2017 FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
P86
FEATURE
CHANGES AT THE
HIGHEST LEVEL
tLike three-time MotoGP World
Champion Jorge Lorenzo jump-
ing ship from Yamaha to Ducati.
Like never-champ but hot, hot
prospect Maverick Vinales tak-
ing his place alongside Valentino
Rossi in the Movistar team.
While the ever-simmering
triple champ and current defend-
er Marc Marquez faces them
all on a Repsol Honda with a
brand-new buzz-box engine, and
yet another year of maturity in
his pocket, alongside his preco-
cious talent.
That's not even mentioning
the burning ambition of Andrea
Iannone, dumped by Ducati but
picked up by the ever-improving
Suzuki. The hopes of the likes
of Jack Miller, in his third Honda
year with one wet-weather win
behind him. A couple of hot-
shoes on high-level independent
Ducatis. And the ever-smoulder-
ing Rossi himself.
Further technical dumbing
down (no wings this year) gives
all the more reason to hope for
another season of high-class va-
riety. Although it would be hard to
beat 2016, with its record number
of nine different winners.
What we can expect is strong
battles all the way down to the
bottom of the points for every
race, and the prospect of a real
fight for Rookie of the Year,
after an uncontested crash-fest
of 2016 for sole representative
Tito Rabat.
As usual, the season starts in
Qatar (March 26) and finishes in
Valencia (November 12), with 16
races in between, and no sig-
nificant changes from last year.
Austria is back for a second run
at the Red Bull Ring, Phillip Island
third from last on October 22.
By then, if the omens are to
be believed, we should all be
holding our breath.
MOTOGP: HOME
OF THE BRAVE
Valentino Rossi is back for his
22nd season, the old man of the
grid aged 38 at race one. Five
others—Bautista, Crutchlow,
Dovizioso, Pedrosa and Bar-
bera—are in their 30's. But it's
The man who would be king?
Maverick Vinales has been in
scintillating form since switching to
Yamaha. He's ready for a first title.
