P102
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
I
t's summertime, and the con-
tracts are squeezy. It's proof,
if it were needed, that it takes
more than lockdown to stop the
inevitable, whether there is any
racing or not. Instead, and in
advance of the paddock as-
sembling in a couple of weeks
at Jerez, the "who-goes-where"
silly season kicked off with a
vengeance over the summer
solstice.
Who indeed, and where in-
deed, when the only indications
of 2020 rider form can be found
in the equally unreal worlds of
PlayStation play-racing, or in the
imagination?
Nonetheless, contracts have
to be contracted and deals must
be dealt.
Most of the major players were
already settled.
Marc Marquez was early done
with Honda, all the way until the
end of 2024 forsooth; Vinales
and Quartararo were also signed
pre-season with factory Yamaha;
Rossi firmly earmarked to swap
seats with the Frenchman, to join
his own protégé Franco Mor-
bidelli at the satellite squad.
Suzuki announced extensions
for Alex Rins and Joan Mir during
the lockdown.
And the well-deserving Jack
Miller is Ducati bound.
And so on, all the way to Aleix
Espargaro, who will have to dig
deeper into his already well-
plundered larder of hope that
next year Aprilia really will step
up their tech.
Yet Aprilia, the least-favored
factory team, seem to be quick-
ening the interest elsewhere. In
the absence of racing to test out
the Italian mob's repeated prom-
THERE'S NO STOPPING THE SILLY SEASON
How much
longer will
Andrea Dovizioso
last at Ducati?
