There has been a trend over the past decade for rider contract negotiations to get earlier and earlier.

Where once, talks about new contracts would start sometime in June, and agreements finalized and signed during August, now, initial discussions start at the Valencia Grand Prix the year before a contract is due to end, and deals are signed in the first few races, or as in the past two contract cycles, before the season has even begun.

The underlying causes for this trend are numerous, but at its heart, it comes down to the glut of talent that is in MotoGP these days, both in terms of riders and in terms of bikes. The best riders have more choice of competitive machinery, and there are more talented riders for the factories to choose from.

This has forced the factories into pursuing and signing up the riders they want as early as possible.

As former HRC team principal Livio Suppo told ace French journalist Thomas Baujard, “In the MotoGP class, the manufacturers are the slaves of the top riders.”