The world championship has come to a standstill, the date for the fans is on August 8th at the Red Bull Ring for the Styrian GP, followed by the Austrian GP on the same route.
When the engines are idling it is almost inevitable that We’ll only talk about the market especially after the announcement of the surprising divorce between Maverick Vinales and Yamaha.
There must have been a mutual agreement on such an expensive contract – valued at over $ 6 million a year – which would naturally have expired by the end of next year, but the result is that the Iwata manufacturer is now looking for not one, but two drivers, Given that the split between the Petronas team and Valentino Rossi seems like a foregone conclusion.
When Lin Jarvis gets the OK from the parent company and from Petronas the correct and most obvious step would be that of Franco Morbidelli’s move to the works team, however, this would force the Malaysian oil company to completely rebuild their team and remain true to their mission of nurturing talented young drivers. A goal that was largely achieved with Fabio Quartararo and Frankie themselves.
However, there is a problem: There doesn’t seem to be two young talents on the market right now who earn a factory M1 or two. Unless you go fishing among the riders already under contract with KTM, however, something seems to have already been done.
Because of this, before hot August, which will see three grands prix (there will also be the one in England at Silverstone), Rumors of a possible Yamaha interest in riders have surfaced, experts certainly, but definitely not spring chickens! The names that have been swirled around are those of Dani Pedrosa, current KTM test driver, Andrea Dovizioso and Johnny Rea. Three drivers, each 36, 35 and 34 years old.
Will Pedrosa, Dovizioso and Rea be tempted? We don’t believe
With all due respect to those who mentioned these names, something that will surely get people talking, it seems to us that there are aspects to each of them that turn the message from “likely” to at least simply “possible” can. In the sense that as half the world is interested in buying and the other in selling, With the right financial support, even the most unlikely situations can arise.
The first negative point that applies to all three is that neither Dani, nor Dovi, or Johnny seem ready to take a position on a satellite team. It’s true: Petronas could hold Morbido and thus free up his place on the works team, but with a view to the two best it doesn’t seem very logical. Of the three, the most unlikely “yes” is Pedrosa’s: his age and the position he has achieved within the Mattighofen factory give the impression that he is fine where he is. Dovizioso, on the other hand, could accept an adventure that is certainly more stimulating than Aprilia’s in the role of test rider, if it offers the possibility of not even having to wait at 35 to develop a winning motorcycle. But he would be number 3 between the advancing Fabio and the vengeful Franco.
The thing with Rea is a lot more complex. Johnny has six World Superbike titles and so far He has always refused to make the leap into MotoGP, stating that he doesn’t want to fight in midfield, but with the strikers. This is a role that Yamaha cannot offer him at the moment.
There are more free places than riders in MotoGP
Of course, if he gets his seventh seal in Superbike he might be tired of not having any opponents in the near-series series, but he has to make a decision now, especially if he is from Turkish rider Toprak. Razgatlıoğlu was ousted from the SBK leadership. This is without considering the required salary as Yamaha will likely have money to invest in drivers after divorce from Vinales.
The only point that really speaks in favor of Rea’s move to MotoGP could be a decision by Dorna to “liberate” the production-based category from Northern Irish domination.. But how much is the Spanish company really interested in superbikes? We have no answer to this question.
Also, the market doesn’t offer much right now and if we think so Aprilia is also looking for a driver, just like the new-born VR46 team itself, now the number of available free spaces has reached four. With how many free candidates? Already a couple. The name Marco Bezzecchi was already circulating for one of the two Ducatis, then there is Joe Roberts, without forgetting that the desire for riders with British passports after Cal Crutchlow’s resignation put Jake Dixon in the spotlight, as Sam Lowes has a certain less than exciting past in Aprilia.
In short, the headhunter’s job is not an easy one, considering that one of the four seats at the end will be occupied by Maverick Vinales … Unless another seat becomes vacant. At Suzuki? At Honda? As Carlo Pernat often says: signed contracts and contractual penalty clauses can no longer be trusted.
The latest rumors speak of a “contact” between Vinales and Suzuki that would set Rins free. At that point, Alex could switch to Yamaha, which would definitely need a fourth man. This could help Aprilia, who, having turned to Vinales after focusing on Dovizioso, would be forced to return to her home base without however being sure of success. And at that point Massimo Rivola would be better off relying on a young driver. Tony Arbolino? Of course, a bet that would make sense if you had a good test driver in the house. We haven’t said anything about it yet Gerloff, currently in Yamaha Superbike. He was born in 1995, so relatively young, even if, according to current MotoGP standards, he should have tried it a few years earlier. If he were added to the candidate list he could still be tempted, but never before have there been more good bikes than riders …
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