Jake Dixon’s hopes of a 2022 MotoGP ride are still alive as he has a couple more races in which to impress Petronas SRT boss Razlan Razali.
The Malaysian team boss is in no rush to announce his 2022 line-ups and, as he will likely have two seats going spare, the queue at his door is around the block.
MotoGP promoters Dorna are under pressure from BT Sport - which paid millions for the TV rights - to ensure a British rider is on the grid next year with Dixon and Sam Lowes the only options from inside the GP paddock.
“It’s important to remember that we’re still waiting to hear Valentino and Yamaha’s decision about next year. Anyway, and as is normal in this period of the year, the latest news regarding the MotoGP riders’ market has certainly opened up all possibilities,” said Razali.
It’s an on-going discussion between Yamaha, ourselves and our current MotoGP riders, and we’re not in a rush to announce anything.
“We have been receiving interest from a lot of riders and even riders that are currently outside the MotoGP championship who want to join our team. We believe that we have time and are in a position where we have the luxury to choose; everybody knows of the package that Yamaha can offer and what a young rider can potentially do as part of our team.
“We have the structure and the package to offer young riders the opportunity to achieve their dreams. We have seen it with both Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo, so with all this interest we will take our time to evaluate every rider who we would like. There won’t be any potential line-up announcement until after the next couple of races.”
Razali will likely want to promote Darryn Binder and possibly John McPhee to Moto2 in 2022 but discussions with current support-class riders have yet to take place.
“Firstly, we have to analyse and discuss the situation of our riders. Secondly, the scenario is similar to the MotoGP category, with a lot of young riders that would love to be in our team – especially with the progression through the series that we can offer.
“The path is clear with us having riders in Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP so for those young riders in championships like FIM CEV it is perfect. We are spoilt for choice so again we are in no real rush to make a decision but maybe some announcements can be made soon, during the Austrian or BritishGP. Let’s see how it goes.”