There is little doubt that the on track action during the upcoming MotoGP season will be more than enough to keep viewers entertained. However the on track action is just one part of the entertainment as what happens on it can feed certain storylines that will develop during the 2019 season.
Andrea Dovizioso’s title challenge
Marc Marquez has won the last three MotoGP championships, with Andrea Dovizioso being his biggest challenger in the last two seasons of 2017 and 2018.
Dovizioso mounted a very strong title challenge in 2017, but was weaker during 2018. It will therefore be interesting to see firstly whether once again Dovizioso is Marquez’s main challenger, and if so, whether Dovizioso will mount a consistent title challenge, like in 2017, or whether Marquez will be largely untroubled by Dovizioso, as in 2018.
Jorge Lorenzo’s first season at Honda
Jorge Lorenzo will race for a new team in 2019 having switched from Ducati to Honda. With it comes the potential of multiple storylines developing during 2019, such as how his relationship with Marquez will develop throughout the season.
Personally, I am more interested in how Lorenzo performs on the Honda, especially comparing his 2019 campaign with his first season on the Ducati in 2017. It will not just be the on track results that will be worth looking at, but also the working relationship between Lorenzo and Honda and how it compares with the relationship Lorenzo had with Ducati.
Embed from Getty ImagesYamaha Renaissance
A lot was made of how poor Yamaha’s 2018 season was, this despite the fact that Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales finished third and fourth in the riders championship in 2018.
There has been some positive noises coming from both riders about the bike for 2019 and probably more importantly, identifying what areas of the bike need improving.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith this, and the newly created European based Yamaha testing team, it will be interesting to watch how competitive Yamaha will be throughout 2019.
Danilo Petrucci’s factory Ducati ride
There was a lot of movement in the rider market in 2018 as the two year deals of some of the top riders expired and were mostly renewed for another two seasons, but not for everyone. Italian, Danilo Petrucci, was an exception having been handed a one year rather than two year deal, which means he is under a certain amount of pressure to prove to Ducati that they should keep him for 2020.
Embed from Getty ImagesThere is the added pressure of Ducati having viable alternatives should Petrucci not perform to a desired level with both Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia at Pramac Ducati hoping to use the 2019 season to make a case for promotion to the factory Ducati team.
How much of the 2019 season Petrucci will have to state his case for remaining in the factory Ducati team will be of interest.
Petronas Yamaha SRT
A variety of developments throughout the 2018 season off the track has meant that a new, two bike, team will be on the grid for the 2019 MotoGP season.
The official name of the team is Petronas Yamaha SRT, run by the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) Racing Team, it will become the new satellite Yamaha team and will field Italian, Franco Morbidelli and Frenchman, Fabio Quartararo for the upcoming season. It will be Morbidelli’s second season in MotoGP while Quartararo will be making his debut in the premier class in 2019.
How the team performs on the track, but also off it, will be interesting as their is a lot of potential for it to be a surprise during the upcoming season.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe above are just a small number of the numerous storylines that could and will develop throughout the upcoming MotoGP season. Whether you are interested in those storylines or just the on track action, it is set to be another enthralling season.
The Motorsport Critic 