Latest News

The cold conditions at Valencia have forced Dorna to change the schedule for Sunday. The Moto3, Moto2, and MotoGP race times are all untouched, but warm up has been moved half an hour later, to avoid the unusually cold conditions in the morning.

Warm up sessions will start from 8:50am, with MotoGP running from 9:50 to 10:10. That has also forced the MotoE race to be pushed back after the MotoGP race. The MotoE race will now start at 15:30.

New schedule:

With MotoGP testing becoming ever more restricted for full-time MotoGP riders, the so-called contracted riders, the importance of test teams has grown. Where in previous seasons most Japanese manufacturers have used Japanese riders based in Japan to push the development of their MotoGP bikes, in recent years, they have all switched to using teams based in Europe with ex-MotoGP riders as test riders. Suzuki have Sylvain Guintoli, Honda have Stefan Bradl, and Yamaha had Jonas Folger for 2019.

But not for 2020, it seems. In an interview with German-language publication Speedweek, Folger announced that Yamaha have decided not to continue with the German for next season. "This bad news came as a surprise to me," the German told Speedweek. "They gave me a verbal assurance that Yamaha wanted to continue with me. We were already discussing what the test plan and other events might look like. But then they canceled, despite saying I would get the contract." Folger said that he had been told Yamaha would continue with Japanese test riders.

That seems a curious suggestion. When Valentino Rossi announced he would be changing crew chiefs for 2020, bringing in David Muñoz to replace Silvano Galbusera, Yamaha team boss Maio Meregalli told multiple media outlets that Galbusera would be going to lead the test team, so that he would have to travel less.

Thwarting progress

Reversing the policy of having a European test team would also surely meet with resistance from Yamaha's factory riders. Both Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales pushed hard for the establishment of a test team based in Europe, using a more competitive rider than their trusty Japanese riders Katsuyuki Nakasuga and Kohta Nozane. The progress made with the bike this year is at least in part due to Folger's work with the test team.

Yamaha has denied any verbal agreement with Folger, but they have also denied that they are looking at scrapping their European test team. "Our MotoGP test program will be continuing in Japan and Europe as planned," Yamaha Racing Managing Director Lin Jarvis told Speedweek. "As far as contracting a test rider from outside of Japan, we are keeping all our options open."

Those options are limited. Most competitive ex-MotoGP riders have already found other options for 2020. Stefan Bradl and Sylvain Guintoli will be staying with Honda and Suzuki respectively, Michele Pirro remains Ducati's main test rider, Dani Pedrosa and Mika Kallio will continue their work developing the KTM RC16.

Bradley Smith could have been a possibility, having had four years of experience on the M1, as well as two years with KTM. But Smith is close to a renewal with Aprilia, putting him out of the question. Yamaha has also rejected a number of offers from other riders, including from the likes of Dominique Aegerter.

The obvious answer

Who is left? There is one ex-Yamaha MotoGP rider who is currently out of contract for 2020. After asking for his contract with KTM to be terminated at the end of 2019, then finding himself out of a job after KTM decided to push him out of the team before Aragon, Johann Zarco has been left without a job for next year. Zarco has already been in talks with Yamaha over a role as test rider, but Yamaha broke off those talks when Zarco accepted the offer as substitute for LCR Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami, while the Japanese rider recovers from shoulder surgery.

That ride was widely seen as a way for Honda to take a look at what Zarco is capable of, to assess him as a possible replacement for Jorge Lorenzo, after the Spaniard's miserable season in the Repsol Honda team. But talk of Lorenzo being dropped by HRC has gone quiet, after Honda bosses spoke with Lorenzo at Motegi. Publicly, Lorenzo was given assurances that he would remain with the Repsol Honda team for 2020, and Honda bosses stated their aim was to build a bike that Lorenzo could be competitive on.

The public pronouncements of Johann Zarco appear to back that up. At Phillip Island, Zarco said he was looking at all options, including a ride in Moto2. Notably, the Ajo team is yet to officially announce its second Moto2 rider, after losing Iker Lecuona to the Tech3 KTM MotoGP team for 2020. Zarco won his two Moto2 world titles with Ajo, and it is believed he has a place there if he wants it. At Sepang, Zarco had gone silent on his future, nor was he asked about it.

