2025 Silly Season

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MdubSTYLIE said:
Can you imgaine what Monster Lenovo and any other sponsors would have said if they gave Marc a factory support bike and he won the title? They would have been livid! What the .... are we giving you money for? Marc was the smart move regardless of what Martin has done. Whether or not Marc wins the title next year, Ducati and all of its sponsor can be happy knowing they blocked redbull and ect. from winning it. This was the move I don't feel bad for Jorge.

Now about Jorge. I feel like he really rushed his decision to sign with Aprilia. Whatever was said to him by Ducati that made him go over to Espargaros trailer shouldn't have made him go and sign a contract that night. Thats nuts. First Marc wasn't signed yet. Talk to Aprilia make demands to Ducati that you are going to walk. Talk to KTM get the most money you can by making KTM and Aprilia fight for you. Maybe Aprilia was the right choice but give it time don't make such a rash decision. He had the manufacturers other than Ducati in his palm. And he ...... the first girl he saw at the party. When he could have ...... any of them. I am not saying he will regret his decision but he sure didn't take the time to get the most he could.
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Ducati need to keep the sponsors happy, but shortsightedness will cause a repeat of the GFC malaise that lasted 15 years. Ducati have access to Marc's data. Perhaps they think he's worth .2-.3 seconds per lap, which might help KTM and Aprilia get within striking distance. Maybe Martin does not make the same difference.

If Marc allows Ducati to focus their resources on 850cc development, you could argue that he serves a long term purpose, though it's difficult to imagine a banged-up 31-year-old playing a long term role in Ducati's competitive efforts. It's easier to imagine Marc being a short/long-term commercial boon to the manufacturer, which seems to be Bologna's primary focus these days. Sure, they will do anything to win just like the old days, but now they will do anything to monetize their championships.

I guess we'll see how it plays out.
 
synn said:
Marquez said he had 3 plans, which I think Were:

Plan A) Lenovo Ducati. Best outcome.
Plan B) Factory Aprilia. He’d have easily scored that seat if he tried
Plan C) Stay with Gresini. Fall back plan, but changes nothing and he could continue working with the same bunch of guys he’s clearly gelling with this year

None of the plans are bad, and he landed the best possible scenario
Click to expand...

I think you are correct about that. I don't think MM felt the KTM was where it needed to be to challenge for championships at this point. Fast bike when the setup and track suits it, but not consistent enough to challenge over the course of the season. I remember at Valencia's test last year Marc got behind the Honda just to take a look at it, and commented that they hadn't fixed anything. I suspect the same thing happened with the KTM. I think he probably took a look at what it was doing to figure out if it was something he could ride to a title or not. Whatever he saw from the bike regardless of Pedro probably wasn't enough to convince him.
 
MdubSTYLIE said:
Whatever was said to him by Ducati that made him go over to Espargaros trailer
Click to expand...
Word is that there was a handshake agreement on Saturday, Alberto Valera couldn’t even get time with the bosses after Sunday’s race, Martin said “Fcuk you very much” (After the A. Espargaro trailer talk) and went straight to Massimo Rivola.

Now why would Ducati do a handshake agreement in the first place, nobody knows.
 
mylexicon said:
Ducati need to keep the sponsors happy, but shortsightedness will cause a repeat of the GFC malaise that lasted 15 years. Ducati have access to Marc's data. Perhaps they think he's worth .2-.3 seconds per lap, which might help KTM and Aprilia get within striking distance. Maybe Martin does not make the same difference.

If Marc allows Ducati to focus their resources on 850cc development, you could argue that he serves a long term purpose, though it's difficult to imagine a banged-up 31-year-old playing a long term role in Ducati's competitive efforts. It's easier to imagine Marc being a short/long-term commercial boon to the manufacturer, which seems to be Bologna's primary focus these days. Sure, they will do anything to win just like the old days, but now they will do anything to monetize their championships.

I guess we'll see how it plays out.
Click to expand...

One thing I want to mention is I've watched Marc's training regimen, and while it's easy to say he's a banged up 31 year old, he is in phenomenal shape. I would probably die if I tried to do his workouts honestly. I think he is in far better shape than anyone at this point in their career, and it's certainly helped he isn't getting high-sided off the Ducati the way the Honda would bite back. I think if he can stay away from those types of crashes, he has a longer career in front of him than anyone might expect. If Valentino had bothered to train like Marc, I think he could have won at least one more title.
 
synn said:
Word is that there was a handshake agreement on Saturday, Alberto Valera couldn’t even get time with the bosses after Sunday’s race, Martin said “Fcuk you very much” (After the A. Espargaro trailer talk) and went straight to Massimo Rivola.

Now why would Ducati do a handshake agreement in the first place, nobody knows.
Click to expand...

I think Enea pulling off that comeback at the end did Martin in. I saw a video in the paddock after the race and Martin said he was up 0.8 on Enea and had no idea where he came from. He said he wasn't even aware that Enea was right behind him heading into the final corner, so I wonder if lack of situational awareness was too much for Ducati. He took the wrong line through the final corner, not saying he would have finished P2 had he gone tighter, but it would have at least have had been a drag race to the finish.
 
synn said:
Jeremy Burgess said once he had to physically fish Rossi out from under a pile of passed out bodies in the trailer to make it to qualifying.

t’was a different time.
Click to expand...

