^ I recall the grid girls of F1 were quite upset when it was removed.
To them it was an income opportunity & likely that someone [likely unqualified to be a grid girl ] was offended for them & got it taken away.

Carmelo will still be running the series and he is owed a lot of credit. From spec tires, to spec ECU’s and software. It leveled the playing field so HRC couldn’t just outspend everyone else. For years HRC spent more than double per year compared to their closest rival, Yamaha. These days Ducati has Audi (VAG) money which is vast. And KTM is being funneled by Red Bull whose pockets have no lining. Carmelo as well as the FIM, changed the game. HRC had the overwhelmingly largest seat at the MSMA, and now it’s level. Ducati has at least an equal say to HRC.

Fabio re-signed with Yamaha. A lot of talk about it this week leading up to date 1 of COTA today. In a nutshell, Aprilia offered Fabio 4 mil Euros per year. Yamaha wants to retain him, bad, and they gave him a new contract for 12 mil Euros per year. So he is staying for the money.

Well the COTA race was the best race I’ve seen in a few years. Phenomenal race.

Maverick Vinales did the Quintuplet this weekend.

Lap record at COTA
Pole Position
Sprint Race Win
Sunday Race Win
First rider in the MotoGP era, to win on 3 manufacturers. Suzuki, Yamaha, Aprilia.

Anyone that had doubts about Maverick, bake some crow tonight and use some BBQ sauce!
What a race. It was like a Moto3 race at for the first half of the race. Trading paint, lots of passes. Yesterday in the Sprint Race, Maverick got an excellent start and was just gone. So much for the bad starts. Today, he just got in traffic, and ended up in 11th on the first lap. One by one he came back, picking everyone off, and nobody really had the pace to get anywhere close to Mav. This is as dominant of a weekend for a rider that I’ve ever seen. This COTA race was one for the ages.

And the rat led the first of the race, and out battled everyone but Maverick for 2nd. Pedro Acosta is a generational talent. 3rd race, two more podiums. Once he gets some more experience the entire field better look out. And congrats to the Beast for nicking Martin for 3rd.

Great race today. Mav is surprising me right now, but we'll see if he can keep it up. The weight loss seems to be paying off for him at the moment!

quote:

Originally posted by mutedblade:
Great race today. Mav is surprising me right now, but we'll see if he can keep it up. The weight loss seems to be paying off for him at the moment!

I believe a 7 pound weight loss = 1 HP on a motorcycle.

As always the season begins in Jerez. Over the next 3 rounds we will know who has their bike sorted and which riders are going to battle for the championship. COTA is the most demanding and technical track on the calendar, but the winner means little in the grand scheme of things. Beast won then Alex Rins last year. Neither has competed for a championship late in the season.

Ducati has some rear tire issues with the new bike. Aprilia looks sorted but need to be on European soil to really know. KTM, it really doesn’t matter as the rat was crossing that thing up more than Binder today and making it look easy, and regular. Acosta is just going to get stronger as the season goes on.

Biggest downfall of cutting YTTV & picking up F1TV.
Missing these races.
Will have to see if they put out a good highlight reel for COTA.

What a Jerez weekend. The Sprint was nuts with 7 riders going down. Then the race, was an all time Grand Prix. Pecco rode like a bull with its nuts cut off. The lap 1 pass of two riders on the brakes was very Valentino like, on the NSR. Back to back legendary races, COTA/Jerez.

Agreed Prefontaine!!! The sprint was great and then the main was absolutely fantastic!! Loved seeing Peco get his elbows out against MM. I feel like MM thinks he can just bully everyone out there and they all cede the position to him. LOL, not Sunday. When Peco's front wheel/fork rubbed up against MM I thought sure they were both going down. It was interesting because pretty much right after that MM never really challenged again at least not hard. Peco had a great ride. MM while I can't stand him, is certainly getting the most out of the GP23. Just a fantastic race. Haven't watched the Moto 2 or 3 yet. I hope they are as entertaining.

The new rules for 2027 are out. Stoner isn’t a big fan of the changes.

Link to article on new MotoGP rules

Snoozer Sprint Race in LeMans. Lets hope for a battle, tomorrow.

What a race!!! I THOROUGHLY enjoyed that last lap magic from #93!

Total domination from Ducati but I loved the result. IMO this was one of the best races of the season so far!

