While the MotoGP World Championship technically saw an unexpected month-long break between the Catalan and Dutch Grand Prix due to the postponement of the first Kazakhstan race, this pause on the track has become hectic for the rider market.
Marc Marquez from Gresini to factory Ducati team, Jorge Martin leaves for Aprilia in response, KTM takes Maverick Viñales and Enea Bastianini for Tech3, Aprilia fills Viñales gap with VR46's Marco Pizzicchi and Pramac seems to have concluded that there's no reason why that doesn't mean That ditching Ducati for Yamaha – it's all happened in the last few weeks.
There is still a lot to be settled. But the details of who is headed where – and who has decided to stay in the rest of the network – became clearer during Thursday's session in Assen.
Here's what looks likely to happen to the other nine passengers outside the contract:
Mir really wants to stay at Honda
Despite 2020 world champion Joan Mir's stint statistics at Honda to date including almost as many crashes (31) as points (39), a series of dismal post-race debriefs made it seem at times as if he might retire from MotoGP in his career. Mid-20s and the fact that Mir has enough fans since his title-winning season at Suzuki are now spread out among other teams with more competitive bikes and 2025 places to go, it seems that Mir really wants to stay at Honda for another two years.
He denied reports that a new deal had been concluded, but described obtaining it as a “priority for him.”
Part of this is based on what appears to be genuine faith in Honda's developments and the certainty that “what's next will be better” – or at least things can't get any worse.
But he also insists that if he left Honda now, his departure would be a failure, and he can't bear the thought.
“I was unlucky to be part of Honda's worst moment in history,” said Mir.
“I also still have the feeling that if I leave I will fail this project because when another contestant left this project in the past [Marc Marquez] He achieved some good results in the past and this is not the case for me. I did not achieve good results with this team and I would have a different feeling if I left.”
Mir's old Suzuki teammate Alex Rins is in a similar position, although perhaps he has more reason to have confidence in his team given Yamaha's recent blip.
Although he has not received a contract for 2025 yet, contract talks are very much underway and Reigns does not want to leave.
“It's unbelievable the effort that the entire Yamaha company is putting in,” Rins said of the development work.
The other question mark at Honda is – as always – Taka Nakagami and whether he will finally be replaced by Moto2 front-runner Ai Ogura in LCR.
Regardless of what Honda wants to do with him, Nakagami hinted that he needs to see stronger signs of improvement on the motorcycle to convince him to stay in the MotoGP championship.
“Honestly, if I have the opportunity, of course I want to stay with this team,” he said.
“But it depends on the bike, because I'm not 20 yet. I'm 32. Of course I have to start thinking about my future.”
Where is the distressed Oliveira now?
One rider unhappy with the market's movements so far – and who has expressed his belief that factors outside on-track results are affecting him – is current Trackhouse Aprilia rider Miguel Oliveira, who has doubled down on his claims that it was Bezzecchi's nationality rather than his desire to win the title in 2023 that made him ride Aprilia factory bike.
Oliveira's passionate Portuguese fanbase has repeatedly pointed to comments made by Aprilia boss Massimo Rivola suggesting it would be good for the team to have an Italian among its ranks – and Oliveira also believes this is why he was overlooked for the seat alongside Martin.
“It became quite clear that they needed an Italian rider not for sporting reasons, but perhaps for other reasons,” Oliveira said.
Massimo mentioned it right after Alex. [Espargaro] He announced his retirement. And that's it. It's work. It is what it is.
“I will do my best to look at the whole project and continue to do my best this season despite their decision because it is my turn. Let's see what happens. Everything is still open for me. Maybe I have two options that I like.”
While Rivola expressed a preference for a rider from Aprilia's home country, the belief that this was necessary was offset by attempts to keep Viñales as Martin's partner in an all-Spanish team.
Regardless of the reason Oliveira did not get a place at the Factory, Rivola suggested that he would prefer him to remain at the Trackhouse to provide continuity since the Factory has a completely new lineup. That decision rests with Trackhouse team boss David Brivio.
