Iker Lecuona

A chain reaction casued by Johann Zarco's early split from the factory KTM team led to rookie Brad Binder being placed at the Red Bull team, rather than Tech3, for 2020 and Iker Lecuona being signed as the South African's replacement.

Lecuona had just one podium to show for three seasons in Moto2 at that stage, but certainly had youth on his side, as the youngest member on the premier-class grid.

The Spaniard made an early Tech3 MotoGP debut in place of the injured Oliveira at the 2019 Valencia finale, before a best of ninth place during his rookie season, where he missed the last three rounds due to Covid.

Under pressure to deliver results after the first RC16 race wins by Binder and Oliveira in 2020, mistakes again held Lecuona back in the crucial early part of the season and it was announced in Austria that both he and team-mate Danilo Petrucci would lose their Tech3 seats to an all new rookie line-up of Moto2 stars Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez.

But the decision seemed to relax Lecuona, who celebrated a career-best sixth place in the rain at Austria 2, then seventh in the dry at Silverstone.

In November, Petrucci said Lecuona had been 'the top KTM rider since August' and the Italian wasn't alone in feeling KTM may have acted a little hastily in dropping a rider that at 22 was still younger than Gardner and only slightly older than Fernandez.

With no other MotoGP options, Lecuona will ride for the factory Honda team in World Superbike for 2022.