[Porschefire]

Originally Posted by Porschefire

News Feed

Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team becomes Ducati factory supported team from 2025

Post the exit of Pramac, Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team becomes, from 2025 with a multi-year contract, the Factory Supported Team of the Borgo Panigale factory, three years after its debut.

In the garage there will be an official bike and a Ducati Desmosedici GP24, together with new Ducati technical staff.

Fabio Di Giannantonio is rumoured to have already re-signed with the team and destined to ride the official bike while his probable teammate remains a mystery.

Attachment 2635527
Source: https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2024/...om-2025/504831

While there hasn't been any confirmation yet from Pertamina Enduro VR46 about their rider lineup for 2025, Davide Tardozzi has announced that Fabio Di Giannantonio will receive an official GP25 Ducati bike and Franco Morbidelli the GP24, indirectly confirming the rumours!


Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...orbidelli-gp24

[Porschefire]

British GP - Full Qualifying Results





- Aleix Espargaro sets a record laptime to snatch pole position from Pecco Bagnaia. He shattered previous record set by Johann Zarco by almost four tenths of a second!

- Ducati Lenovo duo of Pecco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini take second and third respectively. Pecco was on a flying lap when he encountered an issue with the sponsor sticker on his helmet visor, hampering his vision and forcing him to roll out of the lap.

- Title contender Jorge Martin starts fourth, ahead of Alex Marquez who starts fifth after he qualified on top in Q1.

- Marc Marquez starts in seventh, behind Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta starts ninth after qualifying second in Q1.

[Porschefire]

British GP - Sprint







- 'The Beast' Enea Bastianini takes the first sprint win of his career.

- Jorge Martin finishes second, taking valuable points and closing the gap to the leader, Bagnaia.

- Aleix Espargaro completes the podium, not having the hot pace set by the Ducatis in the front.

- KTMs experience a change in fortune as Brad Binder, Pedro Acosta and Jack Miller finish fourth, fifth and seventh respectively.

- Future teammates, Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez both crashed out of the race. Marquez now loses the third spot in the championship to Enea.
In addition, Franco Morbidelli and Marco Bezzecchi also crashed out after the former torpedoed into the latter with an out of control GP25. Both were conscious and were taken to the medical centre for a check-up.

[Porschefire]

British GP - Race





- Enea Bastianini makes it a fairytale double at Silverstone as wins the race after overtaking Martin on the penultimate lap.

- Jorge Martin takes second after battling it out with Pecco Bagnaia during the initial part of the race to take the lead and handing it to The Beast after he ran wide.

- Pecco Bagnaia finishes third. He led the race for some parts but just did not have the pace Enea and Jorge possessed.

The World Championship standings after round ten -

[rajeevsulu]

There is something about the way the "Beast" rides. The late race pace that he has is phenomenal. He does it race after race. If only he could qualify better, as he did here, he would be a major title contender for sure.

Cheers

[parzival]

A great weekend yet again. I was betting on Enea and Martin for Sunday and had no hope for Marc, seeing his pace on practice and qualifying. But I think Marc did pretty well on Sundays. If he was not held up by Aleix, I think he would have passed Bagnaia. DiGia - Alex back and forth was entertaining.
The retro liveries were really good. My pick would be the KTMs and then Aprilia and gresini.

[Porschefire]

Originally Posted by parzival

A great weekend yet again. I was betting on Enea and Martin for Sunday and had no hope for Marc, seeing his pace on practice and qualifying.

Too bad, both of them will be on different machinery next year but I'm damn sure it will be a hotly contested three way fight for the championship this year! I remember Enea was on a different level and was giving Bagnaia nightmares in the latter half of the '22 season. Pecco, at that time had actually preferred Miller over Enea to be his teammate, just as he prefers Enea over Marc next year.

Originally Posted by parzival

But I think Marc did pretty well on Sundays. If he was not held up by Aleix, I think he would have passed Bagnaia. DiGia - Alex back and forth was entertaining.

