MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

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.

The Buriram MotoGP test confirmed Ducati as the preseason favorite, with Aprilia a close second and KTM possibly on the prowl. But what about the Japanese manufacturers? After a couple of years in the wilderness, are they any closer to regaining competitiveness?

After the Buriram test, it looks like Aprilia have raised their game to start to disrupt Ducati's domination of the series. And it also appears they might have overtaken KTM, with Marco Bezzecchi just a fraction slower than Pedro Acosta, and much stronger in race pace.

So where does the Austrian manufacturer stand? And how are their signings of Maverick Viñales and Enea Bastianini to the Tech3 team working out?

While all eyes were on Ducati at the Buriram MotoGP test, especially because of the choice they faced between racing the GP25 or sticking with the GP24 and looking for improvements, it was easy to miss the other big stories on the grid. Stories which directly affect Ducati, as it happens. Because unlike last year, where Ducati pretty much had a free run at the MotoGP championship, it looks like the other manufacturers have made a big step in competitiveness.

Not enough to make betting on anyone other than Ducati winning the championship look extremely foolhardy. But enough to cause Ducati more than just inconvenience. MotoGP in 2025 does not look like being a one-horse race any longer.

Stepping up

It may sound strange, but Aprilia has come out of testing quite well, despite Jorge Martin injuring himself in the first couple of hours of the Sepang test. The bike is a big step forward, which I'll come to later. But the bigger step has been for Marco Bezzecchi, who has really grown in his role as factory rider in Martin's absence.

"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.

Jorge Martin's crash in the first hour of the Sepang MotoGP test has caused tension between Aprilia and the official tire supplier Michelin. Martin suffered a huge highside in the first hour of the test, when his rear tire let go in Turn 2 and flicked him over the bike. He landed very heavily, fracturing a metacarpal bone in his right hand and three metatarsal bones in his left foot.

Martin has since had surgery to fix the metatarsal with a screw, and is set to miss the final preseason test at Buriram. He hopes to be fit for the opening round of MotoGP at Buriram to be held from February 28th to March 2nd. But that means he will start the 2025 MotoGP season and attempt to defend his title with just 13 laps under his belt so far this year, and having played almost no role in developing the 2025 Aprilia RS-GP he will be riding this season.

On the Wednesday evening, Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola came into the media center to explain to journalists what Aprilia believed had happened. Though he did not accuse Michelin directly, he left little room for any other conclusions. "It was a bad crash for no reason, with no mistake on his side and no mistake on the bike’s side," Rivola said. Nor was it a cold tire. "The tires were in the right temperature and the right pressure. But we have no explanation in fact."

Out early