2025 Buriram MotoGP FP1 Result: Marquez Fastest, Ogura Impresses

By David Emmett |

Marc Marquez kicks off the 2025 MotoGP season at the top of the timesheets. The Ducati Lenovo rider was up to speed immediately, seven tenths off teammate Pecco Bagnaia's outright lap record from last year.

Franco Morbidelli ended the session as second fastest, the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Ducati rider just under two tenths off the time of Marquez, and two tenths ahead of Fabio Quartararo. The Frenchman is carrying his pace from testing into the race weekend, the Monster Energy Yamaha rider just ahead of Pramac Yamaha's Jack Miller. 

Buriram MotoGP Thursday Round Up: Handling The Heat, And Returning From Injury

By David Emmett |

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.

Paddock Pass Podcast Episode 470: Bulega Blitzes Round 1, Toprak In Trouble?

By David Emmett |

The opening round of the 2025 WorldSBK season is in the books and Nicolo Bulega dominated the opening weekend. It was a textbook weekend for the Aruba.it Ducati rider but as Steve and Gordo explain it also meant the stories of the weekend were elsewhere.

Most of the stories focused on Toprak Razgatlioglu and his BMW. On Sunday evening the reigning champion dropped a bombshell that he would consider quiting the series if changes weren't made. Was it postering? As Gordo explains the weekend wasn't quite as bad as a 20 point haul would indicate.

Yamaha confirmed that Augusto Fernandez would replace Jonathan Rea for the next round but how was their race weekend? Bimota are back in WorldSBK and left Australia pleased with their opening gambit.

In WorldSSP we assess the race winning debut of Yamaha's new R9 machine and also discuss Tom Booth-Amos' first career win in the Supersport class.

Jorge Martin Set To Miss Argentina As Well As Buriram MotoGP Rounds

By David Emmett |

Jorge Martin is set to miss the first two rounds of the 2025 MotoGP season. Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola confirmed to media in Thailand that the Spaniard's wrist and scaphoid need more recovery time before he will be able to race.

The reigning world champion fractured the radius, scaphoid and other wrist bones in his left wrist in a training crash. Martin had been riding a supermoto bike for the first time since breaking a metacarpal bone in his right hand in a highside at the Sepang test. A highside on the supermoto bike saw him fracture the bones in his left wrist, as well as in his left ankle.

2025 MotoGP Season Preview - The Subplots Are What Make The Story

By David Emmett |

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.

Paddock Pass Podcast Episode 469: 2025 MotoGP Season Predictions, And Cristian Gabarrini Interview

By David Emmett |

With the 2025 MotoGP season upon us, Adam, David and Neil boldly go where no pundit has been foolish enough to go before, which is to say they put their cards on the table and make a bunch of rash predictions about the season. Who will be the 2025 champion? Who is going to be the disappointment of the year? Who is going to surprise us? Who will finish the season top rookie? Who will be the best rider for each of MotoGP's five factories? Which of the Moto2 riders will be moved up to MotoGP for 2026, and who of the current MotoGP riders should be fearing for their job?

In addition, David interviews Cristian Gabarrini, crew chief to Pecco Bagnaia, and a man who has worked with Casey Stoner and Marc Marquez before. Gabarrini looks back at the 2024 season and dissects what went wrong, what Pecco Bagnaia is working on for the 2025 season, and discusses dealing with the chatter that plagued the MotoGP bikes in 2024.

KTM Restructuring Plan Accepted By Creditors - Must Pay €548 Million By May 23rd

By David Emmett |

KTM have taken the biggest hurdle on the way back from insolvency. At the hearing held by the insolvency court, the administrator Dr. Peter Vogl announced that a majority of KTM's creditors had accepted their plan to repay 30% of the debt and continue as a going concern.

Under the plan, KTM AG will have to pay 30% of the debts, a total of €548 million, by May 23rd this year. The creditors agreed to have the remainder of the debt written off. In addition, KTM have secured another €50 million in funding from Pierer Mobility shareholder Bajaj Auto to restart production from the middle of March this year.

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