2018 MotoGP grid falling into place

Jorge Lorenzo’s decision to join Honda has proven to be the key piece in the puzzle of next year’s MotoGP grid, with multiple rider confirmations falling into place in the days after he announced his deal. With Danilo Petrucci, Hafizh Syahrin, Joan Mir and Andrea Iannone joining Ducati, KTM, Suzuki and Aprilia respectively, there now remains only four unconfirmed places on the grid for next season.

Petrucci had been in close contention with team-mate Jack Miller for the second factory seat, but with strong results in the first half of the season and a proven track record with the Italian team, he will now step up alongside Dovizioso to a factory bike after starting his career as a road bike test rider with the Bologna firm. Meanwhile, Syahrin will turn an equally impressive start of his own in 2018 into a factory-backed chance with KTM. Leading the rookie of the year standings despite being thrown in at the deep end to replace Jonas Folger, he’s found a home for himself at the Tech 3 squad, with team boss Herve Poncharal keen to nurture South East Asia’s first premier class rider.

It also comes as no surprise to see Mir finally confirmed as a MotoGP rider for next year. The Moto3 world champion has made it clear that he was keen to follow in the footsteps of Maverick Viñales by spending only one season in the intermediate class before making the jump to factory machinery, and had been linked to the Suzuki move for weeks. And, finally, Aprilia have confirmed that Andrea Iannone will ride alongside Aleix Esparago to replace Scott Redding.