Livio Suppo is a former team manager of the Ducati factory and the Repsol Honda team in MotoGP who is waiting for Suzuki to give him a call to possibly return to service. By waiting, he observes and as the 2022 season fast approaches, he identifies the element which could be the arbiter of choice in the outcome of the championship. It's not about a motorcycle or a rider. But coronavirus. And this is not the last misadventure of Jack Miller blocked in Australia due to a positive screening which will prove him wrong…
Livio Suppo, Racing Consultant perhaps says out loud what everyone else is thinking quietly. A posture that seems motivated by attracting the evil eye to oneself. The subject is this damn Covid-19, this still current pandemic which could affect the progress of the championship by infecting its protagonists. The Italian says so on mowmag : " it will be a championship where anything can happen, including this damn covid. This variant is super contagious and it cannot be ruled out that it could affect the championship ».
Worse, the situation will have to be taken into account even before the start of hostilities… “ The feeling is that this will already be the case from the Sepang tests » said suppo. " In a championship with so many races so close together, catching covid can be a major problem for a driver. I think that, as always, until the summer it will be difficult to understand who can be a title contender. The risk of missing races in this way, which did not exist before, becomes one more option ».
However, you also need to be positive and not wallow in fear. SO, Livio Suppo, Racing Consultant also assesses the forces present: “ Pecco Bagnaia certainly finished the season as the strongest driver on the track, so at least on paper he is. But every year is different, it depends on many things. Let's remember Dani Pedrosa, who at the end of the season was getting stronger and stronger. At the start of the year, he always had a problem: an injury, one thing or another… Every year, we start from scratch ».
Livio Suppo: “ Quartararo seems a little too concerned about the power of his bike, something he didn't mention last year.
« If we look at 2021, Bagnaia and Quartararo have been very strong, although Fabio seems a little too concerned about the power of the bike, something he didn't mention last year: he still won without complaining, but I think that lately he is a little conditioned by that. Having a year like his, being the only Yamaha rider to do certain things, conditions you, because if you see that all the Ducatis are going fast, your enthusiasm drops a little. Fabio has shown that he has made a mental leap, he starts with number one, and I don't think he will use it, and he is one of the title contenders ».
But for suppo, the driver which will first and foremost be considered is of course Marc Marquez : " I think he is doing everything he can to be ready for this season, free of his eye problem which has clearly passed without the need for surgery. I am very happy for him, he is the strongest driver of the last ten years and he could not play the championship because of his injuries. I hope he can come back 100% because he deserves it ».
« If he finds the right feeling with the Honda, he can really become the favorite again " finished suppo. « Last year he won three races without being in perfect shape, and with a bike that could certainly be improved. So I think even if he doesn't come back exactly like he was before, he will be a potential title contender. When he crashed at Jerez, before his injury, he was going twice as fast as the others. Then he fell, but until then he was amazing. He has such talent that it will be difficult for anyone to compete with him, even if he is not in his best form ».
