MotoGP - X-ray of the 2022 grid: all teams and riders

In MotoGP, in 2022, there will be six manufacturers and twelve teams

The 2022 MotoGP season is presented with 12 teams and three changes compared to last year. Gresini Racing is once again an independent team, leaving its association with Aprilia behind; VR46 becomes a full-fledged team, after a first transition season in which they partnered with Avintia; and the WithU Yamaha RNF team has been created from the ashes of SRT Petronas.

The six manufacturers that are part of the competition have not changed and all of them have official, factory teams (Suzuki, KTM, Ducati, Yamaha, Honda and Aprilia), and four of them also contribute one or two satellite teams to the grid. . Ducati continues as the most represented brand, it has even increased its presence, going from six to eight bikes by 2022, which means that a third of the riders will ride the Italian bike.

Four goodbyes and a return in terms of MotoGP riders in 2022

Although the number of entries has increased to 24 drivers , there are not many changes in the line-ups compared to last season. There is only one rider who changes teams, Enea Bastianini, who joins Gresini. The other three transfers already began during last season: the return of Andrea Dovizioso to competition with RNF (which he joined when he was still racing under the name of SRT), the promotion of Franco Morbidelli to the official Yamaha team and the move from Maverick Viñales to Aprilia.

As for those who have left, there are four drivers who left the category: Lorenzo Savadori, who did not finish the 2021 season; Danilo Petrucci, who left for MotoAmerica; Iker Lecuona, who now competes in WorldSBK ; and, of course, Valentino Rossi, who has retired from two-wheel racing and is now discovering the world of four-wheel endurance.

Five rookies (rookies) among the MotoGP riders in 2022

Added to all the veterans, this year we will have five rookies on the grid. Four of them make the jump from Moto2: Remy Gardner, Raúl Fernández and Marco Bezzecchi rise to the top three in the intermediate category championship, while Fabio Di Giannantonio was seventh. Darryn Binder, meanwhile, comes straight up from Moto3.

They are between 21 and 24 years old and are fulfilling the dream of entering the premier category of motorcycling. There is no doubt that they will try to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors, including Jorge Martín. The Spanish rider took several pole positions and even a victory, for a total of four podiums, in his debut year in MotoGP. Brad Binder, Darryn ‘s older brother, was even more precocious, as in 2020 he was able to win his third race in the category.

If rookies want to improve on those numbers, they’ll first have to look at the big early records. For example, Johann Zarco is the only rider who has managed to complete laps in the lead during his first MotoGP race (in Qatar 2017) since this category was created in 2002. Since then, no rider has been able to win his first race ( the last one was Max Biaggi in 1998, when the premier class was still 500cc), but some have been on the podium since the beginning: Marc Márquez was third in 2013 and Dani Pedrosa was second on his debut in 2006, as was Jorge Lorenzo in 2008. Fabio Quartararo, another of the drivers who stood out from the start, set the fastest lap in his first Grand Prix in 2019 after having problems at the start.

Lorenzo also stands out for being the only rider who has managed to take pole position in his first MotoGP classification, which he achieved at the Losail circuit in 2008. In that same session, another rookie, James Toseland , achieved second starting position, causing a rookie double, but such feats are extremely rare.

All MotoGP riders

Equipment	Motorcycle	Pilot
Ducati Team		Pecco Bagnaia Jack Miller
Monster Energy Yamaha		Fabio Quartararo Franco Morbidelli
Team Suzuki Ecstar		Joan Mir alex rins
Repsol Honda Team		Marc Márquez Pol Espargaro
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing		Brad Binder Miguel Oliveira
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini		Aleix Espargaró Maverick Vinales
Pramac Racing		johann zarco George Martin
LCR Honda		Alex Márquez Takaaki Nakagami
Tech3 KTM Factory Racing		Raúl Fernández* Remy Gardner*
WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team		Andrea Dovizioso Darryn Binder*
Gresini Racing		Enea Bastianini Fabio Di Giannantonio *
Mooney VR46 Racing Team		Luca Marini Marco Bezzecchi *

^{* Rookie}

Keep in mind that these registrations can be completed with those of the invited drivers or wild-cards. Aprilia, which is the last manufacturer left on the grid that can still benefit from the regulation concessions, can enter a maximum of six throughout the year, while the rest of the brands are limited to three.

Spain and Italy dominate in terms of riders on the 2022 MotoGP grid

As usual, Italy and Spain are the most represented countries on the grid, with seven and nine seats respectively. The Spanish riders in the MotoGP World Championship in 2022 are: Marc Márquez, Alex Márquez, Maverick Viñales, Joan Mir, Alex Rins, Jorge Martín, Raúl Fernández, Aleix Espargaró and Pol Espargaró.

France has two drivers, as do South Africa and Australia. Portugal and Japan close the list with one representative each.

From 21 to 35 years old, the ages of the MotoGP riders for 2022

Despite the departure of the oldest in the category so far, Valentino Rossi , the average age has only dropped from 26.4 to 26.2 for this season. Only five riders are over thirty: Takaaki Nakagami (30), Pol Espargaró (30), Johann Zarco (31), Aleix Espargaró (32) and Andrea Dovizioso (35). On the contrary, the youngest driver who will participate in the world championship will be Raúl Fernández, who is only 21 years old.

Fourteen world champions among the riders on the 2022 MotoGP grid

The MotoGP squad this year has 14 riders who have been crowned world champions in one of the categories that make up the world championship. This figure is higher than the previous record, repeated in 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2021. However, Rossi’s departure means that the total number of titles won by those drivers in the three categories is reduced from 30 to 24.

In addition, 12 drivers already know what it is to win races in the premier class and a total of 23 have already won at least one race in one of the categories that make up the world championship. The only one who has not yet achieved it is Aleix Espargaró.

The winners of the MotoGP riders in 2022:

Pilot	victories		podiums		pole positions		Titles
	Total	MotoGP	Total	MotoGP	Total	MotoGP	Total	MotoGP
M. Márquez	85	59	138	99	90	62	8	6
Mr Vinales	25	9	68	28	24	13	1	0
A. Dovizioso	24	15	103	62	20	7	1	0
B. Binder	17	2	37	2	7	0	1	0
J. Zarco	16	0	52	11	25	6	2	0
A. Rins	15	3	53	13	17	0	0	0
P. Espargaro	fifteen	0	51	7	twenty	3	1	0
M. Oliveira	15	3	39	3	5	1	0	0
F. Bagnaia	14	4	33	10	13	6	1	0
J.Mir	12	1	33	13	2	0	2	1
A. Márquez	12	0	40	2	15	0	2	0
F. Morbidelli	11	3	27	6	8	2	1	0
J. Martin	eleven	1	32	4	25	4	1	0
R. Fernández	10	R	16	R	13	R	0	R
F. Quartararo	9	8	24	20	18	15	1	1
J. Miller	9	3	25	15	9	1	0	0
E. Bastianini	6	0	34	2	9	0	1	0
R. Gardner	6	R	17	R	6	R	1	R
L. Marine	6	0	15th	0	5	0	0	0
M. Bezzecchi	6	R.	2	R.	4	R.	0	R.
F. Di Giannantonio	3	R.	22	R.	1	R.	0	R.
T. Nakagami	2	0	14	0	6	1	0	0
D. Binder	1	R	6	R	3	R	0	R
A. Espargaro	0	0	3	two	two	two	0	0