darren, Author at Octane Photography

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. […]

Feb 08

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

Martin Faces Surgery After Crash

Jorge Martin, the reigning MotoGP champion, had a rough start to the 2025 season during the first day of official testing at the Sepang International Circuit. The Spanish rider was involved in a serious incident as he lost control of his Aprilia bike, resulting in being thrown off and crashing violently onto the asphalt. This accident has left him facing multiple fractures, including one at the 5th metacarpal of his right hand and three fractures (3rd, 4th, and 5th metatarsals) to his left foot. During the testing session, which began on February 1, Martin’s crash led to a temporary suspension of the tests to facilitate medical assistance. Initially, he was taken to the circuit’s medical center, but due to the severity of his condition, he was later transferred to Nilai Hospital, located six kilometers away from Sepang, for dedicated treatment and evaluation. According to official communications from Aprilia, Martin underwent several medical assessments including CT and MRI scans, all of which thankfully returned negative results, ruling out more severe head injuries related to the diagnosed concussion. Nonetheless, the fractures he sustained will necessitate surgical intervention. After securing hospital care overnight, he is scheduled to fly back to Europe the following […]

Feb 05

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

2024 GP Crash Statistics

Any grand prix season that ends without any serious crash injuries merits a sigh of relief. Thankfully, that means most of them – nowdays thanks to the active safety of ever-improving rider gear and the passive safety of Dorna’s insistence that circuits are sufficiently safe, in terms of run-off, protected barriers, and so on. Thankfully again, 2024 was one such season. Motorcycle racing is intrinsically dangerous and surviving intact is a matter of getting away with it, time and time again. Because there is one kind of crash – fallen riders hit by other bikes – when only luck determines the outcome. MotoGP came close twice over the past two seasons. In 2024, it was at Sepang, and the hair’s-breadth escapee was Jack Miller, knocked off under the wheels of the pack. His helmet was grabbed by the back wheel of Fabio Quartararo’s fallen Yamaha, which made a good attempt at pulling his head off, “then (Joan)Mir used his legs as a double jump”. By a small miracle, Jack was able to walk away. In 2023 it was Pecco Bagnaia, leading a tight pack when he flipped over the high-side in Catalunya. He was also run over, by Brad Binder. […]

Feb 04

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

2025 MotoGP Sepang Shakedown

The 2025 MotoGP season is fast approaching as the three-day Shakedown test kicked off last weekend in Malaysia, where all five factories put the early versions of their new machines through their paces. The test was topped by Fabio Quartararo, who was the only rider lapping in one minute, 57 seconds by the close of day three. Yamaha’s (and Honda’s) full-time riders were allowed to test thanks to the concessions currently afforded to the two Japanese factories. Quartararo was three-tenths of a second quicker than Pramac Yamaha new boy Jack Miller. The Australian was a lowly 22nd at the Barcelona test last November, 2.2 seconds off the fastest time as he got to grips with the Yamaha M1. But there was huge progress on the final afternoon session as he took a full second out of his time from day two. Despite rumors to the contrary, there was no sign of Yamaha’s new V4 engine on track, with its riders instead focusing on the inline-four configuration. Technical Director Max Bartolini did reveal the V4 could well make its race debut this year in the hands of new test rider Augusto Fernandez, who will make six wildcard appearances in 2025. Surprisingly […]

Feb 03

by darren in Crash 0 comments tags: Bathurst 12hr, Grove, Mercedes

Grove Crash Bathurst 12 Hour 2025

The Grove racing car was sent airborne after crashing into a concrete wall during the 2025 Bathurst 12 Hour race.

Grove walked away from the accidnet but was taken to hospital for observation following the incident.

So airborne was Grove in the crash, that the veteran came scarily close to clearing the concrete wall that surrounds the course. Given the crash took place at Skyline at the track’s peak at the top of Mount Panorama, the result could have been fatal had his car rolled down.