Five MotoGP storylines to watch in 2019

A new year welcomes in a brand-new season of MotoGP and naturally everything is to play for with familiar faces in new places, teams at crossroads and a couple of new eras which begin in 2019.

While MotoGP was testing a little over one month ago, all attention is turning to team launches and official presentations before the track action returns starting with the two Sepang tests in early February.

Plenty of headlines were made in 2018 but some will only come to fruition this year, starting with the storyline which has dominated the first few days of 2019…

1. Jorge Lorenzo’s arrival at Repsol Honda

Arguably the biggest headline of 2018 could also create the same shockwaves throughout this year with five-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo moving to Repsol Honda alongside Marc Marquez.

With Lorenzo in testing for Honda at Valencia and Jerez in November, albeit with a media ban as his Ducati contract hadn’t expired, the Spanish rider certainly caught the eye adapting to the RC213V, particularly in Jerez where significant bike changes and parts arrived specifically to his requests.

As he became an official HRC rider in January, some carefully-managed Honda and Red Bull interviews have been released with Lorenzo reflecting on his maiden tests with the Japanese manufacturer and his expectations going into 2019.

Lorenzo, never one to shirk away from intra-team confrontation, has previous disagreements with his new team-mate – as recently as last September’s Aragon first corner crash where he put the blame on Marquez – while Honda gears up to try to satisfy both riders with 12 world titles between them.

Lorenzo remains cautious about his own MotoGP title ambitions in his debut Honda year but time both on and off track will reveal how he develops at the team and next to Marquez.

Follow Page 2 for the next MotoGP storyline to watch in 2019...