This switch will affect veteran rider Dani Pedrosa who will have to vacate his seat after racing for Repsol Honda Factory Team for 13 years. It is believed that Jorge Lorenzo sealed the deal with Repsol Honda before Ducati made a final decision to replace him. Lorenzo was smart to keep his options open with Satellite Yamaha in fear of losing his current seat. Jorge Lorenzo will be racing alongside Marc Marquez for the 2019 and 2020 MotoGP seasons. The rumours about the deal seemed to quiet down a bit over the weekend when Lorenzo scored his first win for Ducati at Mugello. Turns out that it was too late to change the Spaniard’s mind about the switch.
It is rumoured that Jorge Lorenzo’s two-year deal with Honda is worth close to $10 million. If the rumour turns out to be true, Lorenzo will miss the more than $15 million he’s allegedly being paid per year at Ducati.
Team HRC said, “From 2019, Lorenzo will become a teammate to four-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez: two great champions with great talent and high hopes that will make a stronger team and contribute to the development of HRC [Honda Racing Corporation]”.