“[Rivola] “It would be a shame to lose me, because for very different factors we didn’t reach an agreement early because of last year’s results, injuries and the start of this season was very difficult with the new bike,” Oliveira told me.
“After I had the opportunity to appoint the championship leader, there is no one who can compete for that. But it would be very sad if he lost me. But it is no longer in Aprilia’s hands.”
Of course, continuity could be provided by Trackhouse keeping Raul Fernandez, Oliveira's team-mate, of whom Rivola admitted this week as a “huge fan”.
“I love Massimo's words. I have a lot of respect for him,” Fernandes said, but then he didn't venture into contract territory for 2025 – saying his focus was all on recovering from another round of arm pump surgery and he was leaving the off-track matters to his management. .
Two Ducati riders will likely remain in place
While much of the focus recently has been on who will leave the Ducati lineup, there are at least two riders close to extending their deals and staying put next season: Gresini's Alex Marquez and VR46's Fabio Di Giannantonio.
“My feeling, what I want and my hope is to continue at Gresini,” said Marquez amid rumors that he has already put pen to paper with the satellite team.
“Today I have not signed any contract yet, but I expect it to follow. This is also what the team informed me. I think it will be no problem to continue together.”
Di Giannantonio was not as forceful as Marquez when he admitted that his goal was to stay with his current team, but he strongly hinted that his future would remain with Valentino Rossi's team.
“We started very early,” he said of his negotiations when asked by The Race. “It's been over a month and we've been working on the future. Soon we'll know what the future is for us.
“Not this weekend. Well, this weekend might be really close. Maybe in two weeks. For my part, I would like to do it tomorrow, but a lot of things I want to do have to happen. I hope it will be as soon as possible.
“The work we are doing is just trying to find a project where I can actually fight for the win as of the first race next year. VR46 is definitely an option for this, so we are working on that. In the next few weeks we will know.”
The reference to fighting for the win immediately raises questions about which of the remaining Ducati teams will get the 2025-spec Desmosedicis tires that would otherwise have gone to Yamaha-linked Pramac. Will it be one each for VR46 and Gresini, or will one team get both?
That is likely to be relevant to current Pramac rider Franco Morbidelli, who is expected to join his mentor Rossi's team as Di Giannantonio's teammate, although Morbidelli insisted today in Assen that he is not thinking about 2025 until he gets the line back properly. a path.
“If I was on the podium and I was in first place then I would have more time and energy to focus on the market and all that stuff. Right now, I'm not doing that,” he said.
Next Miller Motorcycle Seat
Jack Miller may have been surprised by KTM ditching him completely for 2025 after making it clear to him that they would keep him somewhere in their fold, but that doesn't mean he's done with the MotoGP championship.
He ruled out a hunt for the best World Superbike seats, saying “I feel like with the options on the table right now, there's a good place for me in MotoGP already.”
One location could be in Gresini, and Miller seemed very confident about what he could do again on a Ducati bike.
“Going to Ducati is obviously very interesting because I know the bike well, I know the chassis well, and I have no doubt that I can get back on that bike and be in the top five almost immediately,” he said. .
But he also expressed his interest in “working on a project and looking for a long-term home to finish my last strong years in MotoGP and work towards a common goal”.
This sounds like old employer Pramac in its new relationship with Yamaha.
POSSIBLE 2025 MOTOGP RIDER LINEUP
Ducati: Pico Bagnaia, Marc Marquez
Gresini Ducati: Alex Marquez, TBA (Fermin Aldeguerre? Jack Miller?)
VR46 Ducati: Fabio Di Giannantonio, TBA (Franco Morbidelli? Firmin Aldeguerre?)
KTM: Pedro Acosta, Brad Bender
Tech 3 KTM: Enea Bastianini, Maverick Viñales
Aprilia: Jorge Martin, Marco Pizzici
Trackhouse Aprilia: Raul Fernandez?, TBA (Miguel Oliveira?)
Yamaha: Fabio Quartararo, Alex Rins
Pramac Yamaha: TBA, TBA
Honda: Joan Mir. Luca Marini
LCR Honda: Johann Zarco, Taka Nakagami? (Aye Ogura?)
