2021 MotoGP Round One Preview
Rarely is anything predictable in this era of MotoGP, but there is at least one certainty everyone can agree on: we’re most definitely ready to go racing.
This season, the headlines are overflowing before a lap has even been ticked off in anger. A new reigning Champion begins the year on the throne, Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), and the world waits with bated breath to find out when we will get to see the return of eight-time World Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), although we know it won’t be to race in Qatar. Rider and team musical chairs leaves us with a different grid and new colours for many, as well as a few new faces as we welcome four rookies. But it’s the same incredible level of competition: thousandths are the new hundredths in MotoGP.
And so we arrive into Round 1. Doha hosts the first and second Grands Prix of the season and Losail also opened its doors for all the official winter test days this year, so we’re not heading in blind but we are heading in primed.
Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) arrives with the biggest target on his back, flanked by a flotilla of Yamahas as the testing timesheets saw the Aussie and his team-mate Francesco Bagnaia bookend a top five reigned by Ducati and Yamaha.
Miller will definitely be one to watch as the lights go out, however, as will Bagnaia. Both are full factory this season and the pressure is certainly greater, but so too are the performances we’ve seen so far. Losail has also seen the Borgo Panigale factory enjoy some serious success of late, and the stage is set for the Bologna bullets to start the season where they’ll wish to go on: the front.
That’s not forgetting the likes of Johann Zarco either as the Frenchman moves to Pramac Racing and enjoys ever more experience with the Italian machine, also proving his mettle in testing. The holeshot heroes have some serious top speed and three experienced riders who look ready, on paper, to get straight in the mix.
Three Yamahas ended the test within less than a tenth and a half of Miller at the top: Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and last year’s Championship runner up Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT). Viñales starts the year settled in, Morbidelli likewise. Quartararo switches to the factory Yamaha squad, but seems to have immediately found his footing.
Franco Morbidelli
“I think we are ready for the first race of the season. We worked hard in testing, tried several things and then focused on setting up the bike for the Qatar track. The set-up is never perfect, you can always find things to change and improve, but I think we have a really good base. To have a good race there you need to be fast, have a good pace, to be consistent and understand which is the right tyre. It’s hard to know from testing what the target should be, but we want to aim to be in the top-five and to fight for the podium – we think it’s possible. We’ll see where we are though on Sunday.”
So too has nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi at Petronas Yamaha SRT as the legendary Italian – never one to push for a stunner in testing but still near the top ten – was full of enthusiasm after the five days on track that prefaced the season. After a 2020 of highs and lows for the Iwata marque, and Ducati to an extent, are the two factories who took testing by the horns the two who arrive into the first Grand Prix ready to do the same in race trim?
Valentino Rossi
“After testing in Qatar, I feel quite strong and the balance of the bike is good. I achieved my best-ever lap of the circuit, which was an important and positive thing to do. I think there are a lot of riders on different bikes that are also strong, but we’re definitely in the pack with them. Our race pace looks to be good, so I feel like we are ready to start the season in Qatar this weekend. There is a really good atmosphere in the team; we’ve worked well and in the right direction. I’m excited to start the season properly in a few days’ time.”
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) put the Noale factory’s nearly all-new bike right up there every time he went out on track during the recent test sessions, and increasing expectation has so far been backed up by ever-increasing pace. What can the number 41 do once the lights go out? With team-mate Lorenzo Savadori coming back from injury and also a rookie, Espargaro is the man in the spotlight for the new bike as racing gets underway in earnest. We’ve seen flashes of brilliance, but the 2021 aim for Aprilia will be to sustain that.
And then there’s Suzuki. Seventh and eighth was where reigning Champion Joan Mir and Suzuki Ecstar team-mate Alex Rins ended the Qatar Test, and the feedback was positive. Consistently fast and consistently threatening in 2020, nothing in testing said Suzuki won’t be out the blocks to defend both the riders title and the teams’ Championship. The Hamamatsu factory’s Achilles heel – if such a thing exists in a season of such success – was qualifying last season, so that may be the first thing to keep a keen eye on as Saturday arrives. It seems though that nothing big to report may translate into “yes, we very much require the Jaws music once the lights go out for racing”… with test rider Sylvain Guintoli already having been working on their 2022 engine during the Qatar Test. If that’s not a mark of feeling everything is under control…
As race weekend arrives, meanwhile, we will be left waiting for the answer to one of the biggest questions: when will Marc Marquez return? Sidelined by injury after Jerez last year, it’s been a long, long road of surgery and recovery for the eight-time World Champion but the signs are looking good. Recently on track on a Honda RC213V-S in Catalunya and Portimão and looking ever more ready to race, there was certainly more than enough to make a good few rumours. His return won’t be in Qatar, however, so the foreboding music for his rivals remains on low for now.
