Excellent look at the Marc Marquez situation by Oriol Puigdemont. Marquez wants to see change and signs of progress. What will matter at the Misano test is not the bike, but the progress towards hiring more engineering talent.
Anyone out there have first hand experience with a #honda Transalp #motorcycle ? I'm thinking of swapping my #KTM 390 Adventure for something a bit bigger and the 2023 XR750L looks pretty darn good...
To kick off race week, a summary of the summer silly season rumours in MotoGP. Will Rins really go to Yamaha? Does Bezzecchi really want to move to Pramac? Will there really be a KTM takeover of LCR?
Then buy a decent used Mini hatchback when I've saved up the cash. That will probably be in late 2024 or mid-2025. No shortage of used Mini models at https://www.usedcarsni.com.
Marc Marquez' move to Gresini is a really big deal. Not just because he will be on a satellite bike, but because of what it tells you about Marc Marquez, what motivates him, his current mental state, and what matters to a racer. He bared his soul, much more than expected. But you have to pay close attention to exactly what he said.
So where are we at with all this speculation and rumour surrounding who goes where for 2024 and beyond? I've tried to summarise the feverish mood of MotoGP Silly Season here:
Originally, Marc Marquez was scheduled to do just a normal media debrief. He is in Jerez to open a Repsol garage, normal sponsor duties, Honda thought it would be good for him to talk to the press.
The Dorna turned it into a press conference, and everyone got very excited. Paddock people speculating about retirement, KTM, etc.
So Honda changed it back to a normal media debrief.
For On Track Off Road, I wrote about why the Japanese #MotoGP manufacturers are struggling, and why I don't think #Honda will pull out of MotoGP.
In 1954, Soichiro Honda wrote a letter about his intention to go racing at the Isle of Man. They competed in their first race at São Paulo in Brazil at the start of the year, and there, Honda realised just how much work they still had to do. Lessons still apply today
Some initial thoughts from the Austin #MotoGP race. About an imperious performance by a mercurial rider, about the hype being real, and about the factories in trouble. Including one you weren't expecting.