As is becoming tradition on this blog, I started the season off by attempting to predict who would succeed and who would fail in MotoGP this year. For each rider, I gave a score between 0 and 5 that reflected where I thought they would finish in the championship standings, and then justified each of my ratings with a paragraph outlining my expectations for the season ahead. With the season over, it’s time to look back at these scores and see who I nailed and who I got horrifically wrong!
Just like last year, I’ll be reviewing both the individual scores I gave and the written reviews to see who I was on the money with and who I completely blanked on. The ratings rank from 0.0 to 5.0, with higher scores being more likely to finish higher in the standings and score wins/podiums and anything above a 4 being a predicted championship contender. If the score and the prediction are both close to the rider’s actual fate in 2022 then it’s considered a hit, and if I’m too far off the truth with either (or both) then it’s considered a miss.
At the end of the series we’ll look at the final tally to determine how accurate I was at seeing into the future this time last year. Ready to go? Let’s dive in!
Maverick Vinales
Solomon’s rating: 3.0
Maverick is a rider looking for redemption this season. After a difficult end of relations with previous employer Yamaha, he’s been picked up by Aprilia and given a second chance that he desperately needed. Now reunited with former teammate Aleix Espargaro, and armed with the most competitive Aprilia we’ve ever seen, I genuinely see him as a dark horse contender for this season, and expect him to challenge for top fives, the occasional podium, and perhaps even Aprilia’s first win.
A solid rating and solid reasoning. Vinales delivered on his podium potential on the Aprilia but lacked consistency as he continued to grow confident on board the RSGP, but I think that balances out to a solid season for the Spaniard. While a win evaded him all season, the fact that he came close at least once and was robbed of some better results by technical bugbears – both Aprilia riders suffered at the hands of the Asian flyaway rounds – I’m going to say I was pretty much bang-on here.
Verdict: Hit
Aleix Espargaro
Solomon’s rating: 3.2
One of the oldest riders in the championship and the only one without a win in any class, Aleix has become a staple within the MotoGP class during his time here. He’s been an Aprilia rider since 2017, and while he’s been their leading light for that time he’s never really been able to convert into the promised level of results. While I expect him to nab some decent results this year, he finally seems to have a teammate that could usurp him, and this may be the beginning of the end for his career if he can’t find some extra form.
Ah, the old “give a rider a strong rating and then completely negate it with your review” technique. Past Solomon could clearly see the potential in Aleix but misjudged which Aprilia rider would be the success story of the year despite rating the Espargaro brother higher. Aleix deserves better than this for the impressive season he had – both in the points department and in the case of my somewhat hurtful words. Apologies to the Espargaro family, I’ve learnt my lesson.
Verdict: Miss
Jack Miller
Solomon’s rating: 3.3
Thriller Miller has officially achieved ‘Veteran’ status within the MotoGP grid, having ridden in this class since 2016. The Ducati man has seen some reasonable success in that time – last season being his most successful with two wins and a number of podiums – but this year poses a major challenge to him from within his own factory. There’s a lot of hungry young riders gunning for his seat in the Ducati team, and if he can’t string together some impressive results at the start of this season, he may be forced to seek employment elsewhere for 2023.
There’s a lot of valid points here, and I was actually shockingly on-point when talking about the threat Jack faced from within his own factory last season, but the one thing I can’t really justify here is the score. Miller managed to be a title challenger right down to the last few races in 2022 and had an incredible run of form late in the season even after having to seek new pastures for 2023 in the form of KTM, and a 3.3 just doesn’t do the man justice. A miss here, but a close one at that.
Verdict: Miss
Francesco Bagnaia
Solomon’s rating: 4.7
For a lot of people, Bagnaia enters this season as the favourite to take down the title come November. His form at the end of last season was genuinely incredible, qualifying on the front row almost every race and converting into four wins, and he will be coming into this year with a huge amount of confidence. The bike he’s on also looks to be one of the best in the class, so he should realistically pose a challenge to the rest of the grid pretty much from the get go. There’s no doubt in my mind – Pecco will be a title contender in 2022.
Nothing but net. How good am I?
Verdict: Hit
Johann Zarco
Solomon’s rating: 2.6
I was pretty high on Zarco’s chances last season, and it certainly seemed like he had found his footing in the early stages, but a slow fade in the second half of the year saw him fall out of championship contention altogether. Given his tumultuous history in the premier class, Zarco isn’t a rider who can afford to struggle for form like this, and his championship-winning pedigree in Moto2 just doesn’t shape up anymore when compared to this hyper competitive grid. If he wants to retain his spot in the Pramac squad, he’s going to have to fight tooth and nail for it.
Several thoughts here. Zarco did come out of the gates swinging in 2022, but faded fast, something we had seen previously and that I hailed back to in my predictions. His form was strong at the best of times but swingy and inconsistent throughout, and I have a feeling he’s effectively keeping the seat warm at Pramac until a new hot talent emerges in Moto2 thanks to his winless career in the premier class. I feel a little bad since this is not the first time I’ve ragged on the Frenchman in this series, but this still feels about as accurate as one can get with Zarco.
Verdict: Hit
Jorge Martin
Solomon’s rating: 4.0
Martin enters his sophomore year in MotoGP as a proven race winner and solid title contender. His rookie season could have been one of the best had he not been sidelined by injury, and a few unfortunate crashes muddied an overall positive year. Now his rookie season is over, the pressure is going to be higher, but he doesn’t strike me as the kind of person to buckle under it. Add in the possibility of a factory contract on the line for 2023 and you’ve got a real star in the making here.
