Motorcycle Racing 2025 - MotoGP, WSBK, BSB, MotoAmerica, TT

[SKR]

Daytona 200

I was going to cancel my MotoAmerica subscription because the coverage is so poor, but then I forgot so it looks like I'm in for another season. I would have bought the Daytona 200 pass anyway though. The Daytona 200 is a non-points scoring race, put on by MotoAmerica with Supersport bikes. It's mostly made up of riders in MotoAmerica but riders from other countries and series also participate.

Tyler Scott (Suzuki) will start on pole. Josh Herrin (Ducati), winner of the last two Daytona 200s and three-time winner overall, starts 2nd. Brandon Paasch (Triumph), winner in 2021 and 2022, starts 3rd. British Superbikes rider and 14 time Isle of Man TT winner Peter Hickman (Triumph) will start 4th, teammate Richard Cooper (Triumph) 5th and Richie Escalante (Suzuki) 6th. Other notable starters include brothers Harry and Matt Truelove (Suzuki), 7th and 11th, Danny Webb (Suzuki) 9th, 4-time winner Danny Eslick (Suzuki) 13th, 29-time Isle of Man TT winner Michael Dunlop (Ducati) 16th, Canadian Trevor Daley (Suzuki) 18th and Sam West (Kawasaki) 19th of 35 starters.

I don't know if anybody has anything for Herrin. He's been on the same team for a few years now, and it can be a tricky race with lots of subtle little things like the draft, lapped traffic and pit stops that if you get them wrong can ruin your day. Maybe he doesn't have as much experience as a guy like Eslick, but he's on a fast bike and is pretty sharp with his race craft. Paasch won both of his 200 wins by drafting at the perfect time so if he's in the lead draft in the closing laps he'd be in with a chance. I think if anyone can upset Herrin though it's Escalante. I want to see Dunlop at the front but I think this is more of a test session for the Ducati, since he's been on a Yamaha in Supersport on the roads and at the TT for so many years. He tried a Triumph last year but couldn't get comfortable on it, and switched back to Yamaha at the start of TT practice last year.

The race is Saturday, and hopefully I have good enough internet at my next hotel that I can watch the race in HD. MotoAmerica doesn't give you the option to change quality settings so you're stuck with whatever it thinks your internet connection can handle. Hopefully the audio and video are in sync too; today for qualifying the audio somehow was 4 minutes behind the video. MotoAmerica is wildly expensive, especially for the quality of the coverage, but the Daytona 200 is such a cool race it's worth it for just this race.

[SKR]

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Daytona 200

hopefully I have good enough internet at my next hotel that I can watch the race in HD. MotoAmerica doesn't give you the option to change quality settings so you're stuck with whatever it thinks your internet connection can handle. Hopefully the audio and video are in sync too; today for qualifying the audio somehow was 4 minutes behind the video. MotoAmerica is wildly expensive, especially for the quality of the coverage, but the Daytona 200 is such a cool race it's worth it for just this race.

I do have good enough internet. This is the video quality, that I can watch a few seconds at a time as it buffers. I don't know how it's possible that MotoAmerica is so bad at this.

I'll still watch it, but I'm going to have to wait until the race is finished and maybe when they upload the replay it'll be better.

[SKR]

Daytona 200

I was right. Richie Escalante (Suzuki) and Tyler Scott (Suzuki), and for a long time Richard Cooper (Triumph) until his bike broke down, kept Josh Herrin (Ducati) honest but in the end Herrin prevailed and became the first rider in 82 runnings to win 3 Daytona 200s in a row. A red flag for rain pinned a lot of riders one lap down, with only 7 riders on the lead lap. Escalante and Scott finished 2nd and 3rd, Peter Hickman (Triumph) was 4th and Brandon Paasch (Triumph) was 5th. I still believe it was more of a test session than an attempt at a race win, but Michael Dunlop (Ducati) finished 9th and was part of the lead pack until pit stops and a bike problem shuffled him out, and then the red flag stuck him a lap down.



Next 4 Weeks:

March 14-16: MotoGP - Gran Premio de la República Argentina, Termas de Rio Hondo
March 28-30: MotoGP - Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas, Circuit of the Americas
March 28-30: WorldSBK - Pirelli Portuguese Round, Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
April 4-6: MotoAmerica - MotoAmerica Superbikes at Barber, Barber Motorsports Park

[SKR]

Daytona 200

The video quality on their highlights package sucks too. Which must mean it's fuck all to do with internet, this is the best they can record at the track.

