After the break with Vinales, Yamaha found more free bikes than it ever wanted and imagined. Maverick’s farewell has left his M1 in the works team and Petronas as well, should Valentino announce his resignation or (as the Saudi prince would like) or switch to his own team, a driver will be needed. On a wave of nationalist enthusiasm, some observers have put forward the idea of moving Morbidelli to the first team, a solution that is actually difficult to achieve and would not solve the problem, just create a new one.
Initially, Franco signed a contract with the Petronas team rather than the parent company, so Yamaha couldn’t move it around at will. Then the sponsors (especially WithU, who sits on the fairings of the M1 satellite) really like Morbido, and finally, his departure would leave the Malaysian team dry, which means it would have to start from scratch with very little choice in the market .
So Yamaha’s thoughts turned to SBK. The name of the Turkish rider Razgatlioglu has surfaced among the possible candidates but as his manager Sofuoglu stated, he currently has no intention of trying the MotoGP card and will stay where he is, an official statement this morning finally confirmed . There is also Garrett Gerloff, who did not do badly in Assen as a substitute for Morbidelli, but his profile suits a satellite team like Petronas rather than an official one.
So what will Yamaha do? Unless there is an unlikely exchange of drivers between the teams, There is a name that would save everyone’s bacon: Andrea Dovizioso. Dovi debated whether or not to become a full-time test driver for Aprilia, but a factory M1 changes everything.
Andrea wants to return to MotoGP after almost a year in motocross, but he wants to do so on his terms, that is, with a project that will allow him to be a winner. The man from Forl is 35 years old, so there are not many seasons ahead of him and the entry into the Aprilia project as a driver does not completely convince him. From a media perspective it would certainly be a winner, but the RS-GP, while improving, is not yet a bike to strive for. In Dovi’s hands this project would surely accelerate, but it would still take some time.
In Yamaha, on the other hand, Andrea would find a bike that is “ready” and that he has always had a weakness for since his time on the Tech3 team. But not everything that glitters is gold as always, because he would find himself on a collision course with Quartararo in the same pit, i.e. the driver who is currently in top form. It would be a big challenge for Dovizioso, but if he really wants to return to MotoGP with a winning project, this is the only way forward. As for his fee, the Forlì driver has always said that he is not interested in the economic aspect, but in the total package and the technical guarantees that Iwata would offer him.
Dovi had chosen a Yamaha for motocross racing a few months ago, maybe that was a sign of fate …