The 2025 MotoGP season is finally here! In this episode of The Motorcyclist Podcast, we discuss grand prix motorcycle racing and why it's so neat. Let us know your predictions for the season and who your favorite rider(s) is!
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00:00:00Hey, welcome back to the Motorcycles Podcast. This is where we talk about motorcycles and what makes them great.
00:00:06Topics on this show constantly change, but one thing that always remained is two-wheel fun. On this episode
00:00:12we're going to talk about the 2025 MotoGP season. It just kicked off and
00:00:17it's already pretty exciting in some respects. Some other ways it's pretty predictable,
00:00:21but we're gonna get into the racing, the teams, the riders, and all the action that happened last weekend.
00:00:30Before we do that, we've got to make introductions. We've got editor Adam Waheed,
00:00:34we've got the editor-in-chief of UTV Driver Aaron Richardson with us, and you've got myself, executive editor Justin Dawes.
00:00:41Aaron is a is a addition for this episode.
00:00:45He works in the Octane Media space with the rest of us, and he works on some motorcyclists projects as well.
00:00:51So Aaron, tell us what you're doing with motorcyclists, and then let's just talk about your motorcycle life in general.
00:00:58Yeah, well, first of all, I'm extremely excited to be here.
00:01:02Yeah, so I've been in the four-wheel space here at Octane UTV Driver for like the last almost four years now, but this year
00:01:08yeah, I'm getting the opportunity to work on our Randwin Parked series.
00:01:11So some of you may have seen some of the early couple episodes of that with Mark Hoyer,
00:01:17who's been working on a Yamaha XS650.
00:01:21I'm actually going to be, well, I've started restoring a 79 Yamaha XT500 for the channel.
00:01:27So, and ours is interesting because it's a complete basket case.
00:01:33Mark's like needed a carb clean, a little bit of gas, and it fired right off.
00:01:36The XT literally needs everything, and not to give too much away, but in the first episode, I had the engine out of the bike.
00:01:44Awesome.
00:01:45So yeah, that's going to be a project.
00:01:47We got a couple more episodes, or three-episode arc on that.
00:01:50So doing that, and then just in general, I've been into motorcycles for 15 years now probably, and I kind of got a late start.
00:02:00And so to compensate for that, I basically bought everything I could see as long as it was used.
00:02:06So I currently have like eight bikes, and I've had everything from, you know, old like Yamaha FZR600s to Kawasaki GPZ750s and everything in between.
00:02:18So, you know, haven't touched BMWs or Harleys yet, but that's like the last two frontiers for me.
00:02:25So, yeah, and we're just getting into riding season here in Virginia.
00:02:28So I'm starting to get pretty excited to get my own fleet back on the road.
00:02:32Good, good.
00:02:33What's the plan for the XT once it's done?
00:02:37What are you going to do with it?
00:02:38So we're planning, there are a couple of ideas.
00:02:42The big one is we want to do the Vintage 1000 Rally, which is, this guy puts them on East Coast, Midwest, and then West Coast.
00:02:50And so in August, they're doing one in the Smoky Mountains right by the UTV driver headquarters in a town called Chattanooga in Tennessee.
00:02:58And it's like a thousand-mile loop out in the boonies around the Smoky Mountains.
00:03:02The Smokies are some of the most remote and wild places on the East Coast, certainly in the South.
00:03:08And even in August, where the rest of the South is sweltering, the Smokies can have fall weather because of the elevation changes.
00:03:16So it's going to be a pretty exciting thing.
00:03:19And to take a 50-year-old bike almost on that ride is going to take some guts and take more than a little bit of wrenching.
00:03:29So that's the plan.
00:03:32Bring a big, big toolkit.
00:03:34Yep, big toolkit and, yeah, some carb cleaner, and we'll see how we go.
00:03:38Awesome, cool.
00:03:39Well, that's exciting.
00:03:41We're looking forward to it.
00:03:42Mark's first episodes of Randwin Parked were pretty rad, redoing the excess, and the audience definitely responded to it.
00:03:51So it's a cool series, and we're excited to see more bikes on it for sure.
00:03:57Myself and Adam, we like newer stuff.
00:04:01We like push-button.
00:04:04I'll work on some stuff, but, man, I don't...
00:04:08Yeah, I don't like basket cases.
00:04:10And I think that's the only way the XT500s come these days, right?
00:04:14Yeah, I mean, look, you guys can have your push buttons and your computers and all that stuff is great.
00:04:20I like things I can afford.
00:04:22And so, you know, if I got to put in a little bit of elbow grease to make a running bike, then that's the way it goes.
00:04:28Well, that's the reason we work in the field we work in, Adam and I, because we don't have to pay for bikes.
00:04:35See, you got UTVs, you got four wheels that you don't have to pay for.
00:04:38Right, I just can't go get coffee on mine, but yeah, exactly.
00:04:42Yeah, that'll come.
00:04:42Move to Arizona, move to Arizona, put a license plate on it.
00:04:46There you go.
00:04:47Don't believe, yeah, don't believe it for a second, I haven't thought of that.
00:04:49Yeah, so yeah, I guess we should explain UTV Driver is our UTV outlet.
00:04:56UTVs, if you don't know, are gigantic four-wheeled ETVs, two seats.
00:05:03We used to call them side-by-sides, now it's changed to UTV.
00:05:08And they're a ton of fun.
00:05:09And if you haven't tried one, you should go.
00:05:12Get in a seat because it's like budget trophy trucks for the sport machines.
00:05:18Like, it's unbelievable what those things can do.
00:05:21And then you've got, runs the gamut all the way to like full work machines that can help you out
00:05:26on your farm and, you know, carry a ton of weight and make your life easier.
00:05:32And honestly, even the work machines, like, if you can't afford a rally car,
00:05:36you can afford a UTV.
00:05:37And like, even the ones that are pure work, like, I don't know,
00:05:41the skinny pedal on the right still works.
00:05:43And like, they're fun to hustle.
00:05:45It's almost even more fun to hustle them because they don't really do what they're supposed to.
00:05:49Right, yeah, they still boogie for sure.
00:05:53Okay, well, cool.
00:05:54Let's get into what we always do.
00:05:56We kick off every episode talking about what we've been riding.
00:06:00So since you're the guest of honor on this one, Aaron, what have you been riding recently?
00:06:07Well, it's been winter time, so not a ton.
00:06:09I did manage to get out on my KTM 525 on New Year's Day.
00:06:13We had like a blue bell day randomly.
00:06:16So I got out on that.
00:06:17And then a couple weeks ago, I actually bought a Gas Gas TXT 280.
00:06:21So I've been trying not to break my tailbone on that thing.
00:06:26Yeah, I'm new to trials riding.
00:06:29I've been on a two-stroke a few times.
00:06:31I used to have a two-stroke dirt bike, but trials are a whole different thing.
00:06:34So that's been a completely, you know, I feel like a new rider, which is cool.
00:06:38I think that's a good thing to feel every once in a while, you know,
00:06:40to kind of get out of your comfort zone.
00:06:43Yeah, where'd you find that bike at?
00:06:45A buddy of mine had it, and he wanted to let it go for cheap.
00:06:49So perfect.
00:06:50That's awesome.
00:06:51Yeah, I love trials bikes.
00:06:53They teach you how bad you are at riding technical things.
00:06:59Yeah, I figure it's a great exercise in balance.
00:07:02And like everything is knowing where traction is and how to find it.
00:07:06And, you know, trials bike can't teach you a lot about too many things,
00:07:10but it can definitely help you find traction and keep your balance.
00:07:13So I'm hoping to leverage that here.
00:07:17Awesome.
00:07:18Yeah, I think I need a trials bike refresher for me.
00:07:21I've been riding hard enduro.
00:07:23This weekend, I did an enduro on my KTM,
00:07:28and it was a lot of hill climbing and big technical rocks and slippery downhills
00:07:35and hit the ground more than a few times.
00:07:38Yeah.
00:07:39But super fun.
00:07:41We rode in this valley that the whole riding area was basically like in a gigantic enclosed valley.
00:07:51Capped at both ends.
00:07:52And everything was just steep.
00:07:55It was like we were riding to Machu Picchu the whole time.
00:07:59So super fun.
00:08:02Super rad.
00:08:03Lots of dumps and falls, but overall a great time.
00:08:08So what about you, Adam?
00:08:11Any bent levers or anything or everything was OK?
00:08:13No, no.
00:08:14The only thing that got messed up was me.
00:08:17I did fall down.
00:08:19I was climbing off the side of a very steep hill.
00:08:24It was kind of going diagonally up the hill.
