[Porschefire]

News Feed

1) Gresini rules out satellite Yamaha switch

Before the Jerez GP, a lot of rumours were rife about Yamaha's hunt for a satellite team in 2025. While news about VR46 already rejecting Yamaha's proposal had come out, Ducati's other satellite teams - Prima Pramac and Gresini Racing were also linked to switch to Yamaha machinery in 2025, as none of them had signed on the dotted lines with Ducati yet.
Gresini has an agreement with Ducati until the end of 2025 however, there was said to be a rumoured exit clause which threw them in the Yamaha mix.But now, Gresini boss Nadia Padovani has flatly denied that her team could make a shock switch to Yamaha for the 2025 MotoGP campaign. That means, Prima Pramac - currently leading the MotoGP standings with Jorge Martin - has emerged as the leading Yamaha contender.


Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...-yamaha-switch

2) Prima Pramac refuse to rush crucial decision

Pramac are in no rush to clarify their MotoGP future.
Paolo Campinoti intends to “wait until the last second of the last day of July” before confirming whether his team will stay with Ducati or quit. Pramac have reportedly been in “intense negotiations” with Yamaha over the past few days with Yamaha having “put an offer on the table” to make Pramac their satellite team in 2025 and beyond. There are reportedly big financial benefits to Pramac swapping Ducati for Yamaha.
But, Pramac will not rush their decision because their current contract as a Ducati satellite team, which expires at the end of this year, includes a clause which allows them to automatically extend the deal for two more seasons and extending it would possibly enable Pramac to keep their factory-spec bikes for 2025 and 2026.


Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...ucial-decision

3) Journalist apologises to Francesco Bagnaia

The most hotly contested seat currently in MotoGP is for the one next to Pecco Bagnaia in the Factory Ducati team. With so many rumours going around, there was one floating in the Spanish media with a journalist claiming that Pecco does not want Marc as a team mate next year.
Pecco while answering a question related to his preferred team mate next year, brushed this off as "bull****". His response was “I don’t care. I want to beat them all and always try to be the best. I don’t have a preference. I am working well with Enea and I know the type of work we are doing. In any case, if the team changes my team-mate then the work will start again, but my ambition is to be stronger.”
After answering that question, the journalist in question apologised to Bagnaia during the pre-event press conference.


Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...er-bull-rumour

4) Dall'Igna 'won't let go' of Marquez as 2025 MotoGP decision looms

Former MotoGP winner Danilo Petrucci expects Marc Marquez to land a factory ride at Ducati next year, as he believes Gigi Dall’Igna wouldn’t want to ‘let go’ of the six-time champion.
He says "Gigi can be likeable or dislikeable, but he has led Ducati to be the reference in MotoGP. Knowing his way of reasoning, I think he wants to find out what a rider like Marquez can do on his bike. Considering that Pecco is in an incredible moment and that he has always made the difference when needed, I don't know if he will like Marc's arrival, but maybe that's also something to take into account here, the human side inside the box. They would be two great champions, each doing their duty."
When interviewed by MotoGP.com, a question was put forward to Gigi about his approach to select Bagnaia's teammate and he mentioned that he'd like to assess all three riders' (Bastianini, Martin and Marquez) history as MotoGP riders and not just look at 2024 results, majorly hinting at the fact that Marc Marquez could figure in Gigi's plans for 2025.
Gigi plans to announce the second rider during Mugello, in less than a months' time.


Source: https://www.autosport.com/motogp/new...ooms/10608278/

5) Ducati "Game of Thrones"

With only one rider - Pecco Bagnaia contracted until end of 2026, a number of possibilities have emerged with the other Ducati riders and its satellite teams.
The knock-on effect of Pramac’s big decision is with the other two Ducati satellite teams, and the rider market.
VR46 are in the process of renegotiating their status as a Ducati satellite team because their contract also expires this year.
Gresini are tied to Ducati for 2025 already but are reportedly talks with Yamaha with big financial benefits swapping Ducati for Yamaha.
Jorge Martin and Franco Morbidelli are Pramac’s current rider duo. Martin is expected to leave for a factory ride, at Ducati or elsewhere and Morbidelli would not want to ride a Yamaha again (and vice versa).
Fermin Aldeguer is primed to arrive at Pramac next year but only if they stay with Ducati. Otherwise he will end up at VR46, surely replacing Fabio Di Giannantonio. This works well for the VR46 team as they were scouting for Fermin during the last season itself.
Marc Marquez has stated that he wants a factory bike in 2025 which he could find next to Francesco Bagnaia, or with Pramac. But if Pramac leave, then Marquez’s options get considerably slimmer.
While Alex Marquez is relatively "safe" at Gresini, Ducati's decision around Mugello could either safeguard Bastianini or leave him stranded to find his next ride.

