Francesco Bagnaia thinks MotoGP should implement new rules on where riders are allowed to deposit visor tear-offs after Pramac teammate Jack Miller's race was ended by one at Misano.

Miller's Ducati sucked in a discarded tear-off from Fabio Quartararo on the second lap of last Sunday's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which led to his retirement on lap eight of 27 as the piece of plastic chocked the air filter.

Bagnaia attributed his crash from the lead of the race on lap 21 to potentially running over a tear-off, though data since has shown he simply pushed the front tyre a little too hard.

But the Italian thinks something has to be done to stop a repeat of Miller's misfortune, as Bagnaia considers a rider being taken out of a race because of a tear-off "not possible".

"It's a thing I would like to discuss in the Safety Commission tomorrow because I think it's not normal – not for my crash, because we don't know if it was a tear-off – but for what happened to Jack," he said when asked about tear-offs.

"I think it's not normal that someone loses a race like this.

"So, I think the marshals have to clean the track every lap every time they see one tear-off on the ground, because you can't lose a race like this."

Expanding on this, Bagnaia thinks MotoGP should look into setting up dedicated zones where tear-offs can be dropped in order to allow the marshals to safely remove them off track.

"I think it's not possible to clean every time during qualifying or practice, it's impossible because there are riders on all parts of the circuit," he added.

"But maybe for the race it's important to make a law that says you can put down a tear-off just in a part of a circuit.

"So, Misano after Turn 6, like in a straight. Because like this, the marshals can clean it better and they know that it's just one part of the circuit.

"But I don't know for sure, will be important to speak about this because Jack was not fast [enough] to win the race [at Misano] but was for arriving in the top seven and he's fighting for the championship.

"So, it's not possible he has a zero in the championship for this reason."

Ducati has announced it has chosen Francesco Bagnaia to replace the outgoing Andrea Dovizioso for the 2021 MotoGP season, while Johann Zarco steps up to Pramac as a works rider.

Dovizioso announced during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend in August that he would not be extending his stay with Ducati beyond the 2020 season.

Numerous names quickly entered the frame for his spot alongside Jack Miller, with the latter’s current Pramac teammate Bagnaia and Avintia rider Zarco the favourites - while three-time MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo “proposed” himself for the seat.

Bagnaia has arguably been the strongest Ducati rider this season, having been set for a podium in the Andalusian GP until a mechanical issue robbed him.

He finished second in his return from a three-race absence through injury at the San Marino GP and was on course to win the following week’s Emilia Romagna race before crashing out of the lead.

Signed to join Ducati and Pramac at the start of 2018 ahead of his title-winning run in Moto2, Bagnaia – currently 13th in the standings – will make the step to the works squad in 2021.

“I chose to be a Ducati rider even before being the Moto2 World Champion in 2018 and they chose me even before knowing that one day I would become one,” Bagnaia said.

“This was our bet, because up until that moment I had always been a fast rider, but I didn't have anything concrete in my pocket: Ducati decided to believe it even before everyone else.

“We didn't know how it would go, but as of today, if I had to go back, I'd do it all over again.

“My MotoGP debut was not easy, but at Ducati they never questioned me: they gave me all the support and confidence a rookie needs and they let me experience in 2019.

“I listened to them, I trusted them, together we learned to know and understand each other, and now we form a great team.

“They taught me a working method that allowed us to take great satisfaction and I think it's just the beginning.

“Today I am the happiest person in the world, for me it is a dream come true: being a factory Ducati rider has always been my ambition and I have succeeded together with all those who have always believed in me even when things did not go right."

Zarco signed directly for Ducati to join Avintia – having initially rejected the proposal - last November at the end of a difficult 2019 in which he quit KTM, fielding year-old GP19s with some technical support from the factory.

He scored pole position and a third at the Czech Grand Prix on the bike, putting himself firmly in the frame for a promotion.

Currently 15th in the points, Zarco will join Moto2 frontrunner Jorge Martin at Pramac as a fully-supported works rider on current-spec machinery.

Moto2 title contender Enea Bastianini will step up to MotoGP next year with Avintia, though an official confirmation of this has not been made yet.

Dovizioso has no “plan B” for his 2021 season, though has been linked to Aprilia, while Danilo Petrucci will join the KTM-backed Tech 3 squad next year.

At first, it seems strange to be talking about the shape of the 2022 MotoGP grid while we’re still only halfway through the 2020 season. However, with the future make-up of the championship already influencing contracts for next season, it’s a valid time to look to the years ahead.

