With just two rounds remaining in the 2020 season, the grid returns to the southeast of Spain for the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) is looking to wrap up the title this weekend as a podium finish will be enough for him to be crowned this year’s MotoGP™ World Champion.
While the path is clear for Mir, it is less so in the MotoGP™ Fantasy Championship with plenty still to play for. Let’s take a look at who managers fancy heading into the weekend.
Transfers In
With four podiums in his last five races, and now joint second in the Championship, there aren’t many riders who are in better form than Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar). He is the most transferred in rider this round, accounting for 19% of activity. The Spaniard has taken 147 fantasy points from his last five Grand Prix and he looks likely to add to that total as he continues to fight for the 2020 MotoGP™ crown.
Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) may not be in the Championship hunt but that hasn’t stopped MotoGP™ Fantasy managers from making him the second most transferred in rider this week, following his fourth podium of the season in the European GP. 18.2% of transfer activity sees the factory KTM rider come into teams ahead of the second round in Valencia, but be warned, as the man from Granollers hasn’t seen back to back podiums since his Moto2™ World Championship winning days in 2013.
Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) is another man who isn’t in the title hunt but has found some excellent late season form, following up pole in Teruel with a front row start last weekend and then an equal best premier class finish in fourth. The Japanese rider averages 19.7 fantasy points per weekend while his form over the last five Grand Prix have seen him take 95 points, the fourth most of all riders. Can he finally get himself on the podium this weekend?
Joan Mir once again features in the Top 5 most transferred in riders as managers scurry to get the World Championship leader into their teams. Nobody has outperformed the Mallorcan in either the Championship or MotoGP™ Fantasy in 2020, with the Suzuki rider averaging 24.3 points per weekend and 148 overall. If you haven’t already got the Suzuki man in your team, now is the time as he looks to seal his title in style at the Valencian GP.
Miguel Oliveira rounds out the most transferred in riders as the KTM Tech 3 man looks to build on his promising recent form. The Portuguese rider has only found himself among the rostrum places once in his premier class career, when he stole victory at the death in Styria earlier this season, but four Top 6 finishes in his last six outings, and two in a row, has given managers cause for optimism that Oliveira can earn them some valuable points at a circuit where he has experienced victory three times before in Moto2™ and Moto3™.
Transfers Out
It has been a tough few weeks for Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT). The Frenchman still sits second in the Championship standings, but his form has tailed off completely in recent weeks, having not finished inside the Top 6 since victory in Catalonia, including a career worst finish of 18th in Aragon. That poor form has cost him the World Championship lead and his place in a lot of MotoGP™ Fantasy teams as he is the most transferred out rider this week.
It hasn’t been the best of weeks either for Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). After going over his engine allocation the Spaniard has to start from pitlane in the European GP and despite finishing among the points, he never really looked in top form throughout the weekend at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit. Finding that consistency has been a problem all season for the factory Yamaha rider and despite averaging 18.8 points per Grand Prix, he finds himself the second most transferred out rider this week.
Alex Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) lost ground in the battle for Rookie of the Year following a second consecutive DNF last weekend. It will come as a big disappointment for the former Moto2™ World Champion as in the weeks the prior, he was showing the form that made him the toast of the intermediate class in 2019. The Cervera rider has 106 points from his previous five Grand Prix, but only 41 of those have come in the last three, convincing managers to part ways with the rookie ahead of the Valencia GP.
It hasn’t been the season Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) dreamed of either. The Italian was one of the early favourites for the title when the season got underway and then the odds intensified when the news broke that current Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was to miss a large portion of the season due to injury. He rode to victory in the Austrian GP but since then he has failed to get back among the podium places and following last weekend’s result, is now out of the running for the title. To compound it all, he features fourth in the most transferred out riders this week.
Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) completes the Top 5 most transferred out riders as he pays the price for a disappointing performance in the European GP. The man who had dynamite for breakfast in Teruel mustn’t have even found the Weetabix last weekend as he placed outside the Top 10 for just the second time this season. It isn’t a track where the Italian has had joy in the premier class, with his 11th place finish last weekend the first time he has completed a race in Valencia since making the move up to MotoGP™.
Factory Favourites
Once again Suzuki have seen a large increase in ownership as both their riders continue to impress on the track. KTM have also seen their numbers go up after they had three Top 10 finishers in the European GP with many backing them for a repeat performance this weekend.
Yamaha have had a troubling week and they are the most transferred out constructor, but remain the most popularly owned manufacturer in MotoGP™ Fantasy.
Having already seen a record-equaling nine different winners this season, are we going to see a tenth in what has been the most unpredictable of seasons? Make sure you join us over the weekend to follow all the action.