Yamaha: 'Dovizioso to Petronas, Morbidelli to Monster'
Yamaha Racing managing director Lin Jarvis has confirmed plans for Andrea Dovizioso to return to the MotoGP grid with Petronas SRT at Misano, ahead of a full campaign for the reborn satellite Yamaha outfit in 2022.
"The plan is to have Morbidelli with the factory team and Dovizioso with the satellite team from Misano and then also in 2022," Jarvis told the official MotoGP website.
Dovizioso would need to use Morbidelli's A-spec bike this year, but get a Factory-spec M1 for next season.
A triple title runner-up for Ducati, Dovizioso was forced to take a year-out due to a lack of competitive offers for 2021, while maintaining his priority was to race in MotoGP again.
The Italian, 35, has been taking part in testing duties for Aprilia this year. But just as the path to an RS-GP race seat closed with the signing of Maverick Vinales, a Yamaha race seat emerged due to Vinales' mid-season divorce from the Japanese team.
Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow is the team's Silverstone stand-in, but Franco Morbidelli - Vinales' 2022 replacement but currently recovering from knee surgery - is set to switch from Petronas to Monster ASAP to assist in the factory's quest for the triple crown of riders' (Fabio Quartararo), teams' and constructors' titles.
With Morbidelli on the move and Crutchlow busy with development of the 2022 M1, Petronas SRT needed a new rider to join the soon-to-retire Valentino Rossi for the final rounds.
Dovizioso, who has won 15 MotoGP races for Honda and Ducati, not only moved into pole position for the replacement M1 rides but – aided by the likely announcement that Italian company WithU is taking over from the departing Petronas as title sponsor of the new-look 'SRT' project - a full 2022 campaign.
Official details of the new satellite Yamaha entity that will emerge from the ashes of the current Petronas Sepang Racing Team are due to be announced at Misano.
Darryn Binder, currently racing for SRT in Moto3, had been tipped to be promoted straight to MotoGP alongside the experienced Dovizioso next season, but SRT Moto2 rider Jake Dixon has done his MotoGP chances no harm at all with a solid premier-class debut so far at Silverstone.
"I would expect if he has a good ride today you will see Jake again on the bike this year. That’s not a definitive. So let’s see," Jarvis told BT Sport. "So Jake could be one of the options [for a satellite Yamaha in 2022]. Also obviously Darryn is one of the options that’s been talked about. And there are others we’ve been talking to. There is no decision yet."
One rider not in contention is Toprak Razgatlioglu, who will remain in WorldSBK for 2022.
