MotoGP 2026

Agent_Smith said:
It is a gamble, no doubt. But with the huge regulation changes for next year, the slate is wiped clean and everyone starts on an even playing field. Staying put at a team is just as much of a gamble as leaving to go to another.
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Fair point. So many variables change at the same time - tyres, bikes, aero, teams and riders. If nothing else, a big refresh was needed but there has been some criticism that the changes won't particularly improve the overtaking situation. And the last matter is very important in my view.
 
Wanted to sign-up for streaming services, like F1 TV
What are these people smoking? €30???????
F1 TV = $6
 
Binary_Bark said:
Wanted to sign-up for streaming services, like F1 TV
What are these people smoking? €30???????
F1 TV = $6
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Ridiculously expensive, especially considering that the app is amateur hour garbage. They utterly ruined it with the big update a year or two ago by using developers who clearly have no understanding of the sport. I'm also sick to death of Matt Birt.

However, I hold my nose and pay for it. The amount is roughly the same as 12 months of woke, social engineering nonsense through Disney or Netflix, but this is the greatest sport in the world.

What I really miss is access to the TNT/BT Sport package. Better interviews, commentary, actual experts, cameras on for grid interviews, etc
 
Jefferson D'Arcy said:
Ridiculously expensive, especially considering that the app is amateur hour garbage. They utterly ruined it with the big update a year or two ago by using developers who clearly have no understanding of the sport. I'm also sick to death of Matt Birt.

However, I hold my nose and pay for it. The amount is roughly the same as 12 months of woke, social engineering nonsense through Disney or Netflix, but this is the greatest sport in the world.

What I really miss is access to the TNT/BT Sport package. Better interviews, commentary, actual experts, cameras on for grid interviews, etc
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Dude, I get it, but I'm not fkn paying R571 a month for this, with F1 TV being R96.10.
It's a Massive™ fkn rip-off! Did they talk to monochoice?

Guess I'll just watch it on ESPN
 
Agent_Smith said:
Like most of the manufacturers, KTM's livery is pretty much 'as you were' from last year

View attachment 1881667

Whether it is any faster remains to be seen.
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Won't be faster. As long as Pol Espargaro is involved in development KTM will only get worse. He ruined Honda when they "built a bike around him" and they still haven't recovered.
 
zeb said:
Won't be faster. As long as Pol Espargaro is involved in development KTM will only get worse. He ruined Honda when they "built a bike around him" and they still haven't recovered.
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Uhm, that was Honda building a bike only Marc could ride, and when it started eating Marc alive they were totally lost.

Cal Crutchlow, who spent years riding an LCR Honda, repeatedly warned Honda to start listening to their other riders and not just Marc. Eventually the Honda started maiming him as well.
 
LCR Honda launched over the weekend with Diogo Moreira and Johann Zarco

DM.jpg

JZ.jpg
 
thestaggy said:
Uhm, that was Honda building a bike only Marc could ride, and when it started eating Marc alive they were totally lost.

Cal Crutchlow, who spent years riding an LCR Honda, repeatedly warned Honda to start listening to their other riders and not just Marc. Eventually the Honda started maiming him as well.
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Marc was winning on the Honda when he had the first accident that took him out for long. Pol came in and Honda said they're building the bike around him. When Marc came back he inherited a rodeo bull on wheels..
 
zeb said:
Marc was winning on the Honda when he had the first accident that took him out for long. Pol came in and Honda said they're building the bike around him. When Marc came back he inherited a rodeo bull on wheels..
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Pol was at Honda for two seasons and in both seasons, he finished behind Marc, even with Marc missing time through injury.

Throughout his time with them, Marc was the focal point in their development which is the reason why nobody but him could actually do something with that bike, until not even Marc could ride it anymore.

Marc himself openly admitted to guiding development away from his teammates if they were starting to get comfortable on the bike.

When a item worked well for him [Dani Pedros], I immediately disliked it, saying it didn't work. I want this one instead... as I'm leading, I prefer this one. The other not to be given. It was like that. And this one? IAnd that? Hey, do you want to test this one? I said yes but I didn't want anything, I didn't want him to have that item [laughs].
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When Dani Pedrosa left Honda, he wanted to continue as a test rider, but Honda turned him away because he was too small...

