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We say it every year: the next one will be incredible, but in the case of 2024 it's terribly true. Here are the 10 reasons to follow MotoGP in 2024
Marc Marquez has gone 'all in'
There is not a shadow of doubt that starting with the February tests in Sepang, the world of MotoGP can't wait to discover the potential of the eight-time world champion on the Ducati. Whether you’re a fanatic or a detractor, the curiosity to see him in action on the best bike on the grid is enormous. Anyone who says that he would have had more courage to stay in Honda has understood nothing. Marquez has put 8 world championships on the line and if he were to fail the fall would be enormous. Big enough to make him stop. In our opinion it won't happen.
Ducati: it will have to play in defence, but it has great talents!
What can Ducati do even better after having won the world championship for riders and manufacturers and having placed Bagnaia, Martin and Bezzecchi on the final podium? Simple, ward off the assaults of KTM and Aprilia and, hopefully, some revenge from Honda and Yamaha. Even more importantly it will have to defend its main assets: Gigi Dall'Igna, Pecco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi and Enea Bastianini from the sirens of the competition. Someone will fall into the net, there is no doubt. Probably an entire team.
Pecco Bagnaia chasing true glory
He will have to defend his second consecutive title and aim for a third, something that in the recent past only Kenny Roberts, Wayne Rainey, Mick Doohan, Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez have managed to do. And if we go further back, we can add the names of Geoff Duke, John Surtees, Mike Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini. Do you get the idea?
Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini: no more excuses, either stand or fly
One talks a lot and is very fast, the other speaks little and doesn't go slowly either. For both, 2024 will be a decisive year, to succeed... or change. They are now too cumbersome to all remain in Ducati. They will remain there if they dominate or almost dominate or, in the worst-case scenario, fight to the end. Only one will remain. Or maybe neither.
Marco Bezzecchi: the great attraction
He talks loudly and is fast, a lot. He’s a hot property from VR46; Ducati also likes him a lot, but it doesn't have room for everyone. For him, 2024 is decisive, also because either he will earn the official Red team or the attraction of Yamaha, which must acquire a second team, will be too strong to resist.
KTM suffers from Ezpeleta’s refusal
In a short time, they have gained the attention of MotoGP, and its bosses talk a lot, but they do not yet seem to have all the political weight they deserve, for what they are doing in motorcycle racing, in all classes. They still don't have the striker they need, although Brad Binder is not to be underestimated. Their biggest defeat in 2023 did not happen on the track, but off, when Ezpeleta refused them a third team. But they kept Acosta, a gamble.
Aprilia: it's all on Rivola's shoulders. Maybe that's not enough
Massimo Rivola has many merits, having revitalized the winning spirit of which Aprilia has always had an inexhaustible supply. Then he inserted technical elements into the team which, especially on the aerodynamic side, even created some imitators. 2024 will be fundamental because at this point Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Vinales are no longer sufficient. And then Massimo must stop complaining and help Aprilia grow economically too (i.e. sponsors of importance and image). Because if it is true that the Rossa has Audi behind it, he has Piaggio. And from a marketing point of view, Ducati is light years ahead.
Honda must rediscover the spirit of the legendary Soichiro
Giants are known to be powerful, but slow. Honda must shake off all the ballast accumulated over the years and return to being what it has always been: an innovative company born from the visionary spirit of Soichiro Honda. It must find courageous management in its ranks, the one it has always had in the past. In 2024 it must demonstrate that it is about to strike a hammer blow on the world championship, to win back the best riders. Starting from the courage shown by Luca Marini by choosing it to find its heart again.
Yamaha, the most European of the Japanese manufacturers, needs a leader
Wrong political decisions have isolated the Iwata manufacturer which for years was the hub of the world championship. For it, 2024 will be crucial: it must convince Quartararo to stay and gain a second team. It can't do it with the current management. It needs a leader to resurrect it. A handover that is perhaps already in the air.
Dorna's search for new heroes must not make it forget the base
A bit late maybe, but it understands that motorcycle racing needs heroes and that the old one, Valentino Rossi, or his imitators, might not be enough. So, it has thrown a lot of new things into the cauldron, too many and poorly assorted, while also copying hands down from Superbike. Luckily MotoGP is robust and has withstood the weight of mistakes. But the riders have suffered. 2024 will necessarily have to be more balanced. The risk of maintaining the current regulations for too long is very high. The show takes place between three, four riders at most, not between 22 all within half a second. And enough of this race for MotoGP with the other displacements: this idea was the nonsense that has emptied Moto3 and Moto2, making them disappear from the media.
