Only a week after Spanish media outlets are reporting that Aleix Espargaro was on the verge of signing a two-year deal with Ducati… Many of those same Spanish sources are now reporting Aleix Espargaro has inked a deal with Suzuki with his partner in the new Suzuki MotoGP effort to be Maverick Vinales.   Aleix Espargaro has been the top performing non-factory rider thus far in season 2014, with top ten finishes in all but one of this year’s nine races.
Cal Crutchlow was widely reported to be on the move from Ducati, to be replaced by Andrea Iannone. But over the weekend Crutchlow confirmed he will stay with Ducati, as will Andrea Dovizioso, with Andrea Iannone also to be added to the team.
Repsol HRC will be situation normal with both Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez locked into their seats. The duo will test the 2015 Honda MotoGP machine for the first time today at Brno.
Valentino Rossi is secure at Yamaha and Jorge Lorenzo’s signature to remain alongside him is widely believed to be a done deal.
We believe Scott Redding will ride a Gresini Honda in 2015. The other seat in the Gresini garage we believe is still up for grabs.
Alvaro Bautista is tipped to land on a new factory backed Aprilia effort in season 2015.
In season 2014 LCR Honda has only been running Stefan Bradl, but there has been strong talk all year that Jonathan Rea will ride with the LCR squad in 2015. If those rumours are true, the LCR outfit could expand to a two-rider team.
There are strong rumours that Jack Miller might skip the Moto2 stepping stone in favour of jumping straight into MotoGP but many insiders are counselling the young Australian against such a move. Reminding of him how much Marquez banged himself about when first getting into MotoGP, even with extensive Moto2 experience behind him before making the jump, Marquez spent a lot of time under the Honda rather than on top of it while he adjusted to the MotoGP machine. If Miller was to make the move it would most likely be to a PONS or LCR Honda, and most likely the lesser-spec RCV1000R production racer, which itself is mooted to come in for a significant hike in power for 2015.
Pol Espargaro will continue at Tech 3 Yamaha but the Poncharal squad is yet to name a second rider. Bradley Smith has shown promise but after a couple of seasons in MotoGP the team might be expecting more and Smith might be without a ride in 2015.
With Aleix Espargaro to leave NGM Forward Racing, and Colin Edwards to retire (likely to become a Michelin test rider), that leaves two seats open.
Yonny Hernandez is likely to continue with Pramac Ducati but with updated machinery.
Karel Abraham’s Cardion AB Motoracing squad looks set to continue with Honda machinery in 2015.
The Drive M7 Aspar squad is supposedly getting much more powerful engines in their CRT spec Honda’s for season 2015. It is unclear if current incumbents Nicky Hayden and Hiroshi Aoyama will continue.
Paul Bird Motorsport’s 2015 rider line-up is likely to hinge on what machinery deal the team can put in place for the coming season but rumours abound that the PBM team entry will become an Aprilia outfit in 2015.
With Aprilia expected to join the MotoGP ranks which, along with Suzuki, more rumoured Kalex framed Yamahas, and the slight possibility of Marc VDS running a MotoGP team (another possibility for Miller) it looks as though season 2015 might sport a much bigger grid than the current 23-rider field.
