MotoGP – Who is going where in 2019?

Bruno Gomes

April 24, 2018

Johann Zarco may have turned down an offer from Honda and accepted the seat as factory KTM rider

At this past weekend’s MotoGP round in Texas, riders and teams had more than just race for points on track, and many teams are racing off track to guarantee the best riders for next season. Rumours about contracts being signed are heating up the MotoGP paddock, so we’ve decided to update you on the latest gossips.

KTM Racing is in the center of this big puzzle, and Frenchman Johann Zarco seems to be moving with the Tech3 team from Yamaha to KTM. According to news portal Speedweek, who’s owner is Red Bull, and also sponsors KTM Racing in MotoGP, the Zarco deal was signed in Texas.

But Zarco won’t be included on the Tech3 KTM team, but will in fact become a full factory KTM rider, riding alongside current Red Bull KTM rider Pol Espargaró.

KTM managed to convince Zarco to drop a proposal from Honda, and if Zarco did in fact decide to say “No” to Honda, that’s understandable from the point of view that if he were to race for the Repsol Honda team, he would be the second rider of the team behind MotoGP champion Marc Marquez, who already renewed his contract with the Japanese factory.

Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsport Director, spoke to Speedweek about Johann Zarco and confirmed Honda is really interested in him: “All I know is that Honda is also very interested in Zarco. KTM, of course, [CEO] Stefan Pierer has already told you once. It’s no secret that Johann Zarco is interested in us…”.

Zarco’s manager, Laurent Fellon, already said that he wants to get everything signed before the next race in Jerez, in two weeks’ time.

With Johann Zarco on his way to a factory KTM seat, Tech3 boss Hervé Poncharal is on the hunt for a new rider. And this is where Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira comes in as a real possibility to move up from Moto2 to MotoGP in 2019.

Miguel Oliveira is set to graduate from Moto2 to MotoGP in 2019, and Tech3 KTM seems to be the best bet for the portuguese rider

Pit Beirer says that “KTM can’t let Miguel Oliveira, a strong rider in Moto2 and Moto3 runner-up, not to continue [with KTM in MotoGP]”, so Beirer already offered the young Portuguese talent a seat on the new Tech3 KTM team for 2019.

Paulo Oliveira, father and manager of Miguel Oliveira, confirmed to Portuguese media that KTM did in fact offered a move to MotoGP and with the Tech3 outfit, but says other teams are speaking with him in order to convince him to drop KTM and go in a different direction.

Miguel Oliveira is expected to announce his future before the MotoGP Summer break.

Moving away from KTM teams, another team that is on the hunt for “new blood” is Ecstar Suzuki, with Davide Brivio, the team manager, convinced he will retain Alex Rins for next season and now focused on getting a new rider to occupy the place that now belongs to Andrea Iannone.

Although Iannone gave Suzuki a great result in Texas, with a third place, Suzuki Racing managers in Japan won’t be easily impressed, and after a poor 2017 season, the “Maniac”, as Iannone is also known, won’t continue with the team in 2019.

Andrea Iannone made it to the podium in Texas, but Suzuki doesn’t want to retain him next season

In Texas, Davide Brivio confirmed that Suzuki has been talking to as much as 10 riders since the beginning of the season, but the final choice is down to two names, and both are Spanish: Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa.

If Dani Pedrosa is still on the Repsol Honda team plans for 2019, especially if Johann Zarco turned down their offer in favor of Red Bull KTM, Jorge Lorenzo on the other hand, seems to be far away from a renewal with Ducati.

Since joining the Italian team coming from Yamaha in the end of 2016 season, Lorenzo hasn’t shown the results expected by Ducati Corse managers, and even if Gigi Dall’Igna, Ducati MotoGP boss, has invested and risked a lot by signing Jorge Lorenzo, the #99 rider should be very interested in finding a new team for 2019.

Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa are in talks with Suzuki to ride alongside Alex Rins

Ectsar Suzuki and Davide Brivio seem to be very interested in signing with a three-time MotoGP champion, and the smooth riding style of Jorge Lorenzo should be a good match to the characteristics of the Suzuki GSX-RR prototype.

Suzuki expects to be able to officially announce their rider line-up during the first MotoGP European round of the season, the Jerez race, in two weeks’ time.