That’s perhaps a point most obviously made this week by Valentino Rossi’s new Petronas Yamaha deal, which commits him to the satellite squad for only one season. That’s not because he’s adamant he’s retiring in 12 months’ time, but rather because, like the rest of the grid, Petronas’ contract with series organiser Dorna will expire next year.

It’s a situation that looks set to create a number of interesting possibilities going forward, with Dorna’s plans for the championship’s future poised to shake up many teams.

All six factory teams adamant that they’re staying put for at least five more years, and KTM was the first to put its money where its mouth is and added an extension until 2026 to its contract last August.

Honda, Yamaha and Ducati will for sure follow suit, and with Suzuki and Aprilia already signing up riders until the end of 2022 they too look destined to stay.

However, their continuing commitment to the series will come with a cost for some of MotoGP’s newer factories, as Dorna strives for a grid comprised of six manufacturers, 12 teams and 24 bikes, with each factory team having one satellite.

That means one new team for 2022 and one fewer squad for Ducati, as Suzuki and Aprilia prepare two more machines.

But while the addition of a team and one squad moving from Ducati to Aprilia or Suzuki might look like the most straightforward solution to that, it’s not the one we’re most likely to see, as the independent-class teams enter their own round of frantic negotiations in the coming months.

Of all the current factory/satellite pairings, two look fairly certain to remain the way they currently are. The combination of Pramac Racing and Ducati has been the role model for every other relationship in the paddock, as the Italian marque moves resources and factory-spec machines to the satellite team and Pramac in return produces riders ready to be promoted to the factory team.

Lucio Cecchinello’s LCR team has built a similarly strong relationship with Honda, as the departing Cal Crutchlow has taken on an increasingly important test rider role within the HRC project, and should be able to retain its Honda status (and funding).

The future is perhaps less certain for the KTM and Tech3 relationship, with news that title sponsor Red Bull is pulling its funding from the junior team for next season. But, with Tech3 now an integral part of KTM’s rapid rise to success and providing its second MotoGP victory earlier this season with Miguel Oliveira, it doesn’t seem likely that they’re going to walk away from each other soon.

That suggestion is aided by rumours that Tech3’s team boss Herve Poncharal (who wears two hats as president of the International Race Team Association) is the closest of all five of MotoGP’s indepedent team managers to putting pen to paper on his own deal extension.

That leaves Petronas (Yamaha), Esponsorama (Ducati) and one spare grid spot – and it’s where things start to get interesting…

Right now, the Petronas Yamaha deal looks like a match made in heaven. The team is a four-time race winner this season with two different riders, is 25 points clear in the overall teams’ championship never mind the independent-class one, and is set to welcome a living legend in Rossi for 2021. All seems rosy.

But according to The Race’s sources within the team, things are far from the happy picture they seem from the outside. With Petronas very much being treated as a client rather than a partner, at odds with the direction other factories are moving in, it’s led to a sometimes-tense relationship between the Japanese factory and MotoGP’s biggest sponsor.

Add to that a rumoured change in direction in their shared R&D strategy (something Petronas has been very keen to plug) and the imposition of Rossi in the face of Petronas’ belief in developing young talent, and you’ve got all the makings of a team and a factory looking at other options.

And the thing is, both have other options waiting for them, should they choose to take them. For Petronas, it’s in the shape of satellite status at the team currently second to it in the championship race – Suzuki.

Team boss Davide Brivio confirmed to The Race at last weekend’s Catalan Grand Prix that he sees two more bikes as all but essential to compete with MotoGP’s bigger factories, and that all that is standing in the way is approval for the extra budget from Suzuki’s board.

That’s something that could be smoothed over with Petronas’ deep pockets, and would in turn mean the Malaysian team receives full-factory bikes that start every season identical to the blue machines in the next-door garage.

And while he wouldn’t confirm exactly who has been to see him so far, Brivio did admit that he’s already started talking provisionally to a number of teams within the paddock. Suzuki is adamant that it will only deal with a pre-existing squad that can bring experience, making a team like Petronas the ideal solution.

It would also fit perfectly with both teams’ mantra of developing young riders. Suzuki has been remarkably successful by promoting both Alex Rins and Joan Mir as rookies into its squad, and wants to continue to talent-spot in the future.

However, with both already secured on factory bikes until the end of 2022, Suzuki will need somewhere to place the next generation of young talent in 12 months’ time – step forward Petronas Suzuki…

Petronas switching from M1s to GSX-RRs would also solve a headache for Yamaha, too, by freeing up its two satellite bikes for the anticipated VR46 team. All but confirmed as being in the pipeline by The Race’s contacts within Valentino Rossi’s camp, the squad is already making tentative preparations for a step up from Moto2 into MotoGP’s spare grid spots.