On the other side of the Repsol Honda Team garage there’s plenty to talk about too though. Pol Espargaro joins the fold and, after an impressive trajectory over the past couple of seasons, began 2021 with an equally impressively quick adaptation to the Honda. Fast and fast often, the Spaniard was tenth overall in testing and could be a dark horse for much further forward as the race weekend begins, with each session of track time only giving him more experience of his new bike and team. Premier class podium finisher? Check. Race winner is the next goal.
Pol Espargaro
“The first race is finally here, I am really excited to get back on the Honda. We had a good test and I am looking forward to the first race weekend. There are some things we still need to learn and understand about the bike and it will be an intense opening weekend, but I am excited. Racing the Repsol Honda is something most people dream of and I can’t wait to do it. I am not setting a target for the race other than do the best that we can. Let’s put on a good show for all the fans that are at home, it’s time to go racing!”
As Marc Marquez continues to focus on recovering from his broken humerus, Stefan Bradl will again mount the Repsol Honda Team RC213V for the opening race of the year. Bradl ended 2020 with a string of solid results and again showed his pace during testing in Qatar, the HRC Test Rider able to consistently challenge the established order during the test. Having last raced in Qatar in 2016, the Qatar Tests have been useful for Bradl to relearn the Doha track.
Stefan Bradl
“First of all I want to say thank you to HRC and wish Marc all the best on his continued recovery. We had a good test and I have been riding well after a busy 2020 and a good start to 2021. Hopefully we can have another strong weekend and gather some good information for Honda. It will be great to race in Qatar again, it has been a while since I have raced there but certainly the two tests have me up to speed with the track so I don’t think this will be a disadvantage to us. Let’s start the season.”
LCR Honda Idemitsu’s Takaaki Nakagami will be hoping to move forward too after a slightly more muted test, as both he and new teammate Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) suffered a few crashes – the latter also injuring his foot but ready to head back out for Round 1. Both fought for podiums last year and Alex Marquez successfully, as a rookie no less, so they’ll want to move back up the field to where they’d left off last season.
That’s also true of KTM. The Austrian factory ripped up the history books and wrote a few replacements in 2020, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) winning them their first MotoGP race – and his, as a rookie and the first premier class winner from South Africa – and new teammate Miguel Oliveira then adding two more MotoGP victories for KTM as well as becoming the first Portuguese premier class winner. Oliveira, now alongside Binder in the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team, was the fastest Austrian machine in testing, but the two were side by side in P16 and P17. They’ll want more once the lights go out as KTM look to continue their roll of incredible success, but we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: testing is testing. Friday practice, qualifying and then finally the first race of the year are often a wiser litmus test.
Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) will be looking for more this year too as he starts his second season, needing to move up from where he ended testing, and new arrival Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) will be interesting to watch too as he adapts to his new bike.
Speaking of adaptation, there’s also plenty to keep an eye out for as the Moto2 graduates begin their first seasons, eager to get in the mix. Savadori is a rookie but with a few events under his belt by now, whereas the trio of rookies moving up from the intermediate class tasted MotoGP for the very first time in the Qatar Test. The fastest of the three was Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) in 14th, but it was incredibly close as reigning Moto2 World Champion Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama) was just 0.022 further back. Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Avintia) was a little more in arrears but also impressed, and just like those adapting from one factory to another… every session is just another chance to improve.
Luca Marini
“It will be a more special race than normal. I don’t know what to expect, but I’m sure it’ll be very exciting for me to be on the grid. I am very satisfied with the tests and how I met the bike I would still have liked to be able to do more kilometers with my Ducati. It is very important to implement the information we have obtained from the analysis of the test data and improve both the bike and the way I ride. The Qatar circuit adapts very well to the bike and I love running at night, I would say it’s the perfect situation to start the season.”
Enea Bastianini
“This Sunday will be my first MotoGP race. I am very happy with how the tests have gone and how they have developed, I have had a lot of fun and above all I have started to understand how MotoGP works, I think I have learned a lot, but we still have a lot of work to do. It is not an easy category, but I hope to be able to achieve satisfactory results for the second race, in which it will be more important and essential to show progress.”
