In the early summer of 2024 I find myself almost completely incapable of penning my usual drivel about my favorite motorsport on Earth. I have bought a house and need to sell a house and am trying to cope with 50 years of accumulated memories and cargo. Not having moved for 40 of those years has been a blessing, but the chickens are coming home to roost these days. The players at this stage of the drama include two banks, the movers, an estate auction company, a ten-yard dumpster and a sizeable cleaning crew. On deck: a real estate agent and the drama surrounding the disposal of the childhood home of my three girls. My late wife is in heaven second-guessing my every move and cluck-clucking at my decisions regarding what gets moved, sold or thrown away. This process has become a vivid reminder that one should borrow books from the library rather than purchasing them; they have become their own problem. How does one throw away a book, for God’s sake?
Attendant issues, more of an annoyance than anything, include replacing appliances, arranging new internet service (OMG Comcast!), utility service at both homes, change of address notifications X 100, dealing with the BMV.
Piled on top of this are some troubling health issues, the aftermath of a stroke a month ago and some fairly clear signs that the cancer which was removed from my body in 2022, along with my pancreas, has found its way back. I will get confirmation of this in a week, almost assuredly without any kind of useful prognosis. The decision whether to replace the floors in the new house has more to do with the likely amortization schedule than the aesthetics.
In France last weekend it was, once again, the Jorge Martin show. New all-time track record, pole, Sprint win, Sunday win. Marc Marquez acquitted himself quite well in both races, starting from P13 and finishing in P2. Pecco had a disappointing weekend, retiring with a mechanical on Saturday and getting stood up by Marquez very late on Sunday, giving up P2 in the process. If I were Gigi Dall’Igna I would put Martin and Bagnaia on the factory team next year and Marquez and Bastianini on the Pramac team with factory bikes and damn the extra expense of four GP25s. If one of them has to step down it is likely to be EBas, which would not really be fair but c’est la guerre.
I really don’t have much to say about any of the other riders, teams or manufacturers. The exception is Pedro, who is rapidly coming into his own. But whether we like it or not, it must be said that the KTM is still not on the same level as the Ducs except at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg which is where, I would be happy to wager, young Acosta will get his first win. And I think the writing is on the wall for Aleix and, perhaps, Zarco as well.
My fantasy team is doing quite well. I’m planning to use my next boost in Germany. And for those of you–I’m talking to you, Kevin–anxious for some tranches, I’m still working things out.
As many of you know, MotoGP is making substantial changes to the competition rules commencing with the 2027 season. Smaller engines, reduced aero, fewer engines, all synthetic fuel, banning holeshot and ride height devices, etc. Read a bit of Dorna puffery on the subject: https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2024/05/06/welcome-to-the-future-of-motogp-new-bikes-in-2027/497238 The fact that Dorna is determinedly glossing how these changes will improve competition leads me to believe that they won’t improve competition. They will simply reduce speeds and, at the margin, costs.
Observers more cynical than myself might suspect these changes are designed to make Honda and Yamaha entries less pathetic. If so, they won’t work. Someone needs to finish last. For the foreseeable future, the Japanese manufacturers appear to have a lock on this.
Oddly, the list of proposed changes omits a number of less technical reforms that will accompany the changes to hardware and data.
EXPANDED PODIUMS: Commencing in 2027, race podia will be expanded from three to nine spots. This will allow more riders to receive acclamation. All riders earning points in the Saturday Sprint races will get to spray prosecco on their rivals and teams.
MORE NATIONAL ANTHEMS: The crowds will be feted by the national anthems of all nine riders appearing on the podium. For those of you weary of hearing only the Spanish and Italian anthems week after week, you can join in the celebration of the national songs from places like South Africa, Australia and even Japan. How fun is that?!
PARTICIPATION AWARDS: Riders who fail to reach the podium will nonetheless have their efforts recognized by the granting of Participation Awards in the form of chrome-plated bracelets. Limiting prizes to only the top handful of riders is so unfair. No longer!
PRIORITY PARKING: The crew chiefs from the top three finishers will earn spots in the infield parking areas, designated “TOP MOTOGP CREW CHIEF PARKING ONLY.” No longer will it be just the riders getting recognized for their accomplishments. Remember, teamwork makes the dream work!