00:08:26And it was so steep, I bogged in second.
00:08:33It was so steep.
00:08:33So I went to first, and I was really light on the lever.
00:08:38And it went into neutral instead of first.
00:08:40Oh, no.
00:08:41And then I fell down the hill, and the bike followed me and was tumbling.
00:08:45And I put my arm up to block it, and the foot peg got me.
00:08:48Right there.
00:08:49Oh, jeez.
00:08:50And I was like, oh, no.
00:08:51Did I break my arm?
00:08:52It's not swollen that much anymore.
00:08:55But it was that day, my forearm or my right arm was about twice the size of my left arm.
00:09:01And I was like, oopsie.
00:09:04Yeah, in there.
00:09:05That sucks.
00:09:06But still toughed it out, still rode, and still had a great time.
00:09:13But the bike was fine because it used me as a cushion.
00:09:18Yeah, the good thing about that slow stuff is usually you don't really
00:09:21bend stuff when you have little tip-overs here and there.
00:09:24Usually not.
00:09:24Luckily, it was only a few tumbles before it caught up to me instead of some of those
00:09:32hill climb videos you see in Austria, where it's an impossible hill climb.
00:09:37And everyone just cartwheels their bikes, and you just watch them just self-destruct
00:09:41as they're going down the hill, just parts flying off.
00:09:44And you're like, ooh, subframe.
00:09:45Ooh, pipe.
00:09:46Oh, handlebars.
00:09:49I selfishly love watching those videos.
00:09:51Oh, I love them.
00:09:52I love them.
00:09:53I love watching them.
00:09:55They're amazing.
00:09:55It's funny, too, because you'll watch them, and you're like, oh, that looks easy.
00:09:58Oh, that's easy.
00:10:00And you see them cartwheeling.
00:10:02You're like, oh, it's not easy at all.
00:10:03No, it's not easy at all.
00:10:06I took my GoPro with me, and I'm like, oh, I'm going to watch this crash over.
00:10:10It's going to look so gnarly.
00:10:11And it's like, you know how GoPro is.
00:10:13It just flattens everything out.
00:10:14And the steepest thing looks like a walking trail.
00:10:17And I was like, that sucks.
00:10:20I'm not even going to share that with anybody.
00:10:23Yeah, the wide angle really has a way of ruining your awesome story.
00:10:28It does.
00:10:29It's such a bummer.
00:10:30So what about you, Adam?
00:10:31What have you been riding?
00:10:33Oh, well, I went on my final ride on KTM's trusty 2024 890 Adventure, our middleweight
00:10:39adventure bike, which I really like.
00:10:41So final ride on that thing.
00:10:43That thing's gone back to KTM North America now.
00:10:46But jeez, I really enjoy riding that bike.
00:10:49It just does everything.
00:10:50But as I was putting it away, god, it has so much plastic on it.
00:10:56So much plastic.
00:10:58And then not that the other manufacturers aren't using a lot of plastic, because they
00:11:02are, but not to knock on KTM, but that plastic or resin or whatever they use, it's not at
00:11:08the same quality as the Japanese manufacturers.
00:11:11It's definitely, they built it like a dirt bike, right?
00:11:14It's got the same plastic composition as their dirt bikes.
00:11:21So I guess they expect you to replace them a lot and fall on them and crash them and
00:11:25all that kind of stuff.
00:11:26There's no shiny paint on an 890 Adventure R anywhere.
00:11:31It's all plastic, all decals.
00:11:34And it's built for the person that wants to ride super gnarly and just beat the crap
00:11:42out of the bike and replace stuff a lot, I guess.
00:11:45What's the MSRP on that bike, Adam?
00:11:48It's like $15,000, right around there.
00:11:52That's a lot to pay for a bike that somebody expects you to throw down a hill.
00:11:57You know what I mean?
00:11:58With 100 horsepower.
00:12:00Yeah, exactly.
00:12:01But it does come with a lot of performance and a lot of suspension madness that other
00:12:06ones don't come with.
00:12:07So you're trading the gloss paint and the niceties, maybe, that make you happy to look
00:12:15at it in the garage for the performance.
00:12:19So it's the bike you can throw in your garage.
00:12:22They're ugly motorcycles, so who cares if it isn't shiny?
00:12:26Because the shapes, I think paint would make the shapes maybe even worse.
00:12:30So let's just not paint it.
00:12:31I don't like the praying mantis style, either.
00:12:34Nope.
00:12:35Never have.
00:12:35Yeah, I don't either.
00:12:38And I apologize.
00:12:39I apologize, Craig Dent.
00:12:41I know you were the impetus behind the insecticide, insect style of KTM.
00:12:51Craig Dent, he doesn't work at Kiska anymore.
00:12:53But he was a guy that designed all the pointing crazy shapes.
00:12:58And now he's moved on to his own design company.
00:13:01And Craig's a cool dude.
00:13:02Loves to ride mountain bikes.
00:13:03He's a super rad ripper guy.
00:13:05But sorry, Craig.
00:13:07Style's not for me.
00:13:09I mean, you can buy a Norton and send your money to the same company if you want a pretty
00:13:13bike.
00:13:14Yes, exactly.
00:13:15Yeah, good point.
00:13:16Yeah.
00:13:16Yep.
00:13:17So yeah, a Norton is definitely more pretty, but still a lot of plastic on it.
00:13:22Yes, for sure.
00:13:23Lots of plastic.
00:13:24I only say that because I had it parked outside for more than a few days.
00:13:28And I swear to God, in just a few days, the plastic changed color from the UV exposure
00:13:34to the sun.
00:13:35Oh, wow.
00:13:35Gnarly.
00:13:36A Japanese bike would not do that.
00:13:39But the KTM, I swear to gosh, the plastic looked different.
00:13:43I'm like, oh, man.
00:13:45It's the hole in the ozone above your house, Heath.
00:13:47What are you doing?
00:13:49I guess the question I have before we move on from that is where's the delta between
00:13:55where do you cross people willing to spend $15,000 on an adventure bike and accept a
00:14:01certain level of fit and finish on the plastic versus people who are spending that much money
00:14:06on a bike and expecting to get an R1200?
00:14:09Does that make sense?
00:14:09Yeah.
00:14:10I mean, I'm just curious how many people are crossing over and buying that bike expecting
00:14:17I think.
00:14:18Not a dirt bike.
00:14:19Yeah, I think there's not many.
00:14:22I think that they.
00:14:23Especially when you get to the 890R, maybe that's a different.
00:14:26Yeah, when you get to the 890R, I think that it's different for the 12 or the 1390 now.
00:14:30Sure.
00:14:30Type of thing.
00:14:31But the BMW buyer and the KTM buyer for the most part are completely different riders
00:14:39and they come from a different place.
00:14:40Like an F900 rider, maybe somebody that's a street rider that is moving into adventure
00:14:50bikes and the KTM rider is someone that is a dirt bike rider that is moving into adventure
00:14:55bikes.
00:14:56I mean, they all have 2118s on the KTM.
00:14:58Like there's only a couple with street tires and all the Beamers have.
00:15:02Yeah, well, the F900 has 2118s as well.
00:15:06And I would say that the new F900 is dope.
00:15:10It is so much better of a bike than the old 800.
00:15:13The old 800 was or 850 or whatever was pretty garbage.
00:15:19That's the one I've ridden.
00:15:20So I need to get an F900.
00:15:21No, an F900 is a huge step up.
00:15:24Right, Adam?
00:15:25You rode one?
00:15:26Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:15:27We've ridden them a bunch.
00:15:28They're awesome.
00:15:29They're great bikes, you know, but even the predecessor was okay too.
00:15:32But yeah, they're super awesome.
00:15:34Yeah, yeah, they're super rad.
00:15:36Well, enough talking about adventure bikes because they have absolutely nada to do with,
00:15:42well, I guess they don't.
00:15:43I guess we can talk about them a little bit.
00:15:44But they don't have a whole lot to do with what we're going to be talking about today,
00:15:47which is MotoGP.
00:15:49So maybe a little bit in terms of electronics, maybe a little.
00:15:53Yeah, that's right.
00:15:54Yeah, trickle down.
00:15:55Yeah, and we'll talk about that here in a minute.
00:15:56So before we get started on that, though, audience, you know, give us some comments,
00:16:02give us some feedback on how we're doing.
00:16:03And put in the comments who you think is going to win the 2025 MotoGP championship and why.
00:16:11Give us some reasons why they're going to win.
00:16:14So with that, though, let's start with like a primer of MotoGP.
00:16:20Most of you watching this podcast or listening to it, you're a motorcyclist, reader, or enthusiast,
00:16:27you know MotoGP.