Nothing decided yet

At the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Zarco spoke to Italian website GPOne.com. He told them that his future was still open, and that he was still available to take the place of Lorenzo should Honda and Lorenzo decide to go their separate ways.

Zarco would appear to be the ideal fit for Yamaha. The Frenchman was extremely fast on the M1, and on a bike which he understood, his feedback was highly rated. At Honda, his comments have also been praised, though at KTM, he was such a bad fit on the RC16 that he didn't know where to start, and his feedback was little help in improving the bike.

At the moment, Yamaha's Japanese test riders are preparing the 2020 prototypes ready for the Valencia and Jerez tests. It would be useful for Yamaha to have a test rider at those tests to work on the new bikes. But with Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli also showing strong pace on the bikes, the need is less pressing, as the two Petronas Yamaha riders can also provide input.

But Yamaha will need a good test rider for the 2020 season if they are to continue the strong progress they made in 2019. Various sources around the paddock indicate that Johann Zarco could well be where Yamaha end up.

Gathering the background information for detailed articles such as these is an expensive and time-consuming operation. If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting MotoMatters.com. You can help by either taking out a subscription, by making a donation, or by contributing via our GoFundMe page. You can find out more about subscribing to MotoMatters.com here.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmelo is to host a round of the World Superbike championship in 2020. The event is to be held from 18-20th September 2020, between the Portimao and Magny-Cours rounds of the series. 

The addition of Barcelona presages a few of the changes coming in both the WorldSBK and MotoGP calendars in future years. Next year, WorldSBK loses Buriram in Thailand to MotoGP, and also looks set to lose the race at Laguna Seca in the USA. Instead, WorldSBK will head to Barcelona in September, and the German circuit of Oschersleben in August.

The loss of both Thailand and the US means a stark reduction in the number of rounds outside Europe. The WorldSBK championship now only visits Phillip Island at the start of the season, and Argentina and Qatar at the end, meaning that ten of the thirteen WorldSBK rounds will be held in Europe, with three rounds on the Iberian peninsula (Jerez, Portimao, and Barcelona) and two in Italy (Imola and Misano).

Adding more overseas rounds could prove problematic, from a cost point of view. In the past, Dorna has used WorldSBK as a test case, sending them to new tracks to try out the logistics and costs of getting bikes and riders in and out of countries and venues on time. That may happen again in the future: rumors persist that WorldSBK will be sent to Indonesia or Vietnam before MotoGP going there, to test the viability of the venue.

The addition of Barcelona to the WorldSBK calendar could also be a prelude to the Spanish track's removal from the MotoGP calendar, or at least to it rotating with other Spanish tracks when the MotoGP calendar expands. A story in the Catalan press suggests that Barcelona will lose its MotoGP round in 2021.

That would make sense if Indonesia is to join the MotoGP calendar for 2021. The current contract with MotoGP teams stipulates a maximum of 20 races a season. That contract expires at the end of 2021, at which point Dorna intends to expand the calendar to 22 races.

Dropping Barcelona for 2021 would be one way of fitting Indonesia onto the calendar. It could also serve as a backup if the Indonesian track at Mandalika on Lombok isn't ready in time to host a race. But it may also be a chance to start rotating MotoGP and WorldSBK at Spanish circuits, as a way of reducing the number of rounds held in Spain.  

A 2020 calendar for WorldSBK is expected to be published soon.

The press release from WorldSBK announcing Barcelona on the calendar appears below:

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya welcomed onto 2020 WorldSBK calendar

A new track awaits the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, as the historic Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya readies for WorldSBK action

For the first time in its history, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will host a round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. The agreement between the Circuit, Dorna WorldSBK Organization and the Gemocat event manager will make the Catalunya Round of WorldSBK one of the biggest events to be on the 2020 calendar and is set to be held from the 18th – 20th September.

