On Monday evening Motorsport.com revealed Suzuki is set to quit MotoGP at the end of the 2022 season in a shock decision made by the Japanese marque, which was communicated to the team during the post-race test at Jerez.

Suzuki was expected to make an official announcement of its exit this morning, but so far this has not been forthcoming.

This could be as a result of MotoGP rights holder Dorna Sports' statement it released on Tuesday afternoon, where it said Suzuki's decision to quit MotoGP cannot be made on its own.

Suzuki, like all other manufacturers, is currently contacted to Dorna to compete in MotoGP through to the end of 2026 having signed a new five-year deal which began this year.

In the same statement, Dorna says it will decide on what the grid size will be for 2023 should Suzuki in fact quit in agreeance with Dorna, and says there is "high levels" of interest from outfits looking to join the grid, which includes "official factories".

The full statement read: "Following recent rumours of Suzuki departing MotoGP at the end of 2022, Dorna Sports has officially contacted the factory in order to remind them that the conditions of their contract to race in MotoGP do not allow for them to take this decision unilaterally.

"However, should Suzuki depart following an agreement between both parties, Dorna will decide on the ideal number of riders and teams racing in the MotoGP class from 2023.

"Dorna continues to receive high levels of interest from a number of both official factories and Independent Teams looking to join the MotoGP grid as the sport continues to set a global example of close competition, innovation and entertainment, reaching hundreds of millions of fans around the world.

"Interest from these parties has been re-confirmed in the past 24 hours."

At present, it is not clear what outside teams have expressed interest in joining the grid, though it has been known in the past that Leopard Racing has been interested in a step to MotoGP.

The grid is currently capped at 24 bikes, with Dorna ideally keen to have six manufacturers fielding four machines each, though at present Ducati supplies eight, Yamaha, Honda and KTM have four, while Suzuki and Aprilia has just two.

On Monday Autosport broke the bombshell news that Suzuki will quit MotoGP at the end of the season in a decision it only communicated to the race team on the same day during the post-race test at Jerez.

An official announcement was expected on Tuesday, but did not materialise.

Instead, Dorna Sports – MotoGP owners – issued its own statement saying Suzuki could not decide to quit the series on its own as it is bound to a contract through to the end of 2026 along with the rest of the manufacturers.

Dorna also noted that it had “high levels of interest” from independent teams and official factories about joining the grid if the opportunity arose.

Leopard – Moto3 title winners with Danny Kent in 2015, Joan Mir in 2017 and Lorenzo Dalla Porta in 2019 – has been keen to join the MotoGP grid in the past, and once again reiterated that desire to Autosport on Thursday during a private Moto3 and Moto2 test in Barcelona.

“We will see how the situation evolves, there is a contract involved and I don't think Suzuki can leave just like that because it has a signed contract until 2026,” Leopard boss Christian Lundberg said.

“We'll see, but if a seat is freed up and God willing, they [Dorna] give it to us, we'll be very happy.

"The whole paddock knows that we are absolutely interested and that we would try to take that step, but there's still a long way to go before it can happen.”

If Leopard does get the nod to step up to MotoGP, Lundberg says it will be in partnership with Aprilia.

“I think the only option would be to do it with Aprilia because, in my opinion, Dorna has to reward in one way or another the only constructor on the grid that only has two bikes, and today all the bikes are very competitive,” he added.

“So, it would be very good for us to work with Aprilia, plus we are a half-Italian team and it would be easier than working with the Japanese, I think it would be the best option.”

During the Spanish GP weekend, Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola told Autosport that it was open to fielding a satellite team if the right offer came along.

As first reported by Motorsport.com, Aprilia has signed a two-year deal with an option for a further two seasons that will see RNF become its first satellite team in MotoGP.

This means the team helmed by Razlan Razali and born out of the now defunct Petronas Sepang Racing Team will part ways with Yamaha, having only had a one-year deal with the Japanese marque.

RNF and Yamaha met at Le Mans to settle the matter, but Yamaha asked Razali for more time until Mugello, where the Italian Grand Prix takes place this weekend.

However, the response the Malaysian executive got back in Italy seems to have left him unsatisfied.

It is still unclear whether Yamaha will compete next season with just two bikes, which on paper will be Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli, or whether it will team up with another squad in view of the void left by Suzuki.

Aprilia has been considering the possibility of a satellite team for some time, although a lack of infrastructure on the one hand and a lack of offers on the other have delayed the consolidation of the project.

A few weeks ago, however, Massimo Rivola, Aprilia's racing CEO, acknowledged to Motorsport.com that this route was not yet dead: "If we receive interesting offers that can make the project grow, we will evaluate it".