00:16:28But for a quick primer that maybe someone's just jumping on this podcast has never heard of it,
00:16:33MotoGP is the premier road racing class in the world.
00:16:37It is basically the Formula 1 equivalent to motorcycle racing.
00:16:43Prototype class, the bikes have like 300 horsepower.
00:16:47Minimum weight that they can have is 348 pounds.
00:16:51And they get right to that minimum weight within the ounce or gram if you're going by the 100 and
00:16:59whatever it is, 52 kgs.
00:17:03Massive, massive horsepower.
00:17:05We're talking a power weight ratio that is far exceeds a Formula 1 race car.
00:17:12So a bit of my notes here, a MotoGP bike has 0.86 horsepower per pound.
00:17:21Compare that to a Formula 1 car, Formula 1 car is 0.59 horsepower per pound.
00:17:26So massive, massive difference, right?
00:17:31And the bikes are unbelievable, the handling and the ability of those bikes to lean.
00:17:3865 degree lean angle on those motorcycles, which you're like, well, what does that mean?
00:17:44Well, most humans will say like when you're doing like any sort of human powered sport,
00:17:51the body does not like to lean more than about 20 degrees to the side.
00:17:57So that's like when you're rounding bases
00:17:59in baseball or you're barrel racing in rodeo or something like that.
00:18:03Like you're only leaning over 20 degrees when you're like
00:18:06ripping around a corner running as hard as you can.
00:18:09Bicycle gets a little bit further and stuff like that.
00:18:11But 65 degrees lean angle, that's like laying almost flat.
00:18:18The dudes have shoulder sliders now.
00:18:20Yeah.
00:18:20Like Jorge and Jorge Martin uses them.
00:18:23Yes, he uses his whole, basically his whole forearm.
00:18:27You'll see his humerus will be on the deck in some places.
00:18:31Absolutely.
00:18:31And they're not even really trying.
00:18:32They just happen so naturally and effortlessly.
00:18:35Yeah, they look so smooth most of the time.
00:18:37Gonna go around the corner.
00:18:39Yep, no big deal.
00:18:41So other racing series, bikes lean over a long ways too, but not quite the same.
00:18:48World Superbike, we're talking like 60 degrees-ish.
00:18:51And an average track day rider like me, 45 to 50 degrees.
00:18:59Miles, miles.
00:19:00Like those 15 degrees is a massive, massive difference in leaning.
00:19:05Another cool thing is that the technology
00:19:08eventually makes it to the production street bikes that we get to ride on the road.
00:19:14Yeah, absolutely.
00:19:15I mean, that's the point you're making with the A90, right?
00:19:20Mm-hmm.
00:19:21I mean, eventually all that stuff, I mean, it takes a lot longer in the adventure bikes,
00:19:25but it does in some way, shape, or form the basis of electronic controls for those vehicles.
00:19:32You know, it just takes a while to get there.
00:19:34You're talking like traction control, you know, like rider aids is really obvious.
00:19:39Yep, traction control, cornering, ABS, you know, the IMU-powered quick shifters now,
00:19:45which is kind of crazy.
00:19:47You'd never really think that a quick shifter, an electronic quick shifter would need an IMU,
00:19:51but it just makes it even faster and that much more smooth when you up and down shift.
00:19:57Yep.
00:19:58Ducati's got winglets on their street bikes now,
00:20:00which is like literally straight out of the MotoGP paddock.
00:20:04Yeah, so MotoGP, like, you know, it's been
00:20:08probably a dozen years since winglets started showing up on MotoGP bikes.
00:20:11And when they started, they were like little tiny, like they were winglets.
00:20:16They were these little tiny outcroppings that,
00:20:18you know, did a little bit of work.
00:20:20And now you look at the bikes and they look like they got a park bench
00:20:25plastered to the front of them.
00:20:26And they've got, you know, yeah, yeah.
00:20:29Especially the, especially the Aprilia.
00:20:30The Aprilia looks like almost a biplane front end, you know,
00:20:34and they all have some sort of that.
00:20:36And then they've got, you know, Venturis and other kind of winglets that,
00:20:41you know, are on the side of the bike.
00:20:42So when the bike's leaned over,
00:20:44that wing starts to add downforce for helping with cornering.
00:20:48Most of the front arrow is to keep the bikes from wheeling
00:20:51because they have 300 horsepower.
00:20:54You know what I mean?
00:20:54So not only are they pushing, adding downforce so the bike doesn't wheelie,
00:21:00then there's other things, adjustable ride height suspension.
00:21:03So they're hitting a button coming out of the corner and squatting the bike
00:21:08like a dragster to get out of the corner harder.
00:21:11So, which, you know, that kind of adjustable suspension is already,
00:21:15it's showing up on adventure bikes again, which is the funny thing, right?
00:21:17So now you have adjustable ride height on adventure bikes.
00:21:20When you come to a stop, the bike lowers automatically
00:21:23and all that tech kind of came from, from MotoGP.
00:21:28So other things, you know, like Ducati's counter-rotating crank,
00:21:34crankshafts, you know, to, to help with, with cornering that came from MotoGP.
00:21:39Now it's in their Panigale and V4, it's in all their V4 engines.
00:21:42So, super rad.
00:21:45And then you got Ducati DVO, Ducati Vehicle Observer.
00:21:50It's like this new, new technology that is basically like
00:21:57almost predicting what the rider's going to do.
00:22:00And it helps the rider go around the corner.
00:22:02You know what I mean?
00:22:03Like it actually helps, it goes, okay, you're going around this corner.
00:22:08You're at this lean angle.
00:22:09I'm going to give you this much trash control,
00:22:11but I'm also going to add some brake here to get, help you tighten up the corner.
00:22:16And it, I mean, it knows what you're going to do before you do it
00:22:19because they've got just piles and piles of data that they've got from racing.
00:22:24And now, now they're like, okay, this is what a MotoGP rider would do
00:22:28to get around a corner better.
00:22:29He's going to add rear brake here.
00:22:30He's going to crack the throttle here.
00:22:32He's going to, you know, all those things and the bike does it for you.
00:22:36It's amazing.
00:22:36Great time to be a bike rider with all the doodads.
00:22:40Absolutely.
00:22:41So, super cool technology.
00:22:45It all trickles down and it makes, it makes it much, much more awesome for riders.
00:22:52I think it's wild too, because, you know, you're, you're talking about DVO,
00:22:56which is essentially the street version of Ducat, of all the GP bikes have GPS,
00:23:01like every track laid out and they're adjusting literally every corner by track.
00:23:05Literally every corner by corner, which I never thought would ever make it to a street bike.
00:23:09Because how, how do you make that work?
00:23:12And it's a similar thing, you know, now with the aero and the ride height devices,
00:23:16which we can talk about later, but are eventually going away.
00:23:19You know, one of the arguments for taking those things off the bikes was like,
00:23:22well, how will that ever translate to the street?
00:23:25And they haven't quite figured that out yet, but it's like,
00:23:27if you can get DVO off of a MotoGP bike and make it work for the street rider,
00:23:32like anything on that bike can, can translate over.
00:23:37And I guess there's a counter argument for like, well, should it,
00:23:41but like, that's not the same thing as like,
00:23:43can you put it on a Panigale and sell more bikes?
00:23:46And it's like, you absolutely can.
00:23:48Well, yeah, let's talk about that before we get into kind of like the recap of last year's.
00:23:53That's a, that's an interesting argument is some people are like, oh, it takes away
00:23:57the racing talent when the bikes have so much aero and so much technology.
00:24:03And like, I want to go back to a two-stroke that,
00:24:07you know, the trash controls at the wrist and that's it.
00:24:10You know what I mean?
00:24:10And yeah, the racing was, was exciting, but you know,
00:24:15what's your guys' thought on, I guess the olden days versus now?
00:24:21If I may, I think I'm, I'm kind of, I hate to be wishy-washy,
00:24:26but I'm sort of halfway between, right?
00:24:28Because two things occur to me.
00:24:29One, this is, this is motorcycling's formula one, right?
00:24:33So these are pure prototype motorcycles.
00:24:35This is one of the only spheres on earth where motorcycle designers are just let loose,
00:24:41like come up with what you can come up with,
00:24:44ask for forgiveness rather than permission.
00:24:46If the sanctioning body doesn't like it, they'll regulate it out, but like go nuts.
00:24:50And that's awesome.
00:24:52And it has bred some insanely fast motorcycles and stuff that has trickled
00:24:56down from the street on the other hand.
00:24:58Yeah.
00:24:58The competition side of me, like I kind of agree with Casey Stoner where like,
00:25:06I don't know.