As far as racing goes, MotoAmerica is actually decent at the front. But it's a lot of money for an awfully poor way of giving it to you.

[SKR]

MotoGP - Gran Premio YPF Energía de Argentina

Second verse, same as the first. Marc Marquez (Ducati) starts on pole, sets the fastest lap and leads every lap of the sprint race. I don't know what's gotten into Alex Marquez (Ducati), or if it's just that he's gelling with the GP24 better than anyone else, but he's the only one who had anything for brother Marc. Alex started 2nd, set the second fastest lap, and ran 2nd every lap. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) finished 3rd, Johann Zarco (Honda) played a blinder qualifying 3rd and finishing 4th, and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati) was 5th. Top Aprilia was Marco Bezzecchi in 6th, top KTM was Pedro Acosta in 9th and top Yamaha was Fabio Quartararo in 10th. Jorge Martin (Aprilia) is still out recovering from injuries and will miss COTA in 2 weeks as well.

[SKR]

MotoGP - Gran Premio YPF Energía de Argentina

I feel like I'm going to be saying this a lot this year, and good news for any F1 fans that are ready to give up on Ferrari already and just want to see red things go fast, another shitkicking by Marc Marquez (Ducati). The only guy who was close was brother Alex Marquez (Ducati), again finishing 2nd. Franco Morbidelli (Ducati) was 3rd for his first Sunday podium since 2021, which doesn't sound like it could possibly be right but I guess it is. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) was 4th and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati) just passed Johann Zarco (Honda) on the last lap for 5th. Top KTM was Brad Binder in 7th. Good day for Honda with 3 bikes in the top 10. Top Yamaha was Alex Rins in 11th. Tough day for Aprilia. Ai Ogura finished 8th but was then disqualified for using "software not homologated", whatever that means. Miguel Oliveira didn't start due to injuries from a crash in the sprint race, Marco Bezzecchi crashed braking into turn 1 on lap 1 and Jorge Martin is out, leaving Raul Fernandez as the sole Aprilia finisher in 15th.



MotoGP Standings after Argentina:

1. Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) 74
2. Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP 58
3. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) 43
4. Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) 37
5. Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) 25

Next 4 Weeks:

March 28-30: MotoGP - Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas, Circuit of the Americas
March 28-30: WorldSBK - Pirelli Portuguese Round, Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
April 4-6: MotoAmerica - MotoAmerica Superbikes at Barber, Barber Motorsports Park
April 11-13: MotoGP - Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar, Lusail International Circuit
April 11-13: WorldSBK - Dutch Round, TT Circuit Assen

[SKR]

MotoGP - Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas

Real racy first lap in the sprint race yesterday until the top 3 sorted themselves out, and finished the same way as the first 4 races. Marc Marquez (Ducati) won, Alex Marquez (Ducati) was 2nd, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) was 3rd, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati) was 4th and Franco Morbidelli (Ducati) was 5th. After another all-Ducati top 5 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) was 6th, Pedro Acosta (KTM) was 7th, Luca Marini (Honda) was 8th and Ai Ogura (Aprilia) was 9th. I'm not going back to look but I think having all manufacturers in the top 9 is a first this year. Honda looks like they're a lot better this year. Jack Miller (Yamaha) looked really good in practice but vanished during the race. Aprilia had a terrible start to the weekend but salvaged something. KTM seems just lost.

[SKR]

WorldSBK - Pirelli Portuguese Round

Good scrap in race 1 between Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW) and Nicolo Bulega (Ducati), with Razgatlioglu coming out on top. Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha) finished 3rd, Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) was 4th and Xavi Vierge (Honda) 5th. Top Bimota was Axel Bassani in 9th and top Kawasaki (the only one) was Garrett Gerloff in 12th.



The Superpole race, a half-distance race to set the top 9 starting order of race 2, was won again by Razgatlioglu ahead of Bulega, Alvaro Bautista (Ducati), Petrucci and Locatelli. Vierge was 8th, Bassani was 11th and Gerloff was 16th.



Race 3 was red flagged on lap 10 after a crash by Jason O'Halloran (Yamaha), substituting for Jonathan Rea, dislodged a portion of the air fence in turn 1. The race was restarted over 11 laps using the running order from lap 9. Razgatlioglu completed the hat-trick, followed by Bulega, Bautista, Locatelli and Michael van der Mark (BMW). Bassani was 7th, Iker Lecuona (Honda) was 8th and Gerloff was 12th.



