Road to MotoGP - Who can make it to the Moto3 World Championship in 2027? (Part 2)

Over the years, we have seen many talented riders emerge from the FIM Moto3 Junior World Championship and the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, before making the step up to the Grand Prix World Championship and often achieving excellent results. The same could happen again very soon, as several more riders are performing well in the two main Road to MotoGP series and could aim for a seat in the Moto3 World Championship grid in 2027.

In Part 1, we discussed a few riders from Italy, Spain and Asia. In Part 2, the focus shifts to talents from other countries and with different language backgrounds.

DISCLAIMER: This article, like Part 1, contains analysis and predictions based on results and other factors. It should not be considered as confirmed news.

Will Malta or Kyrgyzstan have their first GP entry?

One of the biggest sensations of the 2026 season so far is Travis Borg. Born in 2009, the Maltese rider has already claimed three podiums out of the first five races of the FIM Moto3 Junior World Championship, along with one podium and several top five finishes in the opening four rounds of this year's Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup season. All of this has come during his rookie season in both championships, following a 2025 campaign in the European Talent Cup where he showed promising stuff, but not up to the point of predicting he could be this fast in 2026. With Monlau Motul Racing, Borg is now battling for the Moto3 JWC title, while also making a name for himself in the Rookies Cup through impressive comebacks from the back of the field and bold overtakes.

On the other side, another rider who deserves attention is Yaroslav Karpushin. Also born in 2009, the Russian rider competes under the Kyrgyzstan flag (he cannot represent his home country, for well-known reasons). He had already scored encouraging results in 2025, with several top ten finishes and a podium during his first Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup campaign. In 2026, however, he made another big step, as he secured another podium finish in the Rookies Cup (2nd place in Race 2 at Jerez). Moreover, he recently enjoyed a spectacular Moto3 JWC weekend at the same circuit, finishing second in Race 1 before taking an impressive victory in Race 2 with the CFMOTO Aspar Team. He is still missing consistency and several DNF's have affected his Rookies Cup campaign, but strong foundations are there for great progress.

What do Borg and Karpushin have in common? They both represent countries, Malta and Kyrgyzstan, that have never represented in the MotoGP paddock. Seeing new nationalities on the grid is undoubtedly attractive for Liberty Media, and even more so when the riders involved have genuine talent.
However, neither Borg nor Karpushin has turned 18 yet. In fact, both will celebrate their 17th birthday this year, meaning that if they want to reach the Moto3 World Championship as early as 2027, they will need to finish in the top 3 either in the Moto3 Junior World Championship, or in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.

Prediction: Travis Borg will finish in the top 3 in one of the two above mentioned series, and already in 2027 he will become the first Maltese rider ever to compete in the Moto3 World Championship. For Karpushin the challenge is tougher, and 2028 appears to be a more realistic target, but never say never...

English-speaking: United States, United Kingdom, South Africa

I have already mentioned one English-speaking country, Malta, and now it is time to move to riders from other nations where English is spoken more than widely.

Just as we know Liberty Media is an American company, many people are also aware that one of the brightest young prospects on the Road to MotoGP comes right from the United States: Kristian Daniel Jr.
The Los Angeles native has lived in Spain for several years alongside his father, who used to be a manager in a major company, but recently decided to go all-in on his son's career. However, it would be wrong to think that money is the only reason behind this. Kristian Daniel Jr. is genuinely fast, as demonstrated by the podiums he achieved in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup during both the 2025 and 2026 seasons, together with his encouraging performances in the Moto3 Junior World Championship.
Daniel Jr. will turn 18 in February 2027, before the season begins. And with a few more top 3 or top 5 finishes, it would be no surprise to see a Moto3 WC team offering him a seat.

Back in Europe, the United Kingdom is bringing several taltented guys like Ethan Sparks and Filip Surowiak, plus the one we will talk about now: Sullivan Mounsey.
Age is not an issue for him, since he was born in 2007 and recently turned 19. However, if he wants to reach the Moto3 World Championship in 2027, Mounsey will need stronger results and this especially in the Moto3 Junior World Championship, where he has not stood out during the opening races of the 2026 season. He has shown promising pace in the Rookies Cup, including a podium in Race 2 at Le Mans and a fourth place in Race 1 at Mugello, but the British rider still lacks consistency.
There is also an important connection. Mounsey competes in the MotoJunior with CIP Green Power, a team that already races in the Moto3 World Championship. If Scott Ogden does not remain with the team and Mounsey enjoys a strong second half of the season, he could replace Ogden both within the team and, at the very least, as British rider on the Moto3 grid.

This section concludes with South African rider Kgopotso Mononyane.
After previous experience in the Italian CIV Championship and the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, where he scored just a few point finishes, Mononyane is contesting his third Moto3 Junior World Championship season in 2026 and has finally started establishing himself in the front. He has already delivered important results, including finishing 5th in Race 1 at Barcelona. Since then his form has dropped slightly, but the feeling is that the rider from Pretoria has taken a significant step forward compared to previous years. With a few more strong performances in the coming races and solid financial backing (which always helps) he could have an opportunity to move into the Moto3 World Championship in 2027. It would also be a remarkable personal story, for a guy who lost his father at a very young age.

Prediction: Out of the three riders mentioned above, Daniel Jr. has a genuine chance of reaching the Moto3 World Championship in 2027. Mounsey and Mononyane also have opportunities, but they will need stronger results to strengthen their cases.

France

To conclude this article and this "analysis", we can now talk about a country that currently has two riders in MotoGP, but none in Moto2 or Moto3: France.

Why? Because, for the first time in ages, this country has so many young riders emerging at the same time in the Road to MotoGP, three years after Lorenzo Fellon's difficult time in the Moto3 World Championship. Here are four names worth watching, each with reasons:

• Guillem Planques (2007): Although he still lacks consistency, he has already stood on the podium in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and is delivering encouraging results in the Moto3 Junior World Championship with Momoven Racing. Moreover, Momoven Racing Team Owner Javi Martínez has recently become his manager.
• David Da Costa (2008): He still needs something extra to be consistently at the front, but he is showing good pace both in the Rookies Cup and during his rookie Moto3 Junior World Championship season, despite racing with a team (JEG Take Off) whose resources are below those of the leading teams of the series.
• Enzo Bellon (2009): He is steadily improving and, if he takes another step forward, he could realistically target a Moto3 World Championship seat with CIP Green Power, the French team that strongly believes in this homegrown talent, and currently fields him in the Moto3 JWC.
• Rémy Sanjuan (2007): Followed and supported by WorldSSP star Valentin Debise, he achieved only modest results in the European Talent Cup, but in the Moto3 Junior World Championship he has been regularly at the edge of the top ten with Larresport, a team whose resources cannot be compared with those of Aspar, Momoven, Monlau and so on.

Prediction: Liberty Media, French TV and other stakeholders would certainly welcome a French rider on the 2027 Moto3 grid. Planques clearly has a strong chance, but with even better results and sufficient backing, including financial support, the other three could also become realistic candidates. If I had to make one bold prediction, I would go with Rémy Sanjuan.

And that brings this analysis to a close. As explained in Part 1, I have tried to identify which riders could step up to the Moto3 World Championship in 2027 based on their results and a variety of other factors.

Whether these predictions will come true, and how many of the riders mentioned will eventually reach Grand Prix racing, remains impossible to know. What I do hope is that I have provided a sensible and realistic picture of what could happen.

Love,
Palmen