Very few points awarded to MotoGP for making us wait three weeks between the first and second rounds of the new season; do they not realise how hungry we are for on-track action? It’s been made all the worse by the fact that the first Sprint and Main races in Thailand were both excellent, whetting our appetites for more of the same, as soon as possible.
Well, we are now finally at the beginning of MotoGP week, although, despite the wait, there has been precious little news coming out of the factories. Maybe they’re all sitting around with endless cups of tea, waiting, like the rest of us?
It’s too early in the season to be getting any clear idea of how the 2027 850 cc bikes are going to perform, even though they have been seen sporadically on track, both in public and behind closed doors. The full reveal of these machines will likely only be around the middle of the season.
However, what we have had is Toprak Razgatlioglu riding a V4 Yamaha on Pirelli tyres at the most recent test in Jerez. This was a “private” test, meaning no media present, and Razgatlioglu was the only race rider allowed, due to the concessions Yamaha still enjoys for being largely useless in the past two seasons. KTM, Aprilia and Ducati were also present, with test riders only.
Mind you, there was literally no feedback from either team or rider on the performance of the tyres, and it was likely just a further development test for Pirelli, although perhaps the specification of the tyres is largely finalised and just requires tweaking now? At least it was more saddle time for Toprak, and he and fellow rookie Diogo Moreira will also have a slightly more level playing field at the next race in Brazil; no GP rider has raced there since the mid-1980s, so all will start equal, although Toprak still needs to understand fully how a MotoGP bike works compared to a WSBK bike.
Last week saw a MotoGP Hall of Fame dinner, with the likes of Rossi, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Stoner, Agostini, Schwantz and Spencer present. Pedrosa telling Rossi that he learned how to race in the wet without crashing by riding a motard bike up and down a mountain road outside Barcelona in the wet – a public mountain road, at that – was one revelation. Don’t forget that he was at this time a fully-fledged Repsol Honda racer, not some rookie hoping for his big break!
More pertinent to this season was Rossi’s opinion that beating Marc Marquez on an inferior bike was just not possible. He was talking mainly about Marco Bezzecchi (one of Rossi’s protégés) on the Aprilia. Rossi acknowledged that Bezzecchi is the most in-form rider at the moment but that the combination of Marquez and the Ducati is the pairing to beat, even as Marquez himself has declared that he is not yet 100% fit after his accident at the tail end of last season.
Turning to the subject of Francesco Bagnaia, Rossi and Lorenzo confirmed that he seems a bit lost at the moment, with Lorenzo acknowledging that Bagnaia was very much like himself in terms of his riding style: smooth and polished. But both he and Rossi also noted that, if something wasn’t right, then Bagnaia wasn’t the rider to ride around the problem. Mind you, with the season only just begun, maybe Bagnaia will find his mojo with the GP26, and he’ll once again be a front runner?
Of course, the main news last week was the confirmation that the Qatar round would be postponed to later in the year, due to the ongoing conflict in the region. The good news was that this isn’t a cancellation, the new date being posted as November 8th, meaning it will form the last race of a triple back-to-back run, starting with Australia, then to Malaysia and, finally, Qatar.
This also means that the season will end later than originally planned, with Portugal moving later to November 22nd, and the final race at Valencia on November 29th.
Finally, there is still very little news regarding the rider market for 2027, following a huge amount of rumour and speculation before the season began. Marc Marquez looks to be close to re-signing for the factory Ducati squad, but that is about all.
Mind you, did Jorge Lorenzo give a big clue when he said that reports that both Pedro Acosta and Pecco Bagnaia were heading to Ducati and Aprilia, respectively, were 100% accurate, saying, “I think they’ve made the right choice. Pedro made the right choice to go to Ducati. He will have the same package as the best, as Marc. I’m sure he will be very good.”
“And Pecco also needs to change, to start thinking positively. And in Ducati, with Marc in the box, he was not fresh; he was not positive. And Aprilia is not so bad! So he will make the right move, I think.”
Lorenzo is a performance coach for Maverick Viñales, and he is tipped to replace Acosta at the factory KTM team..! Could this be news right from the horse’s mouth?
OK, that’s enough said for now. Let’s hold our breath for one more day as we head back to hot, sunny Brazil for a weekend of racing.
