Looking Back On Mugello

Motopod proudly supported by Road Skin a UK label specializing in protective outerwear for Motorcyclists modern biker clothing that you can wear all day long and engineered to save your skin for the road for life visit road skin dot co dot UK Hello and welcome to motopod the internet radio show all about motorcycle road racing I'm your host Jim McDowell joined by Richard Jalot going into episode 770 the review of the Magello GP rich Magello has come has gone it was majestic It was magical in some respects boring in other respects But it seems like the after events of the race have to have spoiled a lot of what happened in the race Yes to say everything kind of came in the 24 hour period is more fortunate our period Anyway, it's a bit of an understatement in it So we've got a fair bit of news or crucial news to quickly jump into so yes, it's Probably in some respects the news is more exciting to talk about than the race weekend, which is not normally the case But I think special exception on this one Yeah, but before we talk about any of the news from Magello Is there anything you would like to talk about from Catalonia that you have burning a desire to? Explain your side or a tidbit here and there that maybe I didn't quite mention during my one-off show Yeah, well first of all Jim Thank you for jumping in and doing the solo show as we discussed pre recording my week went a bit sideways last week So hence why I wasn't on with you I mean for me Barcelona the races were good, but they weren't like terribly memorable So I've only got kind of three comments really motor 3 David Alonso is just imperious at this point And now I'm just waiting to hear which motor 2 team the champion will be riding for next year Cuz I mean for me provided he doesn't get injured He's nailed on for this championship and we'll talk about that obviously in terms of the Mugello race moto 2 I mean it was a bit of a crash fest to be honest, wasn't it? So it turned out to be a bit of a nod top 15 But boss is Keira clearly that and the Pirelli tire is the combination of choice at the moment Isn't it and a nightmare for Aldegaard, which again we're gonna talk about in a moment But dropping it in the long lap loop. Oh dear That'll haunt him for a while and then moto GP I mean the weekend just to sort of recount what you told everybody and everybody knows was kind of started off with the spargaro LH that is announcing his retirement and I don't know if you picked up in the show because I did listen to it briefly But most of the thought was that he was likely to be just ready to announce that he'd be a previous Test-rider for you know going into the 2027 regs, but it doesn't appear to be the case Strongly being linked to a testing role at HRC Which is going to surprise a lot of people including the management of the prillier I would imagine because the captain's jumping off the ship. So that was kind of like a headline for me other than that Yeah, it was that kind of weird Bagnari crash on the last lap in the sprint and then a mega moto GP race You know the full Grand Prix the following day.

So although Bagnari is inclined to drop it at odd times He does really kind of he's resilient in there because he bounces back so well He just puts it behind him and cracks on so a lot of credit to him for that Yep, that is true. Ben. I does seem to rebound quite well from mistakes that he does make and It is one of the things that it kind of makes this championship interesting this year But let's look at Magello because I think the championship next year may be even more Interesting because we finally got the bombshell news that we were waiting for We'll start with the fact that Jorge Martin kept his word and said I will be on a factory bike Next year, I think a lot of us thought that it might have been and then you know I think he even said that he wasn't gonna be at pre-mac. It was gonna be a full works bike I think a lot of us Myself included thought that Martin was gonna slide in next to Ben Yaya Marquez is gonna slide over to pre-mac or Marquez is gonna stay at Grissini and have a full 2025 motorcycle there. However, that was not the case Martin has signed a two-year deal to ride for Aprilia Okay Then from there we learned that Marquez was now officially going to go to DG delinia and be next to Peko in the factory Ducati garage and By the way We've learned that this kid named Acosta has got a two-year deal to ride on the orange bikes at KTM and not the red Bikes at KTM and good golly all that happens in a 24-hour span rich I'm not sure where to start to break this down.

I'll let you take a first crack at it well, obviously we weren't there unfortunately because I think most of this certainly the Revelation I think we can call it. I don't mean I was overstating it really the revelation that happened with Aprilia on Monday, I think it was when this news broke was it Monday or was it Sunday? No, it's I think must be Monday It was Monday caught everybody by surprise So obviously the entire moto GP community including all of the journalists stayed on in Mugello because there was a one-day test Although it was largely rained off. So there was very little running and I think we have to rewind a little bit here because there's clearly been a lot going on behind the scenes I mean we knew going into well even several races ago But certainly going into Mugello that Yamaha were continuing to pursue Pramak who kept putting out notices to the effect that they intended to be on Ducati's next year, but they weren't kind of like categorically saying that was going to be the case and clearly Marc Marquez has been the linchpin in all of this because the other factor in all of this of course Jim is that I don't think Ducati either want or are capable of producing more than four fully supported GP 25s So if Pramak were going to stick with their deal and have two works bikes Then it didn't look as if Chrisina were going to get a works bike or a bang up to date 25 model for Marquez So he had to go somewhere Marquez came out very early in the weekend at Mugello and said I'm not riding for Pramak I mean he made that Absolutely clear which I was gonna swear that ticked off people in Pramak no end and caused Ducati an enormous headache at that point because from a couple of the other podcasts I've listened to and you know I do kind of take on board a lot of what Simon Patterson says because he's well tapped in whether you agree with Many of his tweets or not. That's besides the point He's well tapped into what's going on and what's been said and to all intents and purposes from what I can gather The Martin deal was pretty much done by sort of handshake other than putting in composure Paper and then Marquez throws, you know this wobbly into the mix Which is I'm not riding in Pramak and Ducati are not able to commit to putting a GP 25 into Chrisina So obviously there was a huge scramble At which point Martin found out or got the impression that he was about to be thrown under the bus and he simply went next door to his mate Oles and went and had a meeting with Massimo Rivola and within again what I heard was that the Aprilia team lawyers commercial people worked through the night to draw up a contract because they were more or less ready to sign either Bazzacchi or probably Bastionini and The Martin deal happened basically overnight and of course Aprilia announced it first So they completely pulled the rug out from underneath Ducati.

So it's been Machiavellian sort of politics and all sorts of shenanigans going on across that kind of Four or five day period of the Mugello weekend And as you say Jim basically and it's officially announced today that Mark Marquez Will be Bagnari's teammate next year on a two-year deal again. Everybody's gonna run up to 27 basically for the new regs Martin obviously is at Aprilia. We don't know who his teammates going to be Maverick Vignale is bizarrely kind of made some comment about sniffing around HRC I mean that that would be a disaster of epic proportions if that ever happened in my opinion But I strongly suspect he'll stay but he didn't know that the Martin thing was happening because it happened so quickly and he Found out through social media apparently so Maverick Vignale is probably not the most happy guy again, this has not been made official yet, but Carlo Pernat who manages a lot of the rise including and their Bastionini let it slip on a radio Interview over the weekend that on Monday anyway that Bastionini will be riding at Tech 3 gas gas KTM next year so that appears to have slotted into place. So the big question mark now is What the Pramac do because you know, they haven't got Martin. They're not gonna get Bastionini Aldo will be a question mark.

I would imagine in terms of where he goes So do they now take the money from Yamaha and just kind of look forward to the future because even though they will have GP25s if they haven't got let's say Top riders on them and I'm not saying any of these riders are not top riders because they all are but experienced top riders Then they might just take the view that they're better off, you know taking a large amount of money from Yamaha to run a worked satellite squad and What does that mean in terms of who's riding for them? We don't know and obviously then there's Grissini. They've lost Marquez Probably Alex will stay put but I don't know I mean an interesting debate now is maybe we can just quickly get into it because I've got some thoughts Who rides for Pramac assuming it's Yamaha next year who rides on the VR 46s and who's in the Grissini squad? Thoughts Jim, there's a lot to unpack there. Yeah, there's there's a hell of a lot to unpack there I think the best way to have it unpacked was I retweet it on my feet on X You know at Moto RGB is a the classic meme of the one kid drowning in the pool The mother playing with the other child and that's Marquez is the little child Gigi delinia is the mom the drowning kid is his Peko and then in the lower frame It's a shark and it has a diver in it and the shark is Acosta and the diver is Bastion Eany, it's like wow.

We we went crazy here and all this time personally, this has to be one of the most brilliant rider led decision-making forces ever Rossi has pulled off some major coups in Rearranging Honda to get to Yamaha to get to Ducati to go back to Yamaha Okay, not gonna deny that Rossi wasn't brilliant at picking what he was doing but Marc Marquez Was dealt I think a relatively low hand at the poker table he might have been holding a couple of pair and that was about it and He somehow, you know cashed in for a royal flush And has moved himself. I guess first I'll say this Marquez has moved himself to the prime spot on a factory Ducati in Lovano red Wow He's now pushed his nearest title title rival Martine to a team that probably won't be able to mount a serious title challenge Although Aprilia will do well with Martine. Is it going to be a serious title challenge? I don't think so. He's also undermined Strategically the ground that Pekka Banyaya walks on at Ducati all of that is some weirdly wild political game The likes of which we haven't seen in decades and Marquez comes out of this one Absolutely brilliant with the proper word drops at the proper time I mean, it's just absolutely amazing on the flip side You've got KTM saying look this man Acosta now goes to ride in orange Oh, by the way, we're just gonna take bashing inside him from one red team to another red team Which I think is great for bashing Ene.

