MotoGP Gossip: Crutchlow to Aprilia, Dovizioso to take a year out?

- While Alex Marquez will certainly be unlucky to – presumably - lose out on his factory seat at Repsol Honda for 2021 before he has started the 2020 MotoGP season on it, it’s Cal Crutchlow that appears most likely to be the biggest loser from a round of musical chairs that starts with Pol Espargaro coming from KTM to Honda, Marquez being demoted to LCR and ending with the Briton (or Takaaki Nakagami) being bumped out in the aftermath..

If this happens Crutchlow’s options at this late stage if he wants to stay in the series are limited to one of the three Ducati teams that still have a spot free – unlikely given their brief and unsuccessful sojourn some years ago – and Aprilia. Even so, it might end up being a blessing in disguise for Crutchlow if the RS-GP proves to be the step forward as hoped.

His hopes rest on Andrea Iannone not earning a reprieve for his drugs suspension, with a decision due some time in August. It is rumoured Crutchlow was offered a Honda WorldSBK ride but turned it down…

- Andrea Dovizioso’s options for the 2021 MotoGP season appear to have whittled down to Ducati or nothing as they continued to see who blinks first in their contract negotiations. While Ducati have casually raised prospect of hiring Jorge Lorenzo in his place, Dovizioso – currently recovering from a shoulder injury following an MX crash – has countered by saying he is prepared to take a year out with his manager Simone Battistella saying they await an updated proposal but ‘if there is no interesting project, he does not intend to participate

- Occasional 250GP race Ismael Bonilla has died at the age of 41 in an accident at the Jerez circuit in Spain. The Spaniard reportedly suffered a mechanical problem on the Yamaha R1 he was riding and crashed at high-speed, succumbing to his injuries. A regular on the Spanish racing scene, Barilla also took part in nine 250GP World Championship races between 1996 and 2001, all on home soil.