MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

Credit: Dorna

Fans and media have been waiting for the 2027 MotoGP technical regulations with a mixture of hope and trepidation. Though the racing has been close the past couple of years, and even exciting, the unstoppable advance of aerodynamics paired with the sudden ubiquity of ride-height devices has changed the sport enormously.

On Monday, Dorna and the FIM announced the details of the new rules. It was, by and large, as expected: 850cc engines with a maximum of 75mm bore, with less fuel and fewer engines. To the delight of many - including many fans, MotoGP insiders, and no doubt also riders - ride-height devices and holeshot devices have been completely banned, and aerodynamics has been severely curtailed (for the moment, at least, but more of that later). For the full details, read the story posted earlier today, which lays out the exact changes so far.

The technical regulations for the MotoGP class which will come into force for the 2027 season have been out for a few days now, and with the paddock assembled at Le Mans, there is a chance to gather reaction.

In the days after the rules were announced, leading Italian MotoGP outlet GPOne.com got the perspective of leading engineers, with Matteo Aglio interviewing Aprilia's technical manager Paolo Bonora, and then Paolo Scalera inviting Ducati Corse boss Gigi Dall'Igna onto their YouTube show to discuss the new rules. And at Le Mans, journalists got a chance to ask the riders what they think of the rules proposed for 2027.

It is worth remembering that riders and engineers have very different perspectives on technical rules, for multiple reasons. Engineers are focused entirely on making motorcycles go faster, and so they have a very good understanding of what works and what doesn't. It also helps that they have usually spent several decades brain-deep in engineering. The only thing they can control is the motorcycle, so what they want is to make the bike as important as possible, and rule out the unpredictability of the rider.

Kids today...

Sometimes fans who have never been to one to the classic races in Europe ask why paddock veterans refer to races outside Europe as "flyaways", and why we say that the season doesn't really start until MotoGP gets to Jerez. But if you stand in the stadium section at Jerez, or sit on the banks around Mugello or Assen, or in the grandstands at the Sachsenring, and feel the roar of the crowds rumble through your bones, experience it as a visceral punch in the gut, then you understand there are venues - not all of them in Europe, Sepang has it too sometimes, as does Buriram - that have something special.

But even Jerez pales in comparison to Le Mans. The fans in Spain are knowledgeable and passionate, and really, really loud. But Le Mans takes that and turns it up to 11. Or maybe 12. It is wild, unruly, and above all, absolutely deafening. And it starts already on Thursday.

Ducati have a decision to make. They have one seat to fill - the second factory Ducati seat alongside Pecco Bagnaia - and three candidates to fill it with. Three riders who each deserve the seat on their own merits.

Though there has been no official communication, we are expecting to see an announcement of Pecco Bagnaia's teammate either at or just before the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. Which gives Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin, and Marc Marquez two sprint races and two full length races to convince Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali, Ducati Corse boss Gigi Dall'Igna, Sporting Director Mauro Grassilli, and team boss Davide Tardozzi to choose them to partner Bagnaia for the 2025 season and beyond.

Results, or at the very least, performance, is incredibly important in bolstering their claims to the second Ducati seat. Which is why the outcome of the first of those two sprint races matters so much.

The gods smiled on Le Mans this weekend. Three fantastic races, with podiums which all featured the undisputed fastest riders in each class, and all decided on the final lap. The threat of rain hung in the air, but did nothing more than that, so it remained dry. Nearly 120,000 fans were served up a delicious day of racing, and went home satisfied.

There is so much to talk about. The MotoGP race was an object lesson in how difficult the choice that Ducati faces over who to put on the second seat next to Pecco Bagnaia is. It was also a race where Pedro Acosta crashed out, yet still took another step toward greatness. And above all, it was the clearest possible proof that motorcycle racing really is the greatest sport on earth.

Late on Sunday night, here are a few things to consider after a spectacular day of racing.

