Although the thing is understood, and despite the comments of various media, it is certain that the officialization of Fabio Quartararo in MotoGP will not take place today, nor even during this weekend in Austria, but much more probably during the Grand Prix at Silverstone .
Paradoxically, it is not so much the composition of the MotoGP team which still poses a problem, this being now known to insiders at the level of riders, motorcycles and even technical managers, as that of the Moto2 team which is currently in an active phase of work.
To see things a little more clearly, let's summarize here the elements that we have gathered thanks to our involvement in the paddock.
- The SIC-Petronas team will line up in Moto3 with
John McPhee et Adam Norrodin on Hondas.
The British driver has not yet confirmed this transfer but it is now becoming an open secret. - The SIC-Petronas team will line up in MotoGP with Franco Morbidelli et Fabio Quartararo on Yamahas. The Italian driver will retain his current technical manager, Diego Gubellini, while the Frenchman should finally “recover” Ramón Forcada, in extreme cold with Maverick Vinales. The MotoGP team will be under the responsibility of Wilco Zeelenberg.
- To complete this pyramid, it appears that Dato' Razlan Razali, the Director of the Sepang International Circuit who now manages the entire Malaysian sector, is now looking with his right arm Johan Stigefelt to obtain a 2nd place in Moto2. It is this element which seems to delay the formalization of the entire Malaysian structure since, to obtain it despite the limit of 30 motorcycles on the grid, it will be necessary to buy it from an existing team. You can imagine the discussions and bargaining going on... For the moment, SIC-Petronas is fielding the 22-year-old Finn Niki Tuuli on a Kalex.
Regardless, it now appears that at least one major announcement will be made during the Grand Prix at Silverstone which takes place 5 km from Brakley, the base of the Mercedes-Petronas F1 team: what better way to announce the official arrival of Petronas in MotoGP and/or the complete composition of the 3 Grand Prix teams?