The 2021 MotoGP World Championship to begin this Friday with Free Practice one at 2340 on Friday night for us here on the east coast of Australia that are running daylight savings. Those of you over in WA have a far more friendly 2040 start time for MotoGP 2021. The full schedule can be found further down this page.
Moto2
If testing taught us anything ahead of the Barwa Grand Prix of Qatar, it’s that Moto2 is too close to call. Day 2 saw six riders within 0.089, and on Day 3 the top three were split by just half a tenth – giving a whole host of names the right to call themselves contenders. So let’s take a look at a few, but by no means all.
The fastest man in Qatar so far in 2021 is Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team). The 2020 title challenger looks ready to pick up where he left off and you could likely call him the favourite. By far the most experienced of the quickest riders in testing, Lowes is in good shape for an assault on the crown and in a better position than this time last year when he missed the Qatar GP due to injury – and then he still took the fight all the way down to the wire…
Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46), meanwhile, lurks just thousandths further back. The Italian also fought for the crown for much of the latter half of last season and became a Moto2 race winner before a few mistakes derailed his final challenge. But mistakes can be a useful thing to a rider on a mission, because they teach lessons – and Bezzecchi has certainly proven himself a fast learner and a fast rider.
The same could be said of Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo). The Australian has shown flashes of blazing pace and talent but sometimes peppered with mistakes or simple bad luck – including some serious injury struggles. Going into 2021, however, he’s with one of the most successful teams in the class and turned some good 2020 momentum into even more in pre-season testing. One of the quickest and most consistent in Doha so far, is this the moment it all starts to come together for Gardner? One thing’s for sure: the Aussie will push as hard as possible trying to make sure it does.
So who else looks threatening? Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team) was a big presence on the timesheets on Friday and Saturday in testing and seems like he’s made another step forward to build on an impressive rookie season. Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) had some serious speed too, and his team-mate Jake Dixon – despite having been told his injury woes could even threaten his career – was another who seemed to have unlocked something even more as we begin 2021.
Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) also seemed to have made a step forward. Now on a Kalex and with more experience under his belt, the Dutchman impressed in the test and could be one to watch.
And what about Joe Roberts? The American moves to Italtrans Racing Team for 2021 and, after a stunner in Qatar last year, will want to start his new chapter in similar form.
It wouldn’t be a new year without some fresh faces either. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) flew the rookie flag the highest in the test as he immediately looked like a seasoned campaigner. Easily in the top ten and fastest rookie throughout, just that bit more – that he’ll be focused on finding in practice – could see him really start to challenge the more established names ahead of him too.
Reigning Moto3 World Champion Albert Arenas (Inde Aspar Team) moved up into the top ten on Day 3 too, and his old lightweight class sparring partners weren’t so far behind as Tony Arbolino (Liqui Moly Intact GP) and Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) also look to be settling in well.
American Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) made solid progress too as he adjusts not from Moto3 but MotoAmerica… and his rate of knots moving up the timesheets day by day was testament to progress. Who will strike first in the battle of the rookies, and will they take any veteran scalps along the way?
Moto3
What’s the perfect way to end the last day of testing? Probably something like Jaume Masia’s (Red Bull KTM Ajo) new – although unofficial – lap record. The Spaniard seems pretty settled in at Red Bull KTM Ajo already, and his warning shot will likely be heard by his rivals. But then, so too will that of new teammate Pedro Acosta. So is this season going to begin a clash of the rookies and veterans?
Masia’s lap was certainly a stunner, but we already know that Moto3 is rarely a runaway game at the front and the likes of Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing), John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing), his new team-mate Darryn Binder – adapting well to the Honda – and Gabriel Rodrigo (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) won’t go down without a good few classic lightweight class battles. We also know that the rookies this year have hit the ground running in a way we’ve not seen for some time.
Acosta is one – the 2020 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup winner second in testing behind only his team-mate – and Izan Guevara (GasGas Gaviota Aspar Team) another as the reigning FIM Moto3 Junior World Champion blazed out the blocks with some serious speed. What makes their performances all the more impressive is that they don’t know the track like they do some of the venues in Europe, and that’s something else to maybe make a few a little nervous later in the season. But for now, what is too much to ask? Wins? Podiums? They certainly have the speed, but the tactics will be a key test – as will holding their nerve.