Joan Fontserè, General Director of the Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya has expressed his appreciation of the new event, saying: “With the inclusion of WorldSBK at the circuit, in addition to making history, the missing piece fits into our calendar of events, which will in-turn make for an exceptional 2020 season. We are very happy to be able to host the Catalunya Round of WorldSBK and we are sure that the fans will turn to this event and make this first addition a resounding success”.

Ricard Cardús, spokesman for Gemocat, added: “We are very excited about bringing the Superbike World Championship show to Catalonia for the first time. We want the weekend from September 18th to 20th to be a real party for the fan and we will organize events and activities around the event; there will be a limit of 30,000 tickets in order to offer an exclusive experience to the public. We hope that the Catalunya Round of WorldSBK will become a classic on the fans' agenda.”

Gregorio Lavilla, WorldSBK Executive director - Sporting & Organization depts: “The new addition to the 2020 WorldSBK calendar is warmly welcomed and expected in great anticipation. The circuit has seen many memorable races in various motorsport disciplines and WorldSBK cannot wait to join the list. With such a rich heritage in motorcycle racing in Spain and the region, the Catalunya WorldSBK Round promises to be a great success for all parties involved.”

KTM have finally found a solution to their rider line up problem for 2020. Today, the Austrian factory announced that they will be taking Brad Binder directly into the factory Red Bull KTM team, to race alongside Pol Espargaro, while they have signed Iker Lecuona to race in the Red Bull KTM Tech3 satellite squad opposite Miguel Oliveira.

This is something of a shake up to KTM's original plans, caused by the early departure of Johann Zarco. The Frenchman's decision to leave the Austrian factory at the end of 2019 (accelerated to after Misano by KTM's decision to drop him from Aragon onward) left them with a puzzle to solve.

With almost everyone with MotoGP experience tied up for 2020, and most Moto2 riders holding on for 2021, when the entire MotoGP grid is out of contract, finding a replacement for Zarco was almost impossible. They had already signed Brad Binder to the Tech3 satellite team, and had few options to choose from. 

They ended up doing something of an internal reshuffle. Binder has been promoted from the Tech3 team to the factory squad, while Lecuona will be moving up to to the Tech3 MotoGP team, instead of riding in Moto2 with the Ajo squad, as he was signed to do.

These moves are all part of a delicate balancing act. After Zarco announced he would be leaving at the end of 2019, KTM promised Tech3 boss Hervé Poncharal that they wouldn't poach Miguel Oliveira from him. Taking Binder instead of Oliveira is a way around that dilemma, and putting the 19-year-old Lecuona in the Tech3 team gives Poncharal another young and exciting rookie. 

There was the minor obstacle of Lecuona already having signed a contract for 2020, but fortune had it that the Spaniard had signed for the Ajo team, currently racing with KTM in Moto2, and still affiliated with KTM despite the Austrian manufacturer's decision to withdraw from Moto2 in 2020. Moving Lecuona up means that Ajo will have to find a replacement for Moto2, but they are recruiting internally. 

There had been a number of names linked to the KTM factory MotoGP ride, with former KTM rider and current Aprilia tester Bradley Smith a prominent candidate. But KTM have decided to gamble on youth over experience, turning down Smith, along with other rumored contacts with veterans such as Alvaro Bautista. 

There are two reasons to go for young riders over experienced riders. The first is that younger riders are less set in their ways, and fewer ingrained habits or expectations to unlearn. In theory, that should allow them to adapt to the rough-and-ready KTM RC16, a bike that needs a very physical style to ride. 

The second is that they are hoping to capture lightning in a bottle in the same way that the Petronas team have with Fabio Quartararo. The MotoGP paddock and team managers are just as susceptible to fads and fashions as everyone else, and with the current feeling that a generation is passing, to be replaced by a younger generation coming into MotoGP, it can sway the decision toward youth over experience.

Binder in the factory team and Oliveira in Tech3 sets up a fascinating battle for the factory seats in 2021. So far, Pol Espargaro has ruled the KTM roost, the RC16 suiting the Spaniard's physical style down to the ground. But Oliveira has shown flashes of real speed on the KTM, and promises to be competitive on the bike once he recovers from the shoulder injury he picked up at Silverstone, where he was taken out in a crash by Johann Zarco. 