00:25:07I mean, I'll never be able to ride a bike at that level, no matter what I do.
00:25:11So it's hard for me to sit here and say like, oh, well,
00:25:13it's taking away from the competition or the rider skills.
00:25:15Not the same.
00:25:16It's like, I don't know, man.
00:25:18You want to tell me that someone like Fabio to Jan Antonio,
00:25:21who came up in the last two years,
00:25:22couldn't jump on a two-stroke and lap anyone in the A group at a track day.
00:25:27Like, give me a break.
00:25:28So, you know, I think it, I think that's a, it's a little hard to,
00:25:32that's like when you get into who's the greatest rider of all time arguments, it's like,
00:25:38Mick Doohan had a different group of competitors than Rossi did than Marquez did.
00:25:42And they all had different tech on the bike.
00:25:44And at the end of the day, what matters is how you utilize the equipment you've got.
00:25:49So I think that, I think that physically speaking, like,
00:25:54yeah, I want there to be dirty, you know, dirty air behind a bike
00:26:00or sorry, clean air behind a bike.
00:26:01So you can slipstream a little bit better.
00:26:03I want the thing to be a little bit more unstable in corners,
00:26:06just because it looks cooler to watch.
00:26:08Like, you know, when a guy on a Suzuki has all this corner speed
00:26:12and the dude on the Yamaha has to back the thing in and be the corner off,
00:26:16that changes the calculation in the race.
00:26:18And it doesn't, the rider skills, not part of that equation.
00:26:20I mean, it is, but like, that's,
00:26:22I want the bikes to have to approach things differently.
00:26:25And I think the sort of Ducati era, the big V4s, all the aero,
00:26:29all the ride height devices dropping the back end when they come out of a corner,
00:26:33like you've essentially got dragsters that can turn.
00:26:36And so what that breeds is like, everybody's going into a corner,
00:26:41wide in, late on the brakes, V the sucker off, you're on the brakes,
00:26:45like skidding the back end of the apex and then pin it.
00:26:48And like all the bikes do the same thing the same way,
00:26:51except for the Yamaha, which has a V4 or a inline four and can't win anything.
00:26:55So like, I think the argument is more like homogeneity is bad
00:27:01because you've got all these dudes who would be within a tenth of each other
00:27:04if you put them on equal machinery.
00:27:07And so, yeah, I think, I think I want to see,
00:27:11I want to see bikes have to do things different ways.
00:27:14Like Ducatis used to, used to have to do things different than Hondas.
00:27:18And now they all are the same.
00:27:19Yeah. And I, that's, I think that's kind of the evolution.
00:27:22And we've seen those kind of plateaus where everything does the same all through MotoGP
00:27:29or before when it was GP racing is, is, you know, there was, let's go back to like,
00:27:35you know, the, the, the fifties and stuff, like in sixties there,
00:27:39they were trying all kinds of different things and engine configurations,
00:27:43but then it all leveled out to, this is what works and then it levels up.
00:27:46And then we get to what we have now.
00:27:48And then, then somebody makes an innovation and then everyone catches up.
00:27:52And then there's innovation, everyone catches up.
00:27:54And, and, you know, there's a lot of like, you know,
00:28:01people complaining about Ducati being so dominant,
00:28:04but they're putting in the work and they're being innovative and they're,
00:28:08they're, they're pushing what they're doing and that gives them an edge.
00:28:13And if the other manufacturers can't keep up,
00:28:17that's on them and they'll eventually catch up and they'll eventually figure it out.
00:28:21And, you know, when the rule book does change and the arrow goes away and this goes away,
00:28:25Ducati is going to figure something else out.
00:28:27They're already working on it.
00:28:28They're already thinking about it.
00:28:29They're already looking at the rules and going, okay, this is going to,
00:28:33how's this going to change?
00:28:34What are we going to do?
00:28:34Like, how do we get around this?
00:28:35How do we get around that?
00:28:37And Ducati has just been better at doing that than everybody else.
00:28:40And, um, but that's only in the last like five years, right?
00:28:44Before that, before that, before that, before that it was Honda.
00:28:48And I think this is like the 2027 thing that the rule change is coming up
00:28:53excites me because it's a shakeup.
00:28:56Yeah.
00:28:56It's a shame.
00:28:56You know, some people are like, well, they need to cap the budget.
00:28:59Like, no, get out of here with that.
00:29:00Because budget caps, all of those things, like if you want budget caps,
00:29:04go watch world super bike.
00:29:05But the same thing happens in world super bike.
00:29:07They have, you know, budget controls in different classes.
00:29:10And the same thing happens from class to class to class.
00:29:12There is no class, unless it's like moto three,
00:29:15where every bike is doing more or less the same thing.
00:29:18And like the rider makes the last 10th, like everything evolves this way.
00:29:23So all 2027 is going to do is shake it up.
00:29:25And it'll be different because different people will catch up with the new rules
00:29:28quicker or slower, but like, yeah.
00:29:32Anyway, I mean, the two stroke days were super exciting for sure.
00:29:37The first years of four stroke were exciting because everyone was figuring it out.
00:29:42Now, I still think that the racing is very exciting.
00:29:45It's just different.
00:29:46And they have to learn to use the tools a different way.
00:29:48And obviously the Ducati GP23, 24, 25 is just better at it than every other manufacturer's bike.
00:30:00Yeah.
00:30:01I mean, and if you want to talk about exciting before we move on to GP, this year's GP, like
00:30:08in 90, what four to eight McDoohan won everything.
00:30:13Like everything.
00:30:14Sorry.
00:30:15Like, yeah, it was just like, he got on the bike and he ripped off and like,
00:30:19do you want to sit there and watch that?
00:30:20Like, no.
00:30:21And then 2002 in the, in the bad old days, when Rossi switched to their 2004,
00:30:26when he switched to the Yamaha and four strokes, he won everything.
00:30:30So there's this mythos that like, oh, racing used to be more exciting.
00:30:34It's like, yeah.
00:30:35If you didn't look 10 seconds up the road where Valentino Rossi was sure,
00:30:38there was some interesting stuff going on.
00:30:40And the same with, you know, the early Marquez era.
00:30:43If the camera didn't follow Mark Marquez, the racing was exciting,
00:30:46but that didn't have as much to do with the rules as it had to do with like,
00:30:50you know, generational talents show up and just run circles around everybody.
00:30:55Exactly.
00:30:56I know.
00:30:56Yep.
00:30:57No.
00:30:57Yep.
00:30:57So, well, let's, let's recap the 24 season real quick.
00:31:02Let's do that.
00:31:03And then we will jump into the 25.
00:31:05So.
00:31:06Okay.
00:31:07So the TLDR on the 2024 season was Ducati won everything.
00:31:13There, I'm just looking at the results real quick on my cheat sheet here.
00:31:16Ducati had the top four positions in the championship.
00:31:21And then they had eight bikes on the grid.
00:31:23So like, that was part of it.
00:31:25But Jorge Martin kind of shocked the world last year by winning the championship on a satellite
00:31:31bike, which the long and the short of it is they don't have quite the resources that the factory
00:31:37team does.
00:31:37So it was a little bit of an underdog story.
00:31:41And he won the championship in the year that Ducati essentially kicked him to the curb
00:31:47in favor of bringing Mark Marquez onto the bike.
00:31:50Yeah.
00:31:50That was the, that was the big, the big hubbub, you know, like it was like,
00:31:53who's going to go to the factory?
00:31:55Because we knew bastion and he was, was going by, by, and it was like, okay, who's going to
00:31:59get that spot?
00:32:00Is it going to be Marquez?
00:32:01Is it going to be Martin?
00:32:02And Martin was always ahead in the championship.
00:32:05And it was like, it's gotta be Martin.
00:32:07And, you know, Marquez is brings something else though, that, you know, it was his first
00:32:13year back on a first year on the Ducati.
00:32:16He was still learning it.
00:32:17He was showing, you know, that he was competitive
00:32:22and he's got a huge, huge base of fans that all just traded in every Honda thing they
00:32:29owned and made everything red.
00:32:31So it's like, you know, and, and Marquez said, I'm not going to a satellite team next year.
00:32:35Either you put me on the factory bike or I go somewhere else on a factory.
00:32:38And that was the Rubicon in like June.
00:32:41The question had been, who's Ducati going to pick?
00:32:44And Mark has forced their hand.
00:32:45I think it was June, maybe it was July when he said, I'm not going to the team that Jorge
00:32:50Martin was on Pramac.
00:32:51Like it's factory bike or figure something else out.
