In a significant shift within the MotoGP engineering landscape, Christian Pupulin, currently serving as Jack Miller’s technical manager at KTM, is set to join Honda next year. He will replace Giacomo Guidotti as the engineer for Luca Marini’s side of the garage.
As the rider market settles following some dramatic announcements around the Italian GP, attention has turned to the movement of key engineers. With the exception of Fabiano Sterlacchini, who left KTM for family reasons. It’s common for engineers to move between teams, often following their riders. However, Pupulin’s case is different.
Pupulin, who joined KTM a year and a half ago after a long tenure at Ducati working with top riders like Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso, will switch to Honda in 2025. This move comes as the Australian technician’s current stint with KTM concludes.
Marini, who started with Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) at the beginning of 2024, has been working with Guidotti. Who has been with Honda since 2017 and has engineered for Dani Pedrosa, Joan Mir, and Takaaki Nakagami. Marini had initially requested to work with Santi Hernandez, a key figure in Marc Marquez’s team. However, the team ultimately assigned Hernandez to Mir, leaving Guidotti to work with Marini.
Next year, Marini will team up with Pupulin, who is affectionately known as “Pipi” in the paddock. This will be one of several significant engineering changes anticipated for 2025. Notably, Marc Marquez will inherit Marco Rigamonti as his track engineer when he moves to the factory Ducati team, replacing Enea Bastianini. Bastianini will transition to Tech3 KTM, reuniting with Alberto Giribuola, his former engineering coordinator at Ducati.
Moreover, Motorsport.com suggests Jose Manuel Cazeaux will support Maverick Vinales at Tech3. Cazeaux previously worked with Vinales at Aprilia and during his MotoGP debut at Suzuka in 2015.
At Aprilia, the team is looking to facilitate Jorge Martin’s adaptation to the RS-GP, with Daniele Romagnoli, currently with Pramac, as a top candidate for the role. Despite Ducati having a contract with Romagnoli, the team has informed him that they won’t need his services for 2025.
Additionally, Antonio Jimenez is in talks to join Honda, potentially partnering with Aleix Espargaro, who will be Honda’s test rider next year. The engineer set to assist Marco Bezzecchi’s transition to Aprilia remains undecided, especially if Cazeaux departs with Vinales. David Munoz, currently with Fabio Di Giannantonio at VR46, is a sought-after name and may land factory GP25 role next-year. However, Munoz is likely to join Pramac, which will be racing Yamaha bikes from next season.
