Rome, Italy (AFP) — Francesco Bagnaia will join Aprilia, the Italian manufacturer said on Thursday, once the two-time former MotoGP champion leaves Ducati at the end of the current season.

Bagnaia has signed a four-year contract with Aprilia’s factory team, where he will join fellow Italian and current championship leader Marco Bezzecchi.

Ducati will replace 29-year-old Bagnaia with rising star Pedro Acosta, 22, who is a former world champion in the Moto2 and Moto3 racing categories.

Acosta will race alongside reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez, who has extended his contract with Ducati for an additional two seasons.

Bagnaia was promoted to Ducati’s factory team in 2021 and was crowned world champion with Ducati in 2022 and 2023, with his first title a landmark win for Ducati, which had been waiting 15 years for the MotoGP rider’s crown.

The 29-year-old also narrowly missed out on a hat-trick of world titles in 2024 as he finished just 10 points behind winner Jorge Martin, but he has since struggled on the factory bike.

Last season, Bagnaia finished fifth, a whopping 257 points behind teammate Marc Marquez, and he sits seventh in this year’s riders’ standings after just one win all season — in the Czech MotoGP sprint on Saturday.