Predictions for 2025

Like many of us my prediction for 2025 (no injuries) is;
1. M Marquez
2. Bagnaia

3rd place is in the no idea category, with consistency being the greatest difficulty to predict
- Ducati rider , they are all on GP24's but each of them has their own inconsistencies
- Aprilia rider, Martin has missed the testing and possibly the first race aka no adpation
- KTM rider, Acosta is quick but the KTM is hard to ride
- Yamaha rider, has it improved enough to get Quartararo to 3rd in the world championship
- Honda rider, yeh the bike has improved but not enough to get any of them close enough to 3rd in the world championship

El Español said:

My nun would have won a race on gp24 last year. And yeah, she's better than Morbidelli.

If you're actually the baby goat, i need much more than a crash every two races after sitting in the leading group for like 5 laps. He outperformed Binder in qualis and some of the races but Binder has been more consistent which is to me a better measuring stick than a raw pace here and there.

Click to expand...

Can I have you nun's autograph?

Pedro went into last season with no expectations. I like how he chose to ride. He chose to attempt to keep up with the front pack or bin it trying. Learning, learning, learning. He had no reason to settle down and shoot for consistency. He rode the KTM harder than the KTM was capable of going, not vice versa, and that is very impressive for a rookie. Who is the last rook we seen push like that? Add the fact that he was doing it on a bike not capable of winning.

mikesbytes said:

Like many of us my prediction for 2025 (no injuries) is;
1. M Marquez
2. Bagnaia

3rd place is in the no idea category, with consistency being the greatest difficulty to predict
- Ducati rider , they are all on GP24's but each of them has their own inconsistencies
- Aprilia rider, Martin has missed the testing and possibly the first race aka no adpation
- KTM rider, Acosta is quick but the KTM is hard to ride
- Yamaha rider, has it improved enough to get Quartararo to 3rd in the world championship
- Honda rider, yeh the bike has improved but not enough to get any of them close enough to 3rd in the world championship

Click to expand...

I am more interested in who will be the top rider on the non-Ducati bike or satellite bike. Who will win the Cal Crutchlow trophy? Ktm is going backwards. Aprillia has all new riders. Honda and Yamaha are still day old guacamole. Any rider not on a Duc that finishes in points ahead of a Duc deserves and Ducati next year. I think it will be Pedro. Martin will suffer this year, much like Pedro last year. He will override that bike race after race.

warthog1 said:

That is a bit harsh I reckon. Out performed Binder in his first year on the bike and did threaten a race win or two. That KTM was not a GP24, or even GP23 Duke.
Yeah probably not the next MM but he still has talent imo.

Click to expand...

I think this yr is key for him. Easier to perform when you have the rookie card and less pressure on your shoulders. Now he is expected to run at the front, which may be doing a disservice to him given the bike he is on.

MdubSTYLIE said:

Who will win the Cal Crutchlow trophy?

Click to expand...

Defending champ Joan Mir has publicly stated this trophy will have to be pried away from his cold fingers. He’s not giving it up without a fight.

#22 said:

with Jack Appleyard

Click to expand...

Is Jack taking over for Crafar in the paddock? I think I'm really going to miss Simon.

MdubSTYLIE said:

Can I have you nun's autograph?

Pedro went into last season with no expectations. I like how he chose to ride. He chose to attempt to keep up with the front pack or bin it trying. Learning, learning, learning. He had no reason to settle down and shoot for consistency. He rode the KTM harder than the KTM was capable of going, not vice versa, and that is very impressive for a rookie. Who is the last rook we seen push like that? Add the fact that he was doing it on a bike not capable of winning.

Click to expand...

Let's keep it a buck. The only reason why this way of riding could be considered acceptable is because he was a rookie. The kid is talking and acting big game and is carrying some serious hype so I'm not gonna judge him like he's Hafizh Syarin. If he's not a rookie then how much his season was better than the season of Mir? Joan crashed the living hell out of his bike, arguably was the worst of the season in terms of finished races and still beat his teammate. Easily can use a badge of a "tryhard" and a "learner" cause nobody really knew how to ride that Honda lol.

The status comes with expectations. He didn't have the best bike, still had a good bike though. Still wasn't the one with a single non Ducati win. Still lost to his teammate. Still crashed a lot. Those are facts.

The rest is just optics and subjective perception of his performance.

El Español said:

Let's keep it a buck. The only reason why this way of riding could be considered acceptable is because he was a rookie. The kid is talking and acting big game and is carrying some serious hype so I'm not gonna judge him like he's Hafizh Syarin. If he's not a rookie then how much his season was better than the season of Mir? Joan crashed the living hell out of his bike, arguably was the worst of the season in terms of finished races and still beat his teammate. Easily can use a badge of a "tryhard" and a "learner" cause nobody really knew how to ride that Honda lol.

The status comes with expectations. He didn't have the best bike, still had a good bike though. Still wasn't the one with a single non Ducati win. Still lost to his teammate. Still crashed a lot. Those are facts.

The rest is just optics and subjective perception of his performance.

Click to expand...

Technically he didn't lose to his teammate. He scored less points than one of the factory KTM riders. A rider who has consistently for a few years been the top scoring non-ducati rider. Thats not a bad rookie season. But like I said, I am fine with him chucking it into the kitty litter. It shows his desire to be a front runner. He wants to win at all costs. I think it is not uncommon for a rider to get comfortable being a mid-pack rider and then never reaching their full potential. He has amazing skill, race craft, and determination. I think his future is bright as long as he can get on a bike capable of winning championships.

MdubSTYLIE said:

Technically he didn't lose to his teammate. He scored less points than one of the factory KTM riders. A rider who has consistently for a few years been the top scoring non-ducati rider. Thats not a bad rookie season. But like I said, I am fine with him chucking it into the kitty litter. It shows his desire to be a front runner. He wants to win at all costs. I think it is not uncommon for a rider to get comfortable being a mid-pack rider and then never reaching their full potential. He has amazing skill, race craft, and determination. I think his future is bright as long as he can get on a bike capable of winning championships.

Click to expand...

You aint the only one who thinks that. The other manufacturers have all shown a pretty keen interest in him.

I’m looking forward to the start of this season. As always, there may be some surprises in store. Sure, MM is looking good but I hope some others bring the fight. I was really bummed when Martin got hurt. Hopefully he recovers fully and learns something. I hope it’s a good season of hard and clean racing. Come on Jorge, do it up!

El Español said:

Let's keep it a buck. The only reason why this way of riding could be considered acceptable is because he was a rookie. The kid is talking and acting big game and is carrying some serious hype so I'm not gonna judge him like he's Hafizh Syarin. If he's not a rookie then how much his season was better than the season of Mir? Joan crashed the living hell out of his bike, arguably was the worst of the season in terms of finished races and still beat his teammate. Easily can use a badge of a "tryhard" and a "learner" cause nobody really knew how to ride that Honda lol.

The status comes with expectations. He didn't have the best bike, still had a good bike though. Still wasn't the one with a single non Ducati win. Still lost to his teammate. Still crashed a lot. Those are facts.

The rest is just optics and subjective perception of his performance.

Click to expand...

Yeah crashed a lot but he had 5 podiums to Binders 1 and 4 sprint podiums to Binders 1. More podiums than anyone not on a GP24 or called Marc Marquez. Binders strength as a rider is keeping it shiny side up collecting points all season long, which is great for finishing 5th in the championship but not so good if you want to win a championship or indeed races. I would rather see riders going for it like Acosta, making mistakes but outriding everyone on the same bike.

Make no mistake Binder may have beat him by two points over the season but when you consider that Binder failed to finish 2 GPs compared to Acostas 4 DNFs and 1 DNS through injury along with 6 DNFs and 1 DNS in sprints, either Acosta outrode the bike and overperformed or Binder underperformed and was happy to ride around midpack.

As mentioned above, Binder was not his teammate anyway. On the same bike sure, but until later in the season Binder was definitely getting more factory backing, support and input, while KTM where happy to let Acosta focus on learning. Acosta may or may not be a generational talent, there is not enough proof to draw a valid conclusion. The GP24 is probably the best/greatest GP bike ever built. Only the GOAT was able to take a fight to them on any consistent basis. Let's see how Acosta and KTM go over the next couple of seasons.

Luca Marini is nowhere near as good as Brad Binder. Marini while undeniably talented in his own right, has gotten to where he has because of his brother and because no one that had any other options wanted to touch the Honda with a 10 foot pole.

I'm not as high on Acosta as some, particularly in the media are but the guy is clearly extremely talented and easily top 5 material already.