00:32:54And that was, you know, I don't know, Ducati loves nothing more than to sell a special
00:32:59edition Panigale.
00:33:00And like, if you put a 93 on a Panigale fairing, it's going to sell more bikes than Jorge
00:33:04Martin's number, just period.
00:33:06And that was the calculation, you know?
00:33:08Yep.
00:33:08And then, you know, so then Martin went and won the thing and, and took the plate to
00:33:14Aprilia, you know, and, and, and unfortunately, you know, uh, Martin is, he's out, but we
00:33:22can talk about that in a second.
00:33:24But, um, you know, all the other bikes, Japanese brands struggled massively.
00:33:29Um, you know, they were, they were not even in the running.
00:33:34I mean, you had Quantoraro, who was a past MotoGP champion was like bottom half of the
00:33:40grid every race.
00:33:43Yeah.
00:33:44Well, I mean, it's where he was the, uh, highest finishing, uh, Japanese bike rider
00:33:51in the championship last year, Fabio Quattoraro.
00:33:53And he was in 13th overall, which was like, and everyone was like, oh, bravo.
00:33:59You know, that bike's not very good.
00:34:0013th is a pretty good result.
00:34:02Yeah.
00:34:03I'm, uh, you know, my opinion is like the resilience that that guy had to not try to
00:34:12find something else is amazing that he's sticking with Yamaha.
00:34:16Wow.
00:34:17Kudos.
00:34:18I mean, like, you know, I really think if you put that guy on a Ducati, he's going to
00:34:22be brilliant.
00:34:24Or an Aprilia.
00:34:24That was his option.
00:34:25I'm a huge Fabio Quattoraro fan.
00:34:27I have been for a long time.
00:34:28And like his option last year was Aprilia and granted it was going to be a third of
00:34:33the money, but I was kind of like, if you put, I mean, the Aprilia is a great bike.
00:34:38It doesn't really have a rider still.
00:34:41And we'll get to that in a second, but like, you know, man, that really would have put
00:34:45Jorge Martin in dire straits too, if they'd offered that right to fab.
00:34:49Yeah, for sure.
00:34:50So there was, there was all, there was all these team changes for 2025.
00:34:54Like we're kind of getting to Martin goes to Aprilia.
00:34:56Marquez goes to factory, uh, Ducati Bassanini, who was a factory Ducati guy who.
00:35:03You know, at a point was, was in the running for the championship, you know, like he's
00:35:09not slow and, and, and, and, you know, it was pretty crazy to God.
00:35:13He's just like, now we're, we're done with you.
00:35:15And it was like, you know, and he started showing some, some real success towards the
00:35:21end of the season.
00:35:21So he went to a tech three KTM, a satellite KTM team for a guy that got like, you know,
00:35:29was killing it.
00:35:30He was fast and he was super fast.
00:35:32And I mean, he, he showed Mark, uh, Jorge Martina, uh, is it her F when he made then
00:35:38devilish pass on him, but it's worth noting.
00:35:42And I think this is important.
00:35:45Mark Marquez beat him to third in the championship on a year old satellite Ducati.
00:35:50And that's not for nothing.
00:35:52There's very little difference between the 24 and the 25 Ducati, but between the 23 and
00:35:5724, there was a wide golf.
00:35:59There was the 24 bike is, has been referred to as like one of the greatest racing motorcycles
00:36:05of all time.
00:36:06And the 23 was merely pretty good.
00:36:08So, I mean, I think that, that kind of justifies Ducati's decision to not keep him around.
00:36:13Yeah, very much, very much.
00:36:15So, so, um, and then you got like, you know, like Miller, he was struggling on the KTM,
00:36:22um, and he's, he's on a, he's on a Prima, uh, Prima Yamaha and it's like, oh man, that's
00:36:30going to be a bummer for that guy, you know?
00:36:33Um, but you know, we'll, we'll see.
00:36:36He, he, you know, he did show a little bit of tenacity in the first round, which was
00:36:44rad.
00:36:45So, um, which we'll talk about in a second, but then there's, there's some new riders
00:36:49in the group and there's one that would had some controversy, which was, uh, Iowa going
00:36:54to track house, Aprilia track house is a, uh, a U S owned, um, they call themselves
00:37:00an entertainment company, but they're a racing team.
00:37:02You know, they have NASCAR and now they have MotoGP.
00:37:04Um, and everyone was like, what's the deal?
00:37:09Why didn't you sign Roberts?
00:37:11He's an American MotoGP racer who's showing some success.
00:37:15We need an American in MotoGP.
00:37:16And they went, no, we're going to go with, with Iagura, but there's a reason, right?
00:37:21He's, he's fast.
00:37:23He's fast, super fast.
00:37:25You know, he's, uh, you know, and, and, and we'll, you know, we'll talk about here just
00:37:31in a second, but he's, he's probably one of the biggest surprises.
00:37:34So we'll just jump into round one.
00:37:36I, you know, there was a lot of surprises in round one, um, in practice and qualifying.
00:37:43Dude, there was like Yamaha's and Honda's hanging out at the top of the list, which
00:37:48is pretty different to see, right?
00:37:51Mirror was sitting there and, uh, mirror on the Honda who has just been, I mean, he went
00:37:57back to awful for the actual race results, but in, you know, in testing and in the practices,
00:38:02yeah, he was up inside the top 10, which he couldn't have paid money for a top 10 in
00:38:07anything last year.
00:38:08No, I mean, there was a, there was actually a point in, uh, free practice.
00:38:15He was third fastest.
00:38:18He was hanging up towards the top and he's like, what's going on here?
00:38:20You know?
00:38:21And then in qualifying he did, he did pretty well as well.
00:38:23And then, yeah.
00:38:26And same thing for, uh, Quattro on the, on the factory Yamaha.
00:38:30I think that's a little different because people expect Fabio Quattro to ride around
00:38:35a bike shortcomings in a way that people don't really expect John mirror to.
00:38:39Yeah.
00:38:40So it's less of a surprise when Fabio shows up in the top 10, but like, it wasn't just
00:38:44that he like quickly entered the top 10 and then got knocked back out.
00:38:47Like he came within an eye of getting into Q2, which is huge for the Yamaha, you know?
00:38:55And so it just shows that both the Japanese brands have made steps, but like, I think
00:39:03they need 2027 to actually like become competitive again.
00:39:08Cause like, well, anyway, that, that, that's probably a podcast for another time.
00:39:13Yeah, for sure.
00:39:14But, you know, and then Miller Merrill Miller was ripping as well.
00:39:19You know, he had a, he had a, a crash in the sprint and then, um, in the, he felt started
00:39:26to fall back, but there was like some things like, Oh man, he's kind of doing it on the
00:39:30Yamaha.
00:39:31Like, you know, it was exciting to see, but then, you know, um, there was, there was I
00:39:38man, that, that guy first debut MotoGP first time, you know, he's been on the bike for
00:39:46testing.
00:39:46So he's been on the bike five times, five times, and he, he qualifies right up there
00:39:53at the top, you know, and then he just kept it going.
00:39:56Yeah.
00:39:57So I think if you look at his results in Moto2, it's not terribly surprising that he was
00:40:02super quick, but you know, I think one of the reasons he was a controversial pick over
00:40:07Joe Roberts was that he did have a history in Moto2 of being pretty streaky.
00:40:11Like there were seasons where it was, well, he won the championship last year and like
00:40:16in Moto2 and for the second half of the season, he wasn't really anywhere.
00:40:19He made all of his bones in the first half of the season and then sort of fell off.
00:40:23But like, you know, I don't know.
00:40:26He kind of strikes me as one of those dudes who, okay, like pretty solid in the, in the
00:40:31lower classes and then gets onto a GP bike and it's like, oh, this dude was serious the
00:40:38whole time.
00:40:39You know what I mean?
00:40:39There, there are certain guys for whom the big bike just works better than the little
00:40:43ones do.
00:40:44And he may be one of them.
00:40:45He may be one of them.
00:40:46And I mean, he's, he, uh, so he finished fifth in the GP, which is the highest debut
00:40:54performance from a MotoGP rookie since Marquez, you know?
00:40:59So people are like already kind of like drawn the lines, like, is this the new, you know,
00:41:05and, and I, we don't know yet and we got to give him quite a few rounds to figure that
00:41:09out.
00:41:10But to come out of the gate that strong, it could be, it could be a fluke or it could
00:41:14be some, the start of the next great thing, you know?
00:41:18It's worth noting.
00:41:19It was 40 degrees Celsius in Thailand.
00:41:23Ayagora is an Asian rider.
00:41:25He grew up in the Asia Talent Cup racing and all those races.
