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2024 Barcelona MotoGP Test Notes: What Was Each Factory Testing At Barcelona?

By David Emmett |

What are we to make of the Barcelona MotoGP test? For a start, there was a lot going on. With 6 riders changing manufacturers (Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi from Ducati to Aprilia, Maverick Viñales from Aprilia to KTM, Enea Bastianini from Ducati to KTM, Miguel Oliveira from Aprilia to Yamaha and Jack Miller from KTM to Yamaha), 3 riders changing teams (Marc Márquez from Gresini to Ducati Lenovo, Franco Morbidelli from Pramac to VR46, and Pedro Acosta from Tech3 to Red Bull KTM Factory), and 3 rookies (Somkiat Chantra to LCR Honda, Ai Ogura to Trackhouse Aprilia, and Fermin Aldeguer to Gresini Ducati). Plus Aleix Espargaro becoming a Honda test rider after spending the last 8 years in Aprilia.

There was also quite a lot of new parts being tested, and the basic prototypes of the 2025 bikes for Aprilia and Ducati. There was a lot of aero, a couple of engines, an exhaust or two, and frames as far as the eye could see.

So here is my initial first impression and what I thought I saw at the Barcelona post-season test, after spending most of the day in pit lane and most of the final hour watching track side. You can find the full times and summary report here, but I have reposted the final times and the current track records at the bottom of this post.

Pace

Although it is foolish to draw too many conclusions about pace from the timesheets, a very rough and ready measure of how well riders are doing is the number of laps at a certain pace. Given there was only one rider who did a 1'38 (Alex Marquez), the best of the rest were in the 1'39s. The top 13 riders all got into the 1'39s, and here's how many laps each rider managed.

Alex Márquez topped the list with 16 laps of 1'39, plus a single 1'38.
Fabio Quartararo and Pedro Acosta managed 8 laps in the 1'39s, while Marc Márquez managed 6.
Pecco Bagnaia and Raul Fernandez both did 5 laps, while Brad Binder did 4 and Johann Zarco did 3 laps in the 1'39s.
Franco Morbidelli, Jorge Martin and Maverick Viñales all did 2 laps of 1'39, while Marco Bezzecchi and Alex Rins managed just 1.

Again, you can't read too much into this. Alex Márquez has one job in a satellite team that he knows very well: get up to speed with the new bike (in this case, the Ducati GP24), and he clearly managed this exceptionally well.

Different strokes

Fabio Quartararo and Pedro Acosta did a lot of 1'39s, but they also did a lot of laps, 75 and 72 respectively, nearly 50% more than the 49 of Marc Márquez, for example. Raul Fernandez did 82 laps to Pecco Bagnaia's 58, and Bagnaia had a lot more new parts to test than the Trackhouse Aprilia rider.

Johann Zarco's times stand out because he did a relative average number of 65 laps, and the Frenchman has been exceptionally impressive this year. And though Jorge Martin (77 laps), Maverick Viñales (74 laps) and Marco Bezzecchi (84 laps) were pounding out the laps, they were also on completely new machinery.

Of the riders changing manufacturer, Martin, Viñales, and Bezzecchi all looked the part. They looked comfortable, and were managing the bike well. Martin looked very loose in his first couple of runs, but that is partly due to the fact that his natural style is to physically dominate the bike. The contrast with friend and mentor Aleix Espargaro, whose place he takes, is immense, Martin being the epitome of a modern rider completely off the bike, Espargaro coming from an earlier school of racing, where the body stays closer to the middle of the bike. But it appears that the Aprilia can be ridden using a much more modern style as well.

What were the various factories testing? Here's a non-comprehensive list, from both what the riders told us and from what I saw in pit lane.

0
2025
MotoGP
Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
Aprilia
Ducati
Honda
KTM
Yamaha
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Comments

“Yamaha brought a few other new parts, including a new swingarm and a new front fairing, but their main aim was to reduce the weight of the bike - the heaviest on the grid by some distance.”

I don’t get it. Surely, at this level, all the bikes would already weigh as little as is allowed by the rules and not a gram more? 

Can anybody help me understand this?

The bikes weigh as little as possible, down to the minimum allowed by the rules. But the constraints of physics - the amount of material needed to make the bike behave the way you want to, in terms of frame stiffness, engine reliability, etc - mean that the weight adds up. I have heard that the Yamaha is well over 10kg too heavy. So everything matters.