I think him going to gas gas being with her of a punch RL I think that he's got the experience. I think he can make that bike work I think that they have to have a different kind of rider on the KTMs now Acosta has Basically uprooted and severely put his feet under the desk at KTM with just the way that he's ridden the bike so far this year Miller Fernandez Bender have not produced the results that that kid has on that bike Which is amazing and the way pit buyer told it was he chose to stay with us Okay, let's stop for a second and let's look at the playing field as it laid out If I'm Acosta, where are you going to go? Does he think he's gonna get anything better by being at the KTM factory than being a gas gas? He might get some bits faster perhaps, right? But I think he gets the best say at which direction the motorcycle is going to be changed over the rest of the course of this year and through testing Into next year which puts him at the top of the heap again Here's another masterstroke of a political move that puts a cost on the top of the heap leaves everybody chasing him at this point and forces Forces KTM to up their game to the level of where Ducati actually is with all that said PreMac, I think has no choice no choice, but to take the Yamaha deal and Then we also heard sort of like an all I can't remember if this was a tweet or He I think it was a tweet from Simon Patterson Maybe I don't remember but I know I saw this like on on on Twitter X was Joe Roberts making the comment I don't think I'm really gonna be at track house next year Because I don't think there's gonna be a lot of room for rookies and like that tweet came out and it was like Hours later Martins off at a brilliant that all this shakes up So I don't even know what's gonna happen to Joe I mean, I thought that was a shoe in a track house It still might be a shoe in a track house, but I'm wondering if he maybe isn't looking at PreMac or PreMac isn't looking at him.

Well, that would be a question of who Yamaha is looking at I think under this particular Timeline that we're looking at going forward in terms of what happens and who goes where it's very hard to know Can I just pick up on a few things that you say Jim? Because I mean, you know, this is being get regurgitated through social media and all the various podcasts and so I'm kind of I'm not coming up with Original thoughts necessarily. I just I'm certainly repeating a few things that I've heard or read but they're pertinent and they're interesting And so the first point is to your take on Aprilia, which they are not a championship winning team at the moment However, a little bit like Suzuki used to be they are relative to other people in the paddock. They're relatively underfunded Now will Martin coming in drawing a big Spanish sponsor? because if they can bring in more money they can do more stuff and they can overcome some of the things that kind of Caused them to drop away and they've tended to start season strong and then fall away as the season has gone on and that's likely Because they just you know, the people get worn out the parts get worn out.

They can't be replenished quickly enough Yada yada yada So if they've got more money they can address some of those kind of issues and whilst they're unlikely to turn that around next year They might by 26 going into 27 They might and you know Martin whether you like him or not as a character and this is pertinent to the Ducati Situation, of course, he is bloody fast I mean and he will get everything there is to get out of that bike of that I think we can be absolutely sure so the prilliers kind of position in the last few years Martin might actually shine a light on that bike a little bit where your cost has shone a light on the KTM And it might go to show that actually the riders that they've had not extracted everything that the bike can give And he might take it that next step as a Costa is clearly doing with the KTM now I think the this Martin kind of personality thing played a bit of a role in all of this and Whilst Mark Marquez could hardly be considered a daisy in the field He is quite professional Whereas Martin is kind of like a bundle of anger kind of rolled up in a ball of energy And it's very explosive and good in certain respects But you know Maybe they just didn't want that in the team and when Marquez kind of made his position perfectly clear They just decided to change tack and go in a different direction allied to which of course mark Marquez is on a 23 Bike at Grissini and it from what again from what I've heard. It's not even like the end of the season 23 bike It's a few steps beyond that as well So given where he is in the championship and what he's been doing in the races He has crashed a few times, but then most of them do I think you catch you're looking at it and thinking well Bloody hell if he was on a really bang up to date 24 by People probably wouldn't be seeing which way he went and that may well prove to be the case over the course of the next couple Of years, of course and then just on the cost of things. I didn't mention that you've obviously picked up on the fact that he Goes up to the work squad. I mean he's making them all look pretty average In the at the moment, I mean Binder, you know has the contract and will be his teammate next year But across is definitely showing that that bike is better than the riders that they've had have been showing it and that includes Binder Really who has been the standout performer on that bike, but compared to Acosta Doesn't appear to be anywhere at the moment now not to say you won't turn it around and I'm sure that he will because he's a Quality quality rider, but Acosta is just on another level at the moment as to where the bastion enies gonna fit in there I've got my doubts a little bit really but Again time will tell but bastion is big problem is he's jumping on the bike that Acosta is gonna vacate and that's a pretty Uncomfortable place to go to I would think particularly given that bastion in is spectacular at the end of the race But he's not particularly spectacular any other time. So don't know he's only ever in the Ducati as well Only bastion in the in Moto GP.

So it's a big change for him and it'll either work or be a bit of a disaster So I hope it's the former but that KTM is not the easiest bike to ride it's kind of Honda ish in its DNA and It works for some people and it doesn't for others and you can't really class across during that Equation because he's an alien So the normal rules don't apply to the three or four aliens that exist at any given point in time I mean, I mean arguably there's only two or maybe three I don't know you can we can argue that one out another day Acosta is definitely an alien as far as far as I'm concerned to use the terminology from the sort of two powers and intense Yes Acosta is the alien. I think Marquez is the other alien You could argue Martin is the third and after that We can we can argue if we go back to Martin and Aprilia real quick my last thought on it It will is probably the last piece of the puzzle a pretty was missing was the top tier Quality rider that was gonna push that bike and push them to make the bike better the results of which is gonna take a little Bit of time but it's an odd position for them to be in by time By the time Martin can get on the bike at the end of the year Can they actually affect any kind of massive change if they don't it's gonna be all throughout? 2025 they're then going to get to 26 and with all the massive rule rule changes that are coming for 2000 for 2027 is there enough time for them to then build a really good 26 bike and maybe take a championship or Do they sacrifice some of the 26 bike to get the 27 bike? Competitive that's a strange place to be but Jim That's why I think it's the Acosta KTM point is pertinent because it may well be that he pretty is a much better bike than Their current riders are showing it to be and that if Martin jumps on it, maybe they don't need to do a big step Maybe he will just bring more air to the package that they've already got I think a previous weakness as you've already said and we were just talking about is more of an operational one and that's more to Do a budget than skill or engineering or bike development? I mean, let's be honest a pretty have completely led the way I would argue certainly in terms of the ground effect Arrow that's come in.

I mean, they were the first to have to step sides and stuff and really start to play with that Part of the arrow so I mean they're very forward-thinking but they are small and they have a very small budget So if they can sort that bit out then Martin plus that, you know If they can bring a big title sponsor on board because they don't have one and I don't think they ever have really since they came Into Moto GP certainly not in this latest iteration when they did back in the 990 era But you know, they need a big title sponsor that will throw a big hunk of cash at them So and you know Martin imagine the motivation he's gonna have to go and beat the Ducat is having been shunned I mean Certainly twice and you might argue three times actually over his recent history So he's gonna be a man on a mission and I'm gonna I'm really looking forward to seeing that actually because although Again, he's a bit of a divisive character as many of them are He is very very very fast That's always where you want to be as a team having one of them on your bike Martin is the Lewis Hamilton of Moto GP and Incredibly fast amazingly talented yet. I can't stand how his attitude is off of the bike and around the team Yeah, some of the things he says they stick in the throat a bit. Yeah I you you you are possibly right about Aprilia I was looking at it from the fact that can they find a sponsor a big title sponsor? Are they gonna land? I don't know Can't think of a really large Spanish company besides Repsol or maybe Australia Galisey that would go to PreMac That's to be seen is it only money?

That's the problem possibly you could be right Martin may be just enough to push them to the front where they need to be consistently I just think that they're still a little behind and if they want to I think everybody's got a lot of time to try to figure out an engine a chassis for that engine and then revamp themselves for no ride height controls or Any of that kind of stuff is going to take time and money which is going to go against the Priya developing the 25 bike in the 26 bike That's how I see it But either way where where everybody's piece so far on what we think of as the big three teams the KTMs the the Ducati's In the Aprilia's it should be Absolutely fascinating to watch what happens next year. I'll leave it there Do you want to have a stab at who's gonna be on a Pramak Yamaha? If that is what comes to pass? Can I back that up just slightly and maybe flip this on you because I need some time to think Where does out of her go on a Ducati does he go to PreMac if? Pramak decides against that against going to Yamaha would they put out of your there?