Agreed, there was a time when sheer skill could sustain most riders. Now? You need that training big time.
 
mylexicon said:
Well, Fabio D must have something, too, because many in the paddock opined that he belonged in MotoGP. At the time, he also had 5 top-10's.

At least Fernandez is beating his teammate. Diggia couldn't even make that claim, though he is beating Bezz this season.
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Very good point, and I may be being overly harsh. But my opinion is:

1. Diggia has always been seen as a pay rider (or in the case of VR46, a convenience).
2. Fernandez came in as the Moto2 vice champ. The moto2 champ that season lasted a single year before being outed and it's not like Fernandez has a special passport. If anything, Gardiner should have gotten the stay of execution.
3. Diggia won a race by the end of his second season, on a year old race winning bike. Fernandez was also riding a year od race winning bike (though undoubtedly not as good as the Ducati)

synn said:
Word is that there was a handshake agreement on Saturday, Alberto Valera couldn’t even get time with the bosses after Sunday’s race, Martin said “Fcuk you very much” (After the A. Espargaro trailer talk) and went straight to Massimo Rivola.

Now why would Ducati do a handshake agreement in the first place, nobody knows.
Click to expand...
It's Ducati, they aren't really known for good handling of riders.
JPSLotus said:
One thing I want to mention is I've watched Marc's training regimen, and while it's easy to say he's a banged up 31 year old, he is in phenomenal shape. I would probably die if I tried to do his workouts honestly. I think he is in far better shape than anyone at this point in their career, and it's certainly helped he isn't getting high-sided off the Ducati the way the Honda would bite back. I think if he can stay away from those types of crashes, he has a longer career in front of him than anyone might expect. If Valentino had bothered to train like Marc, I think he could have won at least one more title.
Click to expand...
I'm not gay, but I'd perv over his body anyday.
 
I was gutted when Remi Gardner was given the boot. I think he conducted himself much better than R. Fernandez in Moto2 and MotoGP.

He’s starting to show some of his form in WSBK, so maybe there’s a path back via the Yamaha satellite MotoGP team. He’s still relatively young.
 
JPSLotus said:
I think Enea pulling off that comeback at the end did Martin in. I saw a video in the paddock after the race and Martin said he was up 0.8 on Enea and had no idea where he came from. He said he wasn't even aware that Enea was right behind him heading into the final corner, so I wonder if lack of situational awareness was too much for Ducati. He took the wrong line through the final corner, not saying he would have finished P2 had he gone tighter, but it would have at least have had been a drag race to the finish.
Click to expand...

Well this explains it. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why Martin did not better defend in the final corner. He left it open as can be. And how could he NOT know Enea was coming? Pit Board? Dash Board? Does he not look at these things?
 
Dunno how legit this is, but rumors of KTM interested in Maverick for the second Tech 3 spot:

www.gpone.com

MotoGP, Pit Beirer has a soft spot for Vinales who is set to join Bastianini in KTM

MotoGP: The Spanish rider, currently on Aprilia, has a great relationship with Pit Beirer, to whom he gave the world title gold medal in 2013. Viñales has won a total of ten MotoGP races since 2016 on three different brands: Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia
www.gpone.com www.gpone.com

What I don't get is why would Maverick downgrade from an official ride to a satellite (no matter how well supported Tech 3 is by KTM) one. I could understand him chasing big fat Japanese bucks with an Honda seat but it's doubtful KTM would have much to offer him after having Pedro, Brad & Enea who surely command generous salaries? not to mention that the KTM doesn't seem rider friendly if only Pedro is the one able to extract its maximum performance. Then again, I was surprised by Enea choosing Tech 3 so who knows. Maybe the addition of strong sponsors (Red Bull) can offset what Aprilia might offer him?
 
So lets do a refresher


Lenovo Ducati
Francesco Bagnaia
Marc Marquez

Red Bull KTM
Brad Binder
Pedro Acosta

Aprilia Racing
Jorge Martin
TBC (Bezzechi? Mir?)

Repsol Honda
TBC (Jack Miller, ?)
Luca Marini

Monster Yamaha
Fabio Quartararo
? (Likely Alex Rins is retained)

Gas Gas
Enea Bastiannini?
Maverick Vinales?

Pramac Ducati (Yamaha?)
TBC (Miguel Oliveira, Joan Mir?)
TBC (Miguel Oliveira, Joan Mir, Franco Morbidelli?)

VR46 Ducati
Marco Bezzechi
Diggia? Morbidelli?

Gresini Ducati
Alex Marquez
TBC (Miguel Oliveira, Joan Mir?)

Trackhouse Racing Aprilia
TBC (Miguel Oliveira, Joan Mir?)
TBC (Raul Fernandez Likely to be retained)

LCR Honda
Johann Zarco
Takaagi Nakagami
 
synn said:
Marquez said he had 3 plans, which I think Were:

Plan A) Lenovo Ducati. Best outcome.
Plan B) Factory Aprilia. He’d have easily scored that seat if he tried
Plan C) Stay with Gresini. Fall back plan, but changes nothing and he could continue working with the same bunch of guys he’s clearly gelling with this year

None of the plans are bad, and he landed the best possible scenario
Click to expand...
I guess the strategy was to have a factory seat and if he couldn't get one then he might as well stay where he is after all he is ahead of all bikes that aren't Ducati, has close to double the points of the next GP23 bike and is beating 2 of the 4 GP24 riders with the other 2 within spitting distance
 

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