The news never stops, and so after an interesting, if not entertaining opening round of MotoGP at Buriram, a round up of a few interesting stories from around the world of motorcycle racing.
Jerez - drowned by not out
The MotoGP paddock has vivid memories of the end of October last year, when we heard about the unfolding tragedy of flooding in and around Valencia. The deaths, the destruction left a deep impact, and caused the final MotoGP round of 2024 to be moved from the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Cheste, near Valencia, to Barcelona. Fortunately the track itself was not damaged, but the infrastructure around the circuit was badly hit.
So when news emerged of flooding at the Jerez circuit on Monday, after a similar 'DANA' storm hit the Andalusia region, those memories were reignited. There were videos of piles of hailstones draining from the roof, standing water tens of centimeters deep in the paddock, and water and hail flowing along the front straight and the access road behind the main grandstand.
The good news is that though the storm was quite severe - 12cm of rain within the space of half an hour - it has caused little damage, beyond a general accumulation of dirt and mud. On Tuesday, the Circuito de Jerez posted a news update on its website of the cleaning work at the circuit, and a report on the state of the circuit.
The circuit reassured fans and media that the Spanish round of MotoGP, scheduled to happen at the Jerez track on April 25th-27th, will go ahead as planned. Cleaning up had started immediately, and the track itself had suffered very little damage. Turns 7, 8, and 11 had been flooded, as the lowest parts of the track, and covered in water, mud, and gravel.
The only real damage had been to the outside of Turn 13, the final corner. The asphalt runoff in the corner had been undercut and lifted by the water, and will need to be repaired. Apart from that, the main task has been cleaning up the accumulation of mud and dirt which flooding brings with it.
More heavy rain is forecast for the circuit at the weekend and the beginning of the week. Hopefully, however, it will not be another so-called DANA storm, but just a very wet few days with a lot of rain. That should allow the drains to cope with the amount of water fallen.
Ducati - GP25 not quite a GP24
Motorsport.com's Oriol Puigdemont has an interesting scoop. The engine homologated by Ducati for Pecco Bagnaia, Marc Márquez, and Fabio Di Giannantonio is not the same as the GP24 engines homologated for Alex Márquez, Fermín Aldeguer, and Franco Morbidelli. The GP25 engines are very close to the GP24 engines, with only a few minor detail changes, rather than a major upgrade, according to Puigdemont's story.
This makes sense. The new engine Ducati had built for the 2025 season was rejected by the riders, as it was worse in braking. Marc Márquez and Pecco Bagnaia both felt they were losing far more in braking than they were gaining in acceleration. They decided instead to stick with the GP24 engine Bagnaia used in 2024.
However, this also presents an opportunity for Ducati to fix some of the minor weaknesses revealed in any engine over an entire season of racing. The changes are likely to be focused on making the engine slightly more reliable, and ironing out weak spots.
This means that Ducati will have homologated at least two of the three engines they are allowed to for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, the 'basic' GP24 of Aldeguer, Morbidelli, and Alex Márquez, and the 'updated' GP24/GP25 of Bagnaia, Di Giannantonio and Marc Márquez. They could have homologated 3 engines, according to the rules. As of this moment, we do not know whether they did or not.
KTM
KTM took a major step toward ending its financially precarious situation on February 25th, when the group's creditors accepted the insolvency deal put before them. KTM now has a lifeline until May 23rd, by which time it has to raise approximately €800 million, though it is hopeful of being able to do that.
The passing of that deal had consequences for KTM co-owner and the man who saved the company from bankruptcy 30 years ago. As part of the deal agreed with the banks, Stefan Pierer agreed to step down as co-CEO of KTM AG, leaving Gottfried Neumeister as sole CEO of the company.
That doesn't mean that Pierer has relinquished control of the company entirely. He still owns a controlling stake in KTM through Pierer Mobility AG, where he is also still co-CEO. He may yet lose control of KTM, if partners such as Bajaj and CFMoto invest the expected amount in KTM, and take a share as a result. But we will not find out if that has happened until the full financing deal is complete and KTM has paid off all of its debts.
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