Razali is reportedly unsatisfied with the treatment received from Yamaha, especially for the high price he has to pay for the rental of his two bikes - which is considerably higher than the amount asked by Aprilia or Ducati.

As part of the deal, Aprilia will invest in training for engineers, technicians and other team roles, as well as in riders.

"I am happy to announce the agreement with RNF Racing," Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola said.

"We have always reasoned in small steps and as we demonstrate the competitiveness of our RS-GP, a natural part of the journey is to see two more on track.

"The Noale racing department is a true heritage of knowledge, of technical culture applied to high performance motorbikes as well as sports management.

"With RNF Racing we find a partner to enhance and valorise this extraordinary heritage.

"We are thinking, of course, of the riders and the best competitiveness, but also of raising new generations of engineers, technicians and managers.

"To continue and improve the extraordinary, all-Italian tradition of Aprilia Racing."

WithU, RNF's main sponsor this season, is an Italian company, and would therefore welcome a switch from Yamaha to Aprilia.

One of the best placed riders to land there is Valentino Rossi protege Celestino Vietti, current leader of the Moto2 world championship.

After months of speculation, the future of the MotoGP™ World Champion is now clear. Fabio Quartararo will remain with the Monster Energy Yamaha squad for another two years after signing a new contract through to the end of 2024. The Frenchman was rumoured to be in talks with other MotoGP™ manufacturers but he has committed his future to the Iwata factory by agreeing to a new two-year deal.

Quartararo has shown great skills, comradery, and consistency so far in his two years with the Yamaha Factory Racing Team in the MotoGP™ World Championship. The successful partnership led to his first MotoGP™ World Championship Title last year, in his very first season with the Factory team. He is currently also leading the 2022 standings by 8 points.

Further Yamaha highlights on the Frenchman‘s résumé are 6 race wins and 14 podiums with the Factory Team in the 2021 and 2022 seasons so far, as well as 3 race wins and 10 podiums with the satellite team the two years prior. A contributing factor to his success were his 16 pole positions and 38 front row starts out of a total of 59 Grand Prix weekends aboard the YZR-M1.

These achievements on top of his undeniable talent, unequalled motivation, and infectious, cheerful personality have Yamaha fully confident in their partnership with the 23-year-old.

Fabio Quartararo: "I am really happy to announce to all of you that I will stay with Yamaha for two more years. In the past, moving up to MotoGP with Yamaha and later to the Factory team were no-brainers. Yamaha believed in me from the very beginning, and that is something I do not take lightly. But that being said, this new agreement was a big decision. I'm at a great point in my career, so I took a bit more time taking this decision to be sure.

"I believe in the Yamaha MotoGP project, and I feel Yamaha are truly motivated. And now that we have officially confirmed our decision to continue on this path together, we can fully focus on the current season. I want to say ’Thanks!‘ to the people around me, who always help me and support me, as well as to the fans who are cheering me on. I really do appreciate all the support."

Lin Jarvis, Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director: "We are very happy to have reached an agreement with Fabio to continue with the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team for 2023 and beyond. We brought Fabio into the Factory team last year knowing he is a special talent, but he even exceeded our expectations. One doesn‘t often come across a rider of his calibre. He was already showing his talent and speed in his two years with the SRT satellite team in 2019 and 2020, but when he made the step up to the Factory team, we could really see him growing stronger and maturing as a rider.

"In Fabio‘s first season and a half we‘ve booked many successes: 6 race wins, 14 podiums, 6 pole positions, and the 2021 MotoGP World Title. These results have come from a strong team effort from the rider, his crew, our engineers, and all team staff working together with a positive 'can-do' spirit. With Fabio we know he will always put in 100% of his best effort, and we have assured him that Yamaha will do the same and we will invest in future developments so that together we can challenge for the MotoGP World Championship Titles for years to come."

The current championship leader announced his decision to stay with the team on the eve of this weekend's Catalan Grand Prix, with the deal having been signed "a few weeks ago".

Although he said on Thursday he had been tempted to move to a different team, the Frenchman explained that he was "super happy" with the decision to stay with Yamaha because the team "know where they need to improve".

Quartararo also said Yamaha is working to direct extra resource to its engine department in a bid to bring more power to the 2023 bike, an area he has previously expressed disappointment in.

He said: "It was not an easy decision and we took a little bit more time to evaluate all the project. At the end, Yamaha make a lot of effort, bring a lot of new people and they know where they need to improve.

"The last two or three years, they were in some areas to another and know where they need to improve and they know clearly it's the power.

