for the factory promotion.
Running the #11 machine, Moreira joins Quartararo as MotoGP faces a dramatic shift in technical regulations. The goal for this youthful yet proven line-up is painfully clear: drag Honda HRC right back to the summit of the MotoGP World Championship standings. In doing so, he follows in the footsteps of fellow Brazilian Alex Barros, who bagged four podiums for the factory Honda squad back in the 2004 MotoGP season aboard the Honda RC211V.
“It is a fantastic feeling to arrive to the factory Honda HRC team in MotoGP, it is something that every rider dreams of when they are young,” Diogo Moreira said. “I want to say thank you to everyone in Honda HRC for putting their faith in me and making the next step in this project. So far in 2026 we have done a great job to adapt to the bike and the sensations for the future are already very positive from what we have seen. Of course, I must also say thank you to everyone in LCR who have helped me in my adaptation to MotoGP – the whole team has been crucial in this development. I am looking forward to next year and to helping Honda HRC return to where they must be.”
Yuzura Ishikawa, General Manager of the Motorcycle Racing Division at HRC, added: “Moreira has always been able to adapt to new bikes quickly, everything from motocross to Moto3, Moto2 and now MotoGP. This is the sign of a talented rider and as HRC, we aim to keep supporting Diogo in the next step of his career and in the next step of our plan to return to fighting for the World Championship. We have a highly competitive rider line-up next season across Honda HRC Castrol and the LCR Team and I am sure that all of these riders will push each other not only to raise their level on track, but also to help HRC’s engineers create the best bike possible in this new era of racing.”