I think fourth was the best that the GP23 could achieve, as he himself stated - it was either a chance of a podium or a crash and IMO, would've been the latter.
I really do hope Marc has one good weekend where he qualifies in the front row and has a real chance of winning the Sprint/Race or both. For this to happen, he needs to get out of the 'tow' mentality. I don't understand why he cannot trust his abilities and the GP23 to set a lap time alone. The GP23 is no slouch at all and in fact, one of the best bikes on the grid.

[Fx14]

Originally Posted by Porschefire

Too bad, both of them will be on different machinery next year but I'm damn sure it will be a hotly contested three way fight for the championship this year! I remember Enea was on a different level and was giving Bagnaia nightmares in the latter half of the '22 season.

While all the discussions were of whether JM89 may end up taking the #1 to Aprilia next season, EB23 has given a timely reminder that he could take the #1 to KTM instead.

The first half of the season saw him in down in the championship standings due to a combination of poor qualifying, long lap penalties, crashing out etc., though his race pace was mostly on par with the podium finishers.

He did mention that his focus is on qualifying well for the second half of the season and this weekend had lived up to it.

This weekend both of the riders that Ducati chose to ignore have surely shone. Interesting season ahead.

[parzival]

Originally Posted by Porschefire

I think fourth was the best that the GP23 could achieve, as he himself stated - it was either a chance of a podium or a crash and IMO, would've been the latter.
I really do hope Marc has one good weekend where he qualifies in the front row and has a real chance of winning the Sprint/Race or both. For this to happen, he needs to get out of the 'tow' mentality. I don't understand why he cannot trust his abilities and the GP23 to set a lap time alone. The GP23 is no slouch at all and in fact, one of the best bikes on the grid.

Pecco was actually loosing pace by the last quarter of the race. You could see the way pecco was dropped by Enea and Martin. But Marc seemed to have a consistent pace and was gaining on pecco by the end. But he had already lost time behind Aleix and it was too late. I think this is where the gp23 and gp24 differs the most. You can clearly see the gp 24s (even the Aprilias in the corner) pulling away in corner exits from the gp23 in aerial shots.

IMO Marc is doing exceptionally well with the GP23 bike, given that he comes from riding Honda for 10 years and probably has grown his riding style around that bike. It’s probably easier for someone riding a bike for 2-3 years and then switch to another understand it. So now riding the Ducati, though he has found the rhythm but he still probably is learning to set up the bike to make it go faster. As per him, Honda was all about the front end and In Ducati it’s about the rear tyre- probably the reason he shined in a tight track like Sachsenring despite all the odds, but his laptimes were average (but consistent) in a fast flowing track like Silverstone, where his dependence on the bike was higher. And I think he will still have these problems and a steep learning curve when he gets the GP 24 as well. His chances of another world title will be farther, the longer he takes to understand the Ducati. But then it’s the Marc Marquez we are talking about and anything is possible for him.

[Porschefire]

News Feed

Fabio Di Giannantonio renews with VR46

Fabio Di Giannantonio will remain in the VR46 Racing Team in the 2025 MotoGP season, and will upgrade his status to a factory-contracted rider.

Di Giannantonio, who secured his MotoGP future last year only in the penultimate race of the season when he won the Qatar Grand Prix, will, in 2025 and 2026, become a third rider contracted to the Bologna brand to race a factory-spec Desmosedici, of which there will be only three from next year.

From not finding a ride to stay in MotoGP, 9 months ago to becoming a factory-contracted rider, I must say no one deserved it more than Fabio himself! Hope he goes onto achieving new heights in his career.


