2022 Moto GP Season Review
By Tom Doughty
At the halfway point of the 2022 season, 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo looks set to retain his title. With 3 wins so far and several podiums to his name, the Yamaha rider has been consistently excellent, with Jorge Lorenzo-esque performances in lap consistency and his ability to break away at the front.
A factor that solidifies the likelihood of Quartararo winning the 2022 championship is that none of his main rivals can consistently threaten him. The expected 2022 challengers of Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia, Pramac’s Jorge Martin, and Suzuki’s Joan Mir have repeatedly crashed out of races this year.
Quartararo by comparison rarely crashes–couple this with his incredible ability to score podiums and rarely having a bad race weekend makes him an impressively unstoppable force.
Quartararo is easily comparable to Max Verstappen’s current excellent form in Formula 1, with MotoGP having similar team situations to those in F1. Ducati is identical to Ferrari, with neither Italian manufacturer has won the driver’s championship since 2007.
Despite both teams having significant financial backing, they cannot consistently challenge for the title. Honda in MotoGP is again incredibly similar to Mercedes, with Marc Márquez, like Lewis Hamilton, having dominated the 2010s now suffering due to poor machinery (with Márquez having pulled out of the 2022 championship to have further surgery due to complications from a crash in 2020).
Where MotoGP and F1 differ however is the competitiveness of the rest of the grid. Other factory manufacturers and private teams are very competitive in MotoGP, with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaró, Pramac’s Johann Zarco, and Gresini’s Enea Bastianini currently second, third, and fourth in the rider’s championship respectively.
Aprilia especially is impressive, with a bike that for decades has been very uncompetitive and has now seen something of a renaissance in 2022.
Aprilia is to be commended for the hard work and commitment it has shown and fully deserves the success it has seen in 2022. Even as recently as two years ago it would have been unfathomable to see Aprilia second in the rider’s championship.
His incredible ability to score podiums and rarely having a bad race makes him an impressively unstoppable force
Whilst Aprilia has made great strides in its bike, both the factories of Honda and KTM have had a miserable season so far. At last week’s German Grand Prix, Honda had its first non-points finish in 40 years, with Honda star Márquez sitting out and its other riders either crashing or retiring to the pits with mechanical issues.
The only finisher was test rider Stefan Bradl, who finished outside of the points due to the bike being so hot that it induced burns on his body.
Honda’s changes to the 2022 bike have been a disaster–serious reforms need to be made at the Japanese manufacturer to create a competitive bike again. The same can be said for KTM, with both manufacturers wasting their talented rider line-ups with subpar machinery.
The major drama of the 2022 season so far has been the surprise announcement of Suzuki withdrawing from MotoGP at the end of this season. This came as a huge shock, especially considering that Suzuki won the 2020 rider’s championship with Joan Mir, as well as having a competitive bike.
Suzuki has the smallest budget due to its size compared to the other manufacturers, with financial considerations likely to be the main factor in them pulling out. This means that their excellent riders of Joan Mir and Alex Rins will now be available on the rider market for teams to negotiate contracts with.
The majority of rider contracts run out in 2022, so there will be many interesting team switching for riders — expect some big announcements over the summer break.
Furthermore, Yamaha’s private team of RNF announcing its switch to become a private Aprilia team, coupled with Suzuki’s exit, means that there are now more riders than bikes, with there likely to be some big names leaving the paddock.
There is no ‘deadwood’ taking up premium class spaces but does result in talented riders missing out
To this end, MotoGP has the rather unusual problem of having too much talent. There are too many talented Moto2 and Moto3 riders for the number of spaces in the premier MotoGP class.
The 2022 MotoGP grid does not have any pay riders, with the grid being incredibly stacked with talent. Riders that have performed well in this year’s Moto2 class may struggle to gain a place due to there being too few seats, unlike in previous years.
This is positive for the MotoGP championship programme as a whole, as there is no ‘deadwood’ taking up premium class spaces but does result in talented riders either missing out on the opportunity to be promoted, or MotoGP riders losing their ride too quickly if they do not immediately perform.
Iker Lecuona, Tech3 KTM’s rider from last year is a good example of this, with the 22-year-old losing his seat despite showing decent potential.
The MotoGP paddock’s pursuit of quickly promoting young Moto2 riders and binning them before they have had the chance to show their true potential is short-sighted, particularly with currently both Espargaró and Zarco (both in their thirties) being currently second and third in the rider’s championship despite their age.
The 2022 season should be a cautionary tale in letting riders have the time they need to develop properly. Not every rider can be a Quartararo sensation, with it is important for riders to spend time in the lower classes (rather than being rushed up) to hone their racing skills, which ultimately will pay off in the long term. MotoGP as a sport in 2022 has never been in better shape, with the rest of the season promising to deliver some great racing – the summer break cannot end soon enough.
Image credit: Box Repsol via Flickr