Espargaro will be 29 at the beginning of the 2021 season, and if Oliveira improves as much as KTM hope, they may decided to keep the Portuguese rider over the Spaniard. Alternatively, they could throw more factory resources at Oliveira in the Tech3 team, and strenghten his challenge. Oliveira's RC16 is already very close in spec to the factory bikes of Pol Espargaro and (now) Mika Kallio, and as KTM are picking up a large part of Tech3's tab, they could easily increase the support they give the Portuguese rider.

KTM will probably have to do that for 2020 anyway. With Zarco gone, and two rookies among four riders, the development will rest largely on the shoulders of Pol Espargaro and Miguel Oliveira, as the only two riders with MotoGP experience. Dani Pedrosa will continue to bear the bulk of the test work, and define the direction of the bike, but Espargaro and Oliveira will be the final arbiters at the track. As Espargaro has a very specific, physical style, it is easy to see that Oliveira will have a key role to play in making the bike a little less tailored to Espargaro's riding style.

With the signing of Binder and Lecuona, the 2020 grid is now complete, in theory at least. Rumors persist over the position of Jorge Lorenzo at Repsol Honda, but the noises coming out of Japan from HRC top brass were that they will keep the five-time world champion for 2020, and make a decision about the future next year, when Silly Season kicks off in earnest, and when everyone is out of contract and available.

The press release from KTM appears below:

Red Bull KTM MotoGP line-up confirmed for 2020

MotoGP announcement

Red Bull KTM will field former world champion and class rookie Brad Binder alongside Pol Espargaro for 2020 MotoGP. The South African’s saddle, initially planned at Red Bull KTM Tech3, will be taken by Spaniard Iker Lecuona.

KTM have decided to invest and trust in the racing instincts of two MotoGP debutants for 2020 and for the next development phase of the factory RC16.

Brad Binder’s impressive progress through Moto3 and Moto2 divisions meant the 24-year old was well on the road to a premier class saddle for 2020 but with a slot opening in the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team Binder has been placed next to Pol Espargaro for his first term.

Iker Lecuona, who has taken Moto2 podium honours in both 2018 and 2019, had been signed for a Moto2 ride in 2020. The 19-year old has now been promoted to the Red Bull KTM Tech3 MotoGP effort alongside Miguel Oliveira.

Four riders, three nationalities and three athletes below the age of 25 means KTM are now set for their fourth year of MotoGP participation.

Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsport Director: “It was clear that our plans for 2020 needed to change following our mid-season announcement. After some thought and talks we decided to move in this direction and let the young, hungry guys with good experience in the other categories of MotoGP show us what they can do. Brad is a rider that has made his way through the KTM structure and we have no doubt whatsoever that he can walk into the Red Bull KTM team and keep showing that same style and never-give-up attitude we have seen for a long time. Iker comes into the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team and we’re super-confident that Hervé and his guys will be able to help and develop another rookie like they have done so well with Miguel this year. We know we are making good and exciting steps with our MotoGP project and with next season now fixed we can really start building up to this new chapter.”

Mike Leitner, Red Bull KTM Team Manager: “I’m super-happy with the duo we have for 2020. We had a long discussion about it but finally I think it is a good decision that KTM made. In Pol we have a very strong rider who has made good results for us and we’ve seen in the other categories what Brad is capable of with our bikes. He is one of the young kids that has come through the rank. It will be a big challenge for him but I think he will have a great future in MotoGP.”

Hervé Poncharal, Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Principal: “My feeling is that this is the strongest 2020 KTM line-up we could have hoped for. We want to have four riders with talent, passion, will and that they will stick to the project. Personally I am happy to work with a young and talented rookie like Iker. This is the way to go for the future and we have seen that the same approach has brought some success to other teams. Let’s start working on 2020: we have the technical support and we have the right people onboard. I believe we will take a big step next year with both Miguel in his second year and Iker keen to show us what he can do.”