HATS FOR THE TOP THREE CREWS: The remaining members of the top three crews will each receive a monogrammed cap commemorating their achievement at each particular round. For example, in the upcoming French Grand Prix, the hats will be badged “Top Crew Le Mans 2024.” Even better, hats for the French tilt will be actual berets, while the swag from the Kazakh race will be authentic taqiyas. I know, right?! Tell me Dorna does not have their thumb on the pulse of racing professionals across the globe! Who doesn’t love a snappy lid?
NEW STATISTICS: Although the final details are still being worked out, a new set of track records will be generated from each round. Preliminary stats may include:
SLOWEST ELAPSED TIME, DRY RACE, SINCE (YEAR)
SLOWEST POLE LAP SINCE (YEAR)
SLOWEST RACE LAP FOR RACE LEADER SINCE (YEAR)
NEW TIRES: Given the inexorable expansion of the MotoGP calendar and increasingly remote venues, Michelin is developing two separate racing snow tires–studded and unstudded. This anticipates a new Tierra del Fuego round in February 2027 and a holiday round in December in Hudson Bay.
MotoGP is like the Ringling Brothers circus–it just gets bigger and better every year. Cheers.
Spending less time with MotoGP these days and more time schvitzing about my health. When one is staring down the barrel of a potentially life-threatening diagnosis, one’s attention starts to wander at the prospect of sussing out all these diminutive Spaniards and Italians and Joe Roberts.
Thanks to daylight savings time–or perhaps in spite of it–I missed the Moto3 tilt entirely. As the winning margin was 4/100ths of a second I expect it was a good one, and I’m pleased to see David Munoz getting back in shape.
I’ve been wondering what it is that Ducati Corse sees in Fermin Aldeguer. Yesterday’s Moto2 confab gave some clues, although it was not a dominating performance in my opinion. The cool thing about Moto2 at this point is that Joe Roberts leads the series, presaging the possibility of seeing an American rider in the premier class for the first time since the days of Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies. With Trackhouse Racing now running Aprilias in MotoGP it seems logical to expect Joe to graduate next year. And ain’t nobody care if Raul Fernandez loses his seat after this season. Underachieving is his middle name.
I don’t have much to say about the big bikes this weekend. Jorge Martin won another Saturday Sprint but once again was the victim of an unforced error on Sunday, crashing out of the lead in a race that was his to win. The late race drama was provided courtesy of Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez in a preview of what we can expect to see for the rest of the season. Unlike so many of you, I’m not a Marquez hater, and it’s nice to see him not having to override to be in contention. I have trouble getting all excited about Pecco; sure, he’s highly skilled, but he has the best bike on the grid, the best team behind him, and an enthralled nation gasping over his every move. I fully expected Marquez to beat him yesterday, waiting for Pecco to get twitchy under the assault of a guy who routinely ignores life-threatening situations. There was a day not that long ago when a rider seeing “Marquez +.2” on his pit board would generally go into convulsions. Yesterday in Jerez, there was a single bump, after which Pecco put the hammer down and Marquez minded his manners.
A few more races like we had on Sunday and it’s a fair assumption that Marquez and Bagnaia will be teammates next year, complete with the Lorenzo/Rossi wall down the middle of the garage. Marquez has a total of four races under his belt on the Duc after 11 seasons on Hondas and has pretty much fully adapted to the new world order. Even with the permanent disability in his right arm and being in his 30’s he’s better than all but one or two riders on the grid. When he was going after Bagnaia yesterday the locals in the stands went completely mental, which is always fun to watch and listen to. With three or four or five riders clearly in contention the sport is not as dull as it was when #93 was winning everything in sight. I will maintain that Marquez is good for the sport and look forward to seeing him on the top step in the foreseeable future.
By now, I assume everyone reading this has either seen the race or read about the results. Jorge Martin took over the lead in the 2023 title chase for roughly 24 hours, winning yet another Saturday Sprint before an unlikely/uncharacteristic/unforced error while leading comfortably on Lap 13 forced him out of the grand prix. Pecco Bagnaia overcame a P13 start to win the main event on Sunday after a two point Saturday.
