David Alonso to join Honda’s MotoGP ranks in 2027
Honda Racing Corporation has secured one of Grand Prix racing’s brightest young talents, signing David Alonso to a multi-year deal that will take the Colombian into the MotoGP World Championship from 2027.
Alonso will complete the current Moto2 season with the CFMOTO Aspar Team before making his Honda MotoGP debut at the traditional post-race Valencia test.
HRC’s announcement confirms that Alonso will race for Honda in 2027, but did not specify which team he would represent. It remains open whether the 20-year-old will go straight to the factory Honda HRC Castrol squad or begin his premier-class career within the LCR Honda structure.
Whichever garage ultimately acquires him, Honda has now locked in a rider whose progression through the development categories has been rapid and at times record-breaking.
lead on championship
Born in Madrid but racing under the Colombian flag, Alonso has been part of the Espar development system during his early career.
He won the European Talent Cup in 2020, before advancing to the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, where he clinched the 2021 championship with one extra race.
That progress eventually led Alonso to the Moto3 World Championship. His rookie Grand Prix campaign in 2023 quickly established that he is more than just another promising youngster waiting for experience.
Alonso claimed four wins and eight podiums to finish third in the championship, the first of which came in extraordinary fashion at Silverstone. After qualifying at the back of the grid, he advanced through the field to become the first Colombian rider to win a motorcycle Grand Prix.
It was an early display of the racecraft that would soon set Alonso apart from the rest of the Moto3 field: calm in a crowded group, comfortable under brakes and rarely intimidated by the prospect of making several decisive passes in the closing laps.
Alonso dominates Moto3
If Alonso’s rookie campaign announced his potential, the 2024 season has confirmed it without a doubt.
The CFMOTO Asper rider took control of the Moto3 World Championship and secured the title at Motegi with his tenth win of the season. By that time, the Colombian had already gained a lead in the championship that none of his rivals could realistically hold.
Even once the title was secured, Alonso did not calm down. He continued to win in the final rounds and finished the season with 14 wins, setting a new benchmark for wins during a single lightweight-division campaign.
His final success of the year at Barcelona completed a seven-race win streak and capped a season in which Alonso combined consistent fast pace with a remarkable ability to manage the often-messy final laps of Moto3 competition.
That 14th victory completed one of the most impressive seasons in the history of the Lightweight Grand Prix and made Alonso the first Colombian motorcycle world champion.
Moto2 brings a different challenge
The move to Moto2 in 2025 provided a more important test. The heavier machinery, greater emphasis on corner exit performance and very little difference between success and the middle of the field demanded a period of adaptation.
Before achieving his breakthrough at Balaton Park, Alonso also reached the podium during his rookie Moto2 season. His composure at the end of the race put him ahead of the established title contenders and made him the first Colombian rider to win a Moto2 Grand Prix.
His second season in the intermediate class has further strengthened his belief in Honda’s long-term potential.
Alonso achieved consecutive pole positions at Brno and Assen during particularly strong mid-season races. He converted first place in the Czech Republic into second place before winning in one of the closest finales of the 2026 season in Assen.
The Colombian beat championship leader Manuel Gonzalez by just 0.024-seconds after the final-chicken encounter, while Australian Senna Agius was just 0.234-seconds away from victory in third. The result marked Alonso’s second Moto2 win and moved him up to fourth in the championship.
That victory at Assen also underlined Alonso’s ability to perform under intense last-lap pressure, one of the defining traits of his Moto3 career.
Honda invests in Alonso’s future
In Moto3 and Moto2, Alonso has earned 20 Grand Prix wins, 30 podium finishes and nine pole positions.
Those numbers are impressive for any rider, but are especially notable given that Alonso is still only 20 years old and is competing in his fourth full season in the Grand Prix paddock.
Honda’s multi-year commitment therefore represents much more than just recruiting a rider for the vacant 2027 seat. HRC believes this is a long-term investment that can become a central figure in the next phase of its MotoGP programme.
The exact size of that programme, and Alonso’s place within the factory or LCR structure, has yet to be confirmed. For now, his immediate task is to maintain the momentum that has taken him to fourth in the Moto2 standings and end his Esper tenure on a high.
Alonso will then sample Honda’s 2027 MotoGP machine for the first time in Valencia, marking the beginning of the next chapter of a career that has already delivered championships, records and much history for the Colombian.
