Season 2020 hasn’t started yet properly but rumours never sleep. There are already plenty of riders confirmed for MotoGP season 2021 and the silly season is on so let’s also look at what the possibilities for the riders searching for a race seat look like.
A few teams have already confirmed their riders’ line up for next season(s). Monster Energy Yamaha will have Maverick Viñales and Fabio Quartararo in the team and they both have the contract until 2022. Suzuki Ecstar have announced that they keep their two riders for another two years so Joan Mir and Alex Rins have also their contracts until 2022. The most recent confirmation so far have been from KTM who has announced their full structure for 2021. The Red Bull KTM Factory team will see the reunion of Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder. These two used to be team mates in Moto3 and also Moto2. In the Red Bull KTM Tech 3 team they will have Iker Lecuona and Danilo Petrucci whose place at Ducati has been taken by another rider so Danilo had to look at some other options.
Then, there are some teams who have announced one rider and are yet to say something more about the other one. So we already know that Marc Márquez has extended his contract with Repsol Honda until 2024 – that’s a long time. When it comes to his team mate it looks like Pol Espargaró is coming to the team, nothing has been announced yet but the rumours are quite strong. We also already know that Ducati Team will have Jack Miller in the team next year, he has contract for 2021 with option for 2022. No words about his team mate yet but as Danilo Petrucci will be moving from Ducati to KTM it’s highly possible that Andrea Dovizioso will stay with the Italian team for another season. The Avintia team will have Tito Rabat next year, in 2019 he signed a contract for two years so his contract is still effective for 2021. It’s hard to say who may be his team mate, from the past we know that literally anybody can end up in this team. Currently Johann Zarco is in the team but he’s rookie in the team and the season hasn’t started yet so we don’t know if he does well and would like to continue or not.
Johann Zarco during Sepang test
One place for 2021 has been announced also at Aprilia. Aleix Espargaró has extended the contract until 2022. The name of his team mate depends on the Andrea Iannone doping case situation. Massimo Rivola from Aprilia said time ago that he stands next to his rider so if he is not banned from racing he would probably continue in the team. We don’t know what may happen but according to some rumours there are lots of riders interested in the Aprilia seat. Of course there are their test riders Bradley Smith and Lorenzo Savadori waiting for their chance but I’ve already read some rumours about Johann Zarco, Cal Crutchlow or Francesco Bagnaia. Hard to predict anything and it will be probably interesting how it all will end up.
There are also teams who haven’t said anything about their future line ups so far. One of them is LCR Honda. Takaaki Nakagami seems to be safe here but nothing has been confirmed yet. When it comes to his team mate it looks like Alex Márquez may end up here. He is in Repsol Honda for this year but even though the season hasn’t started yet it looks like Honda is interested in Pol Espargaró so Alex will have to fight for his place. And LCR Honda sounds like reasonable choice. But you know what, it would be somehow funny if Alex stays in the team with his brother and Pol would go to LCR Honda. It doesn’t sound very likely according to the rumours but I would not exlucde this eventuality. However, if LCR Honda signs a contract with a new rider it means Cal Crutchlow would be out. As I’ve mentioned above, he may be interested in the Aprilia seat. Or maybe even retirement? Just my guess, I don’t know.
Another team who hasn’t announced anything yet is Petronas Yamaha. Well, nothing… We already know that Fabio Quartararo will not stay in the team in 2021 as he moves to Monster Yamaha. It looks more and more likely that Franco Morbidelli and Valentino Rossi will be team duo here in the upcoming year but we have to wait for the confirmation.
Valentino Rossi
No words yet about their 2021 riders have been made at Pramac Racing. Jack Miller will be promoted to Ducati Team so it’s clear that they will have at least one new rider. No news about Francesco Bagnaia but if I can say my opinion here, I would like to see him staying with the team. Some rumours already connected Johann Zarco with the team but there were also some articles about rookies on the internet. It can happen that Pramac would like to promote a rider from Moto2. I’ve already read some rumours about Jorge Martín, Lorenzo Baldassarri and Enea Bastianini. So we will see.
Photo: MotoGP
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