Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/993191
IN THE WIND P48 JORGE LORENZO SIGNS WITH HRC IN MOTOGP J orge Lorenzo will make a dramat- ic change in MotoGP for seasons 2019 and 2020, signing for the factory Honda team to replace the departing Dani Pedrosa alongside Marc Marquez. Lorenzo has agreed to a two-year contract worth 4 million euros, worth around 4.69 million USD. The an- nouncement of Lorenzo's departure to Honda comes immediately after his most successful weekend with Ducati, when he took a dominant lights-to-flag victory at the Italian MotoGP ahead of teammate Andrea Dovizioso. Lorenzo's Honda appointment clears the way for either Danilo Pe- trucci or Jack Miller to take his place in the factory team. Strong rumors link Petrucci to the ride, with Ducati teammate Miller set to stay in the Pramac team on a full factory Ducati GP19—the same deal Petrucci is on with his full factory GP18 this season. Francesco Bagnaia has already been confirmed on the second Pramac Ducati for the 2019 season, and will run a year-old Ducati GP18 in much the same deal that Miller uses with his GP17 this year. Honda will thus be the third fac- tory Lorenzo has raced for in his time in MotoGP, starting at Yamaha from 2008-2016, and Ducati from 2017-2018. The move also squashes rumors of Lorenzo returning to Yamaha on satellite equipment, either in the Marc VDS squad or in a new team backed by Malaysian oil giant Petro- nas. That team might still come to fruition, with current Marc VDS rider Franco Morbidelli tipped to remain on the MotoGP grid as the lead rider. CN No one saw this one coming! Jorge Lorenzo is heading to Honda for the next two years. MIR CONFIRMED AT SUZUKI O ne of the final pieces of the 2019 MotoGP puzzle has been placed with 2017 Moto3 World Champion Joan Mir con- firmed at Suzuki for the next two seasons. Mir has been a sensation since moving up to the Moto2 Cham- pionship with Marc VDS Kalex in 2018, and had long been on Suzuki's shopping list. "As a team, we have always tried to look forward to long-term devel- opment plans, which includes also making some bets on young riders that we feel can be an investment for the future," explains Project Leader Shinichi Sahara. "We did it in our debut year in 2015, we did it again in 2017 when we signed the debu- tant Alex Rins, who has been confirmed also this year, and we are further confirming this with the agreement with Joan Mir." Team manager Davide Brivio was extremely excited by the signing of a rider dubbed the "new Marquez" and won't want a repeat of what happened with Maverick Vinales, whom they lost to Yamaha at a crucial time at the end of 2016. "Joan Mir is only 20 years old now, already a world champion with an impressive 10 wins last year and he has already proven several skills," says Brivio. "He is fierce, he is witty, he is nice and he can be very fast. All the charac- teristics that we like to search for in a young rider, who wants to join us not only for the prestige of a fac- tory machine in the top class but most of all because he believes in our racing project. Talking to him I realized how much he has a clear mind, how much he liked our Suzuki project and wanted to join us." CN Joan Mir is hot property and he's heading straight for the big time with Suzuki.