Senna Agius will race in MotoGP next year. Red Bull KTM Tech3 announced on Wednesday that the 21-year-old from Camden, in Sydney's south-west, will partner Luca Marini in 2027, making him the last of the 22 riders named for next season's grid.
The team's announcement covers 2027 only. It does not state a contract length.
Agius has won four Moto2 grands prix. The first came at Silverstone in 2025, followed by Phillip Island, and he finished that season 10th. This year he won back to back at the Circuit of the Americas and Jerez. Before reaching the world championship he won the 2023 Moto2 European Championship, taking eight of 11 races.
“Today, a lifelong dream of mine has come true: reaching MotoGP," Agius said in the team release. "So many years of hard work have gone into this moment, and I'm incredibly grateful to Guenther and everyone at Tech3 for believing in me and giving me this opportunity.”
Tech3 chief executive Guenther Steiner, the former Haas Formula 1 team principal, said the team was "building a team for a completely new era of MotoGP" and wanted to combine experience with young talent. "He has shown impressive speed and maturity in Moto2, but what really stood out to us was his determination to keep improving and his attitude towards the work required to succeed," Steiner said.
On current form, Agius was not the obvious pick. His Intact GP teammate Manuel Gonzalez leads the Moto2 championship on 232.5 points and has won five races this season to Agius's two. Agius is fourth on 149 after being taken out at the first corner of last Sunday's San Marino Grand Prix at Misano, a race he started from pole after setting a lap record of 1:33.718.
The Race reported disquiet in the paddock over the choice, and both it and Motorsport.com have linked the decision to the Australian round moving to a new Adelaide street circuit from 2027. Tech3 has not said that. Its release does not explain how the team weighed the two riders.
The Adelaide layout, unveiled on 30 August, runs 4.13 kilometres with 15 corners and is contracted to host the race through 2032. Agius will be the only Australian on the grid when it arrives: Jack Miller leaves MotoGP at the end of this season for Yamaha's factory World Superbike team.
He joins a large rookie intake. David Alonso, Daniel Holgado, Izan Guevara and Nicolò Bulega also step up for 2027, a season in which the class moves to 850cc engines and Pirelli replaces Michelin as tyre supplier. Agius takes the Tech3 seat vacated by Maverick Viñales, who leaves the class after 2026.
Before any of that, he has a Moto2 title fight to finish from fourth, 83.5 points behind Gonzalez. The next round is the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
