MotoGP: focus on the grid for the next season

In a month, MotoGP will have returned to Sepang for the first offseason tests of the year. Before this impatiently awaited deadline, here is a reminder of the state of a field which has seen quite a few changes compared to 2018...

This year, 22 riders from the premier category of the Motorcycle World Championship will fight on tracks spread across the planet. Compared to the last campaign, only two teams will continue with the same numbers: Movistar Yamaha and LCR Honda.

Six Ducatis, four Hondas, four Yamahas and four KTMs, here is the state of the forces of the four manufacturers who will compete with customer teams. Only Suzuki and Aprilia do without a private team. Carmelo Ezpeleta, the boss of Dorna, however, wanted a satellite team for each of the factories from the 2018 season.

The composition of the different racing teams changes radically. Movistar Yamaha will continue to rely on Valentino Rossi et Maverick Vinales, and LCR Honda will continue once again with Cal Crutchlow et Takaaki Nakagami This year. For the rest, the driver pairing has been reviewed and corrected.

Repsol Honda will fight for the first time in 13 years without Dani Pedrosa. It will be replaced by Jorge Lorenzo, who as a teammate of the superstar Marc Márquez faces a major challenge.

The Ducati factory team includes two Italians, Andrea Dovizioso et Danilo Petrucci. The Red Bull KTM relies on Johann zarco et Pol Espargaro. Suzuki Ecstar has Joan mir (21 years) and alex rins (22 years old) under contract for the youngest driver duo…