Season starts tonight with the Thailand sprint race. Bez is looking pretty strong, I'm interested in how Toprak will do on the Yamaha.
February 27, 2026, 07:16 PM
NapoleonSolo
Woo Hoo winter is nearly over! I Alex Marquez to take the next step this year. Bez does look awesome right now.
“Our actions may be impeded... But there can be no impeding our intentions or our dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting.
The impeding to action advances action.
What stands in the way becomes the way.”
― Marcus Aurelius
February 28, 2026, 11:38 PM
Prefontaine
I’m working my way through all of it. Press conference, each practice, in Q1 right now. Q2 and the Sprint later tonight.
Bez looks on it. The new Ape has these new ducts they keep making a big deal out of. It’s going to take more than vents to beat Ducati over a season. But I’m hoping he can finally be the one to take it to Ducati and Marquez. Rooting for him, and all the Italians.
Toprak isn’t going to do anything on that Yamaha. They took too long to convert to a V4 and they are massively behind. Toprak has been in the rear with the gear all during testing in Sepang and Buriam before the season started. And I mean last or next to last.
Aprilia looks to have narrowed the gap to the Ducati over the winter. Honda keeps looking better and we saw that last year. KTM would be next and Yamaha is in the shitter.
What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone
March 01, 2026, 02:49 PM
Prefontaine
Well if Bez wouldn’t have crashed out in the Sprint it would have been a total Bez/Aprilia domination weekend. Fastest in each practice session. Pole position. Race win, but the Sprint crash was the one caveat. We’ll have to get to Europe to see if the Aprilia improvements have leveled it up against Ducati. This was 88 races in a row of Ducati being on the podium and that now has come to an end. The sport needs more disparity and looks like we are getting it.
Acosta was the rider of the weekend despite Bez’s dominance. Pedro won the Sprint due to Bez’s crash, and bagged 2nd in the race. He now bags his first KTM win via the Sprint, and he leads the championship. He is overriding the KTM and when he joins Marquez next year at Factory Ducati, Marc is going to have his hands full as Acosta is the most talented rider in the field, including Marquez. Looks like KTM have solved their tire management over the winter. Last year, Acosta would have fallen back 1/2 race distance with the rear tire, absolutely shot.
And Marc caused his own issue during the race. He went wide, smacked the rear rim into the curb, bent it severely and caused the tire to grenade due to the bent rim. Pedro put so many passes on him in the Sprint and Race. That’s a warning shot to Marquez too, that he isn’t scared of him, and will take it to him, 24/7. Marc is still recovering from shoulder surgery. He now gets 3 weeks before Brazil, to heal up some more.
Raul Fernandez bagged third in the Sprint and Race. He is maturing, like Pedro and Marco, and it shows Aprilia have made some big steps over the winter.
It’s looking like this will be Aprilia vs. Ducati showdown. With Pedro being the lone KTM in the podium places. Honda will hold 4th/5th, and Yamaha will be dead last. Just like every season, we’ll know what’s what once we get back to Europe and get 3 races under the belt. By the time they get 3 or so races done in Europe we’ll know who is going to be there to compete for the championship. That won’t happen until the end of May once Mugello is completed. The first 4 races are fly seats. Thailand, Brazil, USA, and Qatar.
What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone
March 03, 2026, 02:08 PM
P250UA5
Saw on another forum that SPEED is re-running the full race on YT
If they do this for every race, I'll be tuning in.
The Enemy's gate is down.
June 13, 2026, 03:24 PM
Prefontaine
3 hour interview with the Rat. Pedro Acosta. He can be one of the greats. Natural talent is off the scale. He has just be hamstrung as he hasn’t been on a competitive bike. He overrides the KTM to podiums to the point he has no business on the podium with that motorcycle. First Spaniard in the championship I’ve ever liked. Hilarious that his dream “car” was a F150 and he rolls in, in a Raptor. He wanted the Raptor R but it was too difficult to get into Spain. He also doesn’t come from wealth and his family have been fishermen for generations. Well worth the watch.
