With Marc Marquez confirming his shock departure from Repsol Honda ahead of a switch to Gresini Ducati, we look at five other huge moves that took MotoGP by storm.
Casey Stoner says that “the way Ducati handles things isn’t always the best”, and gave full credit for last season’s MotoGP championship victory to Francesco Bagnaia.
Valentino Rossi had more mental resilience than Casey Stoner, but the Australian was a more naturally gifted rider - although Marc Marquez is better than both, says a veteran of the Ducati garage.
Miguel Oliveira has confirmed he will use the 2022-spec Aprilia for the upcoming MotoGP season, while the onus will be on factory riders Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro to ‘validate’ the 2023 material.
Along with missing out on several top riders due to a lack of risk taking, Keith Huewen believes Honda’s reliance on Marc Marquez in previous years has led to them being ‘where they are now’, which is struggling to be a force in MotoGP.
Keith Huewen poses the question of whether WorldSBK could threaten MotoGP’s status as the leading two-wheel championship, after seeing the series make a comeback in popularity.
Alvaro Bautista has made his decision on whether to defend the WorldSBK title with the #1 plate or #19, which will be announced when Aruba.it Ducati officially launch their 2023 bike on Monday.