Or does out of her take mark Marquez's spot in? Grissini it depends what his contract says about what bike is entitled to ride. Don't it? Yes, it does We may be completely wrong about the Pramak Yamaha thing and it might be the case that Yamaha Don't get their wish of a satellite squad. Although clearly they're opening the checkbook and trying to entice somebody to do it I think if a Pramak Yamaha is on the grid next year, I think Aldegaard because Ducati have to place in summer I think he goes to VR 46 Admittedly on a year old bike and I think did you go see Yamaha because I think did you would be a good fit for Yamaha?

Because he's a very competent rider and I think he's a good development rider as well You saw the way he grew into the Grissini ride just by the skin of his teeth He retained a place but he did I think he would be a good fit I don't see more Badelli wanting to get back on a Yamaha. So what happens to more Badelli? I think he goes to Grissini and goes on to an older G Katty in order to stay in Moto GP and But the other Yamaha bike if it is a Pramak Yamaha I wouldn't be surprised if Yamaha went shopping in Moto 2 and I could certainly see somebody like Sergio Garcia get in the call Because again, he would be good to come up onto satellite Yamaha in particular as a Moto 2 Maybe maybe not champion. Maybe I mean he's doing pretty well But he's certainly showing himself to be at the top of the of two or three riders maybe four in Moto 2 this year Excepting that Aldo has already got a deal. I think Garcia Aguirre Joe Roberts.

He has to be considered for a Moto GP ride particularly after the weekend He's just had and possibly even with a bit of a sort of passport aspect to it Maybe even Dixon might be of interest to a Pramak Yamaha because again It could work and he has ridden the Yamaha before albeit briefly when he subbed for Dove I think it was a couple of seasons ago did a couple of races on the what was it the I forget what the sponsorship No, the old R&F Yamaha before they switched to Aprilia He rode at Silverstone and a couple of other rounds that year I think so that could happen, but I certainly see Garcia as a potential so I would say Pramak Yamaha Digia and Garcia VR 46 I don't see that Bizecki has anywhere to go really and I could see Aldo get slotting in next to him and then Grissini Alex Marquez and maybe a more Badelli if he wants to stay in Moto GP because I don't know where else he would go I'm gonna go with that because I can't argue it The only thing is like who fills out the Aprilia your question really is track house, isn't it? Yeah, Raul seems to have figured things out slightly Yeah, I could see them keep in role and maybe Olivera too because he has kind of turned it around a smidgen a smidge But not enough. I think the clock's running out on Miguel to be honest I mean, what the hell do I know? But you know because he started off strong on you know When that was the R&F Aprilia last season and of course in what round two you got torpedoed by Marc Marquez I mean the irony of it all And he hasn't ever really kind of found any form since then because he obviously had a big injury as a result of that crash which was not his fault and He's shown a few glimmers in the last couple of races, hasn't he? But whether it's enough to save him I'm rather doubtful at the moment and just is it Justin Marks?

I think the guy who's in charge at track house the team owner I mean he gave an interview I don't know if he caught it Jim was on the Dawn of feed Where he was kind of being fairly resolute about the fact that they're not that team doesn't exist to give an American rider a position just because they're an American rider and that kind of felt as if it was aimed at Joe Roberts a little bit if I'm honest, but that was before Sunday happened and that was a motivation. That was a statement kind of Well, I'm sure most people know what the result was so it was a statement win, wasn't it and certainly puts him back in Serious contention for that ride. I would have thought but who knows and then the only other one I mentioned is a guru really and you could certainly see him slotting in in place of Nakagami if a guru wants to risk potential career suicide by jumping on the Honda at the moment Where does Murigo he's talking about retiring at the minute? He's talking about it, but if track house says hey we want you are you not going he would definitely go Yeah, if pre-mac has a Yamaha, I think they go talk to mirror. Yeah come here It's a four-cylinder in line you last time you had a sweet handling bike you won a world Championship come here.

Other than that, I don't know I really don't know it's gonna be interesting and fun to see how this plays out as we continue on I think we've explained as much as we know and about silly season other than the knowns of where people are as far as Marquez and Martin and Bastionini and Acosta everything else is fluid Because contracts are made to be broken. But again, Jim Let's just say let's not kind of paint over the fact that that Marcus thing over the weekend. That was a bombshell I mean, no, yes, I don't think anybody in the paddock saw that one coming and it happened so fast that Yeah, it just caught everybody out. Although people have been speculating about it I think most people felt that mark would get a 25 bike in the Chrisini squad or if he had to go to Pramak That's what he would do and he just played an absolute blinder. I Said I'm not going to Pramak That is not an option for me and he really forced you cat his hand and you might argue that they panicked or they just made A hard decision but it all happened so fast It was that is kind of like the magic of you know When this sort of thing happens it happens in lots of different sports not exclusive to Moto GP by any stretch of the imagination But when it does happen, it's just kind of dynamite in it.

Yeah, I have this vision in my head of Tardazzi and GG talking and say hey look we're gonna put Martin in the team, right? Yep. Yep. Yep. Okay All right So then we're gonna make mark go to Pramak right and he gets that other he gets the other 2025 bike.

Yep. Yep, that's what we're all in agreement with this. Okay, cool and Pramak stays on board under that So my mark stays on board, right? Everyone is happy So everybody's happy I see this is the picture and then I will I see Tardazzi walking over to Marquez and then dances Hey mark, we're gonna get you 25 bike, but we're gonna put you in Pramak. Nope Ain't riding it if it's in Pramak what not doing it and then you can then you kind of see Tardazzi kind of explode Because he doesn't know what to do and then you see mark running off.

He finds GG says GG I thought we had a deal and who runs the roost there bud and then GG goes back to Tardazzi and says well This is what we're gonna do. We're gonna put mark next to Paco and we don't we're just genocying Martin Well, he would we promised him that it doesn't matter. This is what we're doing I just kind of watched the I would love to have had the sweater cam on Tardazzi during all this whole sequence because it would be fascinating to see who really runs the show there I think I think GG runs the show in the team. Yeah, I agree Yeah, again, help me the guy who runs to Kadi. I want to say I can never get his name, right?

I was just trying to think of it myself. No, I can't move Stefano Domenico, but that's the guy who runs Formula One And that's so that's not I'll have to write let me dwell on that minute But he was with a white shirt, didn't he? Yes, he used to be the team manager back in the Troy Bayless and Loris Caparazzi days when they first came in In the 990 Golly, this is age. You see agent time of day. Anyway, I just imagine him standing there Oh, yeah, that's okay I just can't imagine him looking at Tardazzi and going like I go with what Gigi what Gigi says and that's how it is And then that's the end of the conversation and then here we are standing here all bombshell and shell shock Whatever what just happened and now the scramble is on with it I mean, I don't think the Acosta thing was really that big of a shock No, what made it sound shocking was that pit buyer said well, he wants to be with us time out there Pit where else was the kid gonna go?

By every single you would have been Career suicide, right? Yeah. Yeah, it would have been but they would have been offering a King's Rants and gossips of money Yes Oh, of course Anybody else probably what couldn't have afforded the money that Acosta wanted and so that was just where it was gonna stay You know, the bigger thing is is guessing who is going to have the best motorcycle in? 2027 because you're gonna see another huge round of games Going into that 2027 because people are gonna there's gonna be all these leaks about who's testing what and who looks good and who doesn't people are Gonna be shifting to try to figure out to position themselves to be on what will be what could be the best motorcycle, right? Times like these I wouldn't bet against Honda not building some kind of 850 CC monster motor and I wouldn't bet against Ducati not doing it either but then You know if you're eliminating and reducing most of the aerodynamics and taking away all the ride heights part of it You got to throw Honda's name back in there having a shot a shot of pulling themselves out of this hole I don't you obviously can plant Yamaha in there for having a really good Chassis, so then it's like well, where does a pretty fit in all this and is KTM gonna make something in it?

Oh, that's just enough to make my head spin Point you know, we got to get onto the actual races But what we're seeing in motor to in particular and let's put on poor old Tony Arbolino again You know in Moto GP in 2026 a rider that's great on an end of evolution current generation 1000 CC wings ride height devices bike doesn't necessarily Make the transition to a new set of regs bike You can't take it for granted that somebody would just make that transition and still be at the very very top And certainly not necessarily straight away so there's a huge amount of disruption coming with those reg changes because they are very significant changes and Just the other thing Claudio Domenico. Oh, yes. Thank you. Yeah. Sorry.