Those last two sentences are pretty telling I think! Wonder how working with Honda is. He had experience dealing with Yamaha but they were a damn good bike back then. Now that it's pure development work, is he finding it tough? The Italians and Austrians aren't known for being shy and not expressing their opinions, so it's definitely the culture shock for him.

Has there ever been anything as Red as MM93 today? Looked like a videogame AI bot version of himself. And NO smiles, all business.

Quite serious, whilst oddly plain looking (contract/sponsor reasons, yes, but still...odd?).

Fun to see Quarty and Jack teaming up. Expecting Blue stepping fwd relative to Honda. Less happening there w these riders.

The Duc 24' is a welcome and adaptible bike for 23' riders like A.Marquez. watch out, this kid is coming fwd!

:)

Exactly. When Michelin came to MotoGP, they asked to switch rim sizes from 16.5 to 17 inch. Downside of that is a much smaller tire volume. When you see close ups of those old Bridgestones, they look like balloon tires, because the external diameter is the same as the 17 inch Michelins.

Do the riders on last years bikes have last years (well used) engines or new ones? If  used engines you would expect their engine allocation to be higher.

A good question, and I think it depends. As far as I know, the GP24s were all completely new, including Aldeguer's. Somkiat Chantra probably used an old engine - he was basically using Nakagami's bikes. I suspect the same was true for Ai Ogura at Trackhouse, using the bike left behind by Oliveira. For rookies, they need to get used to a MotoGP bike, so an older engine with a handful less HP is not an issue. Bigger fish to fry. 

Is that true that Marquez's tenure at Red Bull is getting now somewhat "suspended"?

He will wear Monster's logos on suit and bikes (as contracted with Ducati team), but not on helmets, caps and bottles (his personal sponsors). Won't be taking part in Monster's promotional events. 

And when the Ducati's contract with Monster expires (end of 2025?), there are changes expected?

Impressed by MM, he made his best time with 20 minutes to go and all the big times were set with 2 hours to go.  MM also said he was already back in the groove being given a whole list of parts tot test 'just like the old days!'.  

Anyone else see the middle finger to his old Gresini team after he did that lap!  I'm sure it was a joke, I'm guessing a bet they had with him and that was a friendly FU!!!

The Yamaha's looked good.  2nd and 7th very near the end.  

The Aprilias, both being ridden by ex-Ducati men were whipping quite badly off the corners and JM went next door to Gresini (I think?) to explain to them!!!!  That was funny!

But can we have a whip-round please lads for Bastianini's bike.  They couldn't have saved a thing, that bike was more totalled than any bike I can recall save perhaps the Morbidelli/Zarco bikes from 2021?  in the big one that missed VR46 by inches.  T-O-A-S-T.  

Simon Crafer was saying he handled a chassis or two with the engines out and says that without the engine you can bend the frames by hand....incredible!  Aleix seemed to be working really hard, crunching out very hard laps.  

I would heave learnt more but those commentary boys - the B team - speak so quickly, I can't hear them sometimes.  Tinnitus and old age.  

Fascinating and possibly worth the day off work again next year.  

"Anyone else see the middle finger to his old Gresini team after he did that lap!  I'm sure it was a joke, I'm guessing a bet they had with him and that was a friendly FU!!!"

Oh definitely. One of the MotoGP videos about unseen events or whatever after the race, and there's a bit where the whole Gresini team carry Marc to the factory garage and dump him in Enea's seat, and then wheel his bike into the garage. Definitely seemed friendly parting to me.

Good editorial decision to leave out Mir’s tiresome and rote invective towards HRC. Honda have been outstanding in their support for the project and clear in their timeline surrounding this test, and the shiny new technical director and test rider only had their first touch of the bike and organizational structure on Tuesday.

Mir talks about hope but it’s obvious that’s a facade. He would do well to learn from Marini’s dispassionate analysis of the situation or Zarco’s shrugging c’est la vie attitude (or even Nakagami’s humility). Especially when the lack of results in the second half of the season were more down to Mir’s crashing than the bike’s shortcomings. I’ll miss Zarco when he’s gone from the paddock but I won’t miss Mir.

..there's a list of how many crashes every rider had this year that I saw today on FB and I was amazed to see him 'down' in only 9th place! I really did think he'd be numero uno but still.. He is a world champion, irrespective of what we all think, and I really hope him and Honda recover some kind of competitive form, it all adds to the show!  

