MotoGP Gossip: ‘It’s hard to see’ Dovizioso as my team-mate - Espargaro

Never one to hold back his thoughts, Aleix Espargaro believes Andrea Dovizioso becoming his team-mate at Aprilia in 2022 is ‘hard to see’, although he remains a big fan of the Italian rider.

Espargaro has a very good relationship with Maverick Vinales who could well be in line for that Aprilia seat, however, Dovizioso has already had three tests - more lined up throughout the year. 

As reported by Gpone.com, Espargaro said this to Marca about Dovizioso being his team-mate: "It’s difficult to evolve the bike because, when something new comes along, you have to test it. They wanted me to do a couple of tests during the summer break and get in the wind tunnel. It would be helpful to have a stronger teammate or a satellite team. 

"Dovizioso has done a couple of tests with us, but he hasn’t been very competitive so far and doesn’t seem to want to race. I’m a big fan of his, but it’s hard to see him as my teammate."

A rider who could take that seat is the above-mentioned Vinales - has also been linked to Valentino Rossi’s new Aramco VR46 Ducati team. 

But one scenario that hasn’t been brought up much due to Alex Rins’ current contract is a return to Suzuki. 

Vinales enjoyed some of his better moments with Suzuki and had a great relationship with the Japanese manufacturer.

Rins on the other hand has endured a mightily difficult 2021 season so far which included four straight race crashes. The Spaniard is contracted through to 2022, which means terminating his deal with Suzuki would be the only way for this move to happen. 

Even one contract being terminated in a season is rare, however, both Jorge Lorenzo and Johann Zarco did so in 2019, showing it can never be ruled out. 

This led Kevin Schwantz to throw out the possibility of Vinales returning to Suzuki when speaking with Speedweek.com. It must be said, there are no suggestions that Rins or Suzuki plan to end their relationship together.