I forgot as well It's okay click Lee on your thought there of somebody who's great on an end of end of evolution bike at a thousand CCS with wings And I had devices may not be good on a bike. That's a very true statement I agree with you rich, but I will tell you this the alien esque Guys are going to adapt faster to that than anyone else So yeah, you're a costas your been Yaya's Your Martins are probably going to adapt quicker to that solution then say maybe an out agar a DG Antonio a Bizeki so mere given the opportunity of being plugged onto a 27 bike may regain His form. Yeah, you don't know it's a wild shot. But okay, we got a lot to come Third time's a charm we're gonna go to the actual racing how folks again that was some great news that come out It was pretty much I think everybody was waiting for that, but I didn't think we were gonna get all of this I think we may have I thought we were gonna learn like maybe One person was gonna lead move or something was gonna happen. I mean Honestly at the cost of news having happened at Magellan wasn't that big of a deal I thought I think we all kind of understood that I thought well, okay, that's it coming We're going into this three weeks and well anyway, here we are.

Anyway, let's get to moto three Let's go to the racing the first qualifying session for moto three it had Barely it had Kelso Piqua it had Munoz and Epstein up Kelso and Munoz are sort of outliers in that group I think this is the first or second time Kelso was in that First qualifying session and Munoz has been in that first process qualifying session before but you're you're finding out That's a little bit odd and then you found out that Joel Kelso had signed with MTA Team for next year for moto three already So Kelso who was one of the last signings to get on the bowie motorsport bike and one of the last signings for moto Three to begin with had taken an opportunity When given it went to get to the the Italian team to get to MTA level up and The way Bowie said it they're like well, you know, we said Joel We need results from you and you can have a contract But apparently the results that Joel was getting wasn't good enough for Bowie It's kind of how I took that which I thought that was a little shocking I mean, there's been a little dip in form here. But if you're there I mean it also explains kind of why Joel was late to both interviews that I had because maybe that's where he was really doing The deal was in coda. I'm speculating and I have no idea he could just Other commitments that ran late I have no idea but I For it to be announced this early on and we're only three races prior from where we were at coda I'm just kind of putting two and two together. I believe Jim that he rode for that team in the junior championships as well So there's some history there So maybe they seen his form and thought right we'll have a bit of that we'll have him back Well, it could have been good very well could have been either way Ogden Munoz Kelso and a fair early all Go to the second one and Ogden actually only got the got to where he got because he had a massive toe like three bikes That told him across her again. I think they were saying moto three was like three tents in the draft So kind of crazy big huge So we get to the second qualifying session where we learned that Alonzo has been seven tents faster than everybody right now I think Alonzo has never been beaten in a practice session to being the number one rider in Moto GP or moto three I think he's like six sessions in a row or something He's topped and he's done them by huge amounts compared to anybody else of this Vire would go down at turn one or sorry turn 11.

I'm sorry. He went down quickly got remounted got back up again Alonzo was on pole followed by or Tola who was who had then followed him and Then was that a little bit quicker there? But then Alonzo just stayed out and stayed cool So try to set the scene I guess it didn't do very well Alonzo was out and then or Tolo came out right behind him So those two were told it was like glued to the back of Alonzo for the whole I think they ran like the last five or six laps just hooked together and The interesting to me was that Alonzo didn't care that our total was there. He knew he was close He didn't care He put his head down and after about three laps or Tola could not run the pace that Alonzo could so then Alonzo winds up taking the pole over or Tola and Then you had Rueda Vire whole guardo and lunetta on that front row So I really thought it was good of Alonzo to just say I don't really care I'm fast and if you want to run this pace with me go ahead yeah, but you're not gonna be able to and You and it was really interesting because they spent a lot of time following Alonzo and or Tola around you could see I think It's the third sector Alonzo was brilliant through that sector He would put a gap on or Tola and he or Tola would get just enough back in the fourth sector to get the long could you get the draft and Pull on through so that was the qualifying session of it. We went to the race We would find out that Faroli and Esteban had long Long lap penalties because they had slow riding and were impeding during the practice session So they were going to have to deal with that during the race Alonzo did get a whole shot.

He fell by our Tola for a sawto was up like five places heading into the first turn It was in fire rated Munoz who also had a very good start to get from where he was Hogarto went backwards to 10th and then Alonzo was off the edge of the curbing. I think at a turn six or something That was a moment. Yeah, he was out of the seat. The bike was all over the place I thought wolf this is all over for our boy Alonzo But he pulled it back in again and then we get into this The the drafting game that was going to start to be played and fire would go by for a sawto then they suck on by with Rada going by roll stone and they're sort of all over the place and We got a red flag for a crash that happened at turn nine Is it zero zero thorough the other Spanish writer on the KTM? I think it might be zero zero twos about zero twos.

I think I might be wrong on that I think you're at Zeratuzza Falls and then very oldie went right into him at Not sure where exactly that it's turned nine I'm trying things like that's down Casanova area I think where they're heading back downhill and It was very reminiscent of the tragedy that happened with the moto three rider a few years ago You know rider in front makes a mistake. There's actually nowhere to go. You're pinned on the throttle I was very paranoid that we had another very severe situation Having seen a brief glimpse of the replay and saw from the angle. It looked like it had hit Ferrioli had hit Zerothura Zerothara in the back near the top of the shoulders collarbone area very scared about the neck in that area for that crash We quickly went to a red flag which only heightened the intensity of the potential problem that could have happened there But we did learn that he was conscious They did put him in an ambulance that appeared to be in moving and he kind of had like a wave to the crowd a Small thumbs up. They did say that he had some back trauma, which I believe would be the best way to put it Given the fact that I'm traveling this week folks.

I'm actually not at home. I haven't seen rich Is there any more medical news on them? I think he's been cleared now. So great. That's fantastic Serious injury we're happy to report because as you say Jim it did look initially very Unpleasantly reminiscent of the Jason de Pasquere was it who got killed?

I believe so four or five years ago Just that horrible crash where you know, they're going so fast if somebody goes down It's very hard for the following rider to do anything about it. But no, I think he's pretty well Okay, I mean I'm sure he feels as if he's been in a big crash because he has but Yeah, it could have been a heck of a lot worse. Let's just put it that way So this now we're meant that we'd have to restart the race We would have 11 laps sprint to finish they would do the fast restart. So, okay pit lane opens for 60 seconds You've got to be out there you come around on the siding lap You have your mechanic out there and then you can proceed to a warm-up lap and we go racing Vier stalled the Husqvarna at the end of pit road Luckily his crew was able to get to him quickly enough to give him a push start He made it out with about four seconds before the pit lane would have closed He would have been then forced to start at the back of the grid which it would have been a major disaster for fire But on the restart Alonzo got the whole shot ahead of head of our toilet Rue de had a crash then NEPA and then Suzuki was down at turn 10 Vier would race his way to the front with first auto and Alonzo So again now we're finally starting to get this group that settles in because the front four guys basically front five guys Who were fire first auto Alonzo or Tola and Munoz? They had a gap they had gapped basically everyone then it was like Yamanaka Holgardo got a double long lap for the crash incident that happened in turn one where he touched Who did he to do how guardo touch?

I don't believe I wrote that down Check back through my notes What did you think about that penalty though? I mean, I think that's the more pertinent point. Oh, I thought it was weak I mean there was a gap as I remember is like there's a gap he went for it I think you should be allowed to go for the gap I don't think he could have seen the riders on the outside and As everybody's trying to go to one racing line, I would have deemed it racing incident. Hmm That or I would have I mean I could kind of maybe see a long lap penalty Considering we've condensed the race, right? The double long lap would have been fine if we were going the whole distance of the 20 17 18 laps that we go up.

Magello. I would have said okay fine. I could maybe see it given the circumstances I would have said one but irregardless It doesn't really matter right? You know It must be said that the usually jovial and very mild mannered have a puncher all who of course is boss of that squad But a very very angry press release afterwards I mean he was spitting about well about the penalty in the first place but particularly the fact that it was a double long lap penalty and I personally felt that was a unbelievably harsh Penalty for a you know, relatively forgivable mistake on the first corner of a restarted race I mean, I thought they were meant to give people a little bit of leeway Given how chaotic the starts of races are so under the circumstances I just thought that was a very poor call by the stewards. Yeah, I again, I a poor call Exasperated by applying the double long lap where I think everybody would have had a slightly calmer reaction to it if It had been a single long lap.

