Motorcycle Racing 2024 - MotoGP, WSBK, BSB, MotoAmerica, TT

[SKR]

Isle of Man TT - RST Superbike TT Part 2

Here's a video of Michael Dunlop pulling up to fix his visor. Look at how close the fans can get to the racers, and while he's sitting there getting his gloves on John McGuinness goes by, slowing down for the yellow flag but probably still around 150mph. You don't see this anywhere but the TT.

https://x.com/vision_msp/status/1797330774070288588

Also, as far as I knew all the riders who had "offs", as they call them, were okay but it sounds like Davo Johnson had a big one at the K tree on the last lap. It sounds like he's alright and waiting on a CT scan but it wasn't as trouble free as I thought. That'll probably be it for his 2024 TT which is too bad.

[Xtrema]

Don't follow MotoGP but this caught my eye....

https://www.sportbible.com/news/spor...ister-20200902

MotoGP star Miguel Oliveira is engaged to his step-sister and the couple plan to get married next year, after postponing their wedding due to his racing commitments.

[SKR]

MotoGP

The first domino in the 2025 rider market fell a couple weeks ago with Aleix Espargaro's retirement announcement. The second fell yesterday with Jorge Martin signing with Aprilia. That probably means Ducati will sign Marc Marquez, since either way Enea Bastianini was probably the odd man out. The latest rumor is Bastianini has signed with KTM, probably on one of the GASGAS bikes, but I haven't seen anything official on that. Pedro Acosta signed with KTM a week or so ago and will probably take the place of Jack Miller. I'm not sure where Miller will end up but I'd like to see him at Gresini. I don't know if he's done enough to get there though. He might be looking at Honda, or World Superbike. I'd rather see him in WSBK than Honda. Pramac still hasn't made an official announcement yet on whether they're staying with Ducati or switching to Yamaha for 2025. But the pieces are starting to fit into place now.

Isle of Man TT

No racing today due to rain, so the Superstock and Supertwin races have been pushed to tomorrow. Tomorrow's Supersport and Sidecar races will be rescheduled, pushed probably to Thursday. Hopefully that's the case and then that's the last of the bad weather so all the races can get in at their scheduled distance.

[SKR]

Isle of Man TT - Metzeler Supertwin TT Race 1

Cool but dry conditions today so a good day for racing. Michael Dunlop stands alone now, winning the Supertwin race this morning to make 27 TT victories. He was up 3 seconds at the first sector on lap 1 and finished lap 3 20 seconds or so ahead of Peter Hickman. Hickman caught and passed Dom Herbertson on the road on the last lap, and Herbertson stayed behind him for a tow to finish 3rd and his first TT podium. Jamie Coward finished 4th and Mike Browne 5th.



The first Superstock race is set to go in about an hour, and the Supersport and Sidecar races have been rescheduled to tomorrow like I thought they would be. Edit: Nevermind, Superstock is rained out. Not sure if it's postponed or cancelled entirely.

MotoGP

It is official now, Marc Marquez to Ducati Lenovo Team for 2025.

[SKR]

Isle of Man TT - RL360 Superstock TT Race 1

The Sidecar race was supposed to be first today, but was red flagged on lap 1 for a crash from Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement at Waterworks. Both are fine, but the course was closed off by the bike so the race will be restarted after the Superstock race.

Peter Hickman has been the man to beat in Superstock over the last few years, but Davey Todd has been red hot and due for his first win. Todd led Hickman at the end of lap 1 by 2 seconds and by 4 seconds at Glen Helen on lap 2. Hickman got 1.5 seconds back on Todd by the end of lap 2 and tightened the deficit to Todd to 0.5 seconds at Ballaugh Bridge on lap 3. Todd got it back over the last half of the lap though and won his first TT by 2 seconds over Hickman. Michael Dunlop was 3rd, Dean Harrison 4th and James Hillier 5th.



If the weather holds, which it might not, the Sidecars are due to go in about half an hour and Supersport race 2 in a couple hours from now, both reduced a lap from the scheduled distance to 2 and 3 laps respectively.

