Repsol Honda

MotoGP Racer Objectives For 2019 Season

Returning champ? New contender? A rundown of the top racers’ primary goals for the 2019 MotoGP series.

March 8, 2019

A new year and a new edition of the MotoGP are now upon us. Every rider starts each new MotoGP season with a clear objective, whether it's those fighting to reclaim the title, riders looking for their first win, or fresh faces for whom just placing in the top 10 is the primary challenge. Let's see what the most important goals are for each rider this season.

Marc Márquez

Marc Márquez took his seventh championship in 2018, so you can bet he’s gunning for number eight of all-time titles, and a sixth MotoGP title this year.Repsol Honda

The champion is looking for his eighth title, which would rank him sixth in the standings of the absolute champions; his current position is shared with Phil Read and John Surtees, who have seven titles each.
He's also seeking a sixth MotoGP title. This would put him as the lone rider in third place of champions in the top category, a position he currently shares with Mick Doohan.
Catch Hailwood. With 70 victories under his belt, Marc is the fifth rider of all time in the classification of overall wins spanning all categories, behind Giacomo Agostini (122), Valentino Rossi (115), Ángel Nieto (90), and Mike Hailwood (76).
Ten wins to equal Doohan. As for victories in the top category, he is fifth behind Rossi (89), Agostini (68), Doohan (54), and Jorge Lorenzo (47). Jorge is ahead by only three triumphs, while Marc is further away. The Australian rider is ahead by 10—one more win than Márquez accomplished last year.

Remain unbeaten in the USA. Marc has six consecutive wins in the GP of the Americas, a circuit that, since opening in 2013, has not seen another winner. If we add Indianapolis and Laguna Seca to this list, Marc has 12 victories in the United States, all of them consecutive.
A win in Germany. Marc has won nine years straight in Germany, and if he wins this year, he will become the first rider in history to have won that many consecutive years at the same GP.
Take the Austrian GP. This is the only race he has not yet won on the entire calendar.
Notch number 14. His record of victories in a single season is 13, making Marc the rider who has the most number of wins in a season.

Andrea Dovizioso

After finishing second for two consecutive seasons, Andrea Dovizioso has got to be ravenous for a title win in 2019.Courtesy of Ducati

The title is Dovi's main—and only—objective. Any other result after finishing runner-up the last two years will be considered a failure.
A second win for Ducati. If he achieves the title, Andrea will become the second rider to win it with Ducati since Casey Stoner in 2007.
Make it four. If he wins a race this season, he will equal Stoner and Loris Capirossi as the only riders who have won with the Ducati during four consecutive seasons.
Win seven races. His record of victories in a single season is in six, which he achieved in 2017.

Maverick Viñales

Can Maverick Viñales win a title for Spain on the Yamaha?Courtesy of Yamaha

The third great contender for the title. Despite a quiet season last year, Maverick's goal remains the same as the one he came to Yamaha to achieve: Be a world champion.
A title for Spain. If he wins the championship, it will make him the fourth Spanish rider to win it in the top category and the seventh to win it on a Yamaha.
Take three in a row. He has never won more than two consecutive races.
Record four wins. His record of victories in a single season is in three, which he achieved in 2017.

Valentino Rossi

At 40 years of age, the Doctor is still in the hunt for a 10th title.Courtesy of Yamaha

Valentino is looking for his 10th title. This obsession is still his biggest goal.
Equal Agostini's 122 victories, which have remained unreachable despite being only seven wins away.
If he wins the championship, he would be the first rider of the top category to win 10 years after his last title.
If the Doctor wins a race, he will become the fourth oldest rider to win it, and if he wins the title, he will be the first champion in the top category to win a title at 40 years old.

Jorge Lorenzo

Jorge Lorenzo will be in search of a win on the Honda to add to his list of manufacturer triumphs.Courtesy of Honda

A victory with the Honda is Jorge's main objective, which may prove to be challenging this year.
If he wins a GP, he will have won with three different manufacturers (Yamaha, Ducati, and Honda), something that throughout history only Eddie Lawson (Yamaha, Honda, and Cagiva), Randy Mamola (Suzuki, Honda, and Yamaha), and Capirossi (Yamaha, Honda, and Ducati) have done.
If he manages to climb the podium seven times, Jorge will become the second rider in history to do so.

Danilo Petrucci

The first victory in a GP is Danilo's big goal this season.
More points; 144 points are the most he has gained in a season, which was in 2018.
For two years he has finished eighth in the general classification. Entering the top five would be a good result.

Álex Rins

Winning in MotoGP is Álex's main objective.
If successful, he will become the 10th Spaniard to win in the top category.
He would also enter the club of the riders who have won in all categories.
A victory for Álex would be the third for Suzuki in the MotoGP era, after that of Chris Vermeulen (2007) and Viñales (2016).

Cal Crutchlow

Repeating his two victories of 2016 would be a great result for Cal.
Finish the championship among the top five is another milestones to which the British aspires, a position he already achieved in 2013 as a Yamaha rider.

Tito Rabat, Franco Morbidelli, Takaaki Nakagami, Aleix Espargaró, Andrea Iannone, Karel Abraham, and Jack Miller

All of them have experience, but not material suitable for victory, and all aspire to be the first of this group to win a race.
Scoring in each GP is an obligation (absolute must).
Finishing top five in a GP would be a success.
Finish the year in the top 10 would be quite an achievement.

Fabio Quartararo, Álex Rins, Francesco Bagnaia, and Miguel Oliveira

Being the first of the rookies is the main objective the four riders fresh from Moto2 have.
Last year, Thomas Lüthi, who came up from Moto2, was left without scoring over the season, so the first step to overcome is to enter the top 15.
The second step should be the top 10.

KTM team

With an excellent bike this year and a strong performance last year, the KTM team is in a good position.Courtesy of KTM

The goal of this year's KTM racer group is to continue improving and to further develop a bike that's potentially far ahead of its rivals.
To attempt and achieve a top-10 finish would be a reasonable step forward.