While waiting for Valentino Rossi’s decision, Yamaha has some work to do in the near future. Indeed, the man of Pesaro’s departure will desperately leave it two new drivers, wherever it wants to place you. And if the logical decision were promote Morbidelli in the works team, Franco reunification in Quartararo, The Petronas team has two positions to fill.
One of the most logical choices to make with Toprak Razgatlioglu leads the Superbike World Championship, could be moving Garrett Gerloff into MotoGP. After all, the American replaced Rossi once (only on Friday) and then Morbidelli in Assen in 2020 and got along quite well.
It’s true, he did not perform a miracle, but it was also the first time that he was in Assen. ride and in his favor he has the right color pass that goes down well Dorna is desperately looking for British or American riders.
Gerloff has won the MotoAmerica Supersport Championship twice, in 2016 and 2017, and was able to take one of the free places. Andrea Locatelli and Kohta Nozane, the other two Yamaha SBK riders, would stay in their place.
“Locatelli shows what we expected from him – Andrea Dosoli said the Supersport World Champion about Speedweek – step by step his feeling with the bike, the team and the class improves. He’s one of those drivers who need a little more time. But once he has reached a certain level, he will be able to hold it. I expect that he will keep improving in the second half of the season. He finished fifth at Estoril and fought with much more experienced drivers. This was a little unexpected. He has enough time to improve with the bike. If he keeps making progress, we’ll move on with him. “
Locatelli made it into the top ten eight times in the first twelve races of the season and is currently eleventh overall with 51 points.
Kohta Nozane, the 2020 Japanese Superbike champion, is still not at that level. He missed Donington Park due to injury, but made it into the points in the last three events in every race. With 17 points, the 25-year-old is in 16th place when he moved into Assen.
For Dosoli, Nozane is also a driver to be supported.
“It’s been a long time since a Japanese man was as good as he was – Dosoli emphasized – everything is new to him: the tracks, the tires and the culture in Europe. It is difficult for a young Japanese to live in Europe, he faces many challenges. At Misano we saw that he can keep up with more experienced drivers. But he has to work on his pace in the second half of the race. We want to continue with him in 2022. We will help him develop his skills and understand the mastery better. “
Second place in the Petronas team would still be free, but for whom? The young rider market is dominated by KTM (READ HERE), so Yamaha would just have to follow the current trend and look for a rider who is already under contract. Unless someone in the meantime (Alex kidneys?) decides that they have had enough, thus releasing a seat in Suzuki.
Another solution, if you look at Moto2 it could be looking for someone in the VR46 nursery maybe Bezzecchi which has always been held for the Ducati VR46 Team.