[SKR]

Isle of Man TT - 3wheeling.media Sidecar TT Race 2

There have already been so many great races and stories this TT week - Michael Dunlop getting win number 26 and 27, Ryan and Callum Crowe getting their first win, Dominic Herbertson's first podium and Davey Todd's first win this morning. And another great race in the books with the second Sidecar race. Too bad about Todd Ellis and Emmanuelle Clement, who were doing great in their first TT before their crash. Pete Founds and Jevan Walmsley blew the motor on their bike on lap 1 so they were unable to start the restarted race. Ben Birchall and Kevin Rousseau were able to start this race after crashing in practice and missing the first race, and had a 119mph lap on lap 2. But it wasn't enough to beat the Crowes, who did their first 120mph lap to sweep the Sidecar races. Birchall/Rousseau were 2nd, and what probably got the biggest cheer from the crowd was Dave Molyneux and Jake Roberts finishing 3rd. Molyneux has had 17 TT wins but hasn't been on the podium since 2017. Alan Founds and Rhys Gibbons were 4th and Lewis Blackstock and Patrick Rosney were 5th.



Rain has delayed the start of the Supersport race, hopefully to this evening. It might be cancelled altogether since there's only 2 racing days left and we still have the second Supertwin and Superstock races tomorrow and the Senior TT Saturday.

[SKR]

Isle of Man TT

No racing today, rained out. Tomorrow is the last day of racing and will have Supersport, shortened from 4 laps to 2, Supertwin, shortened from 3 laps to 2, and Senior, shortened from 6 laps to 4. Superstock 2 has been cancelled altogether and if it rains tomorrow I can see the Supersport or Supertwin, or both, cancelled to allow the Senior to run. People are bitching about 2 parade laps also scheduled for tomorrow, saying that the Superstocks should run too, but that would be 10 laps of racing across 4 classes for some competitors and that's too much. Too much for the teams too, getting 4 bikes ready.

Conor Cummins withdrew from the remainder of the TT yesterday. No specific reason was given, but if I had to guess I'd say he didn't feel competitive enough or focused enough and the TT is no place to race if you're not in it 100%. So good for him for making that decision.

[SKR]

Isle of Man TT

These goddamn rain delays are killing me. Up at 4 yesterday to watch the races just to see them pushed back an hour at a time until they were postponed. Then up at 3 this morning for a 3:30 start, and rain pushed it back to 8. But the weather cleared and they got all 3 races off.

Monster Energy Supersport TT Race 2

Michael Dunlop won his 28 TT, third of the week and sixth Supersport in a row, ahead of Dean Harrison, Davey Todd, Jamie Coward and Peter Hickman. I think Dunlop would have been everybody's pick, but Todd looked strong on the Ducati, Coward is long overdue for a win, and Hickman is Hickman. Good finish for Harrison in his first year at Honda after around a decade on Kawasakis.



Entire Cover insurance Supertwin TT Race 2

Another class where you'd call Dunlop the favorite, as long as he'd be able to keep the fragile Paton together to the end. Dunlop was on for a lap record 123mph lap on the second and final lap at Creg ny Baa when the race was red flagged. The race was declared official with the finishing order being running order at the end of lap 1. Dunlop got his 29th. Hickman was 2nd and Mike Browne 3rd. Dominic Herbertson was ahead of Browne for 3rd on lap 2, but was behind on lap 1 and had to settle for 4th and Paul Jordan was 5th.

It hasn't been said yet what the red flag was for, but I saw a tweet saying it was for a crash at Handley's. If that's true it would have been someone near the tail end of the field since Handley's is at about 12 miles into the circuit and the Creg is 34 or 35 miles in. The TT organizers and road racing in general is pretty tight lipped about incidents until they get all their ducks in a row so it'll probably be a while before there's an update.



