darren, Author at Octane Photography

Feb 21

by darren in Track 0 comments tags: Randle, Supercars, Tickford

Thomas Randle Multi-Cam Bathurst Lap

Thomas Randle multi-cam onboard lap of Bathurst for Tickford Racing.

Feb 18

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Macau, TCR

TCR Australia off to Macau in 2025

The 2025 TCR Australia season will end with a bang as it joins the World Tour on the famous streets of Macau. The last unconfirmed spot on the five-round calendar has been filled by the iconic Macau Grand Prix on November 13-16. It completes the season following rounds at Wanneroo, One Raceway, Winton and The Bend. The big announcement is the second piece of news on the TCR calendar a week after One Raceway replaced a proposed trip to Taupo. As a result the final two rounds of the TCR Australia season will be double headers with the TCR World Tour, which also heads to The Bend 500. One driver who will welcome the Nes will be Ben Bargwanna, who made the journey to race at Macau in 2022 as a rookie in 2023. TCR Australia’s first international world has been made possible by the global rights holder, WSC Group, which will ensure freight costs for Australian teams heading to Macau will be covered in full. “TCR Australia has always been one of TCR’s more important and exciting competitions that takes its roots in the long-standing tradition of touring car racing in the country,” said WSC Group President Marcello Lotti. […]

Feb 17

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Rea, Superbike, Yamaha

Jonathan Rea ruled out of Phillip Island World Superbike GP

Jonathan Rea has been ruled out of the opening round of the 2025 World Superbike Championship after sustaining fractures to his left foot in a crash during Monday’s official test at Phillip Island in Australia. The Pata Maxum Yamaha rider came off at the Southern Loop during the opening practice run, resulting in a red flag. Rea was taken to the medical centre for a check-up and has been declared unfit for this weekend’s first round of the season. The 38-year-old had been running outside the top ten when the incident happened, with Rea credited with the 15th fastest time after the conclusion of FP1 with a best time of 1’30.885s, completing 20 laps before his crash. It is a major blow for the six-time world champion, who had been hoping to make a strong start to the season after struggling to 13th in his maiden year as a Yamaha rider in 2024. A statement from Yamaha said: “Jonathan Rea will miss the opening round of the 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship after a crash on the first day of testing at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. “Rea fell on the exit of Turn 2 in the closing stages […]

Feb 16

by darren in Track 0 comments tags: Supercars, Taupo, Waters

Waters Pole Lap Taupo Super400 2024

Cam Waters on-board Pole Lap at the 2024 Taupo Super400

Feb 15

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: De Pasquale, Supercars, Team18

De Pasquale reacts to new Team18 chassis

The Supercar once destined to become part of Will Brown’s title defence has made its track debut in the hands of his former Erebus Motorsport ally Anton De Pasquale. Triple Eight had chipped away at a new chassis to reward which ever of its drivers won the 2024 Championship, with Brown prevailing over teammate Broc Feeney. However, that chassis was sold in December when Team18 came calling and it has now been assembled as De Pasquale’s #18 DeWalt Camaro. Pasquale hailed his maiden drive aboard Team 18’s new chassis as “faultless,” following the star recruit’s laps at a shakedown at Winton Motor Raceway. De Pasquale got behind the wheel of his newly-built Chevrolet Camaro on Thursday, with the former Dick Johnson Racing driver joined by new teammate David Reynolds. The fourth Gen3 Camaro built by the team, chassis T18-004, takes over from chassis T18-002, which was previously driven by Mark Winterbottom in 2023 and 2024. Reynolds will begin the 2025 campaign behind the wheel of T18-003, the chassis he drove at the 2024 Gold Coast and Adelaide rounds, while T18-002 will transition to serve as the team’s spare car for the upcoming season. De Pasquale got laps in T18-002 in a […]