Should Rossi wish to remain with his own team for 2022, at least to help launch the squad, he’s likely to need Yamaha machines, too, with long-time paddock rumours hinting that the contract that brought him back to Yamaha in 2013 tied him to racing for the manufacturer for life.

There’s even a get-out-of-jail-free card for Rossi protege and 2021 team-mate Franco Morbidelli should Rossi wish to bring him along, with Petronas Yamaha boss Razlan Razali confirming exclusively to The Race last weekend that Morbidelli’s two-year deal with his squad is in fact a one-plus-one contract that can be broken easily.

That leaves one manufacturer-factory pairing still to sort, with the status of Aprilia’s satellite team perhaps the least certain. It remains a definite Aprilia ambition for 2022, according to team boss Massimo Rivola, while it’s also keen to shed its current status as technically an independent team racing under the Gresini banner and strike out on its own.

The obvious solution to that would be to maintain the Gresini partnership and simply expand the team into a four-bike set-up, but to do so Aprilia would need an additional grid spot.

There is one available though, with The Race’s spies telling us that the Esponsorama Racing team has already been told that it’s losing its spots after the 2021 season.

Yet there are even rumours that that could happen sooner, with reigning Moto3 champion Leopard believed to be in discussions about buying out the Andorran squad for the coming year, thereby cementing its spot on the grid for 2022.

Leopard Racing says "things are being negotiated" for it to make a step to MotoGP in 2022 as a satellite operation, though it's still "far from being able to enter".

The current agreement between MotoGP organisers Dorna Sports and the International Race Teams' Association (IRTA) - as well as most manufacturers' contracts with MotoGP - expires at the end of the 2021 season.

Only KTM has committed to MotoGP beyond 2021, with the other manufacturers' intent to do the same: Yamaha, Honda and Ducati have deals in place with several of its riders which covers the 2022 season.

Rumours of a Suzuki and an Aprilia satellite squad coming for 2022, as well as the arrival of news teams – most notable Valentino Rossi's VR46 squad – have swirled for some time now.

Leopard – three times a champion in Moto3 with Danny Kent in 2015, Joan Mir in 2017 and Lorenzo Dalla Porta in 2019 – has been a part of those rumours, but confirmed to Motorsport.com nothing has been finalised and there is "no option" to step up in 2021.

"The MotoGP category is always appealing for a team," Leopard boss Christian Lundberg said.

"Things are being negotiated but we are still far from being able to enter MotoGP. The paddock rumours amplify the news and right now we would like to be able to do something in MotoGP in 2022.

"But we will see if we are ready, and if the organisation has a space for our team; things may flow. But at this moment there is nothing concrete. For 2021 there is no option."

The current grid of 22 riders is seen by Dorna as the ideal capacity, though two extra slots have been reserved by the championship – which many believe is for the VR46 operation.

Some uncertainty over the future of the Esponsorama (formerly Avintia) squad beyond the current IRTA agreement with Dorna has arisen, which could have its spots bought out by either VR46 or Leopard should both wish to make the step in 2022.

Rossi has commented on the possibility of his VR46 team moving up to MotoGP several times this year, but admits it "must take a new step" in growing the operation before it can race in the premier class.

"The structure of the VR46 has grown a lot, we have consolidated the teams in Moto3 and Moto2," Rossi said. "But to be in MotoGP we must take a new step, grow even more.

"For 2021 we will not be [in MotoGP], but in 2022 things will change and it is a possibility."

The last team to step up from the lower classes to MotoGP was Petronas SRT last season, which now currently leads the riders' standings with Fabio Quartararo following his third win of the 2020 campaign last month at Catalunya.

Next year, SRT will field Rossi – who signed a one-year deal with Yamaha in Barcelona – and Franco Morbidelli, who has a deal for 2022 with the team in place.

Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro says the Algarve circuit is "safe enough" for MotoGP to race there, but admits it's "borderline" and highlights the last corner as the main area of concern.

MotoGP will return to Portugal for the first time since 2012 in November for the season finale, which will mark the series' first official visit to the Algarve track near Portimao.

On Wednesday, test riders from all six manufacturers – as well as Espargaro – completed a track familiarisation session on MotoGP machinery, while 13 others from the current crop tried the venue on street bikes.

Espargaro, who was fastest of the MotoGP runners on his RS-GP, says the circuit is just about acceptable for MotoGP safety standards – and notes the series visits more dangerous venues.

