A few more hours and the last page of the 2021 calendar will be turned to make room for the first year of 2022. A new year in which MotoGP faces caution due to Covid, so much so that the tests being prepared in Malaysia and Indonesia are suspended. Nothing really new. But let’s put the health emergency filling newspapers and news programs aside and focus on sport.
2022 will be the first season without Valentino Rossi, a rider who has shaped the last two (very rich) decades of our sport. And on top of that, nobody knows if and when Marc Marquez will return to his Honda. The Spanish rider is using the winter holidays to recover from his diplopia and although the last pre-Christmas press release suggested further surgery might not be necessary, there is still no firm data on his full recovery.
So the season could start without two of his symbols, and in that case there will definitely be a number of contenders for the crown. It goes without saying that the Doctor hasn’t been as competitive in the last two years as he was in his prime, while Marquez has been forced to skip a year and then race in another race but start late and finish early .
Joan Mir’s name appeared first on the roll of honor followed by Fabio Quartararo. Two very young riders with a laurel around their necks, but still a long way from the dominance that their two illustrious predecessors had asserted for years. When Valentino’s era is finally over and Marquez is sidelined, who will be her successor?
Quartararo has the ball in his court. He won the title by monopolizing three quarters of the season, making no mistakes and limiting damage when necessary. Unlike me, who stole the championship in 2020 more on consistency than on sheer speed and was also unable to defend the title last year because of a not-so-shiny Suzuki.
This is the duo, but the rider who was fittest in the 2021 final was neither. Bagnaia was instead the one who prevailed, with 4 wins and 5 podiums in the last 6 races and a fifth lost to failure. Not to mention that the Ducati is the best bike at the moment. So Some say an era in red may be about to begin.
That’s what the Ducastists are hoping for. They have been waiting since 2021 to celebrate another world championship title. And as for Bagnaia, all Italians hope the same because the last Italian champion was Valentino in 2009. It finally seems time to make that last step that has always been missing, and Pecco is at the top of the list of favorites.
These are the three official favourites, partly because they finished the championship on the podium, but they still have to watch their backs. Generational change is now a reality and there are some new players waiting to shine. At Ducati, Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini are the hot names The former won a race in his debut year and the latter made it onto the podium on a two-year-old bike. Then there are the two star riders from Moto2, Gardner and Raul Fernandez, who are hoping to improve on the KTM. After all, Bezzecchi and Di Giannantonio haven’t been particularly brilliant in 2021, so they must make the most of this opportunity.
But there are also many riders who need to redeem themselves. Maybe that’s not the right term for Morbidelli (his 2021 was marred first by a not very competitive M1 and then by a knee injury) but Franco is in the right place now (the Yamaha factory team) and needs to pick up where he left off in 2020. And we mustn’t forget Alex Rins, who is endowed with an undoubted talent he hasn’t been able to prove, or even Miller, who has been overshadowed by his teammate. Dovizioso, on the other hand, has been the star of a surprise return and then there’s Vinales, who left Yamaha for Aprilia.
The new year hasn’t started yet and we can’t wait to find out what it has in store for us.