KTM tough guy Brad Binder knocked polesitter Luca Marini out of Sunday’s race, did the same to Miguel Oliveira some nine laps later, served two long lap penalties and still managed a P6 finish.
Alex Marquez sat out nursing his four broken ribs while Alex Rins raced with two barely-knitted leg bones and saw the checkered flag.
Maverick Vinales led much of the main event until his soft rear tire turned to queso midway through the race before finishing in P4.
Marini and Bezzecchi, with, as Louis Suddeby pointed out, “two fully functional collarbones between them” both finished on the podium on Saturday. Both looked good for a while on Sunday; Marini got clattered by Binder on Lap 4, and Bezzecchi flirted with the podium for most of the day until he tired at the end, finishing in P5.
Bagnaia’s win marked the first time in 17 years a rider starting lower than P12 won a grand prix. Um, that would have been Marco Melandri at Phillip Island in 2006.
Due to the painful attrition in the main event, Franco Morbidelli scored two championship points despite finishing four (4) laps down. And this guy earned a Ducati ride for next year?
Assuming the championship is decided again this year before the Valencia round in November, the most interesting part of the visit to eastern Spain will be watching Marc Marquez getting acquainted with the Ducati Desmosedici during the post-race test.
The new tire pressure regulations have now placed five riders on a bubble. Maverick Vinales ran afoul of the regs in Barcelona. On Sunday, four more riders–Bezzecchi, Aleix, Morbidelli and Raul Fernandez–recorded their first violations of this senseless rule. Meaning all five are at risk of a three-second penalty on the next occurrence. For Bezz and Aleix, this could have some meaning. But MotoGP needs to make up its mind. Enforcing such a rule while allowing ride height devices and advanced aero wings pretty much guarantees riders will get penalized at some point during the season, perhaps more than once, with the penance rapidly becoming draconian. If there’s one thing this sport doesn’t need it is to have a world championship decided based upon a technical post-race penalty.
The silly season is now down to determining who will take Marquez’ empty seat with Repsol Honda. Assuming either Oliveira or FDG draws the short straw, there could be a subsequent minor hassle with the RNF Aprilia squad. It doesn’t sound like HRC is inclined to boot Zarco up from LCR, for whatever reason other than ageism.
In Moto3 my boy Jaume Masia maintained his series lead in Indonesia, while Pedro Acosta, the next great Spanish rider, won again, confirming his coronation to replace Pol Espargaro on the GasGas team in the premier class is well-considered. Espargaro’s crash in Portugal during the season opener looked bad. It may turn out to have been career-ending, which is a shame. Let us not forget that this is an insanely dangerous sport.
So, this week the shoe we’ve been waiting to see dropped finally got dropped on Tuesday, when HRC released a face-saving announcement that they and Marc Marquez were terminating their relationship upon “mutual agreement.” LOL. There is nothing “mutual” about this, with HRC having been unable to deliver a competitive MotoGP bike for three or four years, and Marquez practically getting killed trying to compete on what used to be the best bike on the grid. So, one of the great riders in MotoGP history is abandoning his 11-year affiliation with one of the world’s great brands, giving up wheelbarrows full of money in order to be able to compete at the top echelon of his sport for his remaining years. In the parlor game that is grand prix motorcycle racing, this is big news.
Between 2013, his rookie year, and 2019 Marquez won six out of seven premier class titles. His personal highlight reel would have to include winning the first 10 races in 2014 and his entire 2019 season during which, other than a unforced error at COTA early in the year, saw him finish first or second in every round, scoring an amazing 420 points for the year. 2020 was the year of Covid and the first of several career-threatening injuries. It also marked the beginning of a change in the global world order in MotoGP, the descent of the two previously dominant Japanese brands, Honda and Yamaha, and the ascent of the European brands–Ducati, Aprilia and KTM–that dominate the sport today. The following sentence is one that would have been incomprehensible a mere four years ago:
Marc Marquez will trade his factory Honda ride for a satellite Ducati in 2024.