"The track is borderline for MotoGP, it's on the limit," he said. "On the pictures and on the TV, everybody is just commenting on the up and downs, but the rest of the track is OK.

"We have enough room in case of a crash. I think everything is on the limit, but the last corner for me is dangerous.

"The last corner is the one most unsafe. The rest of the track, the ups and downs are a bit in the limit, but we race in circuits more dangerous.

"For example, Motegi, the walls are closer in many [more] places than Portimao. But apart from the last corner, I think it's safe enough."

KTM's Brad Binder echoed Espargaro's thoughts on the final turn, saying: "The only place I thought was maybe a little bit on the limit was the last corner.

"When you come out of it, there's a wall at either side. It wasn't too hectic on what we were there on, but on a GP bike when you have a lot of power will be maybe a bit of a different story."

Pramac's Jack Miller also highlighted the last corner as a potential problem area, but has "seen worse".

"Yeah, it's a little bit [on the limit]," Miller said of Algarve's last corner. "But I've seen worse. Barcelona for example is worse, but for sure if we can try and bring the level up everywhere it's better.

"But I think we'll be discussing that on Friday in the Safety Commission."

A notable absentee from the test was championship leader Fabio Quartararo, who says he avoided it to negate the risk of injury ahead of the coming Le Mans/Aragon triple-header, but also because he feels Friday practice will be enough of an opportunity to learn the track.

However, KTM rider Pol Espargaro felt he'd have lost all of his Friday of the Portuguese GP had he not attended the familiarisation session even if he was on a street bike.

"It was good to make laps at Portimao," he said. "It's a very tricky place where you need to ride before arriving there on a MotoGP bike at the end of the straight going up and down.

"It was important for me because for sure if I was not in this test I would arrive at Friday and I would lose the full Friday to learning the track, and this is painful in a category where everybody and all the bikes are strong."

Aleix Espargaro wasn't happy that the new asphalt at Algarve was quite bumpy, and admits he is worried about racing there after Formula 1 because the cars tend to "destroy" track surfaces due to the amount of downforce they generate.

After announcing he would be leaving Ducati at the end of this season, MotoGP title contender Andrea Dovizioso has continued to play his cards close to his chest as far as 2021.

Aprilia is the only factory team with a potential race seat still available, but if negotiations previously stalled with KTM, could they succeed with Aprilia?Admittedly the seemingly tentative talks were before the Austrian factory had won its first races, but on paper KTM already had a more competitive bike and more financial firepower than Aprilia.

Instead, it seems that Dovizioso is leaning towards a factory test riding role, perhaps with wild-card race options and the possibility of a 2022 full-time ride.

Asked on Thursday about comments by five-time 500cc world champion Mick Doohan - who said Dovizioso would be a valuable asset as a test rider, capable of replicating Dani Pedrosa's level of contribution to KTM – Dovizioso confirmed that he is in talks with multiple manufacturers about such a role:

"Yes, I'm really happy about [those comments], but I think if you take also some other riders with good experience, [for example] Valentino or me, if you are able to have them as a test rider, it's the best for every manufacturer.

"So I think it's an advantage for every manufacturer in this situation, and it's the reason why I am speaking with more than one... I think it's good option for a lot of manufacturers. So I'm really happy to be in this condition, I'm speaking with them, and we will see my future."

Given the door is closed at Ducati, that an Aprilia test role is unlikely when there is a race seat open and assuming Pedrosa continues at KTM and Lorenzo at Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki would be left as possible options for Dovizioso on paper.

If a testing deal does materialise, the factory in question could yet be hiring the services of a reigning world champion.

Dovizioso starts the final five rounds – beginning this weekend at Aragon - holding third in the standings, 18 points from leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha).

"Like every weekend I don't know [what to expect] because with the new [tyre] casing, I'm really interested to see the exit of the corner will be like. Normally with this tyre, it's very difficult to manage the first part of the exit. So it will be very important to be OK in that area," Dovizioso said

"But overall I think this can be a good track for us, because there is a lot of braking with angle.

"I think and I believe that the Yamaha will be very strong, but I think we can have our cards. In the last two years we showed that. It's not the best track for us, but in the end, in the last two years, we managed the tyres in a good way, and it helped us to make very good result in the end. But we will see.

"Also the weather conditions, it will be maybe the coldest situation this season, because it will be 3, 4, 5 degrees during the night. In the morning it will be a few more degrees, but not that much, and here like in a few corners it's difficult to get heat in the tyres and today there is an incredible wind."