Interesting that Maverick was very open about comparing the KTM to the Aprilia. Was he released from his contract early to be able to speak openly? Or does he just not care...

I also heard on OxleyBom he was over-revving the Aprilia on his way back into the pits after the final GP (shades of Yamaha), in which he did nothing but dawdle around at the back of the field anyway. It's inconceivable to me that Aprilia could have mistreated him in any way to warrant that level of open disrespect and hostility. KTM will have their hands full with this primadonna.

Mav has had, on occasion, race winning pace since the middle of 2022. His Aprilia stint has been very similar to his Yamaha days. Highs and lows session by session. I think there will be times next year when Acosta, Binder and Enea will just have to shrug their shoulders and wonder where the lap time came from. Then the lights will go out and he'll be 15th by T1. I wish it was different because I love watching Mav ride when he's on fire, was better to see before the gizmos, but it is as it is. Who knows what's going on behind the scenes at Aprilia. Did anyone expect Aleix to go HRC testing ? 

Of course Mav's fast on his day, it's just impossible for anyone to know how to make that happen and which day that will be. And as we've seen, even if there's success (a pole, a podium), he's just as liable to throw a tantrum as if he's 15th. It's almost better if the bike is slow, then he doesn't have the same expectation of winning.

Aleix went to Honda for one reason only.

Ive followed Mav since the start of his career and one thing has remained constant. Win or lose, the results are the product of "them giving him the right bike". He can obviously rip the tarmac off the earth with his pace when the stars align, but he seems to have zero idea of how to get the most out of himself or provide any meaningful feedback. 

I am happy he has found peace after leaving Yamaha but Ive pretty much given up on dude ever being a championship contender.

Franco Morbidelli will win a race and be near the top of the standings after the first few grands prix of next season. 
If I’m not mistaken, he will be the ONLY rider on the 2025 grid to be on the exact same bike as he rode in 2024, and that bike dominated the championship (except for him LOL). He’s got all the data, he knows exactly what to expect from the bike, the GP25 won’t be as big a step up and won’t be dialed in yet, and he will be in the comfy confines of his VR46 crew to rebuild his confidence. 

He was worse than awful in 2024 on the best bike…but the dude is a Moto2 champ and dominated some races just a few years ago. He needs to perform in 2025 or he really should lose his place on the grid. 

So I am predicting that he will perform!!! 

I feel sorry for those in this forum who feel the need to beat up on Joan Mir (“Mir’s tiresome and rote invective towards HRC”, “I’ll miss Zarco when he’s gone from the paddock but I won’t miss Mir”) or belittle his achievements (“one win wonder”).

Perhaps, before criticizing him you could imagine being in his shoes and the frustrations he has dealt with being at Honda during these dark times. His prior teammate simply left. Perhaps consider that his frequent crashes might be because, for better or worse, he tries to achieve the maximum he can in nearly every race, because he still has the beating heart of a champion. And maybe consider giving a bit more deference to a two time world champion, third in 2021 and a two time rookie of the year.

Oh, and it should also be stated that Mir is not only known as one of the nicest guys on the grid, he has generally been one of the most positive. But, if you’d think more highly of him if he put on a fake smiley face and lie to the press when he has every right to be frustrated and disappointed, then that says a lot more about you than him.

Thanks for the feedback but I've considered my opinion on Mir carefully and won't be updating it. I've got over 20 years obsessively following this sport and know exactly where Mir's talents lie relative to his attitude. Not sure exactly why anyone would root for him but that's not my concern, and I don't normally take time to harangue them for how wrong I think they are.

In 2023 Mir had the fewest points of any full-time rider, less than half the points of both Taka and Alex Rins in the independent team, and less than Dani Pedrosa who only entered two races as wildcards. In 2024 he only barely beat his teammate Luca Marini who is not fast and rides around collecting data (and a paycheck), and still finished with half points of Zarco and fewer points than Taka and Augusto Fernandez who are test riders.

I'm sorry but the last place guy is not going to win the championship, much less a race. If he crashes trying and then blames the team that's just dumb. I'm actually shocked they gave him another two years but I guess there weren't any other Spaniards willing to ride that bike (and Repsol left anyway). It's not like he's a good development rider, he wobbled around his rookie year then won the title on Rins' bike in the year Marquez got hurt, the Yamahas got the wrong valves, and Ducati was fighting with Dovi for not understanding the Michelins. If that covid-shortened season would have had two more rounds he probably loses to Morbidelli. 