Yeah, I mean he did make a mistake and he touched another rider I agree either went down. So I mean that is penalty territory and a long lap. Yeah, I agree You just said well, maybe still a bit harsh given it's the first corner, but but a double long lap I mean a double long lap to me it kind of insinuates that there was sort of malice or stupidity involved and I just don't think that's An allegation that can be made on the first corner of a restarted race when everybody's adrenaline is just through the roof So yeah, anyway won't dwell but I just thought that was a stupid decision Not the first one of the weekend over but True. Viar has really come on. He's got a little lead over Alonso Munoz or Torla For a start on Yamanaka now these front six are gone It's gonna be decided amongst these six or whatever you have Alonso sort of in the prime position here But Alonso puts his head down and with about three to go and he starts to open up a gap like he had about a Half of a second lead on the guys with two to go Alonso's actually got seven tenths of a lead Which was like wow and it was like, okay Then we got to the very last lap and our Tola who was running a third at the time goes down at turn 12 Argument as to whether maybe he was helped by Viar, but he really wasn't he just sort of lost it on his own The first replay kind of maybe think that Viar may have been in a bit of a problem because I was expecting a penalty Giving what happened at the start of the race?

Let's just have one at the end of the race just to make everyone really mad But cooler has prevailed and nothing was done there But Alonso would win Viar would be second Yamanaka would be third because of Ortolla's crash then for Asada Munoz or Torla then remounts to finish sixth a great ride by Alonso There this kid is Every bit the star that I think we thought he was last year and he's now one in a different way He managed a tire and then said I'm gonna pull the pin and go and you guys can't come with me fine So he's winning races and he's winning them differently. He's not a one-trick pony It's I could do it on the last lap from about third or fourth I can save tires and just pull away at the end if I need to or I could we haven't seen him dominate a race And lead from start to finish. Although I think her ref would have been that race and he would have won in that style But we haven't seen it yet. But the kid is the kids good fire is also very good Dutchman very good as well. I mean, I think those two are destined to moto two rides next year Easily hundred percent for that and then you know, again, we'll figure out but it's interesting how a guardo I don't have the championship standings here with me rich if you could help me run those down I can know that if you could run those down for us to be great and we'll talk about where we are on the points Yeah, okay So Alonso obviously is in the lead on a hundred and forty three points then you've got Danny Holgado on a hundred and six so he's 37 back already and Already dropping into that kind of run a form where bad luck bad calls other people's accidents that involve him are starting to dent his Title aspiration.

So anyway, he's still second via is in third night five points. So he's 48 points back So it's quite a big gap Then you got all total on 80. So he's 63 behind and then in fifth in the championship is Muny off on 60 points so he's a full 83 back. So he's not in contention I mean for me, I would say at this stage It's Alonso and Viya are gonna be fighting this one out as you just said Jim I think possibly Holgado will kind of steadily drop back. He seems to be on that run a form again Alonso people are already sort of talking about his name with Acosta as a comparison I mean, he is super super cool in the and let's not forget I think you mentioned in the fact that he just got his head down in qualifying And just didn't let or told her being behind him bothering me at all when he said his whole lap on the very last lap So he went across the line just check a flag came out got one last go at it and set the pole time I mean that is a cool head on young shoulders there So it does very much feel a bit like an Acosta level talent at this point in time Accepting that you know, he's got to win the championship and he's got to see what he does in moto 2 and Viya Shouldn't work on a moto 3 bike I did ask him about this in Qatar last year people refer back to the interview, but he was absolutely dead set No, his size is not an impedance to him and It doesn't appear to be does it but I can't think of many riders with his stature That have done as well in moto 3 because it doesn't seem to be a tall guy's Formula to me, but he makes it work for sure.

But again, he has to go out to motor 2 You know given the motor 2 riders in the liquid molly certainly down binda I think he's probably on a sticky wicket. So there might be a slot opening up there for him. But I'm going on That's okay. I I think you're correct I think a fire is is going to the local Molly Husker barn a team in motor 2 think that's where he's destined I think that Alonzo is going to tech 3 Gas-gas I think you got to put Alonzo there next year Let him have a year to acclimate to the bike, which would be 25. I think 26 He probably runs rampant in the class and wins a title Allah Acosta and I think you see him slot into gas gas You know on the moto GP team in 27.

That's just a projection. I see I I will be wrong I guarantee you but he's a talent. I like that kind of progression though. That makes a whole heck of sense to me Particularly the bit where he jumps on a motor GP bike without the encumbrance of having been on the outgoing Yep, you don't want to taint him in my opinion. You don't want to take him with a motor GP bike Hey look learn to craft here Even if you did magically win the world title in motor to your first year who cares stay there Develop it and then come in and get a motor GP bike because then Give him like a one-year deal on the gas gas.

And if you want to you making teammate to Acosta because those two will You're gonna have some crazy going on there. Anyhow, that was moto 3 a really good race. It was a good race I know it was entertaining. Yeah entertaining race. So we'll go to mo We'll go to motor to you which I want to say straight up folks This is the best race of the weekend for many reasons, but not the reasons you think yes That is but part of it is part of it is not gonna like but I thought it was the best race on merit because There was a fair amount of passing and there was a fair amount of back and forth but let's talk about qualifying really quickly in moto to basically a Coba vendor Ramirez and Fendi Gerberg get out of the first session and get to the second session now on and we learned That out of girl was not going to go out.

He had a neck Sore neck that it was one of those things that no one understood why he had it what was happening It was very very stiff. He was trying to get a massage They went to the doctor that was there. It didn't seem to help him at all There was definitely something going on What's that one where your neck hurts is like is it meningitis or something? I should have asked my wife. I think Yeah, I Forgot to ask her that's my that's my fault I was packing to get here in Rhode Island folks I forgot to ask my wife, but I think it's like manages out there Oh, maybe he's got that because that could be a potential problem, but he wasn't going out and qualifying So he was gonna start 18th at best halfway through Garcia has the fastest lap Paul by Gonzalez Lopez the Cini the wild card Chandra and can at Roberts is down an eighth Literally we get down to the very end of this and It's like you're waiting for something to happen and it and basically it's Roberts He jumps up to the pole with a 130 lap I mean his best lap before that was like a 149 8 then he jumps up to a 130 which is like this Amazing that this big jump that had taken place.

It was like a track record lap I think for him to be able to do it. Actually, I think the record was like 149. I think was what he said Yeah, again, they've been going like one and a half two seconds quicker a lap on the perol is something It's just mentally much faster credible Garcia would be second on the front row with him Lopez Gonzalez Binder who from that first session so Binder having a small run of form and then Ramirez was there as well So that was how the motor to race was gonna start with those guys going there It was the first whole position I can think of that Joel has had maybe he had one more Now he's on pole somewhere like a tar or something. Yeah, I think you're right He's a bit of a guitar specialist and they yeah a bit of that Yeah But either way the race was cut to 12 laps because of the red flag that happened in the motor 3 race just before it So we're down to 12 laps and I'm thinking at the beginning this is like well, it's 12 laps. It's a sprint We're not gonna have to worry about trying to save the tire if the tires gonna make the distance that we can just run This one flat out like the last time we had sort of one of these Shortened races Roberts wins something there's a possibility here.

Let's not get overexcited But we have the possibility Roberts got off to a whole shot followed by Lopez Binder was right there with them Outaguer was 18th off the line because that's where he started a girl was like sixth Then you know Lopez then got by Roberts and I'm like, okay, that's not really good. Then you had you know Binder there Kennett Garcia then out of her was down at turn four So out of her comes off the bike at turn four not sure if any of that he was taken out by Alcoba Who right I'll cover takes him out. You've got a penalty after the race, but you'll have to serve next time out That's what we need to talk about was a basically Alcoba just literally cleaned him out Was it shown on the TV? I don't recall seeing a replay of it Jim. There's a quick one on the door in a feed It did show Alcoba just basically Clearing in you know in way too deep lost the front just cleaned cleaned him out Because I was wondering if he's gonna make it with with the pain, right?

I mean if you had that kind of pain in your neck and that's a high speed the arrow over your head your helmet It's really gonna move your head around It's gonna make it hard on you and the worst thing is if you get that pain other things happen in your head, right? You can it's like a it's like an eye thing Twitch's stuff like that happens when you get to that level of pain So I was I was concerned whether Alager was actually gonna make it but then he didn't have to because you know Gara Koba cleans him out now they did after the race. They did give him a penalty I think that one was the justified one of all the penalties I agree with that one that he's gonna have to have was it position grid position start penalty or long laps I don't remember what I thought what it was. I just remember saying that he had been given the penalty post-race Yeah, it's weird that some people get penalties for long laps and some get grid positions I just again this is consistency about stewarding that we really don't want to talk about right now Yeah, as we go Let's just say that they're doing the best that they can Roberts was on the wrong side of one of the curves. He's kind of like Alonzo that same Section of curving there towards the end of the end of the lap Gonzales would get up to second Bender goes down at turn eight.

