After Suzuki’s Juan Mir won one of the most hotly contested seasons in the history of MotoGP, he’s out to prove it was no fluke. He has plenty of opposition on the way though. With Marc Marquez likely back soon, can he stand up to the challenge?
2020 in MotoGP was the most hotly contested racing series of the year. The title battle went up until the penultimate race, with the title winner only taking one race victory. That man was Juan Mir. The 23-year-old outsmarting the opposition by finishing in the points while his opposition threw their bikes into the scenery. Likely the most incredible thing of the season is he won with only 171 points, 49% of the 350 available over the season.
Looking forward to 2021, Mir, although the reigning champion, cannot be the title favourite. There is one very simple reason for this, Marc Marquez is scheduled to come back this year. The 8 time champ is known for sweeping the floor with other riders and taking titles by massive margins. He will begin his season 50 points down, though. Thanks to his injury he must miss the opening two races at Qatar this season.
Image Credits: Ducati Racing
What has testing told us?
We have had plenty of testing at Qatar over recent weeks, giving us a decent impression as to what the pecking order may be coming into this season. We know Ducati are fast. The lap record was destroyed by Australia’s Jack Miller in testing, and Johann Zarco set a new highest speed for a MotoGP bike, at 357km/h. Yamaha was also fast, with only 0.2sec separating the top five at the end of testing. Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia was a surprise, coming in sixth, with the best Honda being brother Pol, in tenth. It wasn’t smooth sailing for KTM, with no rider on the top 15 after testing. The fastest rookie was Jorge Martin in the Pramac Ducati in 14th.
We really can’t take anything definitive from testing, except we know the pack is incredibly tight. Only 0.7sec covered the top 10.
Quartararo had a solemn end to 2020 | Image Credits: Petronas Yamaha
Who are the unknown quantities?
We know the Mir’s, Quartararo’s, Marquez’s, and Miller’s will be at the sharp end of the pack in ’21, but who don’t we know about which could throw a massive spanner in the works?
The immediate answer is Valentino Rossi. He suffered a poor season in 2020 and was pushed to the Petronas Yamaha team to make way for Fabio Quartararo. He is unrelenting in his search for podium number 200, and the Petronas team has given title-winning customer bikes to both Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli in the recent past. 2021 may well be the year the old doctor claims top spot once again.
We didn’t see much of KTM in testing. The Austrian make was strong in 2020 but seemed almost nowhere in testing at Qatar. It is wholly possible though, that the team is holding their best back. With talents such as Brad Binder and Danillo Petrucci, there’s no reason why they may be a dark horse in such a close season.
Obviously, the biggest unknowns in 2021 are the three rookies coming through to MotoGP this season. Martin, Bastianini and Marini. The only riders we truly cannot place in the order until a few races in. We know all three are supremely talented after their title battle last season, and Marini will be supported by none other than Rossi himself. Once these three get up to speed they may prove to be a serious headache for the frontrunners.
In Conclusion
This year is unique. For the first time in recent memory, there is no one title favourite. Rather, there are four or five who will battle to the death to take the 2021 MotoGP crown. Ducati, Yamaha and Suzuki are all even on performance, and when Marquez comes back there’s one more. It’ll be truly fascinating how the races, and indeed the title hunt, pan out over the course of the next seven months.