Anyway, good for him! But I don't want to listen to him complain for two more years while he either gets beaten by independent riders or chucks it in the gravel.

I like how the fans here can pointedly, but respectfully disagree.  This is why I come here and subscribe.

Arguments or discussions that devolve into name calling are tedious and waste everyone's time while proving the intelligence of the speaker.   I can read and watch those kinds of things on literally any other platform.

I'm not even finished.

In 2023 Mir started 15 of 20 GPs and finished 6 of them. Only 6! Of the 5 he didn't start, 3 were practice or sprint crashes in which he was ruled unfit and 2 were weekends he missed entirely due to injury. Of his 15 starts he crashed out of 9. The laps he crashed on in those 9 races were: Austin-9, Jerez-2, Le Mans-13, Silverstone-3, RedBullRing-13, Misano-12, Mandalika-12, Phillip Island-11, Sepang-5.

In 2024 Mir started 19 of 20 rounds, only missing Misano due to illness. Of his 19 GP starts he completed 9 and crashed out of 10. His crash laps were: Austin-9 (same as 2023), Le Mans-15 (hasn't finished Le Mans in 4 years), Mugello-7, Assen-7, Silverstone-12, Mandalika-13, Motegi-1, Phillip Island-26 (almost!), Sepang-6, Montmelo-7.

In his 2 years at Honda he's started 34 races and crashed in 19 of them - over half! And of those crashes all but one were in the first half the race, many in the first 8 laps. Honda don't have 4 riders developing the next bike, they have 3 1/3. But that 1/3 of a rider makes the most noise about not getting new parts (Luca said he had a whole new bike!) and seems to not want to acknowledge the PILES of money and manpower HRC are throwing at him and the entire project nor the litany of new kit they brought throughout the season. What a disaster.

I don't really care if he succeeds or not but I hope for my own sake that Honda bring him an easier bike like the Suzuki was so he can stop crashing and we won't have to hear him complaining so much.

As usual I ignore lots of off track schtuff I don't wish to take note of. I like Mir, great guy, fast. Mostly it is just hard to watch his Honda riding. I feel for the guy. Brutal to be aboard those bikes, and it was even worse before his stay there. Like a horrible marraige, everyone gets a deep toll taken out of them. Even worse if you've experienced something good to suffer relative to? I can cut Mir some basic human slack re complaining a bit. Surprised riders haven't more, maybe Taka wouldn't be expected to so much though. I have been punishing of HRC for years.

Glad for Yamaha re their 2025 program. Fingers crossed for KTM. Honda? Blech. Still. 

Poor Chantra is doomed. Contrast Aldegeur. The Japanese champ passing HRC up in favor of Aprilia? Speaks volumes.

Motoshrink, you’re always the diplomat with a dash of psychologist thrown in. That’s why I appreciate your calming posts. :-)

Hopefully Chantra does well. But it’s definitely going to be a struggle. It will be fun to what how the three rookies progress throughout this coming season. And the rookie of the year will actually mean something in 2025! :-)

I’m always fascinated how we humans can take a set of data, insert all our own knowledge, biases and emotions and come to completely different views. So, basically what I’m saying is that I’m going to have to let you have your opinion of Mir, just as you’ll let me me have my completely opposite opinion of him. And maybe that’s a good thing, because it makes life interesting.

On a side note, when I was very young and had fallen in love with the Beatles, I considered it almost blasphemy to criticize them. I could not wrap my head around the idea that anyone would think they were anything less than the greatest musical artists of the 20th century. Well, as a middle aged man, I still think they are the greatest. But I honestly don’t care what other people think of them. But I’ll still defend them against naysayers.

Now, I’m not saying I think Mir is the MotoGP equivalent of the Beatles, because that would be delusional. But I am saying that I need to accept that it’s not my problem what other’s think of him. I believe in him, and I’ll happily defend him, and that’s all that really matters. :-)

^ UZWEEM and SATXwest, love how we Mutterrers explore and share in here! Little but love for the Sport, and a place to share in it together. We do disagreement so well! (I will tell you about me and MotoGP, and you can share too! Except we are all not only pretty passionate and knowledgeable, we are good community supporters!) JUST like we recognize David Krop's interweaving with his friends and family in the Paddock. What he and one big handful of compadres has managed to do as online journalism arose? Aliens!!!

