MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

Normally here I would be writing about the characteristics of the track, what to watch out for, where the passing opportunities are, and what the challenges are. But the opening round of MotoGP is at Buriram, where we had a test two weeks ago, and a race at the end of October last year. So I would refer you to those, as the track hasn't changed since then.

One thing that has changed is the heat. At the test, the temperature was in the low 30s °C. Hot, but bearable. This weekend, the temperature is expected to hit 38°C. Those will be some of the hottest temperatures MotoGP riders have faced perhaps since they stopped running Qatar during the daytime.

The heat will be brutal, though the fact that humidity will be low - forecast to be around 20% - means that wet bulb temperatures (used to measure the ability of humans to prevent overheating and suffer serious health consequences) will be within a safe range. Temperatures will be punishing, but survivable.

In many ways, the 2025 MotoGP championship promises to be one of the more interesting in recent years. Perhaps not the most closely contested - the general consensus among fans and pundits alike is that you can take your pick of whether it will be Pecco Bagnaia or Marc Márquez who ends up lifting the 2025 MotoGP crown - but behind the title fight, there are some fascinating developments to watch out for.

We may as well start with that title battle. The dominance of Ducati was so great last year that it is hard to imagine anyone other than Marc Márquez or Pecco Bagnaia walking off with the title. Despite the fact that they are sticking with their GP24 engine - a little more on that later - both Bagnaia and Márquez showed pace during the test, Márquez' race simulation at Buriram almost fast enough to win a sprint race.

In any other season, the MotoGP engine homologation rules are relatively straightforward. Or as straightforward as they can be when engines are sealed and set for a single season, with concessions for underperforming manufacturers.

But the imminent change of technical regulations for the 2027 season has added another layer of complexity. To reduce costs, and prevent factories from having to develop an engine for the 2026 season, as well as a completely new 850cc engine with a maximum bore of 75mm, engine development is also frozen for the 2026 season.

What this means in practice is that the engine design manufacturers in Concessions Categories A, B, and C (Ducati, KTM, and Aprilia) present for homologation before the opening grand prix of the 2025 season at Buriram in Thailand will have to remain unchanged for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

Trust the process

That sounds simple, but there is a little more to it than that. So I have set out the process below.

"This test, these tests don't mean anything, but it means a lot in the same time," said Joan Mir on Thursday after the MotoGP test at Buriram had finished. Though the Honda HRC Castrol rider was talking about the progress made during the test rather the results, he has succinctly summed up precisely how to view the outcome of preseason testing for 2025.

The standings at the end of the Buriram test do not set the outcome of the 2025 MotoGP season in stone. But the times set and the work done do give a good indication of where everyone stands ahead of the first round of the season, and the paths they are headed down. The results of preseason testing should be taken seriously, but not literally.

So what can we say about the outcome of the Buriram tests? A few thoughts, spread over several articles. Starting with Ducati. Why did they revert to the GP24? And does that mean they are going backward?

The final preseason test is a strange creature. Most of the work has already been done at the first test at Sepang. Parts have been tried, and either accepted for use or sent back for scrap. (The parts may be scrapped, but the ideas will be laid aside and the results used to make something better next time.) So there really is a lot less for the teams and factories to test.

Looking at pictures from Buriram, you would be hard pressed to see any new parts compared to the bikes used at Sepang. Or indeed new parts compared to the Barcelona test. As I wrote after Sepang, we are at the stage of MotoGP bike development where designs are converging on the most efficient aerodynamic shape. And we probably won't see any major changes until the new technical rules arrive in 2027.

The MotoGP regulations allow for the teams and factories to have two official tests before the start of the season. The first is traditionally at Sepang, the second at the track where the opening round of the season is set to take place.

In theory, 2025 follows the same pattern. In practice, the second MotoGP test of the 2025 preseason is more of an extension of the first test than a completely separate entity. Since the riders packed up on Friday night, they have traveled to Thailand, had a day of rehearsing the MotoGP launch on Saturday, attended the huge official series launch in the center of the Thai capital Bangkok, a day off on Monday (though likely filled with sponsor obligations in an important market, especially for factory riders) and then a day to discuss the outcome of the Sepang test and the plan for the Buriram test on Tuesday, before taking to the Chang International Circuit for two days of testing on Wednesday and Thursday.

The WorldSBK paddock decamped to the Iberian Peninsula for four days of winter testing. Unfortunately, rain and wind followed the paddock from Jerez to Portimão. Teams were severely hampered with running at both tests and the majority could only use two days of running to try and get ready for the start of the coming campaign.

While the tests wasn’t as efficient as manufacturers would have hoped it certainly wasn’t a waste of time. The majority of the field felt that enough was done to be ready for Phillip Island, because we’ll have two days testing at the thrilling Australian venue, and a mid-March test at Portimão will allow them to get fully ready for the start of the European season at the Portuguese venue.

BMW’s talisman is back on track

After missing the Jerez test a week previously Toprak Razgatlioglu was back on track at Portimao. The Turkish rider arrived mid-afternoon on Monday and was immediately the centre of attention. Speaking to him as he left the garage he was relaxed but obviously concerned about his finger injury.

It has been three long days of testing, and a lot of work, for me as a journalist as well as for the riders and the teams. Of course, I did my work from the comfort of an air-conditioned press room, which made it a fraction easier than riding a 300 horsepower motorcycle as fast as possible in temperatures of well over 30°C.

So no long and detailed analysis tonight. Plenty of time for that in the coming days. For now, here are my initial reactions to what we saw and heard at the Sepang test.

Ducati's dilemma

There can be no doubt that the Ducati Desmosedici GP24 is still an outstanding motorcycle. The three GP24s were in the top four or five on the first two days of the test, and Alex Márquez bettered Pecco Bagnaia's time from last year at the Sepang test by nearly two tenths of a second.

So can Ducati make a better motorcycle? Even Ducati aren't sure. Both Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Márquez are yet to be fully convinced that the GP25 engine is an improvement on the GP24. It has a bit more power, delivers it more smoothly, but it loses out in braking. And there is more time to be gained (or in this case, lost) in braking than in acceleration.

The factory Ducati riders spent almost all the test on the GP24 aero package, as well as the GP24 frame, while Ducati engineers tried swapping out all sorts of different parts in different configurations to try to improve the bike.