Well, the MotoGP season ended with more of a whimper than a bang. The final showdown between the incumbent and the pretender was a bit of a damp squib when Martin had a brain fade that took him out of the race (and, incidentally, ruined what would have been a nice send-off for Marquez as well). Bags took the title by a comfortable 39 points to become a back-to-back champion, something that hasn’t happened for quite a while and the points showed that Ducati now has a complete stranglehold on the class. With the departure of one of the Aprilia teams (it seems, see below) nothing looks likely to upset Bologna’s hegemony for the foreseeable future.
So, let’s first look at the completed picture for 2024 with Digia scoring a last-minute call-up to the Mooney team. Incidentally, it is slightly interesting to note that the Yamaha team always seems to be mentioned first on these lists.
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team
Fabio Quartararo (end of 2024) #20
Alex Rins (end of 2024) #42
Ducati Lenovo Team
Francesco Bagnaia (end of 2024) #63
Enea Bastianini (end of 2024) #23
Aprilia Racing
Aleix Espargaro (end of 2024) #41
Maverick Vinales (end of 2024) #12
Repsol Honda Team
Joan Mir (end of 2024) #36
Luca Marini (end of 2025) #10
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Jack Miller (end of 2024) #43
Brad Binder (end of 2026) #33
Gresini Racing MotoGP (Ducati)
Marc Marquez (end of 2024) #93
Alex Marquez (end of 2024) #73
Prima Pramac Racing (Ducati)
Jorge Martin (Ducati contract, end of 2024) #89
Franco Morbidelli (Ducati contract, end of 2024) #21
Mooney VR46 Racing Team (Ducati)
Fabio di Giannantonio (end of 2024) #49
Marco Bezzecchi (end of 2024) #72
RNF MotoGP Team (Aprilia)
Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia contract, end of 2024) #88
Raul Fernandez (Aprilia contract, end of 2024) #25
Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing (KTM)
Augusto Fernandez (KTM contract, end of 2024) #37
Pedro Acosta (KTM contract, end of 2024?)
LCR Honda Castrol/Idemitsu
Johann Zarco (Honda contract, end of 2025) #5
Takaaki Nakagami (Honda contract, end of 2024) #30
Now, the RNF Team is in a lot of trouble it seems and has been removed from the list of official teams for 2024. There are some pretty ugly legal battles pending and quite what DORNA is going to do to bring the grid back up to 2023 numbers is a bit of a conundrum. The simplest answer would seem to be to have Aprilia take over the team as a satellite operation but, apparently, there are reasons that I don’t know about why this is going to be difficult.
Last night was the official end-of-season test, the last hit-out of the season and the first chance for riders to get a ride on their new bikes for the 2024 season. I watched quite a bit of it but I cried off after a couple of hours (it was going to go late into the night). I’ve banged myself up with a fall in the garage the other day (no injuries, just bumps and bruises) and I needed the rest more than I needed watching the bikes go round and round.
Most interest was centered around the first appearance of Pedro Acosta in the premier class and, despite a tumble late in the day, he impressed. Certainly his body language after his first few laps when he returned to the pits indicated that he was pretty happy (lip-reading experts will tell you that he was!)
But the first appearance in MotoGP of Marc Marquez on anything other than a Honda was clearly what the pundits had come to see. Was he over-awed? Yes, I think he was to a degree; certainly the amount of time he took to put on his gloves and get out on the bike was inordinately long. But, once out on the track and a few over-runs in the slow corners, he settled in and was 8th fastest by his 6th lap. On the very next lap he moved up to 3rd and, late in the session, he took over at the top and was only dislodged in the closing minutes, down to 4th, .171 from Vinales at the head of the field. The look on his face when he came back after his first stint said it all.
Other things to note. Luca Marini in 10th on the all-new 2024 Honda and Mir only 3/4 second from the best time also.
And now we go into the REAL silly season when crash.net and the Italian sites will make up even sillier stories than they have been making up all year in order to try and maintain their readership. Me? I think I’ll just go riding (though not until this rainy spell is over)
