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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 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 02

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Ford, Supercars, Triple Eight

Triple Eight switches to Ford from 2026

Reigning Supercars champion team Triple Eight Race Engineering has confirmed it will field Ford Mustangs from 2026. In a blockbuster Supercars story, Triple Eight and Ford revealed they will rejoin forces, 15 years after the championship-winning squad defected from the Blue Oval to General Motors. The news was confirmed on Friday, less than three weeks before the beginning of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship. Triple Eight will continue to compete as Red Bull Ampol Racing. Renders and a real-life livery of Red Bull Ampol Ford Mustang Supercars have also been revealed, giving fans an early look of what to expect when the 2026 season gets underway. Additionally, Triple Eight has also been nominated to become Ford’s homologation team in Supercars, subject to ratification by a majority vote of Ford’s Supercars teams. The dominant team of Supercars of the last 15 years, Triple Eight returns to Ford, having begun life in the championship in 2003 with the famous brand. As a Ford team, Triple Eight claimed the driver-team championship double in 2008, won another drivers’ title in 2009, and three straight Bathurst 1000s between 2006 and 2008. Midway through 2009, in the most significant manufacturer move in Supercars history — until […]

Jan 23

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Phillip Island, WSBK

Phillip Island WSBK Round to have mandatory pitstops

Ahead of the 2025 WorldSBK season opener at Phillip Island, organisers have confirmed that the WorldSBK and WorldSSP races will again follow a flag-to-flag format, requiring all riders to make a mandatory pit stop for tyre changes. This decision comes in response to concerns regarding the unpredictable weather and wide range of track temperatures expected at Phillip Island from February 21st to 23rd. Combined with the circuit’s unique layout and challenging surface, these factors have necessitated this precautionary measure to ensure the safety and competitiveness of the event. A similar approach was implemented successfully during the 2024 season following the circuit’s resurfacing. Following extensive analysis of the circuit’s characteristics, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and Dorna WSBK Organization (DWO) determined that rear tyres must not exceed 11 laps for the WorldSBK class and 10 laps for the WorldSSP class. As a result, the race distances for WorldSBK Race 1 and Race 2 will be set at 20 laps, with riders allocated two additional sets of tyres for the weekend. Gregorio Lavilla – WorldSBK Executive director “Phillip Island is renowned for its thrilling, high-speed layout, but it also presents unique challenges due to its surface and rapidly changing weather. Despite […]

Jan 18

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Marquez, Rossi, Stoner

Stoner on Valentino Rossi v Marc Marquez feud

Casey Stoner has weighed in on the Valentino Rossi-Marc Marquez spat that has dominated headlines on-and-off in MotoGP since 2015. It’s a feud that still captures the raging imagination of fans from across the MotoGP spectrum even 10 years on, especially as Marquez now prepares to team up with Rossi’s protege, Francesco Bagnaia, at Ducati this year. For Stoner, it’s also one in which Marquez has “deserved” the criticism levelled by some at him. “Marc [Marquez], to a certain degree, deserved his criticism,” Stoner said on the Ducati Diaries podcast. “He tried to get in there.” Stoner affirmed, though, that the blame for the whole spat lay at Rossi’s door – Marquez was simply responding to an attack. “Even though people blame Marc for the whole thing,” Stoner said, “people forget that Valentino [Rossi] started it. “Marc’s Marc, we’ve watched him do that all through his racing, and then Valentino started a war of words. “They were all friends, and all the rest of it, then Valentino started something, and then Marc retaliated because he didn’t like it. “And then of course everybody blows up about that, forgetting that Valentino went and poked the bear.” Stoner explained that the fallout […]

Jan 12

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

Defiant KTM to begin building 2025 MotoGP bikes

KTM technical chief Wolfgang Felber says “everything is currently going as normal” regarding KTM’s preparations for the 2025 MotoGP season. The Austrian firm faces an uncertain future in MotoGP as the company navigates its way through a financial crisis, which triggered a restructuring process. A report from the first creditors hearing also stated that a withdrawal from grand prix racing is “planned” for KTM, though it will carry on as normal in 2025. KTM’s racing division has also been acting on a 100-point plan to cut spending amid the company’s current financial troubles, which includes scaling back its factory involvement in various disciplines. For 2025, it will field four factory KTMs in MotoGP spread across its works team and Tech3 for Pedro Acosta, Brad Binder, Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini. In an interview with German publication Speedweek, Felber offered a positive development on KTM’s 2025 preparations. “As far as preparations for the new season are concerned, everything is currently going as normal,” he said. “In recent years we have trimmed all processes so that we build the new machines in the third week of the year. “It will be the same in 2025. Next Monday we will start rebuilding all […]