Alien journos

UZWEEM, in the Divine cannon of the Beatles Rossi may not well measure up, but if examined, might look a Ringo to many but Lennon to some.

Marc is more like Paul. George is out back smoking w Guy Coulon.

T H I S

Anyhoo, allow me to do you a favor and encourage you to click here for sub-5 mins of unusual Tues coverage:

https://youtu.be/3cpUXlB9qbE?si=HDwGmFE8OV9tgO0a

iViva Aleix y Martin, hermanos con corazon grande! Favor? If you watch Wintertainment and like it please pop in and say something? It is for community building, and I won't put them up if they aren't clicking for folks.

^ That one has unique footage! And short. Why not click and comment?

:)

I love your Beatles insights Motoshrink!

For me…

Rossi = John (animated, bigger than life, full of himself)

Marc = Paul (asshole in the studio but a real nice guy outside of it)

Morbidelli = Harrison (the mystical one, but not so mystical when you dig a little)

Mir = Ringo (underrated and under appreciated and a little bit goofy)


Great video, by the way! 

:-)
 

Oh boy, now it's getting serious :)))

Eventually i would put it viceversa,

Rossi - Paul, immensly talented but with a clear affection towards brandname and legacy, now a larger-than-life figure

Marc - John, the same or even bigger in terms of talent, puts possibly the pure excitement of racing (...making music) above brandname or legacy

Now it's getting tough ... who should be Yoko?

... and even tougher - what about the Stones?

It just came to me, "who has been a Yoko Ono here?"

What happened to Ben Spies? Crew Chief Tom Houseworth - he put a bubble around just the two of them, and put everything incl Yamaha outside of it. "Just give Ben EVERYTHING he asks for, as he sees it." Then they brought in an American Superbike electronics engineer into that bubble. Not to say they did heroin but will that they cuddled up in bed for days burning bridges wantonly in vain ideology.

John broke up the Beatles. Full stop. He couldn't hold his connection with Paul AND make one w Yoko. He drastically underfunctioned. Paul's compensating whilst decreasing his fawning deference to self involved John was attacked and blamed. They had lost their Epstein, who btw was in love w John AND served a parenting cohesiveness role. Then, Yoko gets blamed for what was actually John's doing. HE was insecure and petulant, making her sit in on amps and follow him to the bathroom. Not a healthy happy person.

Anyhoo, Houseworth!

Jack Miller might be a Ringo? "Let's just get along, and I will play it until I've got blisters on me fingers! Want me to sing that? Sure! With a little help from and for my friends!"

George Harrison, tough one. It would have to be an unsung but key team mate to an Alien. Pedrosa? Or a out of the spot light essential Team member putting the magic in and making the Sun come. Burgess, or Furusawa? Hmm...

Oh! George Martin? That is Gigi isn't it?! Conducted and curated the Fab Duc, and now we have a European invasion. It was skiffle before he got it rocking.

Rolling Stones? They are World Superbike, not knocking them so much, but not prototype. Production blues models well built and lots of fun.

Sad question, what poor bastard is the Pete Best? Hate to even think it.

Love your write-ups Motoshrink! Your view of John Lennon as a person and his role in the breakup is pretty much spot on. Still, l love the guy, warts and all, and I think he’s a musical genius (as is Paul). 

Yes, he did get unceremoniously dumped from the band (the Beatles knew what they were getting with Ringo!), but there is no guarantee that they would have gone on to be the same successful band if they'd stuck with Best. From what I've read, he recognizes that, and also recognizes that he would probably not have met his wife, and had the great family he ended up with if had stayed with the Beatles. Basically, I don't think even he buys the "poor bastard" thing.

As for someone who could be compared to being dumped too soon for seemingly greener pastures (a "better but different" rider in this case), I'd say Augusto Fernandez. He simply was not able to gel with this year's KTM and the Michelins. I think he'll do quite well for Yamaha. He seems to be a good communicator, based on hearing him in the parc ferme interviews during his Moto2 championship season. Can he give good bike-specific feedback? That's unknown to me. (I do think it's funny that Pedro Acosta is getting "his" number back, so that means he'll have had three different sets of merch, based on his numbers.)

As for Mir, I really wish he didn't have that "If I leave Honda now, I'm a failure" mindset. The bike doesn't work for him (I can't remember where I read it, but it seems it has a vibration on corner exit that seems particular to him). If he'd gone to another manufacturer that has a bike that actually turns and drives out of the corners, he'd be way better off. Him on an Aprilia would have been pretty good, to me. Still think Yamaha should have bought the entire Suzuki operation.