It's still Lopez Gonzales and Roberts Can it Garcia and then in a Gura then Roberts got by going into turn one? I'm like, okay, this is really good. But Lopez came right back by Roberts and then it's like, okay, wait a minute Hold on here Roberts fought back again So we have this exchange of lead here three times within like a lap lap and a half Which is really some pretty good racing and they're really going at it then Gonzales is at the front because I think what the Roberts and Lopez touch at turn one that causes them to run wide that Allows Gonzales can net Lopez and everybody sort of to run underneath of them and I'm like, well, okay That's it. Put the flag back in the drawer because we're done here. We're not gonna you know We're in a mental because mental disaster here that you know, we're just now we're gonna maybe get a pound maybe get a podium But I was looking at it from the standpoint like well that's better than what usually happens because at least Garcia is behind us and In for I don't know why but Garcia could not make things happen.

He had a second place starting position He was always sixth. He really had no pace to catch anyone So I'm really concerned with what what was wrong with Garcia like I don't know if you got it I don't want to say anything bad about probably but did you get a bum tire? Did he spin a weight? Did did slip on the rim? There's all these little things that could have happened Did he just pick wrong?

But I think everybody was on SC ones. They were on the softs I mean, it was 12 laps, but if if Garcia was betting on going with like a medium rear or the harder SC I don't know what the harder probably compound is But if he was running on the harder compound That's what he was wanting to go the whole distance and the bike was set slightly differently Maybe that tire didn't work for him during that time frame, but then with three laps to go Sorry before to go can't still leading but Roberts now gets by Lopez. So Roberts fights back He's been down. He's down and forth. He fights back.

He has like well here we are on the podium What's gonna happen with Garcia? Well, Chris isn't going anywhere But then Roberts with three to go takes the lead going into one and it's like, okay. All right good. That's really good We're still leading with two to go. But Gonzales is pretty much all over Roberts is they head into one but he defends it off as well and then Roberts and Gonzales kind of for some reason check out like I didn't see it but I had the suspicion that Lopez like Had an out-of-the-seat moment or a twitch or something that caused Kinet and him and a girl to sort of back off for that little Second that allowed them to go I didn't see any of it on camera But there was suddenly a gap between the Roberts and Godzilla before the third place guys So I was like, okay, it's gonna be settled between these two and I'm thinking alright, let's get the flag back out I open the drawer again at this point still not prepared to really take it out But the drawers open and then Roberts is going into turn one on the last lap and Gonzales goes by and I'm like Crap, this is not no.

No, please don't please. No, no, no, no, no But BAM straight away back in the turn to Roberts takes it back baby And Roberts then goes on to win the Moto 2 race Then he got then Gonzales Lopez Garcia would finish fourth then on to and connect cuz I can't had a Off track or had run on wide on the curbs and that led everybody get by him to get there I think Garcia kind of made an aggressive move and kind of pushed them off the way and a lot of girl to come Through with him. That was a great race and the Moto 2 race was great. It was fabulous to see Joe win a race I think you can argue this is a shortened Moto 2 race if it went the full distance had Joe would Joe be still at the Front, I don't know, but he is the leading Kalex on Forell's for sure. He's in the hunt.

He's drug himself back into the fight because he Needed a victory after what had happened prior. He needed a victory He needed to put something together to get back on the podium and win and he needs to honestly string a couple wins together To keep Garcia at bay because we're what is the points gap right now? I know Garcia is still leading the points, but Joe has cut it down. Yeah, so Garcia on a hundred and twenty two followed by Roberts on a hundred and fifteen to Joe's seven behind so very close Then you've got a guru who's been sort of stealthily racking up the points as kind of is the I a guru way But he's on 99. So he's 23 back in third place then Alonso Lopez on 79 points.

So he's 43 back which is starting to look like a pretty big gap And then in fifth you've got Mano Gonzalez on 66 points, so he's 56 behind so you know Roberts by a country mile the best Kalex performer out there and And actually suffering a little bit I think unjustly from the fact that he's surrounded in the races and in the championship by Bosque-Scuras, which is a bit of an unfair comparison given how good the Bosque-Scuras and the Pirelli combination is With the riders that they've got this year So Joe as I say, you've got to put Mano Gonzalez in there because he's having a terrific year as well It must be said but Joe is yeah having a stellar year And I think I what's up you Jim didn't I a little bit later on Sunday once you had a chance to see the race To say this is not the Joe Roberts that we've been accustomed to seeing the elbows out kind of Joe Roberts The suddenly emerged I'd be curious to know How and why he's always been quite a I mean he is having spoken to him again in in Cathay He's a very sort of mellow gentle very sort of typical kind of West Coast American guy you can see him out on the beach on his board, you know, he's very sort of chill Yeah, he's a laid-back Californian. He really is and you know, that was kind of the way he was riding in the Seasons I can recall but this Joe the one that fights back Bayless style We haven't really seen that Joe Roberts up until now and if he's gonna carry on like that Then he is going to be in the title fight all year whether they're shortened races or longer I personally think he would have run the race irrespective of the race length. He was at it and Bad play to him. Yep. Fair play the whole way around with Joe again.

I don't know where this aggressive Joe has come from I really don't know. I don't know what has turned on Hopkins had a little interview with the Dorna feed where they said hey look we got to focus on today and Today only today is about qualifying. Let's do let's go and do the best we can at qualifying now Let's go do what we can in the race. Let's focus on today not tomorrow not next week and You know if your name is being floated to go to an American team in Moto GP That's gonna really mess you up. I think I don't care how chill you are I don't care how stone-cold killer you are.

That's got to play with your mind slightly Because I mean I look at it. That's the dream right? The dream is a Moto GP, right? I don't think any racer would care which team it was. Hey, I made it to the dance I'm at the ball.

The question is how long am I gonna stay at the ball? Yeah, and you know, I think that that's got to take a little focus off what you're doing and I think Hopper has wound Joe back in and said look if you want this you have got to Get it together Focus on the now worry about the now and do what you got to do again. This is a track Joe Roberts really likes let's see what happens when we go to We go to the Netherlands to the ass into the TT right and a couple in three weeks So yeah, it was a great great to see great to have an American doing well this This is good for Liberty. This is good for Moto GP again You want to grow the population in the United States and make them come to Moto GP? This is kind of how you're gonna have to do it.

Hey watch the young up and coming Coming, you know the Joe Roberts and you know, whoever else we can you know Alonzo right Acosta? those are the things you want to want to sell and If you can sell this title fight and you have an American there now, what was it motivation that track house says? Yeah, well, we're not here just to put an American on the on the bike I think Justin has to say that because I think a lot of people just think this is the guy just spending money And he doesn't really necessarily care I think him being there at the track in Mugello Shows he does care because he could have been in Texas and he wasn't he was with his NASCAR team. I'd fair play But Dakota to go to Mugello and be there Yeah The guy's a racer and I think he wants to make his team the best team that he can possibly make and I think he's Gonna make those decisions based on the talent and who he thinks is going to fit Into that team and if Joe fits then Joe will have a ride if Joe doesn't fit Joe doesn't have a right I think it's that clear and cut. Well, yeah, I mean the interview that I referred to earlier on that he gave You know what he was effectively saying is that the sport and particularly this sport is a meritocracy or it should be at least and on the basis of Joe's performance on Sunday Provided he can continue to do those sorts of performances not every race because that's not necessarily fully realistic But if it's a meritocracy then he earns the ride if there is a ride for him to go to and obviously we don't know Precisely what track house his position will be but can I just say a couple of things about Joe just before we move on to MotoGP Jim I was particularly pleased that he won it in the style that he did because yes It was a shortened race and I think a lot of people might sort of slightly uncharitably count that Porter Malwin as borderline lucky given How many riders crashed at the turn one or two in that rain shower that came down?

Which decimated the field now Joe in fairness to him he went on and won the race with whoever was left You know to take part in the second start, but a lot of the main contenders were not in that second race So this was a proper win even though it's a shortened race, but this one there's no doubt about it You know he won that fair and square and he really got his elbows out in order to do it just to make the point Even firmer so I think that's one thing and the other point about the distraction of the prilly ride I think is a double distraction for him because of course he had an Aprilia ride dangled in front of him a few seasons ago and he chose well either he chose not to take it which I believe is what happened or the Opportunity went away, and I think I've mentioned this on the public forum It's long enough now that I won't be sort of betraying any conferences or causing any trouble But I was specifically asked when I've interviewed him in Qatar last year not to mention The Aprilia deal that fell through for whatever reason so that clearly has played on his mind and the fact that there's another one Opening up is just gonna wrap that pressure up even more I just want it sort of in a very good way sort of ironic in a yeah in a jovial way But of all the people to have in his corner to calm him down is John Hopkins You know a man who was famously erratic and all over the place in his sort of main motor GP career great guy I mean, you know, it's impossible not to like John Hopkins, but well he is for me anyway, but yeah given his background I mean for him to be this sort of guru Calming everything down. I just find that hilarious really in a in a very sort of positive Jovial way, I mean I'm gonna go at the guy too because he's clearly helping Joe a lot and don't forget as well Robert's taking that ride with Ramirez coming in alongside him It's quite controversial when that broke last year because of course it booted Rory Skinner and Sean Dinkeli The team at the time and that was not a popular decision So there's a certain amount of indication in all of this for American racing as well I wish I won't comment on that because people will have their own view as to what went on But you know, it's good for American race. And anyway, let's leave it at that. Yep. All right with that Let's go to Moto GP try to finish this up here real quick.