00:41:28So like the heat where it was literally cooking the European dudes, he was just like, this
00:41:33is, I mean, he's like, I'm used to it.
00:41:35Right.
00:41:36It probably still sucked for him, but he was like, you know, I at least know how to like
00:41:39process this or like get out of a slip stream to cool off a little bit.
00:41:42So yeah.
00:41:43Yeah.
00:41:43So that's the only devil's advocate otherwise.
00:41:47Yeah.
00:41:47I mean, I, I, right now I'm a, I'm a Ayagora fan.
00:41:50I don't see the helmet right there.
00:41:52Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:41:53So, um, you know, I'm, I'm rooting for the kid.
00:41:56I, I think it's super awesome what he's doing and I hope it, it keeps going.
00:42:01Um, but let's talk about the, the front runners and the shakeup.
00:42:05So Marquette or Jorge Martin, he's missing the first two rounds.
00:42:10So he, he, he got high sided off the get go on, on the, the Prilia and hurt his, his right
00:42:20hand.
00:42:20He hurt his right hand and his right, his right hand and his left ankle, I think.
00:42:24Yeah.
00:42:24Right hand, left foot.
00:42:26When he got chucked, chucked into space, which usually doesn't happen a lot of MotoGP bikes
00:42:30these days with all the trash control and stuff.
00:42:32And so he, he got hurt and then he healed back up and then he got hurt again in a super
00:42:38moto training accident where he broke his left hand.
00:42:42He broke his left scaphoid.
00:42:44Scaphoid.
00:42:44Yeah.
00:42:45So right now, which is a very slow thing to heal, you know?
00:42:50Yep.
00:42:51And he screwed up his, uh, his, his other ankle too.
00:42:53Yeah.
00:42:54So all of his bendy bits are not bendy right now.
00:42:58Not good.
00:42:58Right.
00:42:59Yeah.
00:43:00So he's out, um, which a Prilly is probably just like, Oh my God.
00:43:04Like we, we, we have a bike with the number one plate on it and we can't even run it.
00:43:10So, you know, they're who's their hero now.
00:43:14It's not even their factory guys.
00:43:15Like their factory guys weren't really anywhere.
00:43:18Um, you know, so who's it going to be then?
00:43:23I mean, Bez was, he did sixth in the race.
00:43:27Um, so it's okura man on a, on a satellite bike.
00:43:31I mean, that really speaks to the quality of that dude.
00:43:34Um, you know, I, I like to believe it was the Gulf livery, you know, the Steve McQueen
00:43:38scheme, but you know, um, there, but.
00:43:44Buzzeki is adapting to a new bike this year, but showing what he showed on a Ducati, he
00:43:48should have been third.
00:43:50Like should have, should have been at least should have been.
00:43:52Yeah.
00:43:53He should have been ahead.
00:43:54He should have been ahead of a guru.
00:43:55Cause yeah.
00:43:56Same thing or guru is also adapting to a new bike.
00:43:58He's adapting to a whole new series.
00:44:00That's exactly what I was going to say.
00:44:01He's not adapting to a new bike.
00:44:02He's adapting to a new, like, this is like, this is like going from bungee jumping to
00:44:09space travel from a moto two bike to, to a moto GP bike.
00:44:13You know, like it's literally double the horsepower.
00:44:16Like a moto two bike struggles to hit 170, 175.
00:44:21And a moto two bike is literally 50 miles an hour faster at some tracks.
00:44:25Yep.
00:44:25And so like, and they got carbon brakes as opposed to steel brakes.
00:44:29And this kid's just like, whatever.
00:44:31Yeah, it's a motorcycle, throw it on your knee and pin it, see what happens.
00:44:36Exactly.
00:44:36So, um, so, I mean, those are the exciting parts, but then they're at the, at the very
00:44:41top, there was actually very few surprises.
00:44:45Marquez, I mean, uh, he you're, you've been kind of a Marquez fan for a while watching
00:44:51him ride.
00:44:51What did you think of Marquez's performance?
00:44:54Uh, so like you said, there was very little surprise to it.
00:44:59Although I was, I was glad to see it happen because, so I started out as a Valentino Rossi
00:45:04fan.
00:45:05So for a long time, I hated Mark Marquez.
00:45:07Uh, then he got hurt and now this whole like saga hero arc story of him coming back from
00:45:13the screwed up arm has caused me to cheer for him.
00:45:17Adversity always helps that.
00:45:18So, um, coming into the season, I was pretty excited.
00:45:22I thought, you know, he's, he's on hands down the best racing motorcycle in the world
00:45:26right now.
00:45:27This is going to be trouble for everybody, but there's always that like little bit of
00:45:30doubt, right?
00:45:31Like no one has a propensity to throw it down the road.
00:45:34Like Mark Marquez does.
00:45:36He usually does it in practice.
00:45:37He loves to like break a finger in practice and miss the round.
00:45:40So there was some trepidation there, but then, you know, all through testing all through
00:45:45practice, all through everything.
00:45:46It was just like, Oh no, like this is, this is it's, it's who's going to finish second.
00:45:52And so, yeah.
00:45:55Adam, what did you think about it?
00:45:56Like about his performance?
00:45:59Uh, my sentiments echo Aaron's, you know, I'm a big fan of the guy who, I mean, kind
00:46:06of like Ken Rockson, like you had a crazy career altering and injury in which your
00:46:11limb could very well have been amputated.
00:46:13It could very well, if he went to a hospital in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, they would have
00:46:17amputated his arm.
00:46:19So, so, you know, it's, it's just cool to like, see that kind of turnaround where like
00:46:24your career's over, but you still, for some reason, cause like, think about it.
00:46:29He could totally have retired and it would have been all good and he still would have
00:46:34been a legend, but he didn't want to retire.
00:46:36He wanted to keep, keep it going.
00:46:38I think that's really awesome.
00:46:39You know?
00:46:40So I don't know.
00:46:41I, I think, I mean, you can't count that guy out and you know, he's got that crazy drive
00:46:47like that.
00:46:47You can't give people that drive.
00:46:49It's either you have it or you don't.
00:46:51So yeah, I would think that he's probably going to achieve more in his career.
00:46:56Yeah.
00:46:56He's got the drive and he also has a still undeniable talent in race craft.
00:47:01Like the, the thing where like he was leading the, the, the GP, you know, so he, he owns
00:47:10qualifying, he owns the sprint race and then he goes out and he just starts walking on
00:47:14everyone in the GP.
00:47:16And then all of a sudden he like sits up and he looks back and looks for his brother who's
00:47:21in second place, by the way, his, his other, so two Marquez's first and second, and he
00:47:27pulls over, he lets off the gas and lets his brother by and everyone's like, what the heck
00:47:31is he doing?
00:47:32And then he sits back there and he stocks, his brother stocks, his brother.
00:47:35And then when it's time to make a move, he jets off and he's gone again.
00:47:38And it's like, what was that all about?
00:47:40And problem was, is that his front tire, the tire pressure was going to be too low under
00:47:46the limits for the regulation.
00:47:47So there's a regulation in, in MotoGP regarding tire pressures that they have to remain within
00:47:53a certain range during the whole race and hot air and cold air affects how much tire
00:47:59pressure you have on your bike.
00:48:00So he's out in front of everyone.
00:48:01He's not in dirty air.
00:48:03He's getting cool air to cool considering you're in Thailand and it's 40 degrees Celsius,
00:48:08you know, uh, on the track.
00:48:10I think the track temp was, you know, I think, you know, some insanely high number where
00:48:17it's like 200 degrees, you know what I mean?
00:48:19Like egg frying temperature, but still the front tire is cooling and his tire pressure
00:48:25is going down.
00:48:25And he's like, if I stay at this level, I'm going to get penalized.
00:48:29So he slows down, it drops behind his brother, brings his tire pressure back up.
00:48:33Cause now he's in the hot air being, you know, he's, he's eating exhaust from a, uh, a Ducati
00:48:39GP 20, 24, you know, in his face.
00:48:42And he's like, okay, cool.
00:48:45And then he's like, okay, now I got, I could get to the front again.
00:48:47And he just goes rip, rip.
00:48:48And he goes by his brother and just leaves him for dead.
00:48:51Crazy.
00:48:51Right.
00:48:52And his brother's like tires are wiggling his rear tires worn out and he's gone.
00:48:56So, um, I'm not a, I'm not a Marquez fan in character, I think, because I'm a super
00:49:04Rossi fan.
00:49:05And so I'm like, ah, I hate that guy.
00:49:07Yeah.
00:49:07You know what I mean?
00:49:08For, for him, him and him and, uh, Lorenzo and their whole thing and all these things.
