Just finished catching up rather a decent weekend results wise New moto 3 champion in alonso Ogura taking big steps to the moto 2 title Pec daddy clawing back a few points with an utterly flawless weekend Just 10 in it now. Didn’t realise Acosta had crashed the most this year honestly thought it was 93 but he’s just edged ahead of him on a huge 22. What a fucking waste of talent Martins going to be on that Aprilia next year. You have to feel extremely sorry for him, especially if he gets pipped to the title again. Stat of the weekend; “Bagnaia’s Japanese GP win marks his eighth of the season, with only Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi achieving this feat in a single campaign.” Up there with the greats whether you like him or not now.
Martin had two exceptional rides, considering the grid position nightmare. It continues to look like a two horse race and hard to call a winner. Martin to Aprilia, not looking great. Though are the Aprilia riders performing..? The Beast to KTM will be the really interesting one imo. Acosta. Flying. But needs to stay on the bike and be just slightly less impatient! Ogura. Proving he should be promoted again. Strange, two races in one between those on slicks and those on rain tyres
I don’t see it with bastianini. Is he going to do better than acostas done on that thing? At least Pedro can put in a qualifying lap and get off the grid. Time will tell but I see it as being even more of a two horse race next year, and a one horse one pretty quickly once 93 starts his usual antics, which let’s face it, we all know is coming. Ktm are extremely fortunate/wise to have Pedro tied down to a long term deal too! Last year for Mav next year I’d imagine.
I’d love to see a league table of spare parts costs from crashing over the season. Top two obvious and I’d imagine 93s bro is safely sat in third. Bottom two pecco and Jorge. But the total cost would be interesting to see (and I appreciate factory’s don’t put price tags on spare parts ,but just for the lols). Gresini must have had the most expensive year. Can remember at least three written off bikes cart wheeling through the gravel.
Moto2 and Moto3 races were interesting. Alonso showing his racecraft, usually a non-existant thing in that class My favourite overtake was Gonzalez on slicks passing two bikes on the outside in the same corner. Must have been painful for those on wets watching the others piss off into the distance
Yeh pleased for him and obviously meant a lot to him to win. Apologising to the japs for beating Ogura too lol. Think my move of the weekend had to be Martin when he did 93 and Bastianini on the same corner in the big race. Took some balls when he had soooo much to lose.
I heard Ogden looks like he's going to be joining McPhees old CIP team next year. Hodgson said on the subject; "a change is as good as a rest and the ktm should perform better than the honda - whether it will help his riding style is another thing". Anyone know what he meant by that - was it the way he physically rides the bike or the way he manages races? (or both)
After 3 seasons in Moto3, you could realistically expect any inexperience associated with being a ‘rookie’ to have gone. Scott hasn’t improved, if anything he has gone backwards after his earlier showing. Yes, you can point a finger at an underfunded, under performing, ‘minnow’ team and yes, even the best teams with the Honda do not have the best engine on the grid but the ugly truth is, he is a passport rider who just isn’t as good as the competition. I suspect M Lav wasn’t very happy with Hodgson’s comment. Andy
Yeah, I’m also all for giving talent a go, but Scott’s had 3 years in the team, maybe he’s better to try moto2 as he might get on better on a bigger bike, but he’s not going to get funding as Jake is there
Eddie O'Shea looks like hell be up to speed quite quickly (if he can stay on the bloody thing for 5 minutes). Wonder who the other rider will be in M Lav..
Press announcements had O’Shea riding in Moto3 after Mandaleka but he was not at Motegi. I see he raced against (and beat) Buasri in the Junior GP in 2023 and is currently 10th in that competition this year. Buasri is coming to the end of his rookie year and has not scored a points finish (neither has Ogden), probably naively, hopefully he can do better than that. My addled memory is telling me, a Spanish rider was muted but that could be rubbish. Andy
I think MGP paddock is the one of all bike paddocks that is machine as much, or more, than rider. That is as true in all classes and unless you have the right package you simply cannot make headway.
EOS had a crash at Misano (the second visit) in one of the earlier sessions of the weekend. Saw him talking to hodgy with his arm in a sling after hed made a pretty good start to it (think he was like within a second of the leaders after half an hour on the bike).
Conversely you dont get the machine if youre not the rider. They dont give the best bikes out to anyone. Look at Piqueras in M3 he didnt end up in that Leopard team because they thought they'd take a wild punt on him.
Sorry it was in fact Mandalika Eddie O'Shea has been declared unfit for debut Moto3 Race | BikeSport News
The commentary team thought it hilarious but it's hardly surprising given the changes to the aerodynamics package. It’s creating the sort of airflow you would expect see from fighter jet wing tips. It’s been for too many years since I exercised my brain cells with aerodynamics and lamina flow. Andy
