MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 13 / NOVEMBER 6-8, 2020
RICARDO TORMO CIRCUIT / VALENCIA, SPAIN
P70
MARINI, BASTIANINI
CONFIRMED
After weeks of negotiating, it was
confirmed on Saturday Luca Marini
will step up to MotoGP in 2021 with
Esponsorama Ducati, where he will
compete alongside current Moto2
challenger Enea Bastianini. Interest-
ingly, Marini will ride in the colors of
his current Sky Racing VR46 team
next year and will take a number of
his current Moto2 crew with him to
the premier class, where he will race
against half-brother Valentino Rossi
aboard a Ducati Desmosedici GP19.
It is believed Sky Racing VR46 is pay-
ing Esponsorama racing somewhere
in the region of 1.5 million euros to
place Marini in the squad, leaving
Tito Rabat (who had a contract for
2021) out in the cold. Because of
this, Sky Racing VR46 will withdraw
its entry from the Moto3 class. Moto3
rider Celestino Vietti will take Marini's
seat in the Moto2 team next year.
LORENZO OUT OF
YAMAHA, LINKED TO
APRILIA
The fact that five-time World Cham-
pion Jorge Lorenzo wasn't selected
to replace Valentino Rossi in Aragon
was telling. But the fact that Garrett
Gerloff got the nod to substitute for
the returning Italian on the Friday at
Valencia was confirmation that Loren-
zo is on his way out of Yamaha's test
team. Unlikely links placed Lorenzo
in Aprilia's test team for 2021 after the
news that the Noale factory's current
test rider Bradley Smith—deputizing
for Andrea Iannone as a full-time rider
all season—had been replaced by
Lorenzo Savadori for the final three
races of this year.
MIR AND PERSPECTIVE
On a day in which two of his title con-
tenders either waved the white flag or
spoke of desperation, Joan Mir was
the epitome of cool. Maverick Vinales
Briefly...
Danilo Petrucci holds
off Stefan Bradl for the
ends of the top 10. We
bet the Italian can't wait
to get on the KTM for
next year.
