Michael Scott | June 15, 2018
2018 Catalunya MotoGP Friday News—The sensational pairing of Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez in the factory Honda team came together within less than two weeks, and the approach came from the rider himself.
Lorenzo’s Move To Honda: Stacking The Deck?
These two will make the most competitive team in MotoGP for a very long time.
This became clear to a paddock still reeling with the surprise news, as the weekend of the Catalunya GP opened when Lorenzo faced media for the first time since the announcement days after the Italian GP.
He had approached HRC at the previous round in France, and within two weeks the deal was done… although it could not be announced officially until the preceding announcement that Dani Pedrosa would not be staying with the Repsol team.
“My first priority was always to stay with Ducati, and until Le Mans, I thought that we could continue together, But at Le Mans, I realized Ducati wanted to change me for another rider,” he said. “Then with my manager, we started to think of other projects.
“I made the approach.”
At that time, Honda was already casting around for a replacement for Pedrosa. They had already been rebuffed by Johann Zarco, who had signed for KTM even before the first race of the year; while an approach to Jack Miller, trying to buy him out of the second year of his Pramac contract, was yet to bear fruit.
When the only rider to have defeated Marquez in the MotoGP class came knocking, it was easy to ink in the details quickly.
Lorenzo had said at Mugello that he was to leave Ducati next season, but would return for two years “on a competitive motorcycle”. Speculation linked him to a return to Yamaha, in the still unconfirmed Petronas satellite team. The Honda factor came out of the blue.
Asked how it had remained a secret, Lorenzo smiled. “Because we didn’t tell anybody,” he said.
As to adapting to a third bike in the class, he said: “I have won on different bikes before. I have that capacity.”
New team-mate Marquez welcomed what would be “a big change inside Honda.” A new team-mate with “another riding style” would give valuable input for bike development.
Fellow factory-bike rider Cal Crutchlow, whose style is much closer to Marquez’s aggressive approach than the ultra-smooth Lorenzo, thought that “Honda played a very good card there”.
The Rider Market So Far
Mir is the next great Spanish hope. He’ll be in the big time next year with Suzuki.
This was just one of a rash of rider-contract announcements in the 10 days after the Italian race.
- Suzuki confirmed that they had made a contract with Joan Mir, to replace Andrea Iannone.
- Iannone, in turn, was confirmed to be joining Aprilia, alongside Aleix Espargaro.
- Danilo Petrucci will take Lorenzo’s place in the official Ducati team, leaving Jack Miller in the Pramac team, alongside rookie Pecco Bagnaia.
- Hafizh Syahrin, in this year as a replacement rider, was signed up to stay with the Tech3 team, alongside Miguel Oliveira when the French squad switches from Yamaha.
- Dani Pedrosa’s 13-year tenure with the factory Repsol Honda team will come to an end with the final race this year.
- Moto3 championship favorite Jorge Martin will move up to Moto2 next year, with a two-year contract with KTM’s official Ajo team.
Unsurprisingly, all those who had signed up described it as a lifelong dream come true; with Mir adding he was happy to follow the lead set by Maverick Vinales, moving to MotoGP with Suzuki after just one Moto2 year.
Pedrosa Reveals… Absolutely Nothing
Everyone thought Pedrosa was going to announce his retirement. He had other, annoying, plans.
Media were left disappointed after a packed briefing session with Dani Pedrosa on the even of his home GP. He had no information for them, and wouldn’t even give any hints on his future.
“I am sorry everybody is here,” he said cheerfully, adding that there were more present than ever after he had won a race. “It was my plan to say something about my future, but unfortunately things are not clear, so I can’t really say anything.”
“All I can say is that I have several options, good options, but I need time to think about them. I don’t want to rush and take the wrong decision.”
Asked whether retirement was one of those options, the 32-year-old from nearby Sabadell was no more forthcoming. “I can only say that there are options, and I am considering them.”
As well as 13 years in the MotoGP team, Pedrosa has been with Honda since his 125cc debut in 2001. He won that championship in 2003, and followed it with two consecutive 250 titles, defeating among others Casey Stoner.
What about the Satellite Yamahas?
Pedrosa is expected to jump on the new satellite Yamaha. It won’t look like the current satellite Yamaha (above).
With all factory team slots now taken, the focus has switched to independent customer teams. Especially to Yamaha, yet to confirm exactly how they will replace their departed long-time allies of Tech3.
