7 things you should know before the MotoGP season begins

Motorcycling fans, rejoice! The upcoming weekend holds the first race of the 2018-19 MotoGP season, and here’s all you need to know about the season to get started.

1. Honda will start strong. The 2018 RC213V seems easier to ride than before, and yet there is even more power. Marquez isn’t the only person getting good times out of it – both Cal Crutchlow and Dani Pedrosa, the other men on the same bike, are getting excellent results from it. 

2. Ducati will be right there with Honda. With the GP18 correcting some of its weaknesses and Jorge Lorenzo adapting even more to the machine, they will be the combination to beat on some days. However, on all days the frontrunners will have to contend with ‘Desmo’ Dovi, whose consistency is what brought him to within a hair’s breadth of the title at one point last season. Of course, there is Danilo Petrucci as well, who nearly had a race win last season. The satellite riders like Jack Miller aren’t too far behind despite being on older machinery – should any of the frontrunners fall back, there’s still a fight to be had. 

3. Suzuki and KTM have upped their game. Suzuki lost its way last year but it seems to have found the right path in the run up to the current season. KTM has achieved its target of regular top ten finishes, and now aims for contention in the top five. We expect to see a lot of clashes between the two factory teams.

4. The rookie class of 2018 will be entertaining as well. Maybe not as much as the last season, where both Johann Zarco and Jonas Folger shocked everyone with their pace on bikes that were a year old and without factory support. Speaking of which…

5. There are going to be lots of changes at Tech 3. The satellite Yamaha team has lost Jonas Folger for the season due to a chronic illness, which has led to MotoGP’s first Malay rider, Hafizh Syahrin, participating in the sport for a full season. This is also the last season that Tech 3 will use Yamaha machinery – a switch to KTM will happen come the 2019 season, with at least one factory machine in the Tech 3 garage. Title sponsor Monster Energy will also have to exit, considering KTM’s extremely close ties with rival energy drink manufacturer Red Bull. This is also a neat way for KTM to acquire the rider they’ve had eyes on for a while now – Zarco. 

6. This is the last time we’ll see four Yamahas on the MotoGP grid for the forseeable future. With the limit of 24 riders already achieved in the current season, and the authorities emphatic that they do not want any more, it will take a radical shift for Yamaha to have a satellite team again. This is low down on the manufacturer’s priority list, however – it still has to sort out the issues with its developmental direction. Lorenzo’s switch to Ducati is looking better and better with each passing month. 

7. The excitement will remain just as much. With the Michelin tyres being just as hit-or-miss as last season (based on the results of the pre-season tests), predicting a winner every weekend becomes a crapshoot. This is great for the sport, because the championships will not be decided until the very end.