Yeah, the first qualifying session And motor GP you had did you bender Miller Bizecki? Quattro and Augusto Fernandez the only KTM or KTM clone motorcycle in the second qualifying session automatically Pedro Acosta Yeah, that that hurts right Basically I Morbideli and Augusto Fernandez get out of their pole who was wild carding Had a very nasty little crash there He kind of like lost the back then the front and the back of the front kind of got thrown to the ground viciously Luckily pole was able to walk away from that one We get into that second qualifying session and Acosta and Marquez almost come together because they're dawdling along The racetrack and I don't know who was really to blame but Acosta did just miss Marquez As they were waiting to see he was gonna, you know be there But wow, that was you know, you you had an incident like that that goes absolutely untouched by the stewards Which I think is ridiculous. Yeah, well cuz was lucky to get away with that. Yeah, very lucky. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, oh He is sort of the villain of the group though, right? I mean, you know He kind of had he kind of plays that role And he plays it quite well, he's the villain to to Acosta's superhero, you know what I'm saying? It's just sort of that's how it works out And then you sort of have these these bit players like, you know Peco who who shows up occasionally to steal some limelight, you know It is essentially, you know for lack of a better definition the bat the Robin to the Batman that is Acosta, right? They're pretty under the radar Banyar and yeah I mean, this is a double world champion writing world champion that we're talking about it must be said But he goes about things in a fairly for the most part fairly calm manner I would say unlike many of the others that you're talking about But now I was out by himself. He worked his way out.

He pulled a pulled a stunner He pulled out got the bike started got on through a leg over it kind of clutched it forward a little bit then quit Everybody ran out of the pits to go with him, right? Then he was able to get his own little gap as he went back into the pits He was by himself. He did not get to the pole in the first session, but it was very close But it was not there Marquez would crash and turn 11 which hurt his chances of starting but in the end Martin would be on pole Then you had then Yaya who who would who was second? But he was going to receive a three grid place penalty only in the race for blocking Alex Marquez and Where the penalty loop is on the track? Total BS this one was a well-played theatrical show by one Alex Marquez It reminds me of the footballer who falls over and rolls around holding his knee and draws the card, right?

Rich it that one. That's what it remind me of it was a bit of handbags at dawn Yeah, it's all a bit of a storm in a teacup really wouldn't it? Yes. Thank God We don't have rider to pits radio like they have in for imagine all the moaning and grumbling Horrendous yeah, so Ben I would be second in the sprint, but he would start fifth in the race Vignales then Marquez then bashing and morbid Ellie So we went to the sprint race Ben. I got off with a great start followed by bashing He who had another great start followed by Martin then better than Marquez then then yeah Oh, you know Acosta's starting like seventh.

I think on the grid and was there All of their and Quattro both crashed There was no further action taken for that incident there bashing any guy by Martin at one Him and Martin touch as they as they continue on One goes underneath the other and well, there's no there's no further action that was taken on that little incident as well Which I don't know. What'd you think of that one rich? So you told my Olivera Kotaro or All of our culture. Sorry. Yes.

Well, there was no action taken. What'd you think a staggering decision? I mean, okay. This happened on the Saturday not the Sunday But you know, we were talking about a whole guard Oh on a first lap taking somebody out making a mistake and take Olivera That's precisely what happened. He went dove up the inside of Quattro touched him and they both went down Quattro went to see the race stewards afterwards to get an explanation and apparently came out more confused than when he went in Which is coach was only they just refused to give him any meaningful decision or you know rational decision whatsoever I just don't understand it other than the fact that both riders went down but nothing against Miguel Olivera I mean he is one of the cleanest tidist riders out there by and large and he's been on the wrong end of this sort of Thing more times and he's given it out But as far as I saw the incident he just pulled off a move and it didn't work out and he took both of them out So yeah extraordinary not to get a penalty for that of any kind.

I have no understanding of the rules anymore I mean again, we were doing so good and now we've seen to swung the pendulum back the other way to I Don't know. I just don't I do not understand I mean the only thing I can think of is that they wanted to send a message because of the fact that it is Magellan we have very high speed going into the first turn Perhaps they're trying to set a message that look guys. You've got to be more polite careful something Don't do it by giving weird penalties. Just literally tell them in the riders meeting. Hey Cool your jets in the first turn.

I don't know anyway We'll never get done if we keep ranting about about stewarding So just so it was bad and hard to understand and again, you know The major gripe becomes a on this always Jim is that the stewards never Give any clear reasons for the decisions that they've made all the decisions that they haven't made Perhaps in this case more to the point. So anyway, yeah just odd but moving on Yep, as the front pack it starts to get away a costa sees the idea He's got to get the hurry up. He again forces his way past Bender Martin and Mark Marquez are now battling each other Then I is pulling away from all this but costa starting to catch everybody Marquez would get by Martin at one with five to go in the sprint Ben. Yahya Marquez Martin Acosta Morpid Delhi with a really good ride here and Bender four to go Martin crashes at turn one Wow, I did not see that coming I mean Martin was starting to hunt people down but that's like the first time he's not scored points in any sprint race Which is an impressive statistic. Yes, but he was off-color all weekend And again, you do wonder whether everything else going on behind the scenes perhaps just got to him a little bit I wasn't particularly surprised to see him go out because yeah, he was just a bit off-color all weekend So, yeah odd but perhaps not completely Now we know what we know everything that was going on across the Friday Saturday Sunday Perhaps not so hard to understand in some respects.

I agree with you in the moment I was like wow Martin made a mistake. I you know, don't really see that from him Unusual in a sprint race. Yeah. Yes, and he is the sprint master. He does make some mistakes I think we're all human.

We all do make mistakes I just didn't expect him to make one here especially given and knowing how many points you have ahead of Your closest rival who is up the road on you and you're kind of really not being Forced to go faster by anybody behind you and err the another another the last But then I would goes goes on to win this sprint Marquez will finish second Acosta gets another podium with the KTM I mean consistency of this kid especially coming from behind and sprint races is pretty amazing morbideli with an outstanding ride to be fourth followed by vinyals who just showed up at the end of the race and then vendor as well So is there anything there from a sprint you would like to add rich? No, the main I mean the main talking point really was Martin going down and then the Olivera Dr. I think which we talked about so not a scintillating race really. No, it was not the best sprint race We go to the motor GP race on the following day on the Sunday. The question was sort of tires We sort of had everybody going to the grid on a on a medium front a soft rear however mission was saying like look the performance of the medium rear is Almost equivalent to the soft rear but it's gonna last a little longer So there was some question is who was gonna switch if anybody was gonna switch or whatever then y'all is did go with a medium Rear to start the race.

I was like Interesting choice. I thought maybe Marquez would have gone I think Marquez came to the grid on a medium but change it to a soft When he got there because there was some you know classic Marquez trickery if you will That seems to be the forte of what that man does But either way Martin got a whole shot then yeah, of course now who was fifth this time Charges into the corner and winds up leading as they come out Fantastic start by Ben. Yeah, who really hasn't had very many golden starts if you will does get a good one this time From there Marquez was in fourth few laps in Marquez, he's Got attacked by Bastion he Out of turn one, but you know Acosta goes by there, but Marquez goes back by so again We sort of have the greatest writer of the era Marquez by championship and the rookie just battling each other all the time. They seem to be Intertwined with each other. There's a lot of smoke coming off of Mark Marquez's bike when he comes out of the final corner There's a black strip that happens and smoke happens and it's like whoa, what the heck happened there at first I thought maybe it was an oil leak something getting on one of the exhausts and I'm like, oh no, man Let's not have another bike problem with Grissini.

