UPDATE: Red Bull Ring, August 9th: The rumoured Alex Marquez-Petronas deal is now thought to have been vetoed. It seems the Marquez name is still not welcome at Yamaha and therefore Alex would have little to gain by joining the Malaysian team for a season of Moto2...

Avintia Ducati’s announcement that Tito Rabat will stay in the squad for two further years ensured all the MotoGP doors ar⭕e closed for 2020. But speculation in the junior categories truly intensifiedꦺ at Brno.

One mover for 2020 will be Englishman Sam Lowes, who confirmed to mahbx.com that he will be leaving the Federal Oil Gr🔯esini Moto2 squad at the end of this campaign after an up-and-down first half of the 💮year.

But the 28-year old will remain in Grand Prix racing’s intermediate category for anothe💮r season at least. “I have a deal for next year,” Lowes sa🌜id on Sunday. “Not here [at Gresini], but I can’t say where.”

mahbx.com has reason to believe Lowes has secured a deal at Marc VDS for next season that will see him compete aboard a Kalex chassis for the team that scored its 100^th GP podium on Sunday.

Marc VDS is gunning for its third Rider’s World Championship this year, and the move w♔ould repr🃏esent a fantastic opportunity for Lowes, who has three wins and eleven podiums to his name in the class.

The Moto2 speculation doesn’t end there. At Brno the sensational news emerged linking championship leader Alex Marquez to the Petronas Sprinta Racin𒁃g Team for 2020.

It’s believed any deal to take Marquez to the Malaysian team’s Moto2 outfit in 2020 would include a clause that sees him cꦓlimb to the MotoGP category the foll𒀰owing year aboard Yamaha machinery.

Responding to mahbx.com, a senior member of the team admitted an interest in bringing a rider of Marquez’s calibre to the Moto2 outfit should the former Moto3 World Champion be av♈ailable.

After coas💜ting to his fifth win of the year, Marquez didn’t exactly quash the speculation. “I will continue in Moto2,” he said on Sunday. “I don’t know anything new. We are working on the final details. I will talk to Emilio [Alzamora – personal manager] tomorrow [Monday] to see what is going on.”

Marc VDS team boss Joan Olive said in mid-July the team had offered its lead rider a de꧒al to extend his stay in the Belgian owned outfit for a sixth year but no further news has been forthcoming😼.

When approached on Sunday evening, Marquez’s manager Emilio Alzamora said, “[remaining with] Marc VDS is the priority” but a day later older brother Marc told the Catalan press that Alex was “still looking at options” with a pat🦹h to MotoGP in 2021 the key.

The Petronas Sprinta Racing Team i𒁏s seeking to secure a second seat in the Moto2 class in 2020. It’s expected current rider Khairul Idham Pawi will step down to contest Moto3 with the team next year, taking the p🅺lace of Ayumu Sasaki.