There is no rest for the bad guys – as the saying goes – and even in the MotoGP paddock there is no fun, with little time for boredom between cancellations, bans and unexpected category jumps.
Like a domino effect Vinales divorce from Yamaha leads to a general reorganization of the Iwata manufacturer, which is struggling with an unprecedented reorganization.
The main problem – absurd for a successful manufacturer like Iwata – is a lack of drivers to get on their M1, a problem confirmed at Silverstone by the (temporary) promotion of Jake Dixon to the Petronas team and the farewell to the current tester Cal Crutchlow into the factory team.
The reality is that after his retirement, Cal doesn’t feel like going back to Grand Prix racing. A couple of races, especially the home race at Silverstone, are okay, but nothing beyond that. That means Lin Jarvis will have to find another solution for the rest of the championship.
One idea that Yamaha has defined as a “possibility” is to bring Franco Morbidelli directly into the works team. To be honest, Franco doesn’t have a direct contract with Japan, but with the Petronas team. They were able to arrive as at Vinales, albeit for obviously different reasons an amicable termination of the contract. At that point Franco would become a “free agent” and could sign a new deal directly with Iwata and continue the season with his former teammate Fabio Quartararo straight from Aragon, to the GP on September 12th.
At this point, however, a space in Petronas would remain empty and, as we wrote on August 21st, it could be the right time for it Andrea Dovizioso to get back into the game.
Dovi would therefore drive the 2019 M1 alongside Valentino Rossi. A necessary purgatory in view of a possible full-time contract in 2022 when, in theory, an official M1 would be free for the Yamaha satellite team. An opportunity that could be helped by the arrival of a sponsor With you who needs an Italian driver to be there.
All because Yamaha is currently in the running for the so-called ‘Triple Crown’, ie the conquest of the driver, manufacturer and team world championships. With Fabio, the Iwata manufacturer is currently leading in the drivers’ standings and in the teams’ standings, 37 points ahead of Ducati, but only 3 points behind the Bologna plant in the manufacturers’ standings.
As you know, only the manufacturer’s first-class driver scores points in the manufacturer’s standings, while in the team standings (created by Dorna, but without official FIM status), both of the driver’s pair’s ratings on the track count.
now it’s just a matter of understanding whether the mosaic will be reassembled in time for the first week of September. The problem of the duration of a possible agreement with the man from Forl, which is aimed at two years, also needs to be resolved, while Yamaha has made a proposal of 6 GPs in 2021 plus 2022 to be free for when the contracts of all the big names the MotoGP run out.