That would just be way too brutal It apparently was or is part of the ride height system They're allowed to have a specific very low ride height on the rear for the launch at the start But during the race, there's a limit to how far they can drop the bike apparently, there's obviously like some sort of a cam or The different yeah best way I guess is a cam that will is used to drop them the ride height down That prevents it from going any farther Apparently that was either touching part of the tire and creating smoke and rubbing or as it was coming down There was some other facet in there that was now moving against the tire The black mark on the track is the part that I can't really figure out where that was coming from But it was obviously something that had to do with the ride height because it continued Throughout the race and even Alex's bike showed exhibited a few occasions of that particular Ride height device causing smoke. So it was interesting I was just hoping that we weren't gonna rub enough rubber off of this to create a leak or a blowout Which at the speeds of magela would have been really bad rich you seem like you want to have a word here Well, the risk of sort of been a bit sneaky As you say the fact that Alex Marcus's bike was doing as well made you think the Grissini Pushing it a little bit in terms of the bike Just to try and make up because we know that that bike isn't getting off the turns like the 24g cat ears So are they playing a little bit fast and loose with I don't know if it's a regulation I mean given how much smoke was coming off mark mark as his bike and as you just said The worry about blowouts on the front straight and magelo because when they happen that is not a good Situation anybody who remembers back to Shinya Nakano on the Kawasaki years back losing a rear tire on the front straight in Mugello That was a Monster monster crash. So I was a little bit not fearful surprised Perhaps would be the word that he didn't get the black flag with the orange circle in it, you know They come into the pits You've got a technical issue With your bike because of the safety aspects of that because I wonder whether the black line on the track was almost like molten rubber Given how fast the wheels spinning up at that, you know coming off that final turn, which is a faster than anyway And if they're spinning as well Maybe it was just yeah dropping some of the rubber on the track is it was kind of taking it off the shoulder of the Tire don't know look dangerous to me. I'm surprised he didn't get the meatball flag. Hmm I did think it's sort of like lessened as the race went on and so to the point I'm wondering there is a bit of a dip there as you dip down and back up I'm wondering if mark was actuating the system Earlier than what he had been in an attempt to lower the bike to gain the traction out of there and it just a combination of lowering and the the g-force compression of Going into that small dip or at least going up the hill I mean you're running straight and into that hill is gonna put a compression Into the suspension that they might have been just enough to rub right if you've done it two seconds later Maybe it wasn't wasn't rubbing because I didn't really notice it towards the end of the race It was really like for a three or four lap gain there somewhere between you know laps 16 to lap would tend to go those six laps that sort of four laps that sort of ran around six laps I mean that ran around in there.

I don't know Yeah, we know mark is very aggressive with the way engages the right height don't we as well We saw that in the year. So yeah could be anything's possible Speculative this from us here, but Ben Yaya is out front Martins right there bashinini Acas not Marquez Acosta and more fidelity mark gets by the bashing for third with six laps to go Ben Yaya is ahead of Martin and Marquez and bashing and Acosta and then more fidelity and then basically with three to go Martin is just closing in to Ben Yaya like well We're finally gonna get something because we've been through a relatively little dry portion of the race It was fall the leader. Nothing really seems to be really happening by all that We got bashing now all over mark Marquez that with two to go bashing he puts a move on him on mark Marquez And bashing he's now in the third Benyai is now pulling away again after he sort of sat there for a couple laps responded to what Martin was doing and Benyaya simply rode home on the Ducati to win bashing he was by Martin on the last corner Which was the only really? highlight of the race was that fact that you know bashing he got by bass Martin then mark Marquez Acosta and morbid Delhi a great six for morbid Delhi Acosta I think in the points and chasing his chasing the the best rider of the era I think which is fair to say Mark Marquez home after that and then you know I think the decoys are fast and straight line to 25 is always the Ducati always is the two best bikes We're all were there again three factory Ducati's essentially rounding out the podium there and a grissini Ducati and fourth and a KTM Interestingly, I thought that Acosta's bike was not quite the rocket that it was in Catalunya I don't know what happened. I don't know if it's like an acceleration thing that makes a KTM seem faster Were but they're both fairly fast sweeping turns leading on to a long straight So I would have thought the speed would have been equal but for some reason Acosta's bike wasn't as fast in a straight line as It was in Catalan in my opinion because been to set the fastest Speed trap time of the weekend in a tow with a bunch of other bikes because he did that He was mid-pack when he did that right?

I mean, maybe it's just an aero thing. Perhaps it could be yeah, you know I mean, I know they can't change their exacts a homologated fairing They only get a couple of shots of that I think under the current rules don't they but yeah, I know Jim That's a bit odd because yeah As you say the bike was very very very quick in the Barcelona Barcelona main straight And a little bit less at Mugello, but who knows Acosta's making the most of what he's got though in them in that But it was in my notes. I just wrote boring race I mean outside of lap one with Bagnale going from fifth to first which was a Mighty first couple of turns by him I mean that one in the race really because he could just boss it out front from that point and he is obviously Pretty untouchable in the last few years at Mugello Bagnale But first lap last lap in terms of the best you need me passing Martin rest of it in the middle was you know Fall asleep boring really it wasn't that let's be honest. Yeah, it was just not a classic But you got they can't all be classics and that's why you remember the classics because they come along a little bit less frequently So, you know, you have to put up with these from time to time with that I believe Martin still leads in the points. Although Benyaya did take a healthy chunk out He really did actually so I wrote this down so coming out of Barcelona Bagnale was 39 behind Martin he's now 18 behind Martin.

So he's taking a big chunk of points back So Martin leads on 171 Bagnale on 153 as I say 18 points behind then you've got Marquez Strongly in third 136. So he's 35 points behind Martin at the minute, but bearing in mind how inferior his bike is I mean that will have had Jukata's attention for sure. Then you've got I read my own writing here's up Bastionini 114 on 57 behind and then Acosta's back into fifth place I think he uses Vinales over the Mugello weekend in the points table. So Acosta on 101 He's a full 70 points behind there So, I mean he's he's a long way back But he's already job done this year because he's shown what he can do and he's got a worked contract for next year Most people are surprised that KTM are not moving Acosta in place of Miller or wonder if they might Mid-year this year There's a lot of people are thinking Miller's not going to improve on that bike and best to give Acosta Half a season with the new crew Although he probably would bring his crew chief with him and maybe one or two others But in you know The full work setup different personnel different operations give him half a season to get used to it and then go for the title next Year, maybe last thing I gotta say the Ducati factory bikes looked brilliant and Italian racing blue They did look very nice. Yeah, I will agree and normally it's a bit of a curse and a kiss of death If you put a special livery on a bike in that so to come home one two It was quite some vindication for them.

Yeah. Oh, that's all I've got rich for this episode Yeah, just literally this will take me 60 seconds because we got the TT going on at the moment on the Isle of Man We know we're not obviously not there unfortunate I'd love to go maybe next year but and so, you know We haven't got the interviews or anything like that to report But have you seen I must mention this have you seen the Davey Todd onboard footage on YouTube? No, I have not I'll send you the link people look it up. We'll perhaps try and put the link in the show notes It's a helmet cam So it's not kind of like the static camera behind the screen or down on one of the forks or whatever Which we're used to seeing I mean, they're very spectacular those views But this thing is just lodged just in the aperture of his visor and bloody hell is Absolutely terrifying you honestly you have to kind of look to say hang on I mean, I've got this on you know, speeded up one and a half two times speed because you just can't just can't fathom What they're doing? I mean, I can't fathom why they're doing it to be honest with you because as much I like by race and night is just Another that is way off into the distance of what I considered to be normal behavior, but it is very spectacular So we'll we'll try and give some notes to find that YouTube clip Peter Hickman won the Superbike race on Saturday Michael Dunlop won the Super Sport race to get to 26 wins which equaled Joey Dunlop his uncle Which was obviously a huge deal today Michael Dunlop has won the Super Twins race.

So he's now on 27, which I think makes him the winningest rider That's correct I read that today he is he is the winningest rider on the island Yeah, it's fitting it's fitting that it's done that I don't love beat the Dunlop Yeah, absolutely and quite likely to add another race win or possibly even to this week because he he went out of the Which race it was I'm guessing it was the Superbike race because his visor came apart from his crash I mean, so he had to stop and reattach it which cost him kind of 50 seconds so it's been a bit of an action-packed week and Yeah, so there's Thursday and Friday to go I don't know if they race on Saturday or Because it's the Superbike race is the final race of the week So there's at least two to three races to go So we'll talk perhaps try and talk about it a little bit more But so far in terms of my read and seen Everybody's safe and sound over on the island, which is great news Devastated to see somebody stolen a classic set of leathers from John McGuinness's Motorhome so hopefully the culprit of that will be found and thrown in prison as soon as possible Because we don't really like to see that sort of thing going on at motorbike racing events So yeah, check out the TT and particularly go and find the Davy Todd Toad on board footage because it is something to behold and I think that's everything for us Jim Yep, our bay ride safe. Cheers everyone. See you next time