13th to 2nd place! Marquez is back! Bravo Jorge! If Ducati doesn’t put you on the factory team go to Aprilia and kick their teeth in over and over and over!!!!

It’ll be interesting to see how silly season plays out. Marc is definitely working his voodoo on that Ducati. Sad to see Acosta slide off track but it was bound to happen sooner or later. Almost did it yesterday during the sprint.

Today’s race was great. Honestly, this season has been great which is surprising because I thought the aero was gonna fuck it like last year. I’m glad it’s better and I’ll happily eat my words

Congrats to Aleix. Thursday, announce retirement at end of season. Friday, Pole Position. Saturday, Sprint Win. And he dominated like this last year here. A lot of crashes. 3 different people crashed out of the lead. Crazy shit with the low grip of this track.

Wow, the silly season is going crazy this weekend. Originally Ducati said they would announce Pecco's teammate by this weekend. Now they said there will be a delay. Martin has been very clear, factory red or he leaves Ducati. MM said fairly recently he "doesn't care about color or brand as long as it's a factory current spec bike." Then there are rumors Ducati have made the decision to move Martin to the factory team and have MM move to Pramac to ride his factory spec GP25. Now all of a sudden MM say "Pramac is not an option." Very interested to see what will happen. And there was a video of MM going into the KTM hospitality building. lol Pramac if they exercise the option, stay with Ducati for 2 more years and are supposed to get 2 GP25's, and supposedly they have communicated they will stay with Ducati. IMHO, why not send one GP25 to Gresini, MM gets his GP25, give the other GP25 to Pramac for whoever takes Martin's place and Aldeguer can ride a GP24 as the other Pramac bike.

I think it will be

Ducati: Bagnaia/Martin
KTM: Acosta/Marquez
Aprilia: Vinales/Bezecchi
Yamaha: Quartararo/Rins
Honda: Marini/Miller

No idea on all the satellite rides. I think Marquez to KTM because Marc is sponsored by Red Bell and has been forever. KTM Red Bull is the factory team and KTM have the deep pockets and resources Marquez is looking for. KTM would get all that Honda experience (KTM only exists in the premier class to beat HRC. They absolutely detest Honda.) as well as fresh off the Ducati experience.

And now Pecco has a three place grid penalty. lol Should make for an interesting race if Martin and MM qualify well.

I feel like MM to KTM makes sense in the sponsorship end of things, but I feel like switching bikes again especially how well he is riding on the year old Duc would be a mistake. He would have to get used to a completely different bike. Also, while KTM are certainly strong, I don't see MM getting a championship on one, at least not yet while Ducati is still the best bike out there. I think MM's ego has a lot to do with what he said because it changed as soon as the rumor of Martin being chosen came out. I think he's pissed Martin may have gotten the factory ride over him I also think he is trying to play hardball. But I could also be very wrong which is more likely.

Pecco called it a “clown” penalty. He stuck it to race direction. Didn’t matter, won the sprint and the race. Sprint was exciting but the MotoGP race at Mugello was pretty boring. Only Enea providing some excitement on the last laps. Damn shame for the best moto circuit on the planet.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Pecco called it a “clown” penalty. He stuck it to race direction. Didn’t matter, won the sprint and the race. Sprint was exciting but the MotoGP race at Mugello was pretty boring. Only Enea providing some excitement on the last laps. Damn shame for the best moto circuit on the planet.

Agreed on all. It was like watching the Monaco GP except for Enea's pass at the end. BUT how about today's excitement!!!?? Martin to Aprilia! That announcement came really fast. I feel like maybe the Ducati had decided before Mugello was an incorrect rumor. Supposedly final details being workedout for MM to factory red. WOW, don't see that going well for Ducati. I don't think MM & Pecco get along very well at all and that could create a fairly volatile garage. I can't believe Ducati folded to MM threat of Pramac is not on option. I really am unsure how I feel about this. Just like Hamilton to Ferrari, I am not a Hamilton fan at all, but I am a huge Ferrari fan. Same with Ducati and MM, not a MM fan, never have been but I am a huge Ducati fan. 2025 should be quite exciting. The rest of this season should be very interesting, Martin now has nothing to lose with Ducati, so he will probably, over ride the bike to win the Championship for a manufacturer he is leaving. lol And MM, how will he respond, will he help Pecco if he has the chance to? I think not.
Todays news was more exciting than the race. lol