"I'm super happy because they really understand, they're doing the best to find what we are missing and I believe in the project, so that's why we took the decision. I will not say days, but a few weeks ago, and of course it was a good decision."

He added: "My first goal is to have the best bike and the best project, like I said before, and they convinced me because they bring new people, they are working super hard, and they know exactly where they need to improve.

"But in the past maybe they were working on a few areas, but they don't really maybe accept that the bike was more slow than the others.

"And now they know and they clearly work on this weak point, that's what made me take the decision to stay in Yamaha."

Quartararo has been the standout Yamaha rider in 2022, scoring a win in Portugal and three other podiums to lead the standings by eight points. The combined points total of teammate Franco Morbidelli and RNF Racing duo Andrea Dovizioso and Darryn Binder is just 34 to Quartararo's 122.

During the Austin weekend, Quartararo's manager revealed rival teams had been in touch, while Quartararo himself said earlier in the year his future was open having been unhappy with a lack of progress made by Yamaha in finding more speed from its engine.

Quartararo said on Thursday that part of the reason for a delay in him re-signing was because "at one stage my head was going to one side."

But reassurances made to him by senior management, coupled with his recent good results including a win at Portimao, convinced him to stay for another two years.

He said: "As you can imagine, we were not talking only to Yamaha, and I took that much time because at one stage my head was going to one side, then one week later I wanted to go there, and it was a little bit difficult.

"I think of course what happened about these engineers going to the engine side and myself doing great results and knowing that I could not do more because of [a lack of] power [in the] engine.

"Of course I know that what they are pushing in is to bring more power and I feel good on the bike, so that's what made me take the decision to follow."

Yamaha will only field two bikes in 2023 after RNF Racing announced it would switch to Aprilia machinery for the next two seasons.

Quartararo's teammate Morbidelli also has a contract for 2023, having agreed a two-year deal with Yamaha late in 2021.

​​​​​​​Jack Miller has signed a two-year deal to join the Red Bull KTM team for 2023 and 2024, according to The Race’s sources in the MotoGP paddock, with the Australian set to replace Miguel Oliveira alongside Brad Binder next season.

The news was originally set to be announced at this weekend’s Catalan Grand Prix but it’s believed that the news has been delayed by Miller’s current factory Ducati team, and will come in the days following Sunday’s race.

It brings to an end Miller’s five years as part of the Ducati group, first with Pramac Racing and then the past two seasons in factory red, and comes as the manufacturer is forced to make space not only for Miller’s previously-expected replacement Jorge Martin but also for three-time race winner Enea Bastianini, who is now believed to be the clear favourite to replace Miller as Martin remains with Pramac.

Miller’s appointment comes after negotiations between his personal manager Aki Ajo, who also runs KTM and Red Bull’s highly-successful factory Moto2 and Moto3 operations, and with new-for-2022 factory team boss Francesco Guidotti, who is no stranger to Miller after managing him for three seasons in his previous role at Pramac.

The deal between the two sides is believed to have been signed at the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello last weekend, with KTM keen to release the news of Miller’s arrival this weekend, but that has been put on hold by his current employers, who still has to announce the rearrangement within its own ranks.

Part of that reorganisation could, perhaps surprisingly, involve Miguel Oliveira now that he has been pushed out of KTM by Miller’s arrival. Originally offered a chance to step down to satellite team Tech3, where he won two races in 2020, he rejected that offer, and is instead looking elsewhere – with the chance to replace Bastianini at Gresini Racing now looking like the most likely landing spot for him.

That in turn leaves a place at the satellite team for the return of a former KTM employee, as it looks to sign up Pol Espargaro again to take on on-track testing duties there.

He’s expected to be pushed out of Repsol Honda after only two years by the arrival of 2020 world champion Joan Mir (a deal that is not yet signed but is in the final stages).

Espargaro will instead return to the Austrian brand where he spent four seasons from 2016 to 2020 – and to the Tech3 team where he launched his MotoGP career in 2014 on Yamaha machinery.

Who ends up on the second Tch3 bike is far less certain, however. It’s an open secret that the team isn’t happy with one of its current rookie duo, Remy Gardner, thanks to his outspoken comments about the state of its 2022 machine – but the Australian is far keener to stay in place than Raul Fernandez on the other side of the box.

Equally unhappy with the bike but considered more of a rising star than Gardner thanks to his incredible rookie season in Moto2 that saw him win eight races, he’s believed to be a key target of Aprilia.

The Italian manufacturer announced last weekend plans to expand to four bikes for 2023, bringing onboard the current Yamaha satellite team WithU RNF in a deal that will likely see the riders contracted directly to the Noale factory.