Hi lamhbomb, I agree with everything you wrote! Well said! And yes, with regards to Pete Best, what we on the outside may perceive as a huge life disappointment may actually have been a blessing in disguise for the individual who lived it. Fame and fortune aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. More often a simple, happy life is the best life. :-)

Ok, tell me at the very open of this that you don't wonder "hey, who is that guy in the green fleece shirt and black brimmed hat right there sticking his curious nose in Quarty's Tues bike?!" No, David Emmett is out sick we're afraid.

;)

Gorgeous 4 min video inside Yamaha Tues. Gives me a feel that they just blew the windscreens off Honda! You know?

New engine, frame, swingarm, and aero. Sorted settings. Happy and smiling Quarty. Quick pace!

Score on getting MILLER and OLIVEIRA! Aprilia and KTM experience from speedy Oliveira. AND look at what they scored in Jack Miller basically in prime development seat?! What Jack donkey work and dedicated teamwork pull out a bike that Fabio takes towards the front. I have to change my tune that Fabio shouldn't have stayed, nor to count him out from winning a race in this era. 2025 even.

Fantastic video

https://youtu.be/EbK1VQw1ZfM?si=KnRdOHtK5r38SBOB

 

Moving on from disagreements over subjective opinions, here are a few the other subplots I’m excited about:

Aprilia: I think Jorge will be FAST. Top-3 in the championship is possible next year with at least one race win and probably a handful of sprints.

Ogura, the thinking man’s rider… speed, passion and smarts - just what’s needed in MotoGP today. I believe in the rider but I’m not sure about Trackhouse, as much as that pains me to say.

Ducati: we know Morbidelli goes well on a seasoned bike. Repeating what others have said on here, the possibility exists for a strong year on a supremely sorted GP24!

But I’m very high on Digiannantonio. He may start slow as he normally does (and due to the shoulder surgery) but he’ll come on strong.

Yamaha: not ready to give up on Rins or Miller. The light at the end of the tunnel is growing steadily bigger at Yamaha, and the factory’s technical progress coupled with Pramac’s synergy should lead to big improvements next year. Rins’ talent is unquestionable, and Jack seems to go well when he’s riding for his dinner.

KTM: one of these years we will be treated to the Pedro show… why not 2025? Last offseason I predicted Acosta as 2026 champ which puts him 2nd or 3rd this year, fighting at the front and parking the KTM squarely between the top Ducatis regularly.

Honda: podium for Zarco?

SATXwest, right there too on the subplots. (Well argued critique of Mir btw, fair but tough? And yet wasn't it gorgeous watching wee budget conventional Suzuki win a GP title?! Made me happy).

Martin will be fast on the Aprilia, looking fwd to seeing it. But I am seeing him Top 5 potential rather than Top 3. Over at Trackhouse good things are afoot re personnel via Davide Brivio. Bikes are good kit. The doubt I have is more about Raul Fernandez. Ogura should be ahead of him fairly soon.

Agree w you expecting a strong season from DiGi. His trajectory has had a bit of rise, plus he is on that coveted 3rd 25' Duc. Morbidelli on the other hand isn't finding favor and hasn't for a good while. Same bike whilst the grid moves on. No more blossoms coming even though comfy back in the Ranch clubhouse. Mild taper from Franky's 2024 points. I would say it is Alex Marquez poised to do a bit better now as he steps on the 24' from the 23'.

I do NOT know what to expect from KTM right now! You know SATX et al? Tough read. There was a good charge from them early in the season, Pedro esp as he pushed past Binder and then forward. But, then Orange got clunky. Think having Herve's experienced ridrs fresh off Ducati and Aprilia could help development? Hope so, can't hurt.

YAMAHA is so very promising right now! Did you watch that brief video above? Capsulates it well re Tues. Rins, focused and fast. Miller, eager and collaborative. Quartararo fast as all hell, and smiling. (Don't give up on race winning dentist Oliveira either! He may have been in a latency period rather than a decline). The Pramac team going Blue is a big subplot, eh? Highly experienced professionalism. Yamaha are, FINALLY, out of their "customer over there just leasing our old bikes" 2nd team antiquated model. Jack and his brother Cal are together developing even! Lin Jarvis is out of the driver's seat?! And a V4 is ready to go in a chassis?! Wow. Brilliant. Best of luck to them.

