JACK Miller’s confirmation at Pramac Ducati for 2018 has started the dominoes falling on the remaining rides on next year’s MotoGP grid.
Although the seats at the big factory squads of Honda, Yamaha and Ducati are all confirmed, Miller’s move forms a key part of what will unfold among the remaining teams.
Here is who is rumoured to be going where.
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REDDING TO APRILIA
The man Miller is replacing didn’t spend too long on the transfer market.
Redding is reportedly off to the Aprilia squad, according to crash.net, set to join Aleix Espargaro aboard a bike that has been improving with every outing in 2017.
Redding had previously been mooted with making a direct swap with Miller and returning to the Marc VDS team, whom he raced for in Moto2 and for one season in MotoGP in 2015.
LOWES OUT AT APRILIA
Sam Lowes had to wait 18 months to make his MotoGP debut with Aprilia, but the Gresini-run squad appears to have lost its patience after just five.
The Englishman was signed by the Italian team in September 2015, with the caveat of spending the 2016 season racing for the squad in Moto2 before moving up to the top tier in 2017.
It has been a difficult rookie year for Lowes. A fast, talented but crash-prone rider, his struggle for confidence and speed is in stark contrast to the experienced Espargaro’s overachieving on a bike still in a steep part of its development curve.
“The crashing problem is a real one,” team boss Fausto Gresini told gpone.com. “It’s a high number and doesn’t include crashes suffered during testing.
“Every crash means pieces to be replaced, and I don’t means in terms of cost, but production. It takes time to produce them, guys are busy doing that and as we’re right in the middle of development, this slows us down”.
Rumours have suggested in recent weeks that Lowes was on borrowed time at Aprilia, whom were allegedly courting a raft of riders as potential replacements.
Redding’s reported move would mean Lowes is definitively out of Aprilia with over a year remaining on the contract he signed back in 2015. It is not yet known where he will end up in 2018.
WHO REPLACES MILLER?
Marc VDS already knows who one of its riders will be in 2018, the Belgian team promoting 2017 Moto2 world title contender Franco Morbidelli from its second-tier squad.
But the identity of the team’s second rider is still unknown.
Tito Rabat has struggled in his two seasons of MotoGP. He may stay at Marc VDS as a benchmark against which Morbidelli can be measured, but is also being linked with a move away from the team with whom he won the 2014 Moto2 world championship.
One riders being linked to the seat is Stefan Bradl, who has endured two tough seasons with Honda’s World Superbikes effort. His three years of MotoGP experience - including two years on a factory-supported Honda - could prove handy in helping Morbidelli get up to speed.
Out of contract at the end of 2017, Bradl told Speedweek that talks with Honda for the 2018 WSBK season would begin after the Suzuka 8 Hours - a race the German ended up missing through illness.
If he couldn’t keep Miller, Redding and Bradl were the next two riders at the top of Marc VDS chief Michael Bartholemy’s shopping list. If the report that Redding is Aprilia-bound proves true, Germany could have two riders on next year’s MotoGP grid.
THE OTHER SATELLITE DUCATI SQUADS
With the four factory and Pramac seats tied up, attention now turns to the remaining Ducati rides on the 2018 grid.
Alvaro Bautista has already been signed to ride for Aspar again next season, while Karel Abraham has the desire and the financial backing to stay at the team should they want to keep him.
So that leaves Reale Avintia, who currently have veteran Spanish rider Hector Barbera and lanky Frenchman Loris Baz on their roster.
The squad was rebranded at the start of the season with the injection of title sponsorship from the Reale Seguros insurance company, but are reportedly considering ditching their current lineup for riders who can bring further sponsorship.
Rabat is one rider who has been mooted, while crash.net is reporting that Moto2 rider Xavier Simeon is also in the frame for the other bike.
Barbera has been with the team since 2013 and registered 10th in last year’s world championship - including a two-race stint with the factory Ducati squad replacing an injured Andrea Iannone.
Baz is in his third year in MotoGP after making the switch from World Superbikes in 2014. Injuries blighted an otherwise impressive 2016 with Avintia, highlighted by a fourth place finish at Brno and a fifth at Sepang in races affected by wet weather.
ANOTHER HONDA ON THE GRID
The sole one-bike team on MotoGP’s grid could well become two for 2018. The 24th slot on the MotoGP grid is reserved for Lucio Cecchinello’s Honda team.
Japanese Moto2 racer Takaaki Nakagami has been linked with that expansion in the past, a move contingent on finding the funding required to run the bike.
TV GUIDE: NeroGiardini Motorrad Grand Prix von Osterreich
FOX SPORTS has every session of MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 LIVE in HD and AD-FREE across the weekend from the Red Bull Ring.
You can also access exclusive extra video feeds online with FOX SPORTS MotoGP Race Centre during MotoGP FP4, Qualifying 1 and 2, and the Race, where you can watch live on-board cameras, helicopter camera, plus live timing and rider tracker.
Race Centre will also show live timing and final results for every MotoGP session throughout the Austrian weekend.
Here’s our broadcast schedule for this weekend. All times AEST and on FOX SPORTS 506.
FRIDAY
4:55pm - Moto3 Free Practice 1
5:55pm - MotoGP Free Practice 1
6:55pm - Moto2 Free Practice 1
9:05pm - Moto3 Free Practice 2
10:05pm - MotoGP Free Practice 2
11:05pm - Moto2 Free Practice 2
SATURDAY
4:55pm - Moto3 Free Practice 3
5:55pm - MotoGP Free Practice 3
6:55pm - Moto2 Free Practice 3
8:30pm - Moto3 Qualifying
9:30pm - MotoGP Free Practice 4
10:10pm - MotoGP Qualifying
11:05pm - Moto2 Qualifying
SUNDAY
4:30pm - Moto3 Warm Up
5:10pm - Moto2 Warm Up
5:40pm - MotoGP Warm Up
6:00pm - Pre-race show with Chris Stubbs, Kevin Magee and Chris Vermeulen
7:00pm - Moto3 Race
8:20pm - Moto2 Race
10:00pm - MotoGP Race
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