MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

Assen is two weeks behind us, and there are still lessons to be learned, albeit extremely belatedly (for which you have my sincere apologies). In part 1 of my Assen review, I looked at just how strong Ducati has become and how Race Direction views track limits. Since then, there have been reports that Dorna is looking at ways for reappraising the way concessions are calculated, to give Honda and Yamaha a chance to catch up as the European manufacturers disappear into the horizon. So it makes sense to start with a look back at Honda's difficult weekend at Assen.

If the Sachsenring had raised doubts about Marc Marquez' long term future with Honda, Assen kicked those doubts into high gear. Marquez' Honda RC213V spat him off during morning warm up in Germany, breaking a bone in his left thumb and cracking a rib. That had shaken Marquez up, mainly because the crash had happened without warning.

The news that Pirelli is to take over as official tire supplier in Moto2 and Moto3 from 2024 came as something as a something of a surprise. Dunlop has been the sole supplier in Moto2 and Moto3 since the start of those classes, and were the de facto sole supplier in the 125 and 250 classes pretty much from the turn of the century.

It is an expansion of Pirelli's racing activities. The Italian tire maker has been the official tire supplier to the World Superbike championship since 2004, and is also the official tire for the F1 car racing series. Pirelli has no plans to leave the World Superbike championship, but is keen to expand into the grand prix paddock.

So Pirelli's move into Moto2 and Moto3 a lot of questions as to how they will be approaching it. For the Paddock Pass Podcast, Steve English spoke to Pirelli Racing Manager Giorgio to get more insight into the hows and whys of their decision to enter the grand prix paddock.

Broadening their reach

Barbier pointed out that this is not so much a new venture, as an expansion on their project with Ohvale and Dorna to supply the MiniGP series, which was itself the first step on the path to much more. "We're actually following the path that we started two years ago with MiniGP. For our intention is to follow Dorna into the project of Road to MotoGP, giving young riders all over the world the opportunity to start their career riding bikes with Pirelli tires," Pirelli's Racing Manager said.

A five-week break has given the MotoGP media, in service of MotoGP fans, plenty of time for lurid speculation about how the 2024 grid might look like. That speculation has been fueled by a few key insights from journalists, and by the need to create content to fill a month and a bit without racing.

That dearth of MotoGP racing is about to come to an end, as the second half of the season is about to kick off at Silverstone. Over the course of the next week or so, the casual phone calls which have been made will turn into face-to-face meetings, and the business of negotiating contracts will begin in earnest. After Silverstone, we will have more concrete data to go on. By the time we get to Misano, we should have a clear and complete picture of the 2024 grid.