00:49:14But, uh, I, he's undeniable and I am a fan because of his, his skill, the way he thinks
00:49:23about racing and his tenacity.
00:49:24All those, those three things undeniable.
00:49:27And I will never deny his greatness.
00:49:30For sure.
00:49:30I think, uh, last thing before we move on from that, cause I think this is really cool.
00:49:36You talked about his race craft and in the interviews after the race, he was sitting
00:49:40there talking about the moment he rolled off.
00:49:42And not only did he have the presence of mind to be like, oh shoot, you know, my tires might
00:49:46be too low.
00:49:46I need to roll off and get behind Alex.
00:49:48He was doing the math of like, you know, it's a certain percentage of the race that your
00:49:53tire pressure has to be above a threshold, right?
00:49:55It's not the whole time.
00:49:56So he's sitting there doing math that I would have trouble doing right now.
00:50:01Like while he's going, he's going, okay, it's I'm on lap.
00:50:04I've done seven laps and I've been below the, the, um, I'm at or below for this many
00:50:09laps.
00:50:10Percentage of that, like he's doing so I can pass Alex with three to go and I'll be
00:50:14fine if I pass him before that I'm going to get penalized.
00:50:17And it's like, he's doing that on the back of a motorcycle.
00:50:21That's generating however much heat at 200 miles an hour thinking about not getting
00:50:26passed, thinking about when to pass someone doing like not uncomplicated math in his
00:50:31head.
00:50:32And it's just like, dude, the, the like, I don't know.
00:50:36Athletes get a bad rap for maybe not being super intellectual, but like I could, again,
00:50:42I couldn't do that sitting at my desk with a pen and paper and he's doing it on the
00:50:44back of a motorcycle.
00:50:46Exactly.
00:50:46Yeah.
00:50:46Super rad.
00:50:47And, you know, then his brother, you know, runs second to him in both the sprint and
00:50:54the, and the, the GP, which was super, super cool to see.
00:50:58And so, you know, it's funny cause you would see his dad like in one garage and he's
00:51:02over in the other garage and he's at the other like, you know what I mean?
00:51:05Like his dad's like, you know, jumping back and forth between garages.
00:51:08Yeah.
00:51:08It's like, it's like when, when Alex moved into, into the lead in the, then he jumped
00:51:14over into the Grissini garage and he's like, ah, then it goes back.
00:51:17You know, then, then, then Mark gets back in the front and he's back in the all red
00:51:21garage, you know?
00:51:22So, um, so that was really, really cool to see.
00:51:26But then Bagnaia, like, you know, like Pecco, like I'm a fan of Pecco and I really want
00:51:33to see him do better.
00:51:34And the dude had to go to, to Q2 for qualifying, you know what I mean?
00:51:40Q1.
00:51:41He had to make it into Q2.
00:51:42He had to make it into, he went to Q1 and he had to get to Q2, which is like insane.
00:51:46Like he should never be down there.
00:51:49You know what I mean?
00:51:49So there's, there's two qualifying sessions and you know, the top 10 go to go to Q2 and
00:51:54then the rest have to go to Q1 and then the top two go into Q2 to get your position on
00:52:00the grid.
00:52:00And it's like, dude, this guy's down below the top 10 in qualifying.
00:52:05And he got so hosed.
00:52:06Cause like, and I don't think he did.
00:52:09I wouldn't say he did.
00:52:10He didn't because he should have been on the inside of morbid Delhi in that corner.
00:52:14Anyways, he was in the wrong place.
00:52:15Anyways, he screwed himself.
00:52:17But hear me out here because Peco style is always to like, he's never anywhere in the
00:52:25first practice that doesn't count towards whether you get into Q2.
00:52:27He just cruises around, figures out what the track's doing, figures out what his bike's
00:52:30doing, where he's at.
00:52:31And then the practice session where they start deciding who's going to go directly from
00:52:36practice to Q2, he lights off.
00:52:38And usually in the second half of the session.
00:52:40And he was doing that this time.
00:52:42Marquez went out and started setting fast laps the whole session, the whole 45 minute
00:52:46session.
00:52:46He's just metronomic.
00:52:47And Peco's kind of messing around.
00:52:48And then, you know, you could tell what the last like five minutes of the session, he
00:52:52was going to go out there and set a hot lap.
00:52:54And then he got in yellow flag trouble.
00:52:56And then he got penalized.
00:52:57So he got penalized for that.
00:52:58And then he got behind the dude who was cruising on the racing line.
00:53:02Yeah.
00:53:02He should have been in a different place, but like.
00:53:05But I mean, that's, that's also his problem with his race craft is that he leaves it.
00:53:10He's like a procrastinator.
00:53:12Yep.
00:53:12And he's he's a successful procrastinator.
00:53:16And the pressure makes him rise to the occasion.
00:53:18But he never rises the occasion when the pressure is not there.
00:53:22Yeah, yeah, exactly.
00:53:24And we're talking about a guy who finished third handily, right?
00:53:29As if he screwed up.
00:53:30And like, yeah, exactly.
00:53:31Not like he's still, he's still awesome.
00:53:33And I, you know, I'm still a huge fan.
00:53:37And I think, you know, before when we were talking about doing this podcasting and then
00:53:42inviting Aaron on, me and him were bantering back and forth about who's going to win.
00:53:46So I think that's, we'll save that surprise for a second, but we'll start with Adam.
00:53:51Who, who's your favorite for 2025?
00:53:56Ah, I don't know.
00:53:57I mean, I just, I really like Mark Marquez, you know, and just that whole story.
00:54:03And I know some people don't like them, but I don't know.
00:54:06It's just, I'd like to see him get another championship and just add to his legacy.
00:54:11And, you know, I would like to see that.
00:54:14So probably Mark Marquez is probably my favorite rider, you know?
00:54:18Okay.
00:54:19So Aaron and I were talking, you know, we were making a plan and Aaron, your pick is obvious.
00:54:26I think.
00:54:27Yeah.
00:54:28Mark Marquez.
00:54:30Yeah.
00:54:30I don't really think it's a question.
00:54:32Yep.
00:54:32And I am going to go with Peko.
00:54:36And the only reason I'm going, it's not because I think Peko is better or more talented.
00:54:42It's absolutely clear, but there's an X factor with Marquez.
00:54:47He could still toss that thing and hurt himself.
00:54:50And so my Aaron and I have a bet 20 bucks.
00:54:55It's not a lot, but it's a, it's a pride thing.
00:54:57And, and so my angle is that I'm betting on really on Marquez crashing and ruining
00:55:04his championship rather than Peko outriding him.
00:55:07Okay.
00:55:08All right.
00:55:09So, so I'll take that bet.
00:55:1120 bucks.
00:55:11Sounds awesome.
00:55:13Although I do want to just part of the reason I'm going with Marquez is you're worried,
00:55:20you know, you're thinking that, that Marquez will throw it away with crashes, which is
00:55:25totally valid.
00:55:26We've seen him do it.
00:55:27This whole thing started because he crashed out of the lead of a race twice and hurt himself.
00:55:33And that was four years ago.
00:55:34And he hasn't been the same guy since.
00:55:36So I completely get it.
00:55:38However, both in 24 and 23 Peko earned the dubious honor of having the highest number
00:55:46of crashes and still finishing that high in the championship.
00:55:49Like in 23, he won the championship with the highest number of like race crashes ever done.
00:55:54And then last year he almost equaled that record.
00:55:57Yeah.
00:55:57But he also won the most races last year too.
00:56:00He did.
00:56:00He won 11 races there.
00:56:01That is unassailable.
00:56:03But my point is, I would argue that Marquez crashes in practice when as long as you don't
00:56:09get hurt, it doesn't matter that much.
00:56:10Peko crashes when it counts.
00:56:13We've seen him, you know, he has a, he has a history of throwing it down the road during
00:56:16the race.
00:56:18And unforced errors too.
00:56:20Like he could be in the lead and just toss it himself.
00:56:23And that's, that's totally another thing.
00:56:25But I think what we haven't seen from Marquez yet is when Marquez was winning, he was pushing
00:56:32it to the limit because, because he was the man.
00:56:35And if he goes back to being the man, he's going to get back into his old ways and that's
00:56:40where he's going to blow it.
00:56:42He's, he's gone through the process of coming back up and you, like you said, he's not the
00:56:46same rider, but that's because he's, he's doing the climb.
00:56:50And once he gets to the top of the mountain again, like if he goes back to his old ways,
00:56:55he's going to fall off the mountain.
00:56:57Yeah, I think you're right.
00:56:58And he's too old to do things the way he used to do them.