So. Is it agreed generally that THE plot will be "Pecco vs Marc plus who else shows up?" Could they leap out and put a gap to a big pack scrap behind them? 

I see the crash stats are out. Marc loses his crown. I knew leaving Honda would fix it. The more stable Ducati, the change in riding style, the lack of need to ride on the razor's edge, the more mature Marc, ships on the horizon, happy beach scenes, cute dog playing in the water etc etc. 

He came second to a rookie. 

Hope to see you out there, be my 4th time at Mugello and, I’m certain, it will be just as breathtaking. Misano, been recently (and in ‘89 when it went t’other way) and, whilst the surrounding area is fabulous, it’s one of a growing number of tracks where you’re in a ‘section’ and can’t walk around the place, disappointing-mind you our seats were on Curvone a few years ago, crikey that’s fast…Shout if you feel I can help in any way Apical 😊

Apparently the hospitality suites have been taken over by whoever does F1 hospitality and as a result, European hospitality packages are now 2 days rather than 3 with no price reduction. Makes European hospitality packages very poor value. COTA is still 3 days and we had a good time there last year. Bring on the 2025 season!

Hey Rusty, I did the Apex package at COTA in April and loved it. But it was only two days (Saturday and Sunday). I asked why it didn’t include Friday, or at least offer the option to purchase Friday for additional money. I was told it was a logistics issue.

I’m in Valencia right now, having attended the relocated race in Barcelona. I got the same Apex package that was just for two days. It was a very good experience, but I enjoyed COTA more. The reason being that at COTA I drove my rental car to the race and arrived nice and early and left only when they booted me out of the paddock. But here at the Barcelona weekend I chose to purchase the transportation to package. Not only did they get us to the Sunday race late, but we had to leave early! Next time I may just hire a taxi and leave extra early. But getting back to my hotel after the race could be problematic. 

Lastly, the paddock experience at COTA was way more relaxed and enjoyable. I must have gotten selfies with 20 different riders across the three classes, including almost all of my favorite riders. At Barcelona I only got Joan Mir (my favorite rider). I did see other riders, but it was so crowded, it was difficult to get near them. But I could have gotten Marini on three different occasions, but every time he’d walk by I’d say “hi” or “good job Luca”, and he’d just do a disinterested nod. So I lost interest.

Needed some down time after getting home, so just getting to these comments.

The Barcelona paddock was rammed. Busier even than the race back in May.

European paddocks are always much, much busier than the overseas races, because most of the teams have family and sponsors in the region, who they invite to the races. Plus, the hospitality units give them a place to properly entertain guests. If you go into the Aprilia garage, for example, the guest viewing area is often rammed. Same for LCR. 

If it's me, and I have the funds to spare, and I wanted to be in the paddock, I would buy a package at one of the overseas races. Much more relaxed atmosphere, riders are less stressed and usually have fewer sponsor/media engagements, and so have more free time and more mental energy to talk to fans.

The reason the races outside of Europe are referred to the "overseas" or "flyaway" races is precisely for this reason, that most of the sport is based in Europe. And a section of the paddock doesn't travel outside Europe. Giving more opportunity to fans who attend races outside Europe. 

Exactly our experiences. Assen in 2018 was reasonably relaxed but at Mugello in 2019 we couldn’t even walk around the track and visit the merchandising outlets and the Paddock was off limits. COTA was brilliant and I think we’ve made the right choice in returning. It’s without a doubt the best Paddock experience. Phillip Island is up there too. Now we know why.

Hey Rusty,


I’m a little confused about Philip Island. I met a group of Aussies at the Barcelona race last weekend. They all said the paddock experience their was the worst of them all, because there is almost no access to the paddock. Can you elaborate on your experiences? Thanks :-)

I have opinions, but I’ll try to be respectful 😀. Both of these guys have been winners and one was a world champ, even if some would add an asterisk. Acosta may not have achieved rookie world champion status like Marc 11 years ago, but he’s going to be on the top step soon. Other riders like Miller, Oliveira, Zarco, Rins even Takagami, have a few wins or at least have shown speed, if not consistency. The two that I don’t really understand keeping their seats for so long are the two Fernandez non-brothers. Great success in the lower classes but nothing in MotoGP. I have my fingers crossed that Aldeguer does better. 