What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone
June 28, 2026, 08:21 AM
stickman428
Aprilia was fortunate to pick up Pecco. They look strong now but next year they might be invincible.
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The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
June 28, 2026, 02:19 PM
Prefontaine
Bez yard sailed this morning, big time. Well over 100 mph. He got released from the hospital with no serious injuries but in severe pain. Gutted to see him go down, and lose the championship lead in the process.
Very happy for Ai however. His rear ride height device got stuck at one point and the rear end of his Ape was grinding the tarmac in a turn, causing sparks. That bike will need a new swingarm. He got it unstuck, somehow, then went on to pass two riders for the first win for a Japanese rider in 22 years. Ogura is nonchalant, quiet, reserved, and this victory had been looming over the past 4 rounds. Aprilia locked down the podium with Raul Fernandez and Jorge Martin. And once again Digia was lead Ducati.
Assen was very much an Aprilia circuit but it’s shifting round to round, Aprilia circuit, Ducati circuit, etc.
There are so many riders in contention for the championship. Riders 1-8 in the championship have a chance to take it. I’m obviously rooting for Bez and Pecco but Jorge Martin has the most experience in a tight title fight, as well as Marc Marquez. It’s a long season and the next round is the Sausagering, where Marc dominates.
What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone
June 28, 2026, 02:39 PM
stickman428
Mugello was a Ducati circuit until it wasn’t most recently. Aprilia is coming to fight with a DEEP bullpen.
This is the greatest show on earth my friends. There is NOTHING quite like MotoGP!
Watching Davide Brivio clebrate a 1, 2 finish was the best thing I’ve seen in years.
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The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
Pramac announced on Thursday that Jack Miller will leave the team following the MotoGP season, with the Australian now expected to complete his move to Yamaha’s factory WorldSBK team.
At 31, the Australian rider will leave the MotoGP world championship 16 years after making his debut in 2011, having put together a noteworthy record. The latter features four premier-class victories, although his time in MotoGP was also characterized by instability and a lack of consistency in his results.
Alongside those four wins, Miller has so far claimed 23 MotoGP podiums and two pole positions. However, he will perhaps be best remembered for the remarkable leap he made in 2015, when Honda promoted him directly from Moto3 to MotoGP, in one of the most unusual moves of the modern era.
The rider from Townsville spent his first three seasons in the premier class with Honda before joining Pramac in 2018. The nine podiums he secured with Paolo Campinoti’s team, which at the time ran two Ducatis, allowed him to knock on the door of the factory squad, which signed him for 2021.
There, despite three victories and 12 podium finishes, Miller ultimately failed to convince Ducati’s decision-makers, who opted not to renew his contract. This opened the door for a move to KTM, where he managed just one podium, which was too poor to justify another contract.
At that point, ahead of the 2025 season, Campinoti re-entered the picture. The Italian had just ended Pramac’s agreement with Ducati to join forces with Yamaha, which was keen to bring in riders with experience like Miller’s.
However, the M1’s lack of competitiveness has now left Miller with no further options in MotoGP; the arrival of another Australian, Senna Agius, next year has also made him expendable on the grid. Pramac’s vacant seat is expected to go to Izan Guevara, who will step up from Moto2 to partner Toprak Razgatlioglu.
“Jack joined Yamaha at an important stage of our MotoGP project and immediately became a very valuable contributor. His technical knowledge, feedback and unwavering commitment helped us make progress in several areas,” Yamaha director Paolo Pavesio said.
“Beyond his contribution on track, Jack brought tremendous energy to our team. His positive attitude, spirit and ability to build strong relationships in the garage made him a pleasure to work with.” With his MotoGP career coming to an end, everything appears to be in place for Miller to join Yamaha’s factory WorldSBK operation. Nicolo Canepa, Yamaha Europe director and head of the manufacturer’s Superbike division, travelled to the most recent grand prix at Silverstone to talk Miller into joining the project.