The fastest man

With 19 riders out of contract at the end of the 2024 season, the MotoGP rider market for 2025 and beyond was always destined to be irrationally exuberant, to steal a phrase from a former central banker. After a spate of early announcements - Pecco Bagnaia staying with Ducati to the surprise of no one, Fabio Quartararo choosing money and promises from Yamaha over a pay cut and a chance to be immediately competitive on the Aprilia, and the early elevation of Fermín Aldeguer to MotoGP with Ducati - the rider market hit a quiet patch.

Too quiet, perhaps. The lack of announcements has kicked off a wave of speculation that has stretched credulity and ventured into the fantastical. Paddock rumor is matching riders with manufacturers in pairings that would have sounded more fever dream than plausible option even just a few short weeks ago.

If there is an image that sticks in the mind of Johann Zarco's time at KTM, it is of a bewildered and furious Frenchman captured during FP1 at Jerez in 2019, calling the 2019 RC16 "s***". Four rounds in, and the relationship between Zarco and the Austrian factory was already falling apart.

Seven rounds later, and with eight rounds left to go, the relationship was over. Johann Zarco asked to be released from his two-year contract early, hoping to part ways at the end of the year. It wouldn't even take that long. Three rounds later, KTM had replaced him with test rider Mika Kallio, and released Zarco from his contract. The Frenchman would step in for Takaaki Nakagami at LCR Honda for the last three rounds, before signing a deal with Ducati that would see him join the Avintia squad.

If MotoGP itself has a home round, it is Barcelona. Dorna, the company that runs the series, has its operational offices here. The official main office is in Madrid, a modest affair for handling the legal and financial side of the company, but Barcelona is where the people who run the company, organize the races, and broadcast them around the world are located.

It's not just Dorna either. Teams, media, riders (or at least, the riders who haven't earned enough not to have to live in Andorra), a lot of people involved in MotoGP live in and around Barcelona. In fact, if you wanted to wipe out MotoGP, two small nukes, one on Barcelona and one on Cattolica in Italy would be enough to do the job.

The track at Barcelona is worthy of a MotoGP round. It is big, it is fast, and it is packed with fans on race day. It is one of the few tracks on the calendar where a MotoGP machine does not have to be reined in, where the bikes can be given full power in sixth gear. And it is a track where rider skill and the hubris to carry just that little bit more corner speed can pay dividends.

Flat out

It starts with the front straight. Coming off the fast final turn, the bikes carry a lot of speed onto the straight, which they convert into some of the highest top speeds on the calendar. Last year, Aleix Espargaro hit 356.4 km/h, and half the grid hit over 350 km/h during the race.

Aleix Espargaro's assessment of his career in MotoGP exemplified the man. "I believe that I'm not good enough to be MotoGP world champion, but I proved during this this time, especially in Aprilia, that I'm a good rider," the Spaniard said, sitting in the Aprilia hospitality. "Maybe I have more talent than what I always believe. But the thing is that I work very, very, very hard. And at the end of the day I prove that talent without work you go nowhere."

He had come a long way from his first forays into MotoGP, first aboard a Pramac Ducati, replacing an injured Mika Kallio and then Nicola Canepa, then on an Aprilia RSV4-based CRT bike in 2012, after spending a year in Moto2. He had worked and grafted and seized every opportunity that came his way. The Aspar Aprilia CRT and then Open bike. The Forward Yamaha Open bike.

It is almost a ritual. After the first day of practice at Barcelona, the riders all complain about a lack of grip. Though the track was resurfaced in 2018, the grip of the new surface disappeared very quickly. The reasons for that are complex, including the chemical composition of the asphalt and the sheer amount of use the track gets. But whatever the reason, the riders discover every year that the track has no grip, and have to figure out a workaround for that problem.

This year, at least, the track is no worse than last year, perhaps helped by the fact that the new Michelin rear has a softer edge to it, giving more grip in the many long corners around the track. But the change to the composition of the compound means it is also better able to handle heat, making the tires marginally less susceptible to overheating.