[Porschefire]

French GP - Full Qualifying Results





- Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia claimed first and second on the grid for the 2024 French MotoGP despite both crashing in qualifying at Le Mans.

- Martin sets the first-ever sub-1m 30s lap (1:29:919) of the Bugatti circuit in the opening minutes of Q2, which kept him on pole despite being spat from his bike at Turn 4 in the final minutes.

- Bagnaia fell moments later - then ran back to his bike with a fire extinguisher, followed by spills for Aleix Espargaro and Jack Miller.

- All the crashes meant that Maverick Vinales completes the front row in third, followed by the VR46s of Diggia and Bezzecchi.

- Pedro Acosta was on a hot lap in the final minutes before he was distracted by a slowing down Quartararo. He starts 7th with Fabio in 8th.

- Also, Bastianini who qualified on top in Q1, was on a flying lap in Q2 as well before the yellow flags came out and spoilt his party.

- Jack Miller in 11th and Miguel Oliveira, who outpaced Marc Marquez in Q1, qualifies 12th.

- Marc Marquez, who has been uncomfortable on the GP23 throughout the Practice sessions, initially set the fastest lap in Q1 but was followed by a big scare when he lost the front through the ultra-fast first corner on his final run. He was later out qualified by a fast charging Bastianini and Oliveira in the final moments of Q1.

- Alex Marquez in 17th, sums up a tough qualifying session for the Gresini Racing team.

- The shocker of all is Brad Binder who will start the Sprint and tomorrow's race in the last position!

[Porschefire]

French GP - Sprint





- Jorge Martin wins comfortably as Pecco Bagnaia loses out, retiring due to tech issues on his factory Ducati. Martin now has a dozen Sprint wins with 19 podium finishes, making him the undisputed champion!

- Marc Marquez makes impressive work of his below average qualifying to finish second! His sprint start was truly remarkable where he made up multiple positions to arrive in the top 4 before the start of the second lap.

- Maverick Vinales wraps up the podium, continuing his supreme 2024 form.

- Fellow Aprilia teammate, Aleix Espargaro finishes fifth behind Enea Bastianini, despite a double long lap penalty due to race jump start.

- Rookie Pedro Acosta lost ground on the opening lap before returning to seventh where he had started and eventually finishing sixth after Bezzecchi's crash.

- Pecco Bagnaia, starting second was swamped off the line at the start and plummeted to 15th. Things got even worse later as he ran through the gravel - presumably due to an ongoing technical issue, and eventually retired his Ducati from last place.

- Marco Bezzecchi was having a good race running second behind Martin before he lost the front and crashed out of the race.

[Porschefire]

French GP - Race





- Jorge Martin wins the most thrilling race of the year (yet), summing up a perfect weekend of topping Practice sessions, achieving pole by setting the all time lap record, Sprint win and now the Race!

- Marc Marquez, despite struggling during the Practice and Qualifying, makes it second in row after the Sprint yesterday. Remember, he started from 13th and showed incredible race pace to overtake a slew of riders to arrive at the leading duo of Martin and Bagnaia, overtaking Pecco in the penultimate lap to snatch second. His pace was such that he finished just four tenths behind Martin, and would've surely fought for a victory if there was maybe a lap more to go.

- Pecco Bagnaia makes good of a difficult weekend finishing third, after retiring from the Sprint yesterday. He took the lead early on and was ahead for most part of the race before Martin overtook him with a bit more than dozen laps to go and with Marquez overtaking in the last lap.

- Enea Bastianini finishes fourth after having encountered intense battles with Marc, Maverick and Diggia, while also serving a long lap penalty for having taken a shortcut while passing Aleix Espargaro.

- Brad Binder salvages eight after a horror show of a qualifying in the last place.

- Johann Zarco is again the leading man of the Japanese manufacturers finishing in twelfth.

- A host of DNFs, Marco Bezzecchi and Pedro Acosta both lost the front and crashed in the initial part of the race, Fabio Quartararo was running a good race for Yamaha in sixth before he crashed with 10 laps to go.

The World Championship standings after round five -

[Parth46]

Originally Posted by ds.raikkonen

As if Marc gives a damn to Rossi's acknowledgement
Rossi is probably still sore about 'rookie' Marc beating his ranch lap record back in 2014, then being a road block for him during the 2015 title fight. He is also wary of the fact that Marc can very well match his record now that he has adapted to the Ducati.