The feel good aspect of all this is that the Marquez brothers, Marc and little brother Alex, will be teammates beginning next year. Marc will immediately jump into the championship conversation again, alongside Pecco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi and, presumably, Enea Bastiannini. True, the rich (read: Ducati Corse) will get richer. But Marc Marquez has always been obsessed about winning, and if abetting the plutocratic aspects of his sport is the price, he will gladly pay it. Along with what will probably be a $20 million pay cut.
I am all for this, not being an Antman hater. 2023 has been an enjoyable year for fans with three or four riders still in the hunt in October. Marquez will increase that number; Pedro Acosta will increase it again in a year or two. It’s a shame the calendar is getting so stuffed, as that will have a deleterious effect on the riders, teams, and overall level of competition. The rationale for doing so was exposed as being bogus by a reader who pointed out that they sell maybe 12,000 motorcycles a year in all of Kazakhstan, most of which are tiny little things. We will continue to rattle on about the calendar for the foreseeable future.
Marc Marquez is now happily channeling Arnold Schwarzenegger: I’LL BE BACK.
From my limited perspective–the kitchen table at my home in Indiana–it was an enjoyable last weekend in September/first weekend in October as MotoGP arrived in The Land of the Rising Sun. Something for every taste and budget, as it were. In the premier class, young Jorge Martin continued his assault on the 2023 title, elbowing his way to pole, another Sprint win, and being declared the winner of the red-flagged main event on Sunday. Somkiat Chantra led an Idimetsu Honda Team Asia 1-2 in an increasingly familiar Moto2 parade. My boy Jaume Masia won again in a tightly contested Moto3 tilt with the lightweight title chase tighter than bark on a tree.
The MotoGP race itself was a portrait of disorder at the start. The clouds and humidity which featured all weekend finally gave way to rain five minutes before the start, with all riders on slicks. Well, not ALL riders, as Luca Marini and Alex Marquez were absent, nursing injuries received in the Buddh steam bath last week. Anyway, when the red lights went out, the grid departed their starting spots as if they were skating on black ice, and the wet race white flags came out on Lap 1. All the serious riders immediately entered the pits, leaving Fabio Quartararo, Michele Pirro, Stefan Bradl, Franco Morbidelli and Cal Crutchlow circulating on their way to complete irrelevance on slicks, gambling with nothing to lose that the rain might suddenly, unexpectedly quit. Check the standings at the end of Lap 1–you’ll never see those numbers at the top again.
Martin occupied P4 at the end of Lap 2. By Lap 6, in the driving rain, he had sliced through the top of the order into P1 where he stayed through the end of Lap 12, at which point the race was red-flagged. Although a restart was possible, the conditions failed to improve sufficiently to allow it, probably to the relief of the riders. And so Pecco Bagnaia’s lead in the 2023 title chase was cut from 13 points on Friday to three points on Sunday evening. Marco Bezzecchi trails Martin by 48 with Brad Binder, who crashed today and gutted my fantasy team, another 13 points back, but still in it by my reckoning, with the nasty, life-threatening part of the schedule starting in less than two weeks.
Still no announcement as to Marc Marquez’ plans for 2024, despite assurances that they would be revealed by this weekend. Ditto for Pedro Acosta, as there is now some doubt that he will get his ticket punched for MotoGP next season. A bunch of riders will be getting promoted from Moto3 to Moto2 next year, as per usual. We took issue with the provisional 2024 calendar elsewhere this weekend, even before we become fully immersed in the brutal piece of the 2023 schedule starting next time out in Indonesia, where afternoon temps are reliably in the 90’s and the humidity is like a wet towel. As one of our faithful readers commented concerning the riders and their attitudes toward the killer schedule, beatings will continue until morale improves.
Testing the limits of human endurance again, but more
After a cursory examination of the provisional 2024 MotoGP calendar, we are once again going to get all up in Carmelo Ezpeleta’s business. We thought (think) the 2023 calendar is brutal enough to get a few riders and crew members hospitalized. The Powers That Be took our comments to heart and produced a calendar for next year which is even worse.
22 rounds. Four back-to-back rounds. A late season Pacific flyaway with six rounds in seven weeks, including four hotties–India, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. Round 9 in central Asia–Kazakhstan, of all places. 12 European rounds and 10 outside Europe. 11 rounds before the summer break and 11 following. 44 races counting the Saturday Sprints.
