Motorcycle Racing 2023 - MotoGP, WSBK, BSB, MotoAmerica, TT

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Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix

As much as I like MotoGP and the other racing series, it's road racing like the Northwest 200, the TT, Imatra and Macau that I look forward to the most. So this is a friendly reminder that the Macau Grand Prix is this weekend. It used to be two races, and the fastest total time would be the winner but this year it looks like it's just one 12 lap race. Saturday morning at 8:40am in Macau is 5:40pm Friday in Alberta. The race is live and on demand at https://www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo/en/info/schedule

Peter Hickman set the fastest lap in qualifying on the last lap, giving him the start on pole ahead of Davey Todd and Erno Kostamo. I'd expect Hickman and Todd to be the two favorites. Hickman had an incredible TT and did well in his first start at Imatra this year, but was a non-starter at the Northwest and didn't have the BSB season he probably thought he would. And outside of two Northwest wins, Todd had a dreadful year in almost every way. So both will be wanting to end the year on a high note. I wouldn't discount Michael Rutter either, starting 5th, but I think it'll go down to Hickman and Todd.

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Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix

It did go down to Peter Hickman and Davey Todd like I expected. Todd initially missed the start due to a mechanical problem, but was able to start the restarted race after it was red flagged for a crash on lap 1. Todd kept Hickman in sight for the first few laps but Hickman rode away to win his fourth Macau Grand Prix. Todd was suffering from tire wear and dropped back to almost 29 seconds behind Hickman to finish 2nd ahead of David Datzer, Josh Brookes in his Macau debut, and Rob Hodson. Nine time winner Michael Rutter and last year's winner Erno Kostamo were in the top 5 as well until they retired with mechanical issues. Macau is such a narrow track with no runoff so passing is difficult, and it doesn't always make for great racing, but it's more about the spectacle of it. 190mph on a street circuit, and shoulders touching armco barriers is such a cool thing to watch.

The lap 1 crash started with Brian McCormack. I don't know what happened, but his bike was laying in the middle of the track. Nadieh Schoots was at the back of the pack and I don't know if she got in some oil, locked the front trying to brake, or just jumped off because she had nowhere to go, but she took quite a whack. First by her own bike, and then slid back first into McCormack's bike. Both riders were taken to hospital. I assume McCormack must have been alright based on the reactions of the other FHO Racing riders in Hickman, Brookes and Rutter. I haven't heard how Schoots is other than "conscious and comfortable". Kamil Holan also crashed at the last corner of the last lap, and I haven't heard what his condition is either.

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MotoGP - Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar, Sprint Race

It wouldn't surprise anyone to hear that the front row would be all Ducati, but you wouldn't expect it to be Luca Marini, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez. Di Giannantonio didn't get a great start and lost positions to Jorge Martin and and Francesco Bagnaia from the second row. Martin pushed his way through to the front to win his 8th (I think) sprint of the season, halving Bagnaia's points lead from 14 to 7. Di Giannantonio recovered to finish 2nd, Marini 3rd, Marquez 4th and Bagnaia 5th. The GP race is tomorrow morning, and Martin's points gain over Bagnaia today means the championship will be decided at the final round in Valencia next weekend.

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MotoGP - Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar

Seven points separated Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin after yesterday's sprint race, ensuring that every position counts toward the championship with only 62 points left on the table. Bagnaia got a perfect start out of 4th place to take the lead, and Martin got an unimaginable start, spinning and hopping off the line and falling back from 5th to 9th. As Martin struggled, Bagnaia took off with Fabio Di Giannantonio in pursuit. Di Giannantonio is without a ride for next year, as Marc Marquez is moving over from Repsol Honda to Gresini. You'd think the easy fix would be for Di Giannantiono to move over to Honda, but they said they don't want him. Now it sounds like a done deal that Luca Marini is moving over to Honda from VR46, and VR46 has said they don't want Di Giannantonio either.

At the start of the weekend, Di Giannantonio said he had the pace to win, a statement that was met with disbelief everywhere. With 5 laps to go, Di Giannantonio got the message on his dashboard "Mapping 8". Mapping 8 was taken to mean roll off and allow Bagnaia to win, despite Ducati saying repeatedly there are no team orders. The message has been used by Ducati in that way before, a message to Jorge Lorenzo to drop one position to Andrea Dovizioso to give Dovizioso a chance to catch Marc Marquez for the 2017 championship. It was revealed after the race however that the message was just "5 to go". Di Giannantonio made his pass, Bagnaia made a mistake and ran wide on the next lap, and Di Giannantonio went on to win his first GP race. Bagnaia finished 2nd, Marini 3rd, Maverick Vinales 4th and Brad Binder 5th. Martin finished 10th, and I read something on reddit amongst claims of secret Ducati team orders that Martin's tire spun on the rim at the start. I don't know what happened but he had an awful race.