As if Rossi gives a damn about Marc's adapting to the Ducati. Rossi did what he did before the traction control and aero generation, when the racing was much more enjoyable, real talent still counted and not on remote controlled missiles!

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by Parth46

As if Rossi gives a damn about Marc's adapting to the Ducati. Rossi did what he did before the traction control and aero generation, when the racing was much more enjoyable, real talent still counted and not on remote controlled missiles!

Marc broke Rossi's own lap record at this own ranch, if that does not count, I don't know what does

Riders can't go back in time and ride analogue 500 cc 2 -stroke bikes just to prove that they are the 'Real Talent'.

Anyway, I respect both the riders as much, they are both titans of their generations

[Porschefire]

News Feed

1) The Factory Ducati Rumour Mill continues...

While the entire MotoGP community - fans, journalists, media houses and even the competition, waits with bated breath for the Factory Ducati team to announce Pecco Bagnaia's teammate for the 2025 season, the rumour mills have been on Overdrive for a few months now. It is hardly surprising really as Trackhouse team principal Davide Brivio has stated that the rider market is "stuck" until the Factory teams make their moves - primarirly starting with Ducati.
While there is a lot of 'If's' and 'But's' going on, the current scenario is placed as such -

- Marc Marquez has dropped an intriguing suggestion that he would be willing to leave Ducati next year as he states - “When I chose to come to Ducati I knew it was the strongest bike. I wanted to see what I was still capable of doing. Since I'm competitive, next year I want to have a latest evolution bike to fight for the world championship. Regardless of where it is, regardless of the colour or brand. I have clear ideas.” This led to a link up of a possible move to the Factory KTM team.

Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...ktm-high-alert

- However, KTM motorsport director Pit Beirer has responded saying that signing Marc Marquez is not a realistic option because in 2023, Marc chose Ducati to analyse if he could be competitive again and he's proved that this season. His future goal is to fight for the championship and that is why Pit doesn't see him changing brands again as it would mean a completely new beginning for him.


Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...c-marquez-2025

- Jorge Martin, who is the #1 favourite tipped to bag the factory seat alongside Bagnaia has reportedly given a "deadline" of June 2nd to Ducati until he begins negotiations to move to KTM. Martin has represented KTM during his Moto2 days but his exit from the team was not amicable when he moved to the premier class. However, Pit Beirer insists that it is water under the bridge and recognises Martin as the talent that would be valuable for the Austrian team.


Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...pens-talks-ktm

- Pramac Racing has been toying with the idea of staying with Ducati or switching to Yamaha machinery for a while now. The latest rumour in the paddock is that Pramac could possibly switch to Yamaha which would mean that Ducati would offer one GP25 machinery each to VR46's Marco Bezzecchi and Gresini's Marc Marquez. The reasoning behind it is that Franco Morbidelli isn't performing with the GP24 yet and has been the case with Zarco as well in the last couple of seasons. This theory fits the purpose perfectly as all riders are given the arsenal they are requesting, with the exception of Enea Bastianini, who is slated to move to Factory Aprilia, satisfying the Italian's marque's hunt for an Italian rider.


Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...arco-bezzecchi

2) Luca Marini could try to break Honda contract

Luca Marini could try to bring his time at Honda to an early conclusion. He is currently the only full time rider without a point in the standings. While this seems unlikely as he is contracted till the end of 2026, there has been word going out that the Japanese manufacturer is luring Maverick Vinales with a hefty package, much more that he is currently earning at Aprilia. Jack Miller, who is set to lose his seat to Pedro Acosta next season, is also being linked to Honda as he had made his MotoGP debut with the Marc VDS Honda and his experience on the Ducati and KTM could prove valuable for the Japanese manufacturer's revival.


Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...honda-contract


https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...verick-vinales


https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...-2025-ktm-seat

3) 0.951s!

In what is a stark contrast to Formula1, the first five GPs of the 2024 season have made history as the average winning gap is below a second for the first time ever in the MotoGP era!


Source: https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2024/...in-2024/498756

[Porschefire]

GP6: 24 May - 26 May

Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

The Circuit de Catalunya opened on the doorstep of Barcelona in September 1991 and welcomed its first international event that same month, hosting the Spanish F1 Grand Prix. It went on to host the European Motorcycle Grand Prix and in 1995 became home to the Gran Premio de Catalunya. Considered to be one of the best designed circuits of the recent era, the Circuito de Catalunya won the much coveted IRTA ‘Best Grand Prix’ trophy for 2001 and has a general admission capacity of 104,000 spectators.







