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MotoGP will return to the track over the weekend at Assen, while Superbike will do so in mid-July at Donington. While waiting for the engines to be fired up again, it is the rider transfer market that captures the spotlight. As already written in recent days, declarations made by Kenan Sofuoglu regarding Toprak's future have inflamed the negotiations in no small part
According to the latest rumors, it appears that on Sunday evening at Misano, HRC management spoke with Kenan Sofuoglu with the aim of bringing Toprak to the Superbike team ahead of 2025. Apparently, however, the Turkish rider rejected the proposal, asking in return for a seat in Honda's factory team in MotoGP. It is a teasing idea in no small part to see the #54 on the RC-213V, although the reality is that Luca Marini already has a contract for next year while Joan Mir seems to be one step away from renewal. So this is the big picture on the MotoGP front barring any sensational twists and turns.
Returning instead to Superbike, both Vierge and Lecuona have contracts for next year, but there seems to be a clause in HRC's favor regarding the on-track performance of the two riders. At the moment, the performance of the two riders has been well below expectations so much so that both are outside the top 15 in the overall. Just to give an example: Spinelli (albeit taking advantage of a high-risk tire choice), who has only contested one round, has the same Championship points as Vierge and even six more than Lecuona.
The fact remains that Honda is considering shuffling the cards for next season with the goal of getting out of a crisis that has lasted several years in Superbike. Needless to say: after Bautista's farewell, the project related to Superbike has certainly not matched expectations to such an extent that the gap from the competition has been increasing more and more
The top management of the Factory knows this well and among the names under evaluation appears also that of Andrea Iannone. Apparently, already after the Barcelona race, the path leading to The Maniac was sounded out, but the latter decided to take his time. The current Go Eleven rider is in fact trying to get a good understanding of all the cards on the table and at the same time the evolution of the market between MotoGP and Superbike. That is the situation, because Paolo Campinoti has not yet decided what to do, and the same goes for Alvaro Bautista, struggling with the choice of whether or not to continue next year.
Apparently, it looks like the next few weeks promise to be on fire on the negotiation front with a file rouge uniting the MotoGP and Superbike paddocks.
