Rumors about the MotoGP rider market are intensifying. There are few teams with confirmed riders for next year, and none have two confirmed. At LCR Honda, Johann Zarco has a contract until 2025, while Takaaki Nakagami is in the final season of his contract and once again is seen as one who may lose his place.
However, for now, the Monegasque team does not want to think about the rider market. Lucio Cecchinello explained to the site GPOne.com what the situation is and emphasized that Nakagami is not to blame for the poor results:
– We have a two-year contract with the Frenchman, while we do not have one with Nakagami. At the moment, we have a commitment with Honda until 2025 and we are discussing the renewal. For Takaaki, it is premature to talk about a replacement, as there are other options. Surely the lack of results is not his fault. Let’s remember that he was fourth in 2020 here in Jerez and now we are at the bottom. The same goes for [Luca] Marini. Before we think about changing riders, we need to fix the bike’.
The Italian admitted that it is not easy to see the Hondas fighting in the last positions, hoping for progress in the near future: ‘I would like to know that I have a short-term solution, as it is difficult to accept seeing our bikes at the back of the pack despite all efforts. However, I want to have hope that we will be able to take some steps forward and go from running between 17th and 19th places, to 12th or 15th’.
