Features 21 May 2016

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It’s been the week of MotoGP rider signings as 2017 takes shape, albeit just five rounds into the current season. It’s been an intriguing month or two and, finally, we can begin to get back to the current on-track action.

We love the silly season as much as anyone, however it is kind of refreshing to see it start to settle down at this point. So what’s happened? In case you’ve been living beneath a rock, it all started when reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo signed for Ducati one month ago.

That opened a place alongside the already re-signed Valentino Rossi at Movistar Yamaha, which Maverick Vinales has since filled following a tough decision whether he wanted to try and become a Suzuki legend or more immediately challenge for premier class championships.

You can’t blame Vinales for jumping ship, because as good as the GSX-RR’s been and as much promise that it’s shown, the Yamaha has proven to be the bike to beat most recently. You’d be mad to turn down an offer from the factory, still lucrative, yet understood not to be the amount Suzuki was offering.

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

And while all that was going on, Ducati decided longtime rider Andrea Dovizioso would be the ideal rider to partner Lorenzo in 2017 and 2018, prompting Andrea Iannone to sign for Suzuki despite having an offer on the table from the Italian manufacturer. What that offer was, we’re not 100 percent sure.

Spanish veteran Dani Pedrosa recently re-signed for Repsol Honda after substantial links to Yamaha, but it was always pretty clear he was a plan B in case they couldn’t get the signature of Vinales. Dual world champion Marc Marquez is yet to put pen to paper at Honda, but that’s now only a matter of time.

That leaves the second seat at Suzuki as the next major factory ride on the line, which could go to either current rider Aleix Espargaro or highly-rated Moto2 talent Alex Rins. It’d be a difficult decision to make, but you can’t help but think Rins is a real star of the future. If he develops at the right time Suzuki peaks, it could be the match they’ve now lost in Vinales.

In terms of the factories, there are also the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini and KTM Factory Racing rides to be decided. Sam Lowes will be on one of the Aprilias after agreeing to terms last year, though it’s not certain whether Stefan Bradl or Alvaro Bautista will be his teammate.

And the newcomer, KTM, has already secured Bradley Smith after a lengthy stint with Tech3 Yamaha, and could be on the radar for multiple strong riders. We’ve got not real indication who though and it’s very difficult to know just how competitive they can get the RC16 in time for next year.

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

On top of all that will be the satellite seats, which will really only be decided once the primary positions are gone. The only official signing as of right now is Jonas Folger at Monster Energy Yamaha Tech3, which came as somewhat of a surprise to many this soon.

And as we’ve mentioned before and pretty much everybody’s aware, 2017 will be the final year in Jack Miller’s three-year Honda Racing Corporation contract. It places him in an awkward position, even if he does perform to expectations in year three, because he’s out of sync with the major factory signings (although HRC has run three bikes, as recent as 2011 upon Stoner’s arrival).

What we do hope is that wherever HRC places him next year, preferably with Marc VDS again, that they provide a more competitive satellite option. Sure, he’s still battling an ankle injury, but it’d be a shame for Australia to lose him out of motorcycling’s premier division in a quality team if he doesn’t succeed this year or next.

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