00:57:01Right.
00:57:02Too old.
00:57:02He's 32.
00:57:03He's younger than all of us, but like we're old enough to be his dad, but like he's not
00:57:08going to heal the same way.
00:57:09He's not going to bounce the same way.
00:57:10If he hurts himself like he did in 2020 ever again, like stick a fork in it, get a job
00:57:15commentating.
00:57:16Like you're not, you're not a racer anymore, but I think the next two races are his to
00:57:22lose.
00:57:23Argentina is a track he loves.
00:57:26You know, he made the first time he made Valentino Rossi look silly was at Argentina.
00:57:30And I hate to say that as a, as a Rossi fan, I hate to say that, but he did.
00:57:34He did.
00:57:35Um, and Rossi was getting old.
00:57:37Yeah.
00:57:38And Marquez has raced at circuit of the Americas, what 12 times and lost twice and every other
00:57:46time he's won the race.
00:57:47So those are the next two races where the season, where we're going to decide whether
00:57:51you and I are going to be close or whether I just should take your money is round four
00:57:55in Qatar.
00:57:56That is Peco's track.
00:57:58Mark has relative to Mark's results.
00:58:00He's never gone well there.
00:58:02He's never particularly liked it.
00:58:04Peco has shown in the five years he's been in MotoGP that like he, for whatever reason,
00:58:09whether it's the nighttime thing, whether it's just the way that track is laid out,
00:58:13like back night is a beast there.
00:58:16So if he can show Marquez his back fender by 15 seconds, like Marquez tried to do this
00:58:23weekend, then it's going to be a tight race.
00:58:25Yep.
00:58:26And it's also a long old season.
00:58:28It's a long season.
00:58:29We're going to be here till November.
00:58:30Yeah.
00:58:31So and with that, I'm going to say we're going to do a few check-ins with Aaron throughout
00:58:37the season.
00:58:37We'll probably do like a midpoint and maybe a finale or if it gets exciting, we might
00:58:42have him back on and talk some more MotoGP because we got to keep up with it.
00:58:46But there you go.
00:58:49That's who we think.
00:58:51Let's do like kind of an over or under.
00:58:56You set the line, Aaron, for Ogura.
00:58:58Where is he going to finish the championship?
00:59:01Over or under?
00:59:02And then you set the line and I'm going to take the over or under.
00:59:05So you set the line and then I'm going to take over or under.
00:59:09Pardon me while I consult Google real quick.
00:59:12And I apologize for not having this number off the top of my head.
00:59:17But I need to look at, okay.
00:59:23Pedro Acosta, who everyone tipped as the greatest rookie since basically motorcycling was invented
00:59:29last year, finished sixth on a KTM.
00:59:33He had a string of great results, but like six.
00:59:37Ogura in his first race outfinished Pedro by like five places.
00:59:42Okay.
00:59:43So I'm going to set the line.
00:59:45He's on a better bike too.
00:59:47Yeah, that's very true.
00:59:48Very true.
00:59:50I'm going to set the line at five.
00:59:52Five.
00:59:52Fifth.
00:59:53Okay.
00:59:57That's actually a really good line.
01:00:01Well, as a gambler, I'm always an optimist and I always go big.
01:00:06So I will take the over.
01:00:08You're going to take the over?
01:00:10I'm going to say he's going to do five.
01:00:12Fifth or better?
01:00:13Fifth or better.
01:00:14Okay.
01:00:15Okay.
01:00:15I think, man, if you think about it, that's not way outside the realm of possibility,
01:00:22right?
01:00:22Because you've got the top three, I would say, regardless of how the top two finished,
01:00:27the top three are probably going to be Bagnaia, Marquez, and Marquez, I would guess, because
01:00:31those are the three best Ducatis on the grid.
01:00:35Everybody else is a little bit banged up or streaky.
01:00:38And then I'd honestly love to see Acosta on the KTM up there, but it's just not going
01:00:44to happen.
01:00:47And so then you're talking Aprilia, and Ogura might be Aprilia's best hope.
01:00:52He might be.
01:00:53We know Bez is streaky.
01:00:57Ogura's got that rookie mojo.
01:01:00He's got something to prove.
01:01:02And Martin's starting from...
01:01:04He's starting behind.
01:01:07If he gets back by the time the European campaign kicks off in late April, I will be shocked.
01:01:14And if they haven't looked at what happened to Marquez in 2020 and sent armed guards to
01:01:19Martin's house to keep him there until his bone is healed, then they're stupid.
01:01:25They seriously need to put him in a cage until they're sure his scaphoid is healed.
01:01:29Put him in a hyperbaric chamber and let him cook.
01:01:33He's 25, 24, something like that.
01:01:36He's got such a long...
01:01:37Anyway, that's a completely different topic.
01:01:39Yeah.
01:01:39So anyway, I think if you would have set the line at seven, I'd be taking your money easily
01:01:44with the over.
01:01:45Five is a really good line, and I think that's a really good line.
01:01:49So I'll take the over.
01:01:50Let's do it.
01:01:51I'll swing for the fences.
01:01:52We'll make 120 bucks on that.
01:01:54Sure.
01:01:54All right.
01:01:55Cool.
01:01:56Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:01:56Because this way we'll even it out.
01:01:58We'll probably even it out.
01:02:01Possibly.
01:02:02Adam, who do you think is going to walk away with the most money?
01:02:05Is it going to be me or Aaron?
01:02:08I don't know, man.
01:02:09I don't know.
01:02:10I thought you were going to go under, Justin.
01:02:12I'm like, oh, he's going to go under, you know?
01:02:14So I don't know.
01:02:16I think Aaron, you know?
01:02:18But who knows, you know?
01:02:19Yeah.
01:02:19I like that's the thing.
01:02:20I'm going to go big or hand my money to Aaron.
01:02:23But yeah.
01:02:25So anyway...
01:02:26Think about the glory you have on the line, though.
01:02:28I do.
01:02:29I just took the easiest two bets in motorcycle racing this year.
01:02:34And you're like, dude, if you win, I should be giving you odds.
01:02:38I'm not going to, but I should be.
01:02:40I'm that degenerate that's at the horse track betting on the long shot, you know?
01:02:44Oh, yeah, dude.
01:02:45Like, come on.
01:02:46Come on, you know.
01:02:47Come on, Santa's helper.
01:02:48Come on, Santa's helper.
01:02:49This pull of the lever is going to hit it.
01:02:50I've seen it work for you, Justin.
01:02:52I've seen it hit for you, though.
01:02:53Yeah, exactly.
01:02:54So we'll find out.
01:02:56So, okay.
01:02:57So that's how we see the year going.
01:02:59And we're going to lock it up there.
01:03:01And so, closing thoughts.
01:03:04MotoGP is awesome.
01:03:07If you're not watching it, I don't know what you're doing.
01:03:10Even if you think that the racing is not the same as it was before.
01:03:14It's still an amazing, amazing race series.
01:03:18And you should be watching it.
01:03:20There's all kinds of stuff going on.
01:03:21Like we said, all these ups and downs.
01:03:22And it's just not what's happening on the track.
01:03:25There's mid-season testing where some crazy stuff could come out.
01:03:31You know, all of a sudden a bike could show up with some new feature after mid-season
01:03:36that you've never seen before.
01:03:37And it totally changes everything.
01:03:39We don't know.
01:03:40So Yamaha could totally redesign its whole entire engine package, you know?
01:03:44Yep.
01:03:44Wouldn't that be weird?
01:03:45Just show up with a V4 all of a sudden, you know?
01:03:48So we'll see.
01:03:49So watch it.
01:03:51Watch along with us.
01:03:53Let us know in the comments who you think is going to win in MotoGP.
01:03:58But also between me and Aaron.
01:03:59Right.
01:04:00And then let me know how I'm going to spend Aaron's money.
01:04:03That's right.
01:04:04Yeah.
01:04:05Top comment on how you're going to spend $40.
01:04:07Yeah, 40 big ones.
01:04:0940 big ones.
01:04:10You got to send me a Mark Marcus hat.
01:04:12Yeah, I think that's probably good enough for like two subway footlongs at this point.
01:04:17But anyway, thanks for watching.
01:04:21Put your comments down below.
01:04:22We appreciate you listening and watching.
01:04:25Hit the like button, subscribe, and just engage with us.
01:04:29We'll talk to you back to you.
01:04:30We love talking to you.
01:04:32We appreciate the support and we will see you on the next one.
01:04:35Thanks.
01:04:35Thanks for having me, fellas.
01:04:36Appreciate it.
01:04:37Yeah, thanks for being here.
01:04:38Thanks for joining us.