The indigenous people of the North Sentinel Island are probably the most remote tribe on the planet. But despite being cut off from the outside world and hostile to outsiders even they’re sick to death of hearing about Marc Marquez moving to the factory team.
But the move has caused shockwaves and triggered chain reactions. So let’s round up what’s happened over the past two weeks.
Vinales to KTM
The bi-polar Spaniard looked all happy at Aprilia. With the exit of his dwindling teammate Aleix Asparagus Mav was set to be Top Gun in his team. What could go wrong?
Marc Marquez was, like everything, the answer. A chain reaction of Marc’s move to the factory Ducati team saw a furious Jorge Martin rage-quit and move to Aprilia. Suddenly Vinales had a genuinely fast teammate lining up next to him for 2025.
Not wanting any part of such nonsense Maverick pressed the eject button and landed deep behind enemy lines in Austria – spiritual home of the Nazis and, more importantly, KTM.
Currently Vinales is the only MotoGP rider ever to win a race with three different manufacturers. The good news is that if, and it’s a big if, Mav scores a race win on the KTM he’ll extend that to four – a stat that will leave even more people scratching their heads.
Bezzecchi to Aprilia
Last season was poor Marco’s one shot at winning the world championship. He failed and ended the season being punted off by the much-hated Marc Marquez. Having being brought up on the VR46 Neverland ranch the hatred in Bezzecchi of Marquez was already squirting out of his spleen vents and dribbling out of his ears – however after the end of season clash he went full rage. (Which for an Italian meant waving his arms around a lot and shouting).
And this was his downfall. With his rival moving to Ducati it was up to Marco to show Marc who the real boss was…and it turned out to be Marquez. On a lower spec bike.
Suddenly the sour-faced Italian was looking like the kind of person who goes to Venice and gets struck by a car. Bezzecchi, like a true fighter, decided the best option was to run away from the challenge and jump into Vinales’ free seat.
Primark Ducati to Yamaha
A few weeks ago Primark Ducati felt they were getting Marc Marquez next season. But sadly that all went Bradley Smith when the Spanish Antichrist said he hated the team and would rather see his mother punched in the ovaries than move there…or words to that effect.
This blasphemy caused Factory Ducati’s nipsy to twitch and offer Marc a factory seat and for Primark’s current rider, Jorge Martin, to piss off pissed-off to Aprilia. And suddenly the team had no decent rider. Worse still they still had Franco Morbidelli.
So Primark, with egg on their face, have decided that if they’re not going to win races then they might as well not win them with a cheaper manufacturer. Step forward Yamaha…
Thanks to the concession rules Yamaha are improving – fast enough to be noticed yet still slow enough to be losing ground on the leaders. The Japanese piano builders are keen to keep up this momentum and have a satellite team next season so they can gather more data to why they’re still slow.
A perfect match.
Morbidelli to VR46
Remember Morbidelli on the Yamaha? We do. He doesn’t want to. And Yamaha definitely don’t.
So there was a collective sigh from various MotoGP outposts when the prospect of Franco heading back to a satellite Yamaha team became apparent. Luckily the Italian had an escape plan.
With a disgraced Bezzecchi whimpering off to Aprilia a spare seat has conveniently become available to the VR46 team…and if there’s one thing that that team enjoys it’s breaking the EU regulation and hiring staff based on their birth location.
The downside for Morbidelli though is that his Ducati won’t be the same high spec factory version that’s he’s currently enjoying which may lead to a slight drop-off in his stella performances.
Miller to Gresini Ducati
If there’s one thing Jack’s very good at it’s not being very good. And falling off. However he’s a likeable chap for his laddish antics and having a head that’s mainly for decoration. Because of this it usually takes a team a couple of years of laughing before they realise…”hang on he’s being demolished by his teammate and falling off loads*.
The only potential ‘tofu on the barbie’ is the Moto2 chump Fermin Aldeguer. Fermin, who shares his name with a popular Italian antacid medication, was promised a Ducati seat at the end of the 2023 season. And we all know that Ducati are an honourable firm that stick to their word.
This could mean, if Primark move to Yamaha, the Gresini ride will be taken by Aldeguer…unless Ducati somehow weasel out of the deal…which of course would never happen.
*Interestingly Jack’s not the first Australian in motorsport to use popularity over skill to stray in the topflight. See Mark Webber’s career for further details.