With the future of the Marc VDS team still uncertain, and with Suzuki already candidates to replace Honda with that squad, the proposed Malaysian-backed team sponsored by Petronas continued to take shape after Sepang Circuit chief Razlan Razali visited Mugello to progress the possibility.
Petronas are reported to be ready to decide next week whether to add MotoGP to their existing Moto3 and Moto2 portfolio; but with the ceremony of Eid marking the end of Ramadan, Razali was not present in Catalunya.
Pedrosa is a strong candidate for this team, as is current VDS rider Franco Morbidelli.
Marc VDS and Bartholemy
Apparently, the Marc VDS sage between Marc Van Der Straaten and Michael Bartholemy (right) is over and done with.
The Marc VDS team scandal appears to have been tucked up in bed. Further confirmation came from owner Marc van der Straten of an amicable split with former team principal Michael Bartholemy.
The split follows allegations of fraud and embezzlement against Bartholemy that surfaced at the start of the European season at Jerez and saw the Belgian former Kawasaki team boss depart the paddock midway through the next race at Le Mans.
The official statement from the team, issued in the week after the Italian race, read: “Mr. Marc van der Straten and Mr. Michael Bartholemy have today reached a mutual agreement to end their association which is solely due to different strategic approaches.”
This agreement would let the team focus on racing; while van der Straten said he “did not hold against Bartholemy the allegations reported in the press, especially regarding any supposed embezzlement. Independent of that, Mr. Michael Bartholemy has been entirely vindicated.”
Van der Straten would now assume leadership of the Marc VDS Racing Team, as they fight for their third World Championship title in the intermediate Moto2 class.
Montmelo Gets New Clothes
New surface for one of the world’s great racetracks means times should tumble.
The Montmelo circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya has been fully resurfaced, after bitter complaints about bumps and rapidly deteriorating grip by MotoGP riders last year.
Most riders had tested at the track, and given the new asphalt the thumbs-up. Marquez did comment that there were already some bumps coming up, thanks to the track’s use as a test and race venue by F1. With massive downforce and fat tires, the cars pull up ripples under braking.
The layout has also been revised for a third time in three years, with the dangerous corner where Luis Salom crashed fatally in 2016 not only given more run-off but also equipped with the gravel trap that might have saved his life.
Further reprofiling at the end of the back straight stayed in place, but the last fast corners were restored, with the F1 chicane no longer used.
More Cuts to Testing
KTM test rider Mika Kallio hard at work. His workload won’t decrease as KTM can test more than other manufacturers.
Further cuts to MotoGP testing were confirmed at a GP Commission meeting. The number of out-of-Europe tests will be cut from this year’s three to just two. These will be at Sepang and Losail, and reductions also to mid-season testing.
These cuts were “partly a reaction to the increased number of races, but also seek to reduce costs and the workload of the team and technical supplier staff”, according to an official statement.
At the same meeting, rules about an extra set of tires for MotoGP riders going from Q1 through to Q2 were clarified; and regulations requiring all riders – including wildcards – to wear air-bag leathers at the start of each session were tightened up.
However, with MotoGP’s FP4 followed directly by Q1 and then Q2, these are regarded as a single session.
Cal Crutchlow crashed in Q1 at Le Mans directly after a fall in FP4 had already triggered his air-bags, and without time to put on a fresh set his impact with the ground was that much worse without them.
More Carbon, Please
Rins’ Suzuki with the carbon add on (the black strip between the tank and the fairing under his elbow).
Suzuki’s experiments with carbon-fiber chassis reinforcements continued at Catalunya. This time, with wildcard Sylvian Guintoli, the official test rider, having both his bikes thus equipped. Regular rider Alex Rins had one such chassis, and Andrea Iannone.
Guintoli was having a first wild card of the year; KTM tester Mika Kallio a second outing. However, while at Jerez he had run a reverse-crank 2019 engine and beaten both regular riders, this time he had a “standard” 2018 engine, said team technical boss Mike Leitner.
Vale Andreas Perez
Young Andreas Perez sadly passed away following a CEV Moto3 accident at the Catalunya circuit.
The Catalan weekend opened on a somber note, with riders and media at the pre-race press conference observing a minute’s silence in memory of Spanish teenage rider Andreas Perez. The 14-year-old Moto3 Junior World Championship rider died the previous Monday, after a crash at the circuit during the second race, in which he was struck by another machine.
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