World Superbike Standings after Portimao:

1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 111 points
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 82
3. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) 60
4. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 59
5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) 56

[SKR]

MotoGP - Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas

What a weird day today. It rained on Friday for practice, then was dry yesterday, and then rained again today. I don't know what happened in Moto3 since I don't watch it, but Moto2 was wet and yet a few riders gambled on the track drying and started on slicks. They were lapped by lap 6, and it wasn't until the last lap when one of them ran a faster lap time than the riders on wets.

Then for MotoGP, Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) crashed on the sighting lap on slicks. A lot of the top riders went for wets after that, but at the last moment Marc Marquez (Ducati) left the grid, running to the pits to change to his second bike with slicks mounted. Doing so would mean he had to start at the back of the grid, but there's a rule that if 10 or more riders leave the grid to change bikes (because MotoGP doesn't change tires from slicks to wets or back, they just swap bikes), the start will be red flagged and the race will be delayed to allow everyone to clear pit road. It was a gamble but it paid off as more than 10 left the grid. So the race was delayed 10 minutes, all riders started on slicks, the ones that gambled on slicks in the first place were mad, and the race was started at a shortened 19 laps. Super strange start. Marquez had everyone covered with a 2 second lead on lap 9, but lost the front and crashed. That handed the lead over to Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), who surely needed a shot of confidence after Marquez's 5 wins. Alex Marquez (Ducati) again finished 2nd as he has every race so far. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati) was 3rd, Franco Morbidelli (Ducati) was 4th and Jack Miller (Yamaha) had a great day in 5th. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) was 6th, Enea Bastianini (KTM) was 7th and Luca Marini (Honda) was 8th.



MotoGP Standings after COTA:

1. Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) 87
2. Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) 86
3. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) 75
4. Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) 55
5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) 44

Next 4 Weeks:

April 4-6: MotoAmerica - MotoAmerica Superbikes at Barber, Barber Motorsports Park
April 11-13: MotoGP - Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar, Lusail International Circuit
April 11-13: WorldSBK - Dutch Round, TT Circuit Assen
April 25-26: Roads: Cookstown 100, Orritor Circuit
April 25-27: MotoGP - Gran Premio Estrella Galicia 0,0 de España, Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto

[SKR]

All my MotoAmerica stuff got lost when the database did a Flight 370 into the unknown, but the take-home lesson was that the talent is strong but shallow.

WorldSBK - Dutch Round

You have to think Nicolo Bulega (Ducati) has the championship sewn up already. Sam Lowes (Ducati) started on pole which was awesome for him but turn 1 and Bulega was gone. Lowes ended up being taken out by Alvaro Bautista (Ducati), which was hilarious after last round when Bautista was taken out by Scott Redding (Ducati), and Bautista said something like having to have respect for the factory riders. Lowes didn't need that at all. Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha) finished 2nd. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) was 3rd. Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW) really struggled and could only manage 4th. Iker Lecuona (Honda) was 5th. Top Bimota was Alex Lowes in 11th, crashing early but being able to remount, and Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki) was 13th.



MotoGP - Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar

Six wins in seven races now, starting from pole in every one, for Marc Marquez (Ducati). Brother Alex Marquez (Ducati) gets his seventh 2nd place finish. Franco Morbidelli (Ducati) was 3rd, Fermin Aldeguer (Ducati) was 4th and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) was 5th. I didn't really think Honda was doing too bad but they kind of disappeared at the end. Aprilia and KTM have been nowhere at any point this weekend. Same with Yamaha I guess apart from Quartararo. I think some of them took soft rear tires and they definitely shouldn't have. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) must have missed the setup too because he started 11th and only recovered to 8th. Top Aprilia was Ai Ogura in 7th, top KTM was Maverick Vinales in 10th and top Honda was Luca Marini in 15th. Jorge Martin (Aprilia) is back this weekend after crashing in preseason testing and finished 16th, but was in the top 10 for a bit.

[ThePenIsMightier]

Look at the insane, advanced aero on that thing!!




Wouldn't mind a reflection of that in my garage floor!

[SKR]

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Look at the insane, advanced aero on that thing!!

Wouldn't mind a reflection of that in my garage floor!

Well that's been quite a point of contention over the last few years. Some say innovation is the meaning of the sport. Others say it's made the racing worse. In 2027 there's supposed to be a reduction in aero, to what extent I don't remember, but until then it's all wings all the time.

