The tantalising taste of the best motorcycle racing action on Earth has made itself known. The 2021 grid line up is set to be one of the most talented we’ve seen in years, and hopefully, it will not disappoint. As the start of the season edges ever closer, the team launches to show off the riders and their bikes was kicked off by none other than Esponsorama Racing’s Reale Avintia Ducati squad. Their lineup consists of; Moto2 reigning World Champion Enea Bastianini, and Sky VR46 Academy rider Luca Marini in the MotoGP category. Carlos Tatay and Niccolo Antonelli head up the Moto3 class, with Xavi Cardelus, and Andre Pires in MotoE.
Both Marini and Bastianini will be rookies in the premier class this year, alongside Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin and Lorenzo Savadori who we expect to sign with Aprilia. These two talents showcased their speed and skill in last year’s intermediate category, with both of them in the title fight up until the final round of the season. We are surely going to see some fireworks as Marini and Bastianini battle to win the Rookie of the Year award.
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If you already have a favourite between the two, it will be easy to distinguish between the teammates. From Marini’s backing of the Sky VR46 team, who have sponsored Marini throughout his Grand Prix career, he will be riding a different liveried bike to his teammate. Marini will use a black and blue colour scheme decorated with yellow VR46 and Sky logos. In contrast, Bastianini will be riding in the Esponsorama colours of blue and yellow, with white Avintia branding adorning the sides – the same livery sported on the Moto3 and MotoE machinery.
Both Marini and Bastianini will be riding Ducati Desmosedici GP19’s, whereas the rest of the Ducati riders will be on GP20 bikes – including their rookie rival Jorge Martin. The 2021 season has an engine and aero development freeze due to Covid-19, there will be no updated 2021 machinery on the grid this year. Teams will start using 2020 Homologated parts, and will only be permitted one change for the season. All rookies will have the daunting task of learning new bikes, whilst the rest of the field have had at least a year to learn their machinery.
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Bastianini and Marini are no shrinking violets, and I believe they will rise to the occasion. Their debut will be in Qatar on March 5th for the first official testing session of the season, where they will have six days of track testing ahead of the first race, scheduled for March 28th at the Losail International Circuit.
The next MotoGP team launch will be the Official Ducati Team (consisting of Jack Miller and Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia) on February 9th.
This article was written by the fantastic Rebekah Lee, our resident Motorsport nut and MA Creative writing graduate. She’s been fascinated by all things motorsports since childhood – follow her on Twitter at @bekahjlee
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