Here’s a reference I’d wager NONE of you will understand. Rumor has it that there will be two additional rounds on the 2025 calendar, one in Irkutsk, the other in Kamchatka. Anyone?
For 2024, Lusail gets moved back to Round 1, followed by the annual demolition derby at Algarve in Portugal. After a week off comes the first back-to-back in Argentina and COTA. Then comes Jerez, followed by Le Mans. The second double of the year goes from Barcelona to Bologna. Then comes Sokol, which has two asterisks, designating it, once again, as the annual loss leader, The Round Most Likely To Get Cancelled. Teams get a week off to prepare for the third double in Assen and East Germany, followed by the summer break, during which everyone loses interest in motorcycle racing in general.
The back nine starts at Silverstone, then on to Austria. The last doubleheader of the year takes us from Aragon to Misano. Then the teams spend mid-September girding their loins for the dreaded and dreadful flyaways. In quick succession India, Indonesia and Japan. A week off to hydrate and spend time in the hyperbaric chamber. Then, boom, Phillip Island, Thailand and Malaysia. The last men standing will have a week to convalesce before the usual finale in Valencia.
We haven’t really gotten into the hard part of the 2023 calendar yet and the riders are begging for mercy. Aleix is not happy, Fabio is stressed out. The weather in India forced the truncation of races in all three classes, with only 16 riders even finishing the main event. Alex Marquez and Luca Marini ended the weekend in the hospital with fractures. The brolly girls were exhausted from fighting frizz all weekend. And it will hit the fan for real on 13 October when things get ginned up in Indonesia.
Whatever happened to the 18-round season? The occasional back-to-back? The three round Asian flyaway? Time to rest between qualifying on Saturday and the Sunday race, except for Assen? Inquiring minds want to know. These are our heroes out there getting their brains bashed in and having their life expectancies shortened in Ezpeleta’s incessant quest to overtake F-1 as the preeminent racing league in the world. Something’s gotta give.
Any of you planning to attend Round 9 please extend my warm regards to Borat’s sister.
As expected, this weekend’s Grand Prix of India was hotter than a freshly f**ked fox in a forest fire. Rather than thinking of it as the hottest race weekend ever, it might make more sense to view it as the coolest Indian Grand Prix of the next ten years. How hot was it? Prima Pramac Ducati pilot Jorge Martin, with the conditioning of a triathlete, was unable to drive his Desmo to Parc Ferme, having to get off at his garage. His team poured ice water into his leathers, on his neck, removed his helmet, and tended to him as he sank to his knees. There is some confusion as to whether he actually lost consciousness. Suffice it to say that, with 7 races (plus 7 sprints) in the next 9 weeks, this is a scene we are going to see again and again. Carmelo Ezpeleta and his minions at Dorna want to squeeze every last dollar out of this series. Their efforts may yet result in a rider losing his life. With Kazakhstan and Aragon getting added to the 2024 calendar, the squeeze will continue.
Jorge Martin, flirting with disaster in the Indian Grand Prix
The Tissot Sprint on Saturday was a bit of a cluster, as Luca Marini barged into teammate Marco Bezzecchi in Turn 1 of Lap 1, with Pol Espargaro, Stefan Bradl and Augusto Fernandez getting caught up in the ensuing fire drill. Bezzecchi and Fernandez would continue, but Marini broke his collarbone, causing my fantasy team to take a hit. Bezzecchi laid down a vapor trail from the back of the pack and ended the day in P5, foreshadowing what would occur in Sunday’s main event. Pecco and Marc Marquez–remember him?–claimed the second and third steps of the podium behind race winner Jorge Martin.
In Sunday’s race, Bezzecchi once again was in a league of his own, taking the lead in Turn 4 of Lap 1 and riding off into the smog. He was pursued by Bagnaia, Martin and Marquez. On Lap 6 Marquez slid out, dropping from P4 to P16 before climbing back up to P9 at the flag. Pecco did the world a favor by hitting the deck on Lap 14 while running second, causing his team and Ducati management another epic case of heartburn.
