Plus MM is a freak. Jumping from a Moto3 bike to a full blown MotoGP bike is a huge leap. Once he gets up to speed and starts being competitive in the Open class, then he might be a good candidate for a satellite.

12th and top open class rider was pretty good to achieve in your first 3 races.
He seems to make up places early and then go backwards.  I am guessing tyre management issues.

Wonder what Hondas plan is with him. 2 years on open or 1 and then lcr gets a 2nd satellite?

I reckon he'll dip into the top ten later in the year, maybe earlier in the wet. I think he's leading the open class with one crash, correct?

I'd love to see that but I feel that fighting for a championship in Moto2 and the spotlight entailed would serve him far better than fighting to be the top open bike.

He's gone from being mentioned every race as a stellar rider to having almost 0 coverage week after week.

I agree. He should have went to Moto2 IMO, if for no other reason than mental. It's easy to keep confidence in yourself when your fighting for the win, which I think he would have been doing in Moto2. Seems like it would be hard when you're constantly circulating in the teen positions.

As good as MM is, even he spent a couple seasons in Moto2.

MM wanted to win the Moto2 championship. That extra year probably helped him a lot.

I thought MM did it the right way. He carried championship winning confidence with him into the Premier class. That mindset is invaluable.