Will the Marc VDS team race Suzuki GSX-RR prototypes next season? We’ll need to wait a few more days to find out
With KTM and Tech3 team joining forces starting next MotoGP season, the paddock is full of teams and manufacturers trying to get the best partnership deals they can to reach the top of MotoGP.
One of those manufacturers is Suzuki, and one of those teams is Marc VDS.
During the Argentina GP, technical personnel from Suzuki was spotted in the Marc VDS garage, and that fact seems to prove that the Japanese manufacturer and the team run by Michael Bartholemy (team manager) are getting ready to join forces starting 2019.
Davide Brivio, Ecstar Suzuki team manager, already spoke about how Suzuki desires to have more GSX-RR prototypes racing in MotoGP, and at Hamamatsu, the racing department agreed to supply more bikes with the same specs as the factory bikes used by the factory team.
This is where Marc VDS enters the deal!
The Belgium team has the experience and financial backing to do (and pay!) what Suzuki wants and help the GSX-RR evolve even further. And the team wants to retain Franco Morbidelli, current Moto2 World Champion, and a factory bike from Suzuki will surely be something that Morbidelli sees as a good option.
The agreement between Suzuki and Marc VDS is said to be made public in the next few days – maybe during the MotoGP race in Texas this weekend – and will be valid for three years until the end of 2021.
Marc VDS wants to retain Franco Morbidelli next season, and a factory spec Suzuki GSX-RR may help to convice Morbidelli to stay
As for Franco Morbidelli, the Italian rider is under the “protection” of Valentino Rossi being a student of the VR46 Academy. Rossi sees the potential of Morbidelli in MotoGP, and is trying to make the rookie rider change from Marc VDS to a satellite team from Yamaha.
At the moment there’s no word about who might be the team that takes the role of Tech3 as a Yamaha satellite team.
Until now Marc VDS was the main candidate to occupy the Tech3 spot as Yamaha partner, but with Suzuki closing in on a deal with the team, other structures are now negotiating with Yamaha: Reale Avintia Racing and Angel Nieto Team.
If the deal between Suzuki and Marc VDS is confirmed, other pieces of the MotoGP puzzle will start to fit into place.
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