Feb 14

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: MotoGP, Testing

Key takeaways from 2025 MotoGP pre-season testing

The most atypical pre-season in recent years concluded on Thursday in Thailand, with Marc Marquez revealing his intention to become the top dog in MotoGP again – no matter what the cost. MotoGP held five days of testing in Malaysia and Thailand in February, giving all five manufacturers a chance to hone their new bikes before the start of the season later this month. The winter turned out to be a lesson in humility for Ducati, which is set to begin the season in practically the same way as it ended last year: mostly likely winning and with a bike that is nearly identical. Far from hiding from the situation, those at the helm of the Borgo Panigale marque have recognised the lack of progress, aware that the GP24 it built for last year was the perfect bike. However, this ‘stagnation’ at Ducati has created the perfect situation for the competition to regain ground on it for the first time in years. Over at Yamaha, a discrete performance in Buriram has raised questions about the extent of improvement seen at Sepang, while also highlighting the upward trend at fellow Japanese manufacturer Honda. Aprilia ended pre-season in a solid manner, with Marco […]

Feb 13

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Bastianini, KTM, MotoGP

Enea Bastianini Struggling on the KTM MotoGP bike

“It’s not natural for me and, at the moment, I can’t be very fast like Pedro…” The end of the 2025 MotoGP winter testing period seems to have come too soon for Enea Bastianini, who feels he still has to adapt his style to the KTM RC16 he has moved to from Ducati for this year. The Italian ended the 2025 MotoGP preseason in Buriram feeling like he’d made progress, but also like there was much more margin for him to improve. “Overall, I’m a bit happier than [Wednesday], because this afternoon I improved a bit my lap time,” Bastianini said after the final day of MotoGP preseason testing in Buriram. “About my pace, I’m not very happy at the moment because I committed many mistakes during my laps – sometimes I can’t brake hard, sometimes yes, and at the moment I don’t know very well the situation. “For the race we have to do something more, to understand better. “Now, it’s important this period [between the test and the race] to study better the data and to learn, because the bike is different and my approach at the moment is not correct.” Bastianini said he and his crew chief – Alberto Giribuola, […]

Feb 13

by darren in Track 0 comments tags: Bathurst 12hr, BMW, Rossi

Onboard lap with Valentino Rossi at the 2025 Bathurst 12hr

Valentino Rossi's On-Board Lap during the McGuires Bathurst 12 Hour at Mount Panorama, Bathurst.

Feb 11

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: BSB, FHO, Hickman, Todd

Hickman and Todd split from FHO

FHO Racing has announced new plans for the upcoming BSB season, with Peter Hickman and Davey Todd surprisingly not included. FHO will downsize from two bikes to one in 2025, but will stick with the BMW M1000 RR, as it welcomes Ilya Mikhalchik for this year. BritishSuperbike.com says the change comes as FHO team owner Faye Ho “realigns the team’s efforts to pursue further motorsports activities in new markets with BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s support.” More specifically, Ho intends to continue with her support for women in racing, and “push motorsports activities in Asia”. “I am a strong advocate of the British Superbike Championship, one of the most entertaining and competitive series in the world,” she said. “However, with my long-term goals looking to push motorsports activities in Asia, as well as to keep supporting young women with opportunities in racing, I’ve come to realise I cannot fully commit to the previous levels of time that I have given to BSB and road racing since becoming team owner in 2021 with additional commitments I have back at home in Macau. “With the support of BMW Motorrad Motorsport, and my continued passion for BSB, we have altered our approach to run a […]

Feb 09

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: MotoGP, Sepang, Yamaha

Yamaha encouraged by Sepang testing performance

While Honda made some strides forward at Sepang this week, Yamaha appears to have taken significant strides toward reclaiming a competitive position in the MotoGP field. While it’s still too early to draw definitive conclusions, further assessments in Thailand next week will provide more clarity. That said, the early signs are highly encouraging for Yamaha, particularly for Fabio Quartararo. The Frenchman expressed plenty of optimism after completing over 150 laps during the three-day test at Sepang. Fabio Quartararo “I am really happy! This is the first time that I reached a 1’56s here, so I am happy, and I think that today was a good day for us. The conditions were really good, so in general it was a positive day. Hopefully, during the Buriram Test we will have the same feeling. I’ve been working during the winter break, and not just on a road bike. In general, I was trying to be faster on one lap. I think this was a good point of improvement, but I also think the bike improved in some areas, which helps me to be fast on one lap. I think the goals I set for this test were neither too positive nor too negative. […]