The news of Suzuki’s unexpected departure from the sport at the end of 2022 means that not only Mir but also team=mate Alex Rins remains on the rider market for next year too, with the Spaniard one of the likely candidates to also join Aprilia’s satellite squad, with the team believed to be on the hunt for one experienced rider and one relative rookie for the squad’s first season with the Italian brand.

Rins is also likely a target of Lucio Cecchinillo’s satellite Honda team LCR, with Alex Marquez’s future remaining unsure. Initially believed to be very much on his way out after a disappointing start to 2022, there have recently been some hints suggesting that he might yet get a stay of execution – but that if he goes, Rins is one contender to take over from him.

​​​​​​​Miguel Oliveira is one of many unknowns with regard to the riders market for 2023. Although there are indications that the portuguese will remain in MotoGP next year, the truth is that to date, no officialization has yet emerged in regarding the future of the #88.

The only more reliable information comes from the rider himself who said this sunday that he communicated to KTM his desire to remain in the factory team, showing there is no interest whatsoever in returning to Tech3.

Until the MotoGP caravan arrived at Mugello, the most recent rumors placed the portuguese in Honda's satellite team, LCR, then occupying the place that today belongs to Takaaki Nakagami. However, and according to Motorcycle Sports sources, Oliveira could be able to sign for Ducati and race in 2023 for the colors of Gresini Racing.

One of the factors that could make this happen is the possibility, which has yet to be made official, of Enea Bastianini making the leap to the factory team and racing in the place that is now occupied by Jack Miller - who is appointed to replace Oliveira in the KTM. It should also be noted that Gresini is sponsored by a portuguese company, OLI, so this aspect could be a point in favor of the rider.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing have confirmed Jack Miller will line-up alongside Brad Binder for 2023 and 2024 in MotoGP™ after announcing the Australian has signed a two-year deal.

Miller turned 27 in January but already has more than a decade of Grand Prix experience, including nine victories and almost 30 podiums in both Moto3™ and MotoGP™. 2014 was the most prolific term of his career so far as a powerful union with Aki Ajo’s Red Bull KTM Ajo squad saw him score six wins and only just miss out on the Moto3™ title. He made a high-profile move straight into the MotoGP™ category for 2015.

Miller will link up again with Francesco Guidotti, having worked with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s current Team Manager for three of his eight years in MotoGP™.

Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Having Jack alongside Brad in our team means we have another strong asset. I know him well, I know how he likes to work and what he can bring to the box. I believe his character and the way he will ride and push our KTM RC16 will help us a lot at this stage of our project. Like Brad, Jack is a pure racer: he will find the limits and the maximum of any condition and any package and still ‘go for it’ to get the result and that is quite a rare quality. The next two seasons will be exciting!”

Pit Beirer, Director KTM Motorsports: “Of course we’ve known Jack since he made a boom with Aki and our Moto3 program and it’s a big pleasure to bring a rider of his capabilities into our MotoGP structure. He left us with a positive impression, and we’ve stayed in contact. Jack’s approach and attitude to racing are very similar to ours. I am very proud that he comes back to Red Bull KTM again and he will be a great addition to our mission.”

Japanese manufacturer Suzuki has finally confirmed the long-known news that the 2020 MotoGP championship-winning team will fold at the end of the current season.

First reported in early May when the team were told to start looking for new jobs, the factory only admitted at that time that they were exploring an exit – but have now agreed on terms with series promoter Dorna to pull out.

Also confirming that they would be shutting down Yoshimura SERT, the reigning Endurance world Championship-winning team as well, Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director and President, said in a statement that the decision was focused on sustainability.

“Suzuki has decided to end the participation of MotoGP and EWC in the face of the need to re-allocate resources on other initiatives for sustainability. Motorcycle racing has always been a challenging place for technological innovation, including sustainability, and human resource development.

“This decision means that we will take on the challenge to build the new motorcycle business operation by redirecting the technological capabilities and human resources we have cultivated through the motorcycle racing activities to investigate other routes for a sustainable society.”

However, reports continue to slowly emerge from inside the team that suggests the reality is quite different, instead coming about as the result of an internal power struggle within Suzuki’s board in Japan.

The result of that struggle is the pro-racing faction losing out and its complete withdrawal from sport, something that the team have a history of doing in the past.

It’s also believed that the long pause between informing the team and officially announcing their departure on Wednesday is the result of having to negotiate a complicated leaving agreement with Dorna.

Signing a contract only last year to remain in the series until at least 2026, it seems that the championship bosses were in a position to extract a substantial financial penalty from Suzuki for breaching those terms, something that has clearly taken months to negotiate.