Once Bagnaia left the building, Martin and Fabio Quartararo–remember him?– took up the chase. Fabio, aboard the woeful Yamaha M1, did not appear to present any kind of threat to Martin until late in the last lap, when Martin inexplicably went walkabout, doubtless due to his fighting heat stroke inside his leathers and helmet. Suddenly, #20 and #89 were in a fight for P2, with Martin desperate for the four extra points that would come his way if he held on against the Frenchman and literally passing out. He was able to lunge inside #20 late and stand him up, hold on to P2 and avoid mayhem, but this episode is a harbinger of things yet to come in Indonesia, Thailand, Qatar and Malaysia.
Assuming Martin will not get penalized for unzipping his leathers during Sunday’s race, the championship heads to Japan next week with Bagnaia holding a 13 point lead over Martin and clear of Bezzecchi by 56 points.
Elsewhere, my boy Jaume Masia dominated the Moto3 race, pulling into a tie for the series lead with Daniel Holgado, with Ayumu Sasaki a single point behind the pair. (The 2023 standings are as close as most of the races in this, the most exciting division in MotoGP racing.) Pedro Acosta continued his domination of Moto2 winning easily today, on his way to MotoGP next season. The paddock was abuzz all weekend with the rumor, expected to be confirmed next week, of Marc Marquez’s defection to Gresini Ducati commencing next year, with the Marquez brothers riding together on the Italian Ducati satellite operation. Morbidelli to Pramac Ducati next year is now firm. Zarco to LCR Honda is now firm. Rins to the factory Yamaha team next year is now firm. Nakagami remaining with LCR Honda next year is now firm. The question left to be answered for 2024: Who will take Marquez’s seat on the factory Honda team alongside Joan Mir?
Footnote: Things in the cosmos have settled down now, as I have assumed my rightful place in our fantasy league, seizing the lead for the year with today’s result, despite the sorry performances turned in by Aleix Espargaro and Luca Marini. Don’t call it a comeback, bitches.
Evans Brasfield became my editor at Motorcycle.com in 2018 upon the unfortunate departure of Kevin Duke to parts unknown, one of the radical staff reductions-in-force that have plagued industry publications during the past decade. I had read some of Evans’ work and was familiar with him by name only. He continued as my editor until early this month when MO published my mid-season review of the 2023 MotoGP season.
During these six years, I cannot remember a single time when Evans lost his temper or criticized me for anything undeserving of criticism. He agreed to my stipulation that my work get posted without much, if any, editing by Dennis or anyone else. He did his best to protect me from the Verticalscope suits in Toronto. He gave me utterly manageable deadlines and was entirely supportive of my efforts to enhance MO’s coverage of racing. He had clearly forgotten more than I ever knew about motorcycles, but was tolerant of my ignorance and complimentary of my writing style or lack thereof. He managed to get me paid out of a freelance budget that had shrunken dramatically. He was able to answer to his own corporate masters and the interminable bean counters without making me feel worthless. In short, he was every freelance writer’s dream editor.
Since 2008 when I took my first stab at covering MotoGP, I have reported to Joe Magro, Sean Alexander, Kevin Duke, John Burns (briefly) and Evans. I pitched Joe on allowing me to assume the role of MotoGP Correspondent before I had actually watched my first race. (When he asked me if I was a rider, I said yes because I thought he had said “writer.”) Throughout the years, my editors at MO have supported my efforts despite my being an old Hoosier who drives cars. They sent me to Malaysia on a junket in 2014, probably because none of the real editors wanted to go sweat their cojones off for a week on the equator, but it was a blast and I got to meet a number of folks in the business–Jensen Beeler, Marie Wilson and David Emmett, to name a few.
To me, Evans’ passing feels like the end of an era. I’ve been at this for 15 years, but am skeptical that it will continue now that my rabbi has left the building. Certainly whoever steps into his job will be looking for someone capable of bringing more to the party than dick jokes and actionable slurs. And even though I was never able to shake Evans’ hand in person, I join with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of riders and writers who will miss his even temper and thoughtful posts. Once again, we are shown the hand of God and are left to shake our heads and mumble about how the good die young. Happy trails, Mr. Brasfield.
Late-Braking MotoGP 