Savadori named at Aprilia on provisional MotoGP 2021 entry list

The provisional entry list of the 2021 MotoGP season has named Lorenzo Savadori as an Aprilia rider, as rumours continue to swirl regarding who will replace Andrea Iannone.

One-time MotoGP winner Iannone has been hit with a four-year competition ban for a doping violation after his appeal to have an initial 18-month ban was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the World Anti-Doping Agency’s to up the penalty was approved.

Numerous names had been linked with the vacant Aprilia seat, including Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow. But the outgoing Ducati rider never considered Aprilia a serious option and has opted for a sabbatical instead, while Crutchlow will join Yamaha as its test rider.

Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola said last week test rider Bradley Smith was a “valid” option for 2021, though there have been question marks over his future with the marque after it replaced him with Savadori for the final three races of the season.

Moto2 frontrunner Marco Bezzecchi was offered a contract to join Aprilia next year, but the VR46 team blocked the move and will keep the Italian in the intermediate class for one more season.

Other names from Moto2 were linked, but American Joe Roberts appeared as the front-running candidate during the Portuguese Grand Prix weekend.

An announcement on Aprilia’s choice was expected on Sunday, but it never materialised, casting doubts on Roberts’ appointment.

MotoGP governing body the FIM has now released its provisional entry list for 2021, which has named Savadori as a race rider for next year. Aprilia is yet to comment.

The list has also revealed the race numbers MotoGP’s rookies will use in 2021.

Valentino Rossi’s half-brother Luca Marini will continue to run the number 10 as he joins Avintia Ducati, while his 2020 Moto2 world champion teammate Enea Bastianini will use 23 as the 33 he normally uses currently belongs to KTM’s Brad Binder.

Pramac rookie Jorge Martin raced with 88 previously, but this belongs to KTM’s Miguel Oliveira, with Martin using 89 instead.

New MotoGP world champion Joan Mir is currently listed with his traditional 36 number plate having previously been undecided if he would take on the #1 – though this could change come 2021.

2021 MotoGP provisional entry list:

No.	RIDER	NATIONALITY	TEAM	MACHINE
5	JOHANN ZARCO	FRENCH	PRAMAC RACING	DUCATI
9	DANILO PETRUCCI	ITALIAN	TECH3 KTM FACTORY RACING	KTM
10	LUCA MARINI	ITALIAN	ESPONSORAMA RACING	DUCATI
12	MAVERICK VINALES	SPANISH	MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MotoGP	YAMAHA
20	FABIO QUARTARARO	FRENCH	MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MotoGP	YAMAHA
21	FRANCO MORBIDELLI	ITALIAN	PETRONAS YAMAHA SRT	YAMAHA
23	ENEA BASTIANINI	ITALIAN	ESPONSORAMA RACING	DUCATI
27	IKER LECUONA	SPANISH	TECH3 KTM FACTORY RACING	KTM
30	TAKAAKI NAKAGAMI	JAPANESE	LCR HONDA IDEMITSU	HONDA
32	LORENZO SAVADORI	ITALIAN	APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI	APRILIA
33	BRAD BINDER	SOUTH AFRICAN	RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING	KTM
36	JOAN MIR	SPANISH	TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR	SUZUKI
41	ALEIX ESPARGARO	SPANISH	APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI	APRILIA
42	ALEX RINS	SPANISH	TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR	SUZUKI
43	JACK MILLER	AUSTRALIAN	DUCATI TEAM	DUCATI
44	POL ESPARGARO	SPANISH	REPSOL HONDA TEAM	HONDA
46	VALENTINO ROSSI	ITALIAN	PETRONAS YAMAHA SRT	YAMAHA
63	FRANCESCO BAGNAIA	ITALIAN	DUCATI TEAM	DUCATI
73	ALEX MARQUEZ	SPANISH	LCR HONDA CASTROL	HONDA
88	MIGUEL OLIVEIRA	PORTUGUESE	RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING	KTM
89	JORGE MARTIN	SPANISH	PRAMAC RACING	DUCATI
93	MARC MARQUEZ	SPANISH	REPSOL HONDA TEAM	HONDA