Previous Winners


2023


2022

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by Porschefire

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya[/u][/b]

Attachment 2607455

Looks as if while designing Circuit Algarve, Portimao, the designer took a look at CdB and thought "How can this design be improved?". It might be a good and technical circuit, but after Turns 1-3, it tends to be a bit boring. Thankfully they removed the dreadful chicanes at the end but still, Portimao is a much better and more exciting layout, IMO.

Both Aprilias were untouchable (good ol' days for EsA who finally avenged his 2022 final lap gaff demons) after the turn 1-2 carnage restart last year (hopefully it won't repeat itself). T1 will be spicy for sure, both in the Sprint and Race. I am predicting another Pecco-Marquez-Martin showdown. Perhaps this is the one where Marc proves his point (again..) on the year old bike

[Porschefire]

News Feed

Aleix Espargaro announces retirement from MotoGP







Aleix Espargaro announced his retirement as a full time MotoGP rider by the end of the 2024 season in an exceptional press conference held earlier today ahead of the Catalunya GP.

Source: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10...ement-end-2024

[ds.raikkonen]

This brought a tear in my eye looking at Aleix break down during the press conference, The Captain will surely retire with a bang!

Morbidelli's absence was childish, he should've put the difference aside and been there for Aleix's farewell.

Ask Pedrosa how he regrets not accepting Simoncelli's apology..

[Porschefire]

Originally Posted by ds.raikkonen

This brought a tear in my eye looking at Aleix break down during the press conference, The Captain will surely retire with a bang!

Morbidelli's absence was childish, he should've put the difference aside and been there for Aleix's farewell.

Ask Pedrosa how he regrets not accepting Simoncelli's apology..

Yeah, it was certainly an emotional press conference.

I wasn't expecting him to retire so soon (he's just 34!) but I guess the pressures that come with the modern age of MotoGP, the requirement to be fit and more importantly, IMO, adopt a new riding style a-la Martin and Acosta to remain competitive, would've been the factors in the decision. He did mention he's looking forward to his other ventures and follow his passion for cycling, and we might see him as a test rider for Aprilia in the future. He will always remain the figure responsible for making the RS-GP what it is today.

It was heartening to see his peers attend the announcement and stand with him on his day. Martin was understandably inconsolable, he'll surely miss having his friend around him. I did think it was a good moment for Morbidelli to bury the hatchet but then, I realised there were quite a few absentees - Brad, Miller, Zarco, Rins, Marini, Taka etc. Hence, I'll give Franco the benefit of doubt that he might've been occupied elsewhere and I hope sense will prevail, he'll bid his peer a deserved goodbye towards the end of the season.

Here's the press conference, if you missed it -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l406kBQlfyE

PS: My mind's been on Overdrive since yesterday, did Aleix announce his retirement to make way for his good friend Jorge Martin to arrive at Aprilia? Does this mean that the decision to put MM93 on the GP25 already made in the Ducati camp!?
Cannot wait for Mugello!!!

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by Porschefire

I wasn't expecting him to retire so soon (he's just 34!) but I guess the pressures that come with the modern age of MotoGP

PS: My mind's been on Overdrive since yesterday, did Aleix announce his retirement to make way for his good friend Jorge Martin to arrive at Aprilia? Does this mean that the decision to put MM93 on the GP25 already made in the Ducati camp!?

More importantly, he is a family man and has 2 small kids. And he loves his family more than anything else seeing as they have supported him throughout his career. Imagine not being at home for 9/12 months, would have taken a toll on his wife and kids alike.

He is definitely an old school rider (has seen the 800 era as well) but has shown that he can compete with the best, won twice last year (beat Pecco no less!) including that incredible double at his home GP. Consistency has been under scrutiny this year, but even Vinales has not been consistent. Martin's future is also on his mind and was evident on Martin's face, seeing as Aleix might have made way for him in 2025. As you said, we'll get to know at Mugello! Red Bull is the only confusing factor at the center for both Martin/Marquez and Ducati, let's see what transpires at the 'Monster Energy' Grand Prix of Catalunya

[Porschefire]

One of the many reasons why Jorge Martin is so fast -



During FP1 today, he's spotted getting his entire body right under the motorcycle and rubbing his shoulder on the kerb!

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by Porschefire

During FP1 today, he's spotted getting his entire body right under the motorcycle and rubbing his shoulder on the kerb!

Fabio can give him a run for his money

Many French fans also in attendance this weekend, sort of like his second home race!