1770026789545.png


If you read the above article, Marc spoke glowingly of Pedrosa as a development rider, but ironically in his own admission ''sabotage'' him as his teammate. And then when Honda rejected Pedrosa as a development rider because he wasn't like Marc, they started losing their direction.

Honda put everything into Marc, building that bike around him and expecting him to always be there. When that bike chewed him up and spat him out, they were screwed.
 
thestaggy said:
Pol was at Honda for two seasons and in both seasons, he finished behind Marc, even with Marc missing time through injury.

Throughout his time with them, Marc was the focal point in their development which is the reason why nobody but him could actually do something with that bike, until not even Marc could ride it anymore.

Marc himself openly admitted to guiding development away from his teammates if they were starting to get comfortable on the bike.



When Dani Pedrosa left Honda, he wanted to continue as a test rider, but Honda turned him away because he was too small...

View attachment 1883211


If you read the above article, Marc spoke glowingly of Pedrosa as a development rider, but ironically in his own admission ''sabotage'' him as his teammate. And then when Honda rejected Pedrosa as a development rider because he wasn't like Marc, they started losing their direction.

Honda put everything into Marc, building that bike around him and expecting him to always be there. When that bike chewed him up and spat him out, they were screwed.
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The 2022 bike was built for Pol, with his input. Search some more and you'll find the articles.
 
Sepang Day 2 official test - combined times

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No one set their fast time in the afternoon session as I believe the heavens opened.
 
Comparison of the best lap times set by each manufacturer.

Aprilia have made massive gains. The GP26 is still the benchmark and ominously, appears to be more like teh GP24 than the GP25, so whoever is on the GP26 is able to adapt to it.

Yamaha have struggled, but their inability to improve on 2025 has been skewed by Quartararo's withdrawal and the fact that it is their first year with a V4. Worryingly for them though is the negative comments coming from Toprak. Guy is already not enjoying the fact that he is among the slowest riders.

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Sanity prevails

www.crash.net

Bid to move MotoGP from Phillip Island to Australian F1 track rejected

The Victorian state government has rejected MotoGP’s plans to move the race to Albert Park
www.crash.net www.crash.net

The government of the Australian state of Victoria has rejected MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group’s proposal to move the grand prix from Phillip Island to Albert Park.

Following last October’s Australian MotoGP round, reports have been rife over the uncertainty of the event beyond its final contract year in 2026 at the iconic Phillip Island.


The circuit, while popular with riders, falls well below the world-class standards expected from MotoGP in terms of infrastructure.

Phillip Island is also located around an hour and a half from Melbourne, while fans located in the north of the country tend to favour cheap and easier trips to Indonesia for MotoGP.

The race was also one of just five grands prix in 2025 that didn’t produce a weekend attendance of above 100,000, and hasn’t since Casey Stoner’s final home race in 2012.
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Phillip Island is one of the best (if not THE best) races of the year. Moving it away from there is a ludicrous proposal.
 
How things change in 24 hours

www.crash.net

MotoGP to drop racing at Phillip Island and eyes move to Adelaide

After 29 years at Phillip Island, the Australian MotoGP is heading to South Australia from 2027, with Victoria rejecting a controversial move to Albert Park.
www.crash.net www.crash.net

MotoGP will no longer race at Philip Island in Australia with Adelaide emerging as the most likely option to replace it.

The parting of ways comes after the Victorian Government declined a plan to relocate the race from Phillip Island to Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit which is currently the venue of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

With that option ruled out, South Australia has made its move and now looks set to take over hosting duties from 2027. A joint announcement from MotoGP and the South Australian government could arrive as soon as Thursday, February 19.
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Liberty already flexing their muscles?
 
Pity to lose one of the best circuits in the world. But apparently the only good thing about the place is the track. Otherwise bad facilities, weather, access roads, traffic, distance for anyone to get to and, expensive local accommodation. Only 37k people there on race day last year. So under Liberty, it was coming but pity its not going to SMP (Eastern Creek).
 
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