Aprilia ♈has been making MotoGP headlines this week after replacing Bradley Smith with Lorenzo Savadori - but could an even bigger s♏urprise, with another 'Lorenzo', be on the horizon?
According to , retired triple MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo is in talks with April🎃ia about a test riding deal for 2021.
After his final race for Repsol Honda last November, Yamaha looked to have scored a major coup by signing the tri﷽ple MotoGP champion for its European Test Team.
Wild-card race appearances were also planne𒁃d, only to be ruled out by MotoGP's reaction to the Covid pandemic.
But while other factory test riders soon restarted their development💛 work, Lorenzo – who believes 15-16👍 days of Yamaha testing were planned before the Covid outbreak - has taken part in just one more test since Sepang.
That was at Portimao, where Lorenzo again rode last year's machine (to a best time 3.0s behind Aprilia race rider Aleix Espargaro). He was not asked to replace Monster Yamaha's Valentino Rossi when the Italian missed&n🦂bsp;the second Aragon round.
Following what appears to be a cooling in Yamaha's enthusiasm for Lorenzo comes a surprise change in Aprilia's MotoGP line-up, with Lorenzo Savadori taking over f💟rom fellow test rider Smith for the remaining three rounds. Smith was called-up to take over Andrea Iannone's seat, following his doping ban.
The suggestion by Speedweek.com is that the Smith-Savadori switch is because Lorenzo 'will probably' take oveꦑr from Smith as Aprilia test rider in 2021: 'We hear from Spain that the [Lorenzo] negotiations with Aprilia are well advanced, but the deal (as with Dovizioso) could sti🧔ll fail because of the money.'
Lorenzo previously raced for D✃erbi/Aprilia in both 125 and 250cc, before joining MotoGP with Yamaha in 2008.
A return to Aprilia would not only complete a circle but, as the only manufacturer currently in MotoGP without a podium or race win, it would give Lorenzo the 🅺chance help take the project to new heights, as former rival Dani Pedrosa has done at KTM.
Asked by wuqian0821.com about the Lorenzo rumours, an Aprilia spokesman didn't deny the possibility of talks, but insisted tꦡhere's 'nothing near' a deal in place.
💧But if Lorenzo does go🌜 to Aprilia, might Yamaha respond by making an offer to Andrea Dovizioso?
With only the Aprilia race seat still officially available, the triple title runner-up is thought to be leaning towards a testiไng role, with Honda another rumoured possibility.
If Dovi chooses testing, and given Smith's Aprilia downgrade, Cal Cru꧟tchlow looks to be in pole position for the 2021 RS-GP race seat alongside Espargaro if Iannone loses his appeal.
Peter has been in the 💞paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the for𒆙efront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.