Latest / B 4EVA Kool "Race A Motorcycle" Podcast / Fresh rumors and a deep dive into the 2005 MotoGP season in S6 Ep 02

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Fresh rumors and a deep dive into the 2005 MotoGP season in S6 Ep 02 · B 4EVA Kool "Race A Motorcycle" Podcast

0:10
What are we here for? What do you truly want?
0:14
When change is not enough, what do you do?
0:25
What are we here for? What do you truly want?
0:34
Change is not enough. What do you do?
0:45
Let's talk about it. The problems we face.
0:49
Let's fight hatred. No doubt, always the mind is
0:55
naked. We can see it without an X-ray.
1:01
Life is easy if we work together.
1:05
We are the keepers, we are the people.
1:07
We are all equal, filled with purpose.
1:11
The past has pain. It'll drive you, even make you
1:16
take aim. But together is where we should
1:20
aim. Together is where we should.
1:26
What are we here for? What do you truly want when
1:35
change is night and night? What it do?
2:29
Season 6 of To be Forever Cool podcast episode 2.
2:35
Very excited for that. It's a new year.
2:37
Also very excited about that. We're going to bring the guys
2:40
in. We're going to be talking about
2:42
rumors and we're going to be talking about 2005 Moto GP
2:47
season and what's happening there and stuff like that.
2:50
But you know, with no further ado, let me bring in the gang as
2:57
I'd like to do. TJ, welcome to the show, man.
2:59
How you doing, man? I hear some background going
3:01
back that you might have to throw some things at people and
3:04
tell them to keep it down, man. You know man, how you doing in
3:06
2026 man? You know, everything's good over
3:11
here. I mean, can't complain.
3:13
It's just cold up here. But it's pretty quiet.
3:16
So I mean, I'm not sure where the noise is coming from, but
3:20
hopefully they quiet down wherever it is.
3:23
But you know, playoffs is coming from football.
3:26
I know every week we usually bring them our Patriots.
3:29
They're doing good. So we crossed our fingers now
3:32
because now, now it's where where it matters.
3:34
But we did. We did good for the regular
3:37
season. They're doing good.
3:38
Good man. I'm.
3:39
I'm pretty. Impressed.
3:41
So, yeah. And then and then to follow
3:44
that, you know, we got some testing coming the end of the
3:47
month, few weeks, so back in the actual racing.
3:50
So I'm excited. No doubt, no doubt, man.
3:53
I'm looking forward to it too, for for sure, but you know,
3:56
we're going to keep it moving and and let me see if I can sort
3:59
this out today. I'm on a whole new setup here,
4:03
you know, Welcome to the show, Lewis, this 2026 Happy New year,
4:07
all that fun stuff. Seems like you got your Jason
4:10
Bourne on. I don't know what's going on
4:12
over there, but you know what I'm saying.
4:13
I might have to stay away from you.
4:14
What's your man? Undisclosed location, don't know
4:18
where I'm at right now. Keep it a real Incognito.
4:23
No doubt. Now everything's good, holidays
4:27
were good, family's good, you know, kicked off the the new
4:30
year, right, Real low key just with the family has had a good
4:35
time and now kind of ready to get back into the swing of
4:38
things. For most of the country, it's
4:41
still cold. But you know, in this industry,
4:43
everybody knows that January is already the start of the peak
4:47
season. Things have to go out soon.
4:49
Dealers have to have inventory by the end of February.
4:52
Things got to be ready to pop off in March for 80% of the
4:55
country. That's right now in the cold
4:58
because as soon as it gets warm that one warm day, man, doors
5:01
open up, people start flooding into the stores and looking for
5:03
bikes, looking for gear, looking for everything else.
5:05
So. There's.
5:07
Always a happy time of year. I think the fanatics don't care
5:11
if it's warm or not. The fanatics don't.
5:14
But you know, there's a a section of the population that
5:18
when that one warm 70° day hits in like New York City after
5:23
three months of being in the 30s, where it's like, yo, I got
5:28
a lot of money in my pocket that I just need to burn.
5:32
Let me make some Let me make some dumb financial decisions.
5:36
Shout out to those people that make those decisions because
5:39
listen, we wouldn't survive if we weren't making them.
5:42
And I'm and I'm and I'm including myself