Source: https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2024/...ogether/505375

[Porschefire]

GP11: 16 August - 18 August

Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich

Red Bull Ring - Spielberg

The Red Bull Ring in Spielberg is located beautifully in the Murtal-region of Styria, Austria. The circuit was originally built in 1969, then known as the Österreichring. In 1996, it was rebuilt with the track-layout it still has today and in 2011 was reopened as the Red Bull Ring and again became the centre of Austrian motorsports. The sloping terrain and the natural arena are trademark features of the Red Bull Ring with the 18-metre-high landmark “Bull of Spielberg” in the centre and the voestalpine wing offering a spectacular architectural highlight. With a length of 4.318 km it features 10 turns and an altitude difference of 65 metres. The 2016 season saw the Red Bull Ring host its first MotoGP™ race as the World Championship returned to Austria for the first time since 1997.







Previous Winners

[Porschefire]

News Feed

1) MotoGP sticks with 22 riders

Dorna Chief Sporting Officer, Carlos Ezpeleta has revealed MotoGP has no plans to increase the current grid size and any new manufacturer - such as BMW - would therefore need to merge with an existing team.cSuzuki’s sudden exit at the end of 2022 dropped grid numbers from 24 to 22 riders.

While initial interest was expressed in taking over the grid slots for another Independent project, running satellite bikes, it was made clear the Suzuki grid places could only be inherited by a sixth manufacturer.

However, Ezpeleta has expressed that the ex-Suzuki places are no longer being reserved for a new project and MotoGP will remain at 22 riders.

"In the end, what matters to us is the quality of the eleven teams, whether they are provided by five or six manufacturers is another matter. But it is no secret that our priority at the moment is five manufacturers. That does not mean that we want to prevent a sixth manufacturer from entering - but it does mean that another manufacturer would have to work with one of the eleven teams. Eleven teams - 22 riders, that's fixed."

Those words mean BMW, currently leading the WorldSBK championship with Toprak Razgatlioglu and rumoured to be considering a MotoGP entry, would need to join forces with one of the six Independent teams (as Aprilia previously did with Gresini). The upside of a Factory-Independent partnership is that the new manufacturer gains instant access to a fully functioning MotoGP team, rather than having to build the race team from scratch.


Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...-existing-team

2) Ducati explains decision to reduce number of factory MotoGP bikes in 2025

Ducati general manager, Gigi Dall’Igna has said the decision to reduce its number of factory MotoGP bikes in 2025 to three is “the best compromise” for the brand.

“At the end we reduced the total number of bikes because we passed from eight to six bikes, and the best compromise for us us to have three and three: three factory bikes and three year-old bikes. This is the best compromise for us and I think this is also important because the reason why we would like to have a satellite team is to grow riders. And at the end, the new riders don’t need an official bike because an official bike means more pressure. So, sometimes it’s better to start with the previous year’s bike.”


Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...ogp-bikes-2025

3) Jack Miller on his MotoGP career slipping away

It is rather bizarre to see someone of Miller's talents, trying desperately to stay afloat in MotoGP! KTM chose to replace HIM with Pedro Acosta in their factory team for 2025 while not offer him a Tech3 seat either. Realistic seats he could fill next year appear to be limited to Pramac Yamaha or Trackhouse, but he is not the favourite to land either.
In a heart wrenching admission, he has explained how his family have changed their plans to come and watch him as frequently as possible, after it became clear that his days in MotoGP are numbered.


Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...-slipping-away

4) MotoGP has a British disconnect

Jake Dixon’s victory in the Moto2 race at Silverstone was a moment for the home fans to enjoy. But as he encouraged the crowd to produce an even louder cheer to accompany only his third victory in the series, it was also a moment to assess Britain’s relationship with MotoGP. Perhaps there was good reason why Dixon was underwhelmed by the crowd’s first attempt – he couldn’t hear them.

Four weeks earlier, 164,000 people watched Lewis Hamilton’s incredible Formula 1 victory at Silverstone, smashing the venue’s single-day attendance record. But just 42,529 turned up for MotoGP on Sunday.

Why the low attendance? There are a number of factors -

- Tickets starting at £110 for adults for general admission, expensive, when the Premier League tickets start at around £40 for a roll-up rate.