WorldSBK - Dutch Round

Some really interesting racing today, helped by some unfortunate luck for Nicolo Bulega (Ducati). Bulega's bike shit the bed halfway through the Superpole race this morning, taking him out of the running. Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW) took what I can't believe is his first WSBK win in the rain. With Bulega out of the way, Sam Lowes (Ducati) got his first WSBK podium in 2nd, Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) was 3rd, Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha) was 4th and Michael van der Mark (BMW) was 5th. Top Honda was Iker Lecuona or Xavi Vierge you're probably thinking. Wrong, idiot. Tarran Mackenzie took advantage of the poor conditions and dragged that shit bike of his to 9th. That's awesome. Lecuona was 14th and Vierge crashed on lap 1. Top Bimota was Alex Lowes in 11th, and Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki) was 16th. I wish there was at least one other Kawasaki in the field, because now that I've started doing this "top ____" thing I'm going to have to continue it, so Gerloff is going to get a mention in every WSBK post until the end of the season.



And then, in race 2, Bulega's bike shit itself again. He was gone and the race was over, until all of a sudden he was actually gone and the race was back on. The BMWs struggled again in the dry, full-length race. Somehow things are clicking for Yamaha and Locatelli got his first WSBK win. Bautista finished 2nd, Remy Gardner (Yamaha) was 3rd for I think his first WSBK podium, Sam Lowes was 4th and Axel Bassani (Bimota) was 5th. Lecuona was top Honda in 7th, Razgatlioglu was top BMW in 8th and Gerloff was 16th again for Kawasaki. Another good run for Mackenzie, finishing 14th. I can't stress how much that bike sucks and how he should be on anything else. His teammate, Zaqhwan Zaidi, finished 86 seconds behind Locatelli in a 21 lap race.



World Superbike Standings after Assen:

1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 136 points
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 115
3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) 107
4. Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 86
5. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) 81

MotoGP - Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar

This was a good race too. Alex Marquez (Ducati) was like a wrecking ball today, coming together with Marc Marquez (Ducati) on lap 1, and then with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati) on lap 3, knocking aero parts off all 3 bikes. Everybody was able to continue but Di Giannantonio's race was ruined and Marquez was given a long lap penalty for it. Franco Morbidelli (Ducati) led for a while before dropping off, and out of nowhere Maverick Vinales (KTM) took the lead and looked like he had a good chance of winning it. He'd eventually cross the line 2nd, but ran afoul of the fuckin stupid Michelin tires and air pressure rules. If you don't get enough air in the front tire at the start of the race, and somehow you find yourself in clean, cool air like you would at the front, your front tire doesn't build pressure like it would if you were stuck behind someone. It's this way because Michelin can't build a tire that will stay together unless it's inflated to a pressure that the riders can't ride, so if you run too many laps below the minimum pressure you get a 16 second time penalty. That dropped him back to 14th.

In front of all that, it was more of the same with Marc Marquez cruising to win #7 of 8 races. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) was 2nd, Morbidelli was 3rd, Johann Zarco (Honda) was 4th in another surprise, and Fermin Aldeguer (Ducati) was 5th. Alex Marquez recovered to 6th, breaking his string of 7 consecutive 2nd place finishes. Top Yamaha was Fabio Quartararo in 7th. Top KTM after Vinales' penalty was Pedro Acosta in 8th and top Aprilia was Marco Bezzecchi in 9th. Jorge Martin (Aprilia) made his season debut this weekend, but crashed and broke something like 6 ribs and collapsed a lung, so he's back on the shelf for who knows how long.



MotoGP Standings after Qatar:

1. Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) 123 points
2. Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) 106
3. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) 97
4. Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) 78
5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) 48

Next 4 Weeks:

April 25-26: Roads: Cookstown 100, Orritor Circuit
April 25-27: MotoGP - Gran Premio Estrella Galicia 0,0 de España, Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto
May 2-4: WorldSBK - Acerbis Italian Round, Cremona Circuit
May 2-4: MotoAmerica - MotoAmerica Superbikes at Road Atlanta, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta
May 3-5: British Superbike - Round 1, Oulton Park
May 5-10: Roads - Northwest 200, Triangle Course
May 9-11: MotoGP - Michelin Grand Prix de France, Le Mans

[ThePenIsMightier]

"Bone" of contention. BONE!

[ExtraSlow]

[SKR]

How dare you Detective Penis