Hopefully Di Giannantonio's recent success means someone will give him a chance next year. He hasn't exactly been lighting it up, but he hasn't been doing bad either. He's in his second year, a top 10 guy on a top 10 bike getting top 10 finishes. The rumor is that VR46 is trying to get Fermin Aldeguer from Moto2, but I think they'd be crazy to not at least have a look at Di Giannantonio for next year.

With one round to go the pressure is on Martin. With 37 points available, he needs to come up with 22 to win. He's the best on Saturdays but that will only give him 12 at the most, and Bagnaia has been the best on Sundays. I don't know if Martin has the mental strength to do it, and I'm sure Bagania does. The last round is next weekend at Valencia.



MotoGP Standings after Qatar:

1. 437 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team)
2. 416 Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing)
3. 326 Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team)
4. 268 Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing)
5. 204 Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing)

Next Race:

MotoGP Valencia November 25

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MotoGP - Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana, Sprint Race

It's the last round of the season with just the Sprint and the GP race left, and 21 points between Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin. Bagnaia outqualified Martin, having to go through Q1 to start 2nd to Martin's 6th. But Martin had the pace and determination, winning his ninth sprint race of the season. Brad Binder finished 2nd, Marc Marquez 3rd in his final weekend at Repsol Honda after 11 years, polesitter Maverick Vinales 4th and Bagnaia 5th. Bagnaia's lead over Martin dropped to 14 points, but as long as he finishes 5th or better in tomorrow's race it won't matter what Martin does. Bagnaia need to get the jump into turn 1 tomorrow and stay ahead of trouble as I expect it'll be pretty tense being further back in the field like he was today.

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MotoGP - Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana

Well. Remember yesterday when I said you'd want to be at the front to stay out of mid-pack shenanigans? Francesco Bagnaia got the jump on the start and went to the lead. Jorge Martin started 6th but went almost immediately to 2nd. Martin got caught in dirty air behind Bagnaia and went wide, dropping back down to 6th or so. He started charging back through but went in deep on Marc Marquez, they both went into the gravel, and that was it. Bagnaia retains his #1 plate and is the 2023 MotoGP Champion.

In amongst all that, what a wild race. Marco Bezzecchi crashed out on lap 1 with apparent contact with Marquez. A replay was never shown so I don't know what happened there. Then Marquez and Martin crashed. After that, Bagnaia started to just kind of coast, and the KTMs of Brad Binder and Jack Miller were 1-2. Binder went wide and dropped back to 7th. Enea Bastianini crashed out, as did Augusto Fernandez. Then Miller crashed out of the lead, putting Bagnaia back at the front. Binder mounted a comeback but came up short. Fabio Di Giannantonio came from 11th on the grid and if he had one more lap, he would have won his second consecutive race and second race of his career. Bagnaia won the championship and the race. Johann Zarco finished 2nd, Binder 3rd, Di Giannantonio 4th (after a 3 second penalty for a tire pressure violation, dropping him from 2nd) and, I'm surprised I'm reading this, Raul Fernandez 5th. Good for him.

The 2024 season starts on Tuesday with a test session at Valencia. Marc Marquez begins his Ducati career alongside brother Alex at Gresini Racing. Franco Morbidelli moves over to Prima Pramac Racing. Moto2 champion Pedro Acosta starts his rookie season at GASGAS Factory Racing. Johann Zarco goes to LCR Honda, and Alex Rins goes to Monster Energy Yamaha. It's been announced that Luca Marini is leaving Mooney VR46, and the rumor seems to be that he's going to Repsol Honda. If that's true, the last two pieces of the puzzle are who takes Marini's place, and where will Fabio Di Giannantonio end up. It should be fun to watch. I'm looking forward to Marquez, Morbidelli and Rins, and I hope Di Giannantonio can stay in MotoGP because over the last half of the season I think he deserves it.





Final MotoGP Standings:

1. 467 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team)
2. 428 Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing)
3. 329 Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team)
4. 293 Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing)
5. 225 Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing)

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Picture dump coming for riders on new teams, new bikes and testing liveries.

MotoGP 2024 Winter Testing 1/3

Pedro Acosta, GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3





Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ Team



Fabio Di Giannantonio, Pertamina Enduro VR46 MotoGP™ Team



Luca Marini, Repsol Honda Team

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MotoGP 2024 Winter Testing 2/3

Marc Marquez, Gresini Racing MotoGP™





Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

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MotoGP 2024 Winter Testing 3/3

Franco Morbidelli, Prima Pramac Racing





Alex Rins, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ Team





Johann Zarco, CASTROL Honda LCR

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World Superbike Winter Testing, 1/2

Axel Bassani, Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK



Rookie Nicolo Bulega, Aruba.it Racing – Ducati



Andrea Iannone, Team GoEleven



Iker Lecuona, Team HRC

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World Superbike Winter Testing, 2/2

Alex Lowes, Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK



Rookie Tarran Mackenzie, PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team



Jonathan Rea, Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK



Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Motocorsa Racing