2025 Silly Season

mikesbytes said:

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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MM has made me a believer !

synn said:

I was gutted when Remi Gardner was given the boot

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In part Remi's manager was to blame for not securing a seat for year 2 of MotoGP. In regards to Remi's first year I don't think his manager wanted him to move up onto the satellite KTM, rather do another year in Moto2 and Remi did want to move up. We will never know if Remi's decision on the move up was the right one as we don't know what bike he would of got if he had made this year his first year plus he would of had to beat Acosta on the Moto2 in 2023

DavidSim said:

MM has made me a believer !

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There were reasons I didn't like MM, however MM has changed his ways so now my view has changed and now I'm on MM's side. I want to see MM knock Ago off the all time record but there's not a lot of years left to do that

JPSLotus said:

Puigdemont reporting Vinales will be on a KTM next year.

Wonder who will be on the second Aprilia seat then if true.

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I don't understand this move at all from Maverick's viewpoint. Also, KTM gives up promoting new talent for the next two seasons with this.

Miller tried his hardest to remain on KTM even in satellite capacity but now he's given the boot, wonder what will it be for him, WSBK or one of the Japanese spots. Augusto's MGP career becomes a shortlived one. Pramac going to Yamaha could be a lifesaver for one of these guys, as it is a bike that only riders on the downturn would be ready to get on.

MM quoted on Crash as saying telemetry shows the GP24 has an 0.2 second a lap advantage over the GP23, which I am sure entirely coincidentally would have given him at least 4 race victories, so perhaps trying some “mind games” of his own.

Sounds like the ballpark we were suggesting on here, and fairly likely to be true, although on general principles whether he himself could ride a GP24 0.2 seconds a lap faster than he does a GP23 is unknown unless he actually does so, and laps are different lengths at different circuits of course.

MichaelBolton said:

I don't understand this move at all from Maverick's viewpoint. Also, KTM gives up promoting new talent for the next two seasons with this.

Miller tried his hardest to remain on KTM even in satellite capacity but now he's given the boot, wonder what will it be for him, WSBK or one of the Japanese spots. Augusto's MGP career becomes a shortlived one. Pramac going to Yamaha could be a lifesaver for one of these guys, as it is a bike that only riders on the downturn would be ready to get on.

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I’m guessing that KTM will field 4 factory bikes for 2025. It’s the only way they get Bastianini and Vinales on Tech 3, imo.

Dani is KTM’s test rider so it seems like Enea and Mav are a good fit for KTM. Mav could be the first guy to win for 4 manufacturers. Aprilia threw him a lifeline and he won a race for them this year. His departure is strange, but it fits his impulsive reputation.

Maverick "The ....." Vinales.

Dude has more lives than a cat. What did you guys think I meant?

mylexicon said:

I’m guessing that KTM will field 4 factory bikes for 2025. It’s the only way they get Bastianini and Vinales on Tech 3, imo.

Dani is KTM’s test rider so it seems like Enea and Mav are a good fit for KTM. Mav could be the first guy to win for 4 manufacturers. Aprilia threw him a lifeline and he won a race for them this year. His departure is strange, but it fits his impulsive reputation.

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Aren't they fielding 4 '24 spec bikes this season anyhow? Doing the same next season would just be continuing the trend.

I still don't really see why Maverick would go there since I think he had a really good thing with Aprilia considering his inability to deliver all that much over the past couple of seasons outside of ever so briefly this year. The only thing I can think with KTM is perhaps they feel his ability to scorch the timesheets in testing would be a good way of really finding out where the bike is at with upgrades and the like over the course of a season. I feel he'll be used more as a test rider than GP rider since they can't have Dani on one of the bikes every GP weekend. And also of course, what is he being paid versus Aprilia? He might be chasing the dollars also at this point. I think he's an upgrade from Jack Miller easily as much as everybody might groan reading that. Miller is incredibly inconsistent, and has terrible tire management. I was always surprised he managed to hang out for as long as he did in GP, and picking up a few wins along the way. Who knows, maybe Pramac will have use of his services again if they go with Yamaha M1's.

mikesbytes said:

In part Remi's manager was to blame for not securing a seat for year 2 of MotoGP. In regards to Remi's first year I don't think his manager wanted him to move up onto the satellite KTM, rather do another year in Moto2 and Remi did want to move up. We will never know if Remi's decision on the move up was the right one as we don't know what bike he would of got if he had made this year his first year plus he would of had to beat Acosta on the Moto2 in 2023

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Well that is not the way I saw it at the time, and if you did you would spell his name right.
It all changed when Remy he came in after a practice session telling everyone out loud, that the bike was a POS. KTM scrubbed him as he was not the type of rider that they should have riding their POS. Delaying the second year option till it was too late to find another ride. It was Raul that wanted to stay for another year in Moto 2.

I can’t find it now, but somebody was saying that ‘Remy was just hanging on to his fathers fame’. Remy pissed Wayne off out of his pit in Moto 2, and is doing better in WSBK, having 2 fourth places and one third place in the last meet in Assen.