Eugh, I really picked the wrong horse in the factory Ducati race. Martin’s sophomore season just didn’t live up to the hype of his rookie debut, and despite a smattering of podiums he was essentially hung out to dry by both Miller and Bastianini right when he needed to beat them both. I still think he’s a huge talent, but the man needs to find his form again in 2023.
Verdict: Miss
Luca Marini
Solomon’s rating: 2.6
With his half-brother Rossi no longer in the paddock, Marini must now trust in his own talents to get by in 2022 and beyond. He’s always struck me as a methodical rider who slowly works at things until he can start converting into positive results, and we actually saw some positive form from him at the end of last season. Don’t expect Luca to set the world alight in 2022, but I’d keep an eye on him for the occasional podium tilt.
Finally, real evidence that I was on the Marini hype train before he started delivering consistent results. Regular listeners to our podcast series will know that I was a vocal advocate for Marini when he started pushing for top 6 finishes week after week last year, and I stand by the fact that it was an inevitability based on the way he goes about his work. The score’s a little low for my liking, but he never actually did bag that podium we all thought was coming, so I guess that makes this one close enough.
Verdict: Hit
Marco Bezzechi
Solomon’s rating: 2.2
The first of our rookies for 2022, Bezzechi finds himself in the enviable position of starting his MotoGP career on board a proven winning motorcycle, the Ducati GP21. His bike won’t remain as strong as the factory spec competition continue to tweak and update as the season goes on, but it should start him off in a good place. Yet another rider worth keeping a side-eye on for a potential surprise result.
Does this one count as a win? Bezz did surprise us all with a rookie podium in Assen, and his late-season form was rather impressive, but there were also far too many crashes in the mix for it to be considered a real breakout season for the Italian. Still, he impressed far more than the rest of his rookie batch, and I’m inclined to say he deserves just a tad better than what I predicted here.
Verdict: Miss
Enea Bastianini
Solomon’s rating: 3.7
Bastianini was a real surprise package in 2021, taking two podiums in the back half of the season on board a 2019-spec bike that had no right to perform as well as it did for him. Now he’s on the 2021 Ducati, and that should raise alarm bells for his opponents, as the year-old bike has far fewer weaknesses than what he rode last year. He’s fast, he’s good looking, and he’s got world championship pedigree from his time in Moto2 – what’s not to love?
I tend to agree with basically everything I said about the Beast. While I wasn’t exactly expecting a win to come in the first race of the season, the podiums he bagged on board a two-year-old Ducati back in 2021 meant you couldn’t ignore him as a contender for 2022, and though a 3.7 is a little low I feel like it’s still somewhat warranted. Not exactly mind-blowing for Bastianini, but a definite stepping-off point for 2023 and beyond as he sets his sights on a first MotoGP title.
Verdict: Hit
Fabio Di Giannantonio
Solomon’s rating: 1.9
Rounding out the Ducati armada for 2022 is rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio, and he definitely feels like a dark horse for the rookie of the year title. He’s a rider who hasn’t ever been top of the tables, but he can put together some real consistency when needed, and he’s riding for the Gresini team that have supported him every step of the way along his career. I’m giving him a lower score than some of his rookie counterparts, but my gut tells me I might be way off with this one.
A recurring trend in this series is how hard it is to gauge a rookie’s potential before the start of a MotoGP season. This one feels like a stretch given how he compared to his counterparts in orange and blue, but in my defence he didn’t put up much of a fight against Bezzechi in the hunt for Rookie of the Year. A maiden pole position and several top 8 finishes were the high points of an otherwise quiet debut season, so I’m going to call this one a win, but perhaps I should listen to my aforementioned gut a bit more.
Verdict: Hit
Pol Espargaro
Solomon’s rating: 3.9
The Pol Espargaro we’re seeing this year is perhaps the most confident one I’ve ever witnessed, and for good reason. His plea for Honda to provide him with a bike he can compete on have been heard, and testing the revolutionised Honda before the start of the season showed him right up with the best of them. That said, Pol has never won a race in MotoGP, and he’s never going to get a better opportunity than this. If he can’t make things happen in 2022, he’s going to struggle to remain in the series going forward.
You know, someday I’m going to take my own advice and not put too much weight on pre-season testing times. Maybe next time.
Verdict: Miss
Marc Marquez
Solomon’s rating: 4.5
Marc Marquez is definitely one of the bigger question marks surrounding the 2022 season. A lot of what we can expect from him this season is tied directly to how recovered he is from his shoulder injury and his double vision – if he isn’t quite at 100% then he might struggle to keep up with the younger guys, but if he’s close to fully recovered then he’s immediately a championship contender. With Rossi out of the picture, Marc now represents the most decorated rider in the entire grid, and while some of the older riders know exactly what he’s capable of, there’s a few younger guys that could probably use a reminder of just how dominant he can be.
I have a few questions for Past Solomon here. Firstly, if Marc is such a question mark, why did you give him one of the highest scores of any rider? Also, why did both Repsol Honda guys get scored this high when the factory had one of their worst outings to date in 2021? Honestly, I’ve got to read my own writing sometimes. Maybe this year I’ll play it safe and assume in my scoring that Marc will miss more races due to injury – that would at least show character growth on my part.
Verdict: Miss
12 riders down, 12 left to go, and it’s a dead heat going into the second half. Will I redeem myself with the remainder of the manufacturers, or did my pre-season jitters get the best of me after all? Stay tuned for part two to find out!
Solomon Talks Bikes 