A lot happened between the time we signed-off from work yesterday, and signed back in today. As reported earlier, Honda Racing Corporation And Dani Pedrosa will part ways after 18 years. Pedrosa will make further announcement about his career as a MotoGP rider in two week’s time, at the Catalan GP in Barcelona, Spain.
Now, Honda Racing Corporation has announced the signing of three-times MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. The Spanish rider will join the Repsol Honda Team for 2019 and 2020. Lorenzo will become teammate to four-times MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez.
Meanwhile, Ducati has found a replacement for Lorenzo. Ducati Corse announced that it has reached an agreement with Danilo Petrucci which will see the Italian rider join the Ducati Team in 2019. The 27-year-old from Terni has therefore been promoted to the factory squad after four seasons in the factory-supported Pramac Racing Team and he will race alongside Andrea Dovizioso, who was recently confirmed for two more seasons.
Here’s the list of riders that you’d see on the MotoGP 2019 grid:
| Movistar Yamaha | Valentino Rossi (Italy) |
| Maverick Viñales (Spain) | |
| Honda Racing Corporation | Marc Marquez (Spain) |
| Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) | |
| Ducati Team | Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) |
| Danilo Petrucci (Italy) | |
| Team Suzuki Ecstar | Alex Rins (Spain) |
| Joan Mir (Spain) | |
| Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team | Johann Zarco (France) |
| Pol Espargaro (Spain) | |
| Aprilia Racing | Aleix Espargaro (Spain) |
| Andrea Iannone (Italy) | |
| Tech3 KTM | Hafizh Syahrin (Malaysia) |
| Miguel Oliveira (Portugal) |
That’s what we know so far. Stay tuned for more updates!