Submitted by David Emmett on
After the announcement that Tito Rabat is to take the GP17 at Avintia Ducati, there is only a single seat still left open on the 2018 MotoGP grid. Xavier Simeon is expected to take that seat, but nothing is yet decided. There are still question marks over Bradley Smith's future at KTM, team bosses unhappy with the Englishman's performance this year. A decision on Smith will likely be taken after the Aragon round of the series.
Below is the line up as it stands on the Thursday before Misano:
| Teams/Riders | Bike | Contract ends |
| Factory Teams | ||
| Movistar Yamaha | ||
| Valentino Rossi | Yamaha M1 | 2018 |
| Maverick Viñales | Yamaha M1 | 2018 |
| Repsol Honda | ||
| Dani Pedrosa | Honda RC213V | 2018 |
| Marc Márquez | Honda RC213V | 2018 |
| Ecstar Suzuki | ||
| Andrea Iannone | Suzuki GSX-RR | 2018 |
| Alex Rins | Suzuki GSX-RR | 2018 |
| Gresini Aprilia | ||
| Scott Redding | Aprilia RS-GP | 2018 |
| Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia RS-GP | 2018 |
| KTM Factory | ||
| Bradley Smith*1 | KTM RC16 | 2018 |
| Pol Espargaro | KTM RC16 | 2018 |
| Factory Ducati | ||
| Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati GP18 | 2018 |
| Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati GP18 | 2018 |
| Satellite Teams | ||
| Pramac Ducati | ||
| Danilo Petrucci | Ducati GP18 | 2018 |
| Jack Miller | Ducati GP17 | 2018 |
| LCR Honda | ||
| Cal Crutchlow | Honda RC213V | 2019 |
| Taka Nakagami | Honda RC213V | 2018 |
| Monster Tech 3 Yamaha | ||
| Jonas Folger | Yamaha M1 | 2018 |
| Johann Zarco | Yamaha M1 | 2018 |
| Marc VDS Honda | ||
| Franco Morbidelli | Honda RC213V | 2019 |
| Tom Luthi | Honda RC213V | 2018 |
| Aspar Ducati | ||
| Alvaro Bautista | Ducati GP17 | 2018 |
| Karel Abraham | Ducati GP16 | 2018 |
| Avintia Ducati2 | ||
| Tito Rabat | Ducati GP17 | 2018 |
| Xavier Simeon? | Ducati GP16? | ??? |
1. Since Austria, reports have continued that KTM is losing patience with Bradley Smith, and that they may swap his role with Mika Kallio, promoting Kallio to the MotoGP team and making Smith the test rider.
2. Avintia will have one Ducati GP17 at their disposal, with the option of a second one, if they can sign a competitive enough rider. With Rabat now signed, Xavier Simeon is strongly rumored to be close to a deal at Avintia, bringing substantial funding to the team.
Comments
Crutchlow - 2019??
Not sure why Crutchlow would take a contact until 2019 when all of the factory contracts are done in 2018?
I understand it's a contract directly with HRC, but it doesn't give him many options when his contract is done.
Did he comment on this at the time of signing?
Cal
Cal is very entertaining to watch---I like him and his no bullshit style---on his day, he's fast and can win from time to time, but he is a very expensive (crash repair) rider---but I suppose with HRC behind him, that is not such a big problem after all, Marquez is also an expensive to support...