Milwaukee Senior TT

Dunlop was set to be the first to win 3 TTs in a day, which to be fair I think running 3 races in a day would be pretty rare, and 5 in a week for the first time since Ian Hutchinson did it in 2010. But he was in 3rd behind Hickman and Todd, and then out on lap 1 at Hailwood's with bike problems. Hickman was on record-setting pace with a 135.5mph lap from a standing start on lap 1 and faster on lap 2, but he crashed at Ginger Hall. It sounds like he was up on his feet and alright so that's good. That left Todd all alone at the front and he went on to win his second TT. Josh Brookes was 2nd, his best finish, Harrison was 3rd, James Hillier 4th and John McGuinness 5th.



(Todd, #8, and Brookes, #7, at Ballacrye)

Cool things that happened at this year's TT

- Michael Dunlop getting win #26 to equal Joey Dunlop's record which has stood since 2000
- Ian Hutchinson making a competitive return
- Ryan and Callum Crowe getting their first win
- Dean Harrison with a 135mph lap to join Dunlop and Peter Hickman in the 135mph club
- 27 wins for Dunlop to break Joey's record
- Dominic Herbertson's first podium
- Davey Todd's first win
- Todd with a 135mph lap
- The Crowes getting a 120mph lap
- A new winner in the Senior
- Josh Brookes' best finish

Good year, tough about the rain but that's life.

[SKR]

MotoGP

More signings this week. Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3 will be renamed next year as Red Bull KTM Tech 3, which isn't much of a change since they're KTMs anyway. Enea Bastianini will be there next year after losing his Ducati seat to Marc Marquez, and a surprise to me was Maverick Vinales will also be moving there from Aprilia. This means Jack Miller and Augusto Fernandez are free agents.

Remaining openings for 2025+:

2 Prima Pramac Racing
2 Gresini Racing
2 Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing
2 Trackhouse Racing
1 Aprilia Racing
1 Monster Energy Yamaha
1 Repsol Honda
1 LCR Honda

It's still unknown what bikes Pramac will be fielding next year. One day it sounds like they'll resign with Ducati, the next it sounds like they'll move to Yamaha. They need to make a decision soon since that will make quite a difference on which riders are willing to sign with them.

Riders still unsigned for 2025+:

Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing)
Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha)
Joan Mir (Repsol Honda)
Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing)
Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing)
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing)
Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing)
Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing)
Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing)
Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull GASGAS Tech 3)
Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda)

Moto2 rider Fermin Aldeguer complicates things. He's been signed by Ducati for 2025, but it hasn't been said where they'll put him yet. The point of Pramac was for young Ducati riders to build experience to move to the factory team, so he'll probably end up there, unless Pramac goes to Yamaha. In which case he'll probably be at VR46. Aprilia said they want an Italian rider, so we might see Bezzecchi or Di Giannantonio, listed in order of likelihood, going to Aprilia. On the other hand, they might promote Fernandez or Oliveira from Trackhouse. On the other other hand, I can see Trackhouse and Aprilia walking away from both those guys. Trackhouse has their own Moto2 problem in Joe Roberts. Trackhouse wants an American rider, and their only option in the next few years will be Roberts. You can count on Mir leaving Honda, but it's hard to say where he'll end up. Nakagami isn't going anywhere until Ai Ogura is ready to move up from Moto2.

It's hard to imagine any of the current MotoGP riders being out of the series in 2025. Aldeguer is moving up, but Aleix Espargaro's retirement clears a space for him. Roberts might displace someone but I don't know if he would be an improvement over anyone currently in the series, American or not. There are rumors of Andrea Iannone coming back to MotoGP after a season in World Superbike, which he has been exceeding expectations to be sure but he hasn't won a race there yet and if there isn't room for Toprak Razgatlioglu then there's no room for Iannone either. I can't see anyone else from WSBK going to MotoGP. Maybe Nicolo Bulega but he's only a handful of races into his rookie season so I don't know how good he actually is yet. And I don't know if anyone else is ready to move up from Moto2. Maybe Ogura, but he'll be going to LCR Honda so that'll only shift Nakagami over to a Honda test rider. Or maybe WSBK. So I think the field is pretty much set. It's just a matter now of where they'll all end up.

If I keep posting pictures and names, eventually it'll catch on with someone.