That said, it’s been some time since this pedigree of CV has been on show. Both the FIM Moto3 Junior World Championship and Rookies are known proving grounds and two of the most successful programmes on the Road to MotoGP, but both Acosta and Guevara have even more in their track records.
Acosta absolutely dominated the Rookies, which has been done before, but he also backed it up with race wins in the FIM CEV Repsol as he came third overall in the aforementioned FIM Moto3 JWCh.
Guevara, meanwhile, just can’t stop progressing. European Talent Cup winner in 2019, the Spaniard then moved to the FIM Moto3 JWCh and by Jerez mid-season was almost unbeatable on his way to the crown. At Aragon, he won all three races – riders have done that before, a good match between man, machine and venue can create a little magic – only, after a nightmare qualifying, Guevara managed it three times in a row from outside the top 20 on the grid. Convinced yet?
Izan Guevara
“At the Qatar Grand Prix, I hope to continue in the same vein as in the tests. We still have to try some new parts that we couldn’t try last week. I knew we could do well, because I adapted well to the bike, but I didn’t think I was going to be that strong from day one. My goal this weekend will be to try to get a good lap during free practice to get straight into Q2 and get a good grid position to be able to fight in the race.”
Xavier Artigas (Leopard Racing), meanwhile, may not have been quite as near the front as his rookie compatriots, but he’s also already got a Grand Prix podium as he took to the rostrum on a wildcard in Valencia in 2019, too. On his first Grand Prix appearance. He ended the test in 11th, only just behind Darryn Binder, and shouldn’t be overlooked either after a season at the front in the FIM Moto3 Junior World Championship too – he’s the man who lost out on the crown to Guevara, losing a little momentum but after most definitely having done more than enough to impress regardless.
2021 MotoGP Round One
Time Schedule (AEDT)
Time | Class | Session |
2150-2230 | Moto3 | FP1 |
2245-2325 | Moto2 | FP1 |
2340-0025 | MotoGP | FP1 |
0210-0250 (Sat) | Moto3 | FP2 |
0305-0345 (Sat) | Moto2 | FP2 |
0400-0445 (Sat) | MotoGP | FP2 |
Time | Class | Session |
2125-2205 | Moto3 | FP3 |
2220-2300 | Moto2 | FP3 |
2315-0000 | MotoGP | FP3 |
0130-0145 (Sun) | Moto3 | Q1 |
0155-0210 (Sun) | Moto3 | Q2 |
0225-0240 (Sun) | Moto2 | Q1 |
0250-0305 (Sun) | Moto2 | Q2 |
0320-0350 (Sun) | MotoGP | FP4 |
0400-0415 (Sun) | MotoGP | Q1 |
0425-0440 (Sun) | MotoGP | Q2 |
Time | Class | Session |
2240-2300 | Moto3 | WUP |
2310-2330 | Moto2 | WUP |
2340-0000 | MotoGP | WUP |
0100 (Mon) | Moto3 | Race |
0220 (Mon) | Moto2 | Race |
0400 (Mon) | MotoGP | Race |
2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar
Round | Date | Location |
Round 1 | Mar-28 | Qatar, Losail (night race) |
Round 2 | Apr-04 | Doha, Losail (night race) |
Round 3 | Apr-18 | Portugal, Portimao |
Round 4 | May-02 | Spain, Jerez |
Round 5 | May-16 | France, Le Mans |
Round 6 | May-30 | Italy- Mugello |
Round 7 | Jun-06 | Catalunya, Barcelona |
Round 8 | Jun-20 | Germany, Sachsenring |
Round 9 | Jun-27 | Netherlands, Assen |
Round 10 | Jul-11 | Finland, KymiRing (subject to homologation) |
Round 11 | Aug-15 | Austria, Red Bull Ring |
Round 12 | Aug-29 | Great Britain, Silverstone |
Round 13 | Sep-12 | Aragon, Motorland Aragon |
Round 14 | Sep-19 | Sam Marino, Misano |
Round 15 | Oct-03 | Japan, Motegi |
Round 16 | Oct-10 | Thailand, Chang International Circuit |
Round 17 | Oct-24 | Australia, Phillip Island |
Round 18 | Oct-31 | Malaysia, Sepang |
Round 19 | Nov-14 | Valencia, Circuit Ricardo Tormo |
Round 20 | TBA | Argentina, Termas de Rio Hondo |
Round 21 | TBA | Americas, COTA |