Will brave it to join you dman, Morbidelli crested a good bit ago and never had me convinced of more. Tepid. You know who has ire from me, "did you catch what Marini said recently?" No, never. Sorry if it sounds rude, but tis' so. Factory rider, bullocks. But not as much as Raul the tool, "senior Aprilia rider" until Sepang let alone Round 1.

We have emotion. It can foster clarity and saying no. Do you wish Agusto Fernandez were on a KTM instead of Bastianini or mecurial Maverick? Are you looking fwd to Raul or Marini next year? Is the sky green? I just notice the feelings.

Raul the tool, “Senior Aprilia rider” until Sepang, let alone round 1.

That’s good stuff Shrink :-).


When watching the test and reading his comments, it’s quite clear he wasn’t even their “go to guy” on Tuesday.

You call him a tool, that’s exactly what he is for Aprilia from the moment they signed the factory guys.

He didn’t swing a leg over a ‘25 spec bike and was left to do donkey work on electronics.

All that talk when they resigned him, smoke up the arse, nothing more. They know it, he knows it and that’s the only reason he’s still on the bike. He’s a (much) lesser version of Miller at Pramac, no disrespect to Jack.

 


Sidenote, such a bizar interview with Brivio during the live test broadcast. Asked what Ogura’s comments were when getting back in the box after his first outing. Basically “nothing, he said he couldn’t say anything”.
How weird is that ?! Don’t start with language barrier, if that’s the case, then forget about Ai this year (at least).

And Brivio continued, clearly in pain doing so, repeating himself at least 5 times by claiming ‘he liked that approach’. Oh boy!

Hervé would have non of it.

There’s even some footage of Ai preparing to go out the first time (or was it after the crash). Having some sort of despondent air around him. Literally no one around him and Brivio in the edge of the shot with a weird pensive look on his face wondering if he should go and have a chat with him, clearly not knowing how to handle himself.

I think Wilco Zeelenberg will be sorely missed. He would have done wonders for Ai.


Not expecting too much from Trackhouse in 2025. Do hope Ai makes it, he’s a slowburner, hope he gets the time he needs.
He would gave gotten it at Honda, but he can replace Chantra in 2027 (or even 2026…)

Well, Augusto is out. So really just the one of the  Fernandez non-brothers. I did think Augusto deserved a second season, especially since his rookie season was solid, if not spectacular.

On Mir… (this isn’t directed at you but just another opportunity for me to pontificate yet again on Mir and those who dismiss him)

The Mir world championship with an asterisk (for some) really grinds my gears. The only reason for the asterisk is that it was a shortened season with all the races held in Europe. Oh and a certain Marquez was not racing. But placing an asterisk on it for those reasons opens up a Pandora’s box on many, many prior seasons. I won’t get into that here. But I think everyone on this forum could start to see the rabbit hole of illogic we would descend down if we tried to come up with a set of rules to determine “legitimate championship seasons”.

Also, people who dismiss his 2020 championship, conveniently ignore the very reason for it being an unusual season. Covid. This was a pre-vaccine world where one small mistake or a bit of bad luck could doom a rider’s championship hopes. The stress must have been enormous for all the riders.

So for me, Mir’s 2020 championship was and remains 100% fully legitimate. Add to that his epic Moto3 championship, his 3rd place in 2021 and two rookie of the year awards, and I can proudly call myself a big fan of Mir. 

Will this be my last defense of Mir? Oh gosh no. I’m a very loyal and passionate guy. :-)

The devil is in the asterisk. If by some alignment of luck and skill MM93 picks up, say the next two years world championships on the Ducati, then I suspect that asterisk might shadow a couple of those other world champions who achieved their greatness while he was injured.

Appreciate the feedback. And yes, asterisks might be the norm, not the exception. But I’ll go with the no asterisk approach, and try to honor every champion. Because to me, all these guys, champions or not, are brave and talented. :-)

Come on dman904, you mentioned both in your subject but gave us no opinion about either in your post. :lol:

Something I think people need to keep in mind when talking about Franco is that he suffered a major brain injury and is quite obviously not of the same mind he was before the accident & may possibly never truly be same again. :/

I wrote Mir and Morbidelli in my heading and then wrote “both of these guys” were winners and/champions, referring to them.  I also noted that some folks would add an asterisk to Mir’s championship, but I’m not one of them. Might as well add asterisks to many of Ago’s championships, due to lack of much competition.