MotoGP will boast a thoroughly young grid in 2021, but several of the riders on it have amassed a serious number of team-mates during their stint in the premier-class – aided by how frequently teams need to call upon replacement riders due to injuries in their main roster.
For this quiz, we’ve taken next year’s grid and selected those riders who have competed alongside at least three team-mates in MotoGP, whether it be for a full season or just for a single race. As long as two riders started a race as part of the same team entry, we considered them to have been team-mates.
There are 10 combinations of team-mates and 12 riders to choose from, with two inserted as decoy answers.
Let us know how you got on in the comments below or by tweeting to @wearetherace, and be mindful of spoilers.
Extra hints will be given further down in this article in white-coloured font (so you’ll have to select the text if you wish to see them).
If the layout of the quiz is sub-optimal on your device of choice, try adjusting the page zoom level or switching to a different device – or play it directly on Sporcle’s site.
Hints
Niccolo Canepa, Randy de Puniet, Scott Redding: The rider in question partnered Canepa while serving as a Pramac Ducati replacement rider in 2009. He and de Puniet rode CRT Aprilias for Aspar in 2012 and 2013, while Redding was his team-mate at Aprilia in 2018.
Kohta Nozane, Broc Parkes, Cal Crutchlow: Both Nozane and Parkes were briefly team-mates with this rider at Tech3 Yamaha when they subbed for the ill Jonas Folger in late 2017. Meanwhile, Crutchlow rode alongside him late in 2019 when LCR Honda regular Takaaki Nakagami was sidelined through injury.
Loris Baz, Alex Lowes, Mika Kallio: This rider was team-mates with Smith through lengthy stints at Tech3 Yamaha and KTM, and during the former Smith briefly ceded his ride to Lowes when injured. Meanwhile, Kallio partnered this rider in the KTM works team.
Jack Miller, Lukas Pesek, Yonny Hernandez: Hernandez and Miller were this rider’s Pramac Ducati team-mates in 2015 and 2018 respectively. Pesek also rode alongside him in what the Czech rider’s sole MotoGP season in 2013 at IodaRacing.
Hector Barbera, Alvaro Bautista, Dani Pedrosa: Barbera and Bautista’s presence among this rider’s team-mates is explained by the fact both served as Ducati MotoGP replacement riders for Ducati. Many years prior, this rider shared a Repsol Honda garage with Pedrosa in 2009 and 2010.
Cal Crutchlow, Michele Pirro, Tito Rabat: Partnering Crutchlow at LCR Honda in his first MotoGP season, this rider then rode alongside Tito Rabat at Marc VDS Honda – while Pirro partnered him while acting as Pramac Ducati stand-in earlier this year.
Mika Kallio, Iker Lecuona, Hafizh Syahrin: Syahrin and Lecuona were this rider’s two regular team-mates at Tech3 KTM, while Kallio stood in for Lecuona after the latter’s COVID diagnosis.
Sylvain Guintoli, Andrea Iannone, Joan Mir: All three lined up alongside this rider at Suzuki – Iannone and Mir as regulars, and Guintoli as replacement rider and wildcard.
Hiroshi Aoyama, Nicky Hayden, Stefan Bradl: All three were injury stand-ins at Repsol Honda, with the rider in question on the other side of the garage.
Maverick Vinales, Carlos Checa, Tohru Ukawa: Ukawa was this rider’s team-mate at Repsol Honda in 2002. Checa was his first team-mate at the Yamaha factory team in 2004, while Vinales has spent four seasons alongside him, likewise at the works Yamaha squad.
