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2024 silly season!

So, the latest rumours gathering traction:

Alex Rins has a 1 yr clause in his contract, and is looking to replace Morbidelli at Yamaha.
Pol Espargaro's tone is changing from 'I'll prove I am worth my 2 year deal' to 'If I dont do well, I'll accept being a test rider'. This tells me that KTM have already strongly hinted to him that he won't be racing if they have no other way to accomodate Acosta.

In light of that, I'm updating my list. Some are likely, some are very fanciful:


Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team
Fabio Quartararo (end of 2024)
Alex Rins

Ducati Lenovo Team
Francesco Bagnaia (end of 2024)
Enea Bastianini (end of 2024)

Aprilia Racing
Aleix Espargaro (end of 2024)
Maverick Vinales (end of 2024)

Repsol Honda Team
Marc Marquez (end of 2024)
Joan Mir (end of 2024)

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Jack Miller (end of 2024)
Brad Binder (end of 2024)

Gresini Racing MotoGP (Ducati)
Alex Marquez (end of 2023)
Tony Arbolino

Prima Pramac Racing (Ducati)
Johan Zarco
Jorge Martin (Ducati contract for 2024)

Mooney VR46 Racing Team (Ducati)
Luca Marini (end of 2023)
Marco Bezzecchi (end of 2023)

RNF MotoGP Team (Aprilia)
Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia contract, end of 2024)
Raul Fernandez (Aprilia contract, end of 2024)

Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing (KTM)
Pedro Acosta
Augusto Fernandez (KTM contract end of 2023, option for 2024)

LCR Honda Castrol/Idemitsu
Jake Dixon
Ai Ogura- currently
 
For ..... N Giggles, if Marc Marquez went to KTM I think the Grid would look like this:


Repsol Honda Team
Takaagi Nakagami
Joan Mir (end of 2024)

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Marc Marquez
Brad Binder (end of 2024)

Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing (KTM)
Jack Miller
Pedro Acosta

LCR Honda Castrol/Idemitsu
Augusto Fernandez
Ai Ogura- currently Takaaki Nakagami (Honda contract, end of 2023)
 
There's the possibility that Lecuona could end up on Honda as he has a reputation for excellent feedback

Talk about Zarco going to WSBK might just be talk as there is also talk about Ducati promoting a WSS rider to WSBK

KTM have their home MotoGP race the race after next. I'll bet they will announce their 2024 lineup that weekend and then we may see all the other undecided fall into place over the following weeks
 
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I forgot about Lecuona, but I also read that his second season on the Honda in WSBK has been a let down, and they are debating keeping him.
 
#22 said:
I forgot about Lecuona, but I also read that his second season on the Honda in WSBK has been a let down, and they are debating keeping him.
Click to expand...

It seems most Honda riders in WSBK have less than stellar results. I don't think Vierge is doing much better. Bautista had 2 forgettable years on the Honda as well.
 
PRS717 said:
It seems most Honda riders in WSBK have less than stellar results. I don't think Vierge is doing much better. Bautista had 2 forgettable years on the Honda as well.
Click to expand...
His bank balance didn't though....
 
LCR could make the switch to KTM and field bikes for Marc and Acosta.
Losing their customer team wouldn't help Honda but it sure is understandable LCR is looking for something better.
www.speedweek.com

Knalleffekt: Red Bull und KTM wollen die 2 LCR-Plätze

Seit fast einem halben Jahr wird spekuliert, ob Marc Márquez für 2024 das Team und den Hersteller wechseln könnte. Jetzt zeichnet sich eine überraschende Lösung für Márquez und Acosta ab.
www.speedweek.com www.speedweek.com
 
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JFM01 said:
LCR could make the switch to KTM and field bikes for Marc and Acosta.
Losing their customer team wouldn't help Honda but it sure is understandable LCR is looking for something better.
www.speedweek.com

Knalleffekt: Red Bull und KTM wollen die 2 LCR-Plätze

Seit fast einem halben Jahr wird spekuliert, ob Marc Márquez für 2024 das Team und den Hersteller wechseln könnte. Jetzt zeichnet sich eine überraschende Lösung für Márquez und Acosta ab.
www.speedweek.com www.speedweek.com
Click to expand...
nicht sprechen sie deutsch, but thanks. :)
Can't work out how to get it in English.
 
warthog1 said:
nicht sprechen sie deutsch, but thanks. :)
Can't work out how to get it in English.
Click to expand...
Speedweek are often the first to publish some rumors but in the last few seasons these rumors have been true more often than not.

The article summerizes some of the things we already know about KTM's ill-fated attempts to get two slots on the grid for Ajo.
It says that Lucio has a great relationship with RedBull as several RedBull-sponsored riders have competed for his team, he didn't always get the top equipment Honda promised and when asked if he was gonna honor his contract with HRC that expires after next season, he refused to answer.
 
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JFM01 said:
Speedweek are often the first to publish some rumors but in the last few seasons these rumors have been true more often than not.

The article summerizes some of the things we already know about KTM's ill-fated attempts to get two slots on the grid for Ajo.
It says that Lucio has a great relationship with RedBull as several RedBull-sponsored riders have competed for his team, he didn't always get the top equipment Honda promised and when asked if he was gonna honor his contract with HRC that expires after next season, he refused to answer.
Click to expand...
thanks :)
 
The author of that piece is gunther wiener as he is affectionately called. He is a Honda heater, so he is always the first with news like this.




With even long-time Honda team members suddenly betting that Marc Márquez will switch to KTM in 2024, it's high time to get to the bottom of the matter. After the five falls at the Sachsenring and the repeated failure to start in Germany and on Sunday in Assen, the Spaniard realized that the four-year contract concluded with HRC in January 2020 was a mistake, even if it brings in an annual fee of 20 to 25 million.

It was already obvious in March and April 2023 that Ducati, Aprilia and Yamaha were not interested in the six-time MotoGP world champion for various reasons.

And at Pierer Mobility AG there was simply no place for the 30-year-old Spaniard. Because Binder and Miller have watertight contracts for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team in 2024 and have already put in some strong performances this season.

Hervé Poncharal's GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 team was already experiencing a bottleneck before the season started in Portimão: Pol Espargaró (he has a contract for the coming season), Moto2 World Champion Augusto Fernández and current Moto2 title contender Pedro Acosta were all jostling for two places there for 2024.


The attempt to make a third Moto2 World Championship season palatable for the gifted Acosta (Moto3 World Champion 2021) for 2024 failed early on.

Red Bull inquired about possible additional starting places at the Portugal GP. Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta made it clear, however, that the two orphaned Suzuki seats will remain reserved for a factory team (such as BMW, Kawasaki or MV Agusta) and will be driven by 22 drivers and eleven teams until then.

However, Red Bull and KTM could not access additional places at Mooney VR46 and Gresini Racing because these two racing teams continue with Ducati. RNF stays with Aprilia, Pramac with Ducati, and LCR team owner Lucio Cecchinello has a three-year deal with HRC until the end of 2024.

SPEEDWEEK.com then revealed in June that Red Bull and KTM were sticking with Dorna, asking if Moto3 and Moto2 team principal Aki Ajo could have two MotoGP spots for the three years 2024-2026. These places would apparently have been reserved for Márquez and Acosta. No new plant will be added until 2026 anyway; because in 2027 new technology regulations will come into force.

In the meantime it had leaked out that Red Bull, KTM and Ajo had offered a very attractive driver duo: Marc Márquez and Pedro Acosta.

As a reminder: Marc Márquez won the 125cc World Championship in 2010 in the Ajo team on a derbi, and he never lost contact. And Red Bull KTM team manager Francesco Guidotti also maintains a good relationship with the superstar from Cervera: he worked as KTM team manager with the up-and-coming talent from Spain in the 125cc World Championship in 2008 and 2009. Marc finished the 125cc World Championship 2009 on the KTM in eighth place overall.

Guidotti revealed in June he was working hard on a plan to bring Marquez to KTM. "If Ducati can have eight seats, why can't we claim six slots," asked the Italian, who worked for Pramac-Ducati for ten years until the end of 2022.

Now it is becoming apparent how a deal between Red Bull and KTM and Marc Márquez can come about under time pressure: The Pierer Group is in contact with LCR team owner Lucio Cecchinello - and would like to bring him into the KTM camp.

When asked about his contract situation with Honda, the seven-time 125cc GP winner told SPEEDWEEK.com: "I have a three-year contract with HRC until the end of 2024. That's it."

When asked if he would fulfill the agreement, Cecchinello replied with an eloquent silence.

But of course he knows that KTM wants to expand its MotoGP activities. And he has had excellent relations with Red Bull for years - from 2012 to 2014 because of Stefan Bradl: he also had Red Bull advertising on the LCR Honda RC213V at the time. After that, Red Bull athlete Jack Miller was with LCR, followed by Taka Nakagami.

Cecchinello was already a KTM candidate when the first MotoGP customer team was formed for 2019. But he declined and stayed with Honda. KTM therefore chose Tech3; the French team had been cooperating with Yamaha for 18 years.

LCR is now in its 18th MotoGP season with Honda.

However, every attentive observer has noticed that the relationship between the LCR team and those responsible for HRC has cooled off considerably in the last six or seven months.

Alex Rins is also making no secret of the fact that HRC has not delivered the agreed first class material, which is why he wants to join the Yamaha factory team - despite a contract for 2024.

When, after Rins' victory in Texas, the question arose as to whether the Spaniard could possibly be shipped to the Repsol team in 2024 instead of Joan Mir, Cecchinello was convinced: "Never in my life. Alex will continue to drive 100 percent at LCR in 2024."

Now the odds of Rins' move to Yamaha are fifty-fifty.

Apparently the HRC managers are still living in the era when MotoGP customer teams were fobbed off with used bikes, only filling up the grid and the success of a customer team was just as undesirable as the victory of an opposing manufacturer.

Ducati, Yamaha (2019 and 2020 with Petronas, 2021 with WithU-RNF) and KTM as well as GASGAS have long since equipped their satellite teams with first-class equipment; Ducati has been doing that at Pramac for years, at least.

LCR entered the MotoGP World Championship in 2006 with Casey Stoner and Honda and is one of the best private teams in the "premier class" - and with four victories (3x Crutchlow, 1x Rins) also one of the most successful.
 
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Iker Lecuona to sub for Mir on the Repsol Honda at Silverstone. Where it pertains to this thread though is that, despite not having signed a contract yet, Honda have told him they will be continuing for another 2 years, but have not decided where (WSBK or MGP).

So, if Rins goes to Yamaha, that is the most likely spot. Or he could end up at Repsol if Marc jumps ship. At this point, who the .... knows?!

Lecuona to replace injured Rins at British MotoGP round
Motorsport.com understands that Lecuona’s third MotoGP appearance of the season is part of Honda’s plans to continue evaluating the 23-year-old for a potential future ride.


With rumours linking Rins to a potential Yamaha switch in 2024, Lecuona could be in prime contention to take his LCR ride having reportedly made a good impression on HRC’s engineering staff during the Assen weekend.


Lecuona’s current contract with Honda in WSBK comes to an end at the conclusion of the 2023 season, but has already been informed that he will be renewed for a further two years – though where he rides in 2024 has not been made clear yet.
Click to expand...
 

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