- The date of the MotoGP race fell in the summer holidays, meaning families could have been away.
MotoGP will avoid this scenario next year by bringing the race forward to 25th May, but this unwisely pitches it against the F1 Monaco Grand Prix and Indy 500, and immediately before the start of the Isle of Man TT meaning, it could again be a tough sell.

- Another suggestion is that the coverage is behind a paywall. Broadcaster TNT holds the UK rights, meaning those who want to watch it are required to pay for a subscription. While the deal brings money into MotoGP, it is potentially limiting its audience.

- The most significant matter, however, is the lack of British talent in MotoGP – and that doesn’t look like changing any time soon. This is Dixon’s seventh season in Moto2 and, at 28, he looks unlikely to add to the two MotoGP starts he made on a Petronas Yamaha in 2021.

These issues seem universal more than for Britain alone. While the sport itself doesn't lack anything as compared to F1, it could certainly learn a thing or two from its compatriot on how to manage viewership and keep the audiences engaged.


Source: https://www.autosport.com/motogp/new...nect/10642404/

[ads11]

Very interesting that Dorna would rather have a new entrant buy an existing team than add two more bikes to the grid.

Is it a small surprise that they've changed their tune after the takeover by Liberty Media? Because we all know how Liberty view the idea of new teams that don't fit their existing cartel structure.

Adding another manufacturer to the grid would be good but I think more than anything it would be good if some of the existing ones could close the gap to Ducati. I know that's easier said than done and rarely in any motorsport do you get multiple teams at level pegging, instead periods of success tend to be the purview of one outfit at a time.

I am still remiss about Suzuki leaving MotoGP but at least they got to go out on a high with the titles - I don't think I was in a minority that year rooting for them as the underdogs.

Out of curiosity how many times has a Superbike OEM entered MotoGP (or vice versa)? And how well does success at one translate to the other?

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by Porschefire

Why the low attendance? There are a number of factors -

- Tickets starting at £110 for adults for general admission, expensive, when the Premier League tickets start at around £40 for a roll-up rate.

These issues seem universal more than for Britain alone. While the sport itself doesn't lack anything as compared to F1, it could certainly learn a thing or two from its compatriot on how to manage viewership and keep the audiences engaged.

Stuart Pringle (Manager of Silverstone Circuit) mentioned on one of the podcasts that Silverstone tried everything to make it right, similar to Le Mans, they waived off ticket price for kids under 11 and half price for under 16 kids. That's so much better than MotoGP Bharat where I paid FULL price for my 8 yr old's ticket. AND, the prices for Premium Stand North are significantly more than the 110 pounds ticket at Silverstone, AND our middle class income levels are also lower than those in the UK.

Why, then, is Dorna sticking with Silverstone when the British crowd only wants to watch boring F1 races. MotoGP offers 10x the spectacle, with much more rider chemistry. Also, MotoGP offers good engagement with the viewer, the commentating is much much better than F1 and things like MotoGP Fantasy, MotoGP Guru are pretty good as well.

I think they need to consider Donington Park for the fan's sake as they relate more to it than Silverstone, which though is an excellent circuit, but not for motorcycle fans as it is too wide and the track is too far away from the stands.

[Porschefire]

News Feed

Ai Ogura to Trackhouse Racing!

In an interesting move, Trackhouse Racing have signed Ai Ogura for 2025 and 2026 MotoGP seasons. Trackhouse Racing's line-up in 2025 and 2026 will be Ai Ogura and Raul Fernandez as the American-based team have confirmed the signature of the Japanese Moto2 star on a two-year deal, with both set to race factory-spec Aprilia RS-GPs.


Source: https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2024/...seasons/505710

Here's how the rider market looks like:



Five seats are up for grabs with Fermin Aldeguer destined to go to Gresini, Franco Morbidelli to VR46, Miguel Oliveira to Pramac, Jack Miller to get the last seat at Pramac, hopefully and LCR still being a mystery.