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The 2023 MotoGP season is going to be one of the more intriguing ones in motorsport. There aren't many series that can boast having four different world champions in four consecutive seasons.
Yet, this is what MotoGP has been able to accomplish, making it one of the most competitive and unpredictable motorsport series in the world.
It began in 2019 when Marc Marquez, a legend in his own right won the title with Honda. The 2020 season saw the world struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic. With Marc Marquez suffering from a career-altering crash at the start of the season, it was Joan Mir that usurped the throne and won the title with Suzuki.
The 2021 season saw the emergence of Yamaha once again and this time it was the young Fabio Quartararo who won the title. The 2022 season saw Pecco Bagnaia of Ducati win the title and become the first Italian champion since Valentino Rossi.
It's not often that we see this kind of unpredictability in a racing series and this is what has made MotoGP a very enticing series to follow.
MotoGP teams and drivers
The 2023 season is going to see quite a few changes in teams and riders. Ducati has replaced Australian Jack Miller with Enea Bastianini, while Miller moved to KTM. Repsol Honda will have two world champions in its ranks with Marc Marquez now teaming up with Joan Mir.
Marc Marquez's younger brother Alex Marquez has moved from the Honda Customer team LCR Honda to the Ducati customer team Gresini Ducati. As a replacement for Alex, LCR has signed former Suzuki driver Alex Rins.
The 2023 season is going to see quite a few names in different overalls next season. Here is the complete lineup:
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team
Fabio Quartararo #20
Franco Morbidelli #21
Ducati Lenovo Team
Francesco Bagnaia #63
Enea Bastianini #23
Aprilia Racing
Aleix Espargaro #41
Maverick Vinales #12
Repsol Honda Team
Marc Marquez #93
Joan Mir #36
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Jack Miller #43
Brad Binder #33
Gresini Racing MotoGP (Ducati)
Alex Marquez #73
Fabio di Giannantonio #49
Prima Pramac Racing (Ducati)
Johann Zarco #5
Jorge Martin #89
Mooney VR46 Racing Team (Ducati)
Luca Marini #10
Marco Bezzecchi #72
RNF MotoGP Team (Aprilia)
Miguel Oliveira #88
Raul Fernandez #25
Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing (KTM)
Pol Espargaro #44
Augusto Fernandez #37
LCR Honda Castrol/Idemitsu
Alex Rins #42
Takaaki Nakagami #30
Key talking points for the 2023 season
The 2023 season is going to be an interesting one to follow. Especially since we have had four different winners in the last four seasons. There is even a possibility that we could see a fifth different winner in five seasons. Enea Bastianini was more than a handful in the year-old Ducati at Gresini last season.
Bastianini often showed he had the pace to even beat Ducati's lead rider Pecco Bagnaia and if it wasn't for him using an older bike and some inconsistency, he could have challenged for the title as well. In 2023, he will have the same specification bike as the champion and this should make things very interesting.
On the other hand, Marc Marquez appeared to have reached a respectable level of fitness following his shoulder surgery and will be hoping for his first full season back since 2020.
Then, there is the prospect of sprint races. Unlike Formula 1 where sprint races are introduced in only a handful of races, in MotoGP, every race weekend will have a sprint race on Saturday and the usual Grand Prix on Sunday.
This will bring another variable into the championship as well as tire preservation goes out of the window in the abbreviated races. All in all, the 2023 season will have plenty of things to keep an eye on.
What does the 2023 MotoGP schedule look like?
The 2023 season will kick off in Portugal as the European venue replaces Qatar as the season opener. From Portugal, the circus will move to the Americas as we will have a race in Argentina followed by a race in Austin.
This season, tracks in Kazakhstan and India too find a place on the provisional calendar as the sport expands its horizons.
Let's take a look at the provisional calendar for the 2023 season:
The 2023 season will have an unprecedented 21 races. There have been objections raised by a few sports insiders, and even prominent journalists like Simon Patterson, about the possible fatigue of these many races in a season.
It will be interesting to hear what Dorna (MotoGP's rights holder) has to say about this as a possible backlash could be on the table for this many races in the season.