JPSLotus said:

Aren't they fielding 4 '24 spec bikes this season anyhow? Doing the same next season would just be continuing the trend.

I still don't really see why Maverick would go there since I think he had a really good thing with Aprilia considering his inability to deliver all that much over the past couple of seasons outside of ever so briefly this year. The only thing I can think with KTM is perhaps they feel his ability to scorch the timesheets in testing would be a good way of really finding out where the bike is at with upgrades and the like over the course of a season. I feel he'll be used more as a test rider than GP rider since they can't have Dani on one of the bikes every GP weekend. And also of course, what is he being paid versus Aprilia? He might be chasing the dollars also at this point. I think he's an upgrade from Jack Miller easily as much as everybody might groan reading that. Miller is incredibly inconsistent, and has terrible tire management. I was always surprised he managed to hang out for as long as he did in GP, and picking up a few wins along the way. Who knows, maybe Pramac will have use of his services again if they go with Yamaha M1's.

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I thought only Acosta had a factory bike, but I haven’t paid close attention to anything on the other side of the garage. Augusto has been persona non grata for awhile. No idea where he’s headed, but Moto2 might be his only option. Not sure anyone in WSBK has him on the radar. Miller is surely on Ducati’s radar for WSBK, but HRC might take him.

Mir to Aprilia?

mylexicon said:

I thought only Acosta had a factory bike, but I haven’t paid close attention to anything on the other side of the garage. Augusto has been persona non grata for awhile. No idea where he’s headed, but Moto2 might be his only option. Not sure anyone in WSBK has him on the radar. Miller is surely on Ducati’s radar for WSBK, but HRC might take him.

Mir to Aprilia?

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Sounds like its rather close if not identical at this point.

Miller may as well head to WSBK but I'm not sure he's fast enough for the current front runners in that series either so who knows how much time he has left in top flight motorcycle racing. Augusto is easy to forget about. Sometimes I forget there's a 4th KTM rider.

Mir to Aprilia would make sense. Probably the best move possible really.

synn said:

I’d love to see Sergio Garcia at Pramac Yamaha.

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If he wins the championship this year, he probably deserves a better ride.

JPSLotus said:

Sounds like its rather close if not identical at this point.

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Same spec, but new parts (Used to )first go to RedBull KTM.

Of course, Acosta changed that dynamic.

JPSLotus said:

Puigdemont reporting Vinales will be on a KTM next year.

Wonder who will be on the second Aprilia seat then if true.

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I’m guessing Bezzecchi to Aprilia now and Fermin Aldeguer getting placed in VR46 (They did try to sign him previously to replace Marini, but Boacoscuro put his foot down, and they had to go with Diggia)

Official now, team also rebranded back to KTM.

I hope they go back to the blue and silver paint job. That was stunning.

This most likely means Miller to HRC to replace Mir. Which makes financial sense to him.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Miller in Pramac Yamaha too BTW. It’s a team he definitely felt comfortable at.

Very interesting how strong line up KTM will have in the last two years of the current cycle.

Will this imply that MV Augusta step in from 2027?

synn said:

Official now, team also rebranded back to KTM.

I hope they go back to the blue and silver paint job. That was stunning.

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That's actually quite the combination. Lateral move for Mav imo, a step down for Bestia but a huge move for KTM, quite the update over Jack and Augusto.

I heard yesterday that Rins had spoken to riders about retiring. He came back too soon, from his injury. That is the first injury I saw live, trackside, and I must say I was very surprised that it might have been a career ending one. It did look so severe.

If Rins drops out of the series, that might free up the vital free seat that can come in handy for many of the riders searching for a spot.

At Honda, Mir is finished. The noises coming out of that garage is that he is not someone they would like to retain, and he has been very vocal about HRC ruining riders, except for their bank accounts. Taka-san have been halfway out the door for a couple of years. Ogura should know that the time to step up is approaching. HRC will develop very quickly in 25 & 26, would be my guess. So grab that seat while you can!

Aprilia would like to have an Italian rider, and the two VR46 ones are the most likely candidates. I hope that Diggia will be the one who gets the chance, so that VR46 can go back to the team for VR academy riders. That would leave Bezzecchi and Morbidelli as their prefered line up.

Since Aldeguer is signed by Ducati Corse, I'd thought that the second Gresini bike would be his. So they're complete.

Trackhouse and Pramac to be decided. Trackhouse would need to agree with Aprilia how they would like to line up, and neither of their riders have been delivering the goods. Raul is young enough to be given another year, and he almost were able to show why he came close to winning the Moto2 title.
Pramac, if leaving for Yamaha, could have first dibs on both Oliveira and Miller. Two very good riders for development, and they've ridden the lot, combined.
I wouldn't be surprised if Roberts were given the Trackhouse nod, while Augusto given a lifeline in WSBK.

synn said:

I’d love to see Sergio Garcia at Pramac Yamaha.

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Only if performance of the bike improves. Otherwise it's not really a place to shine. I think that it's best if the Japanese manufacturers have experienced riders near the end of their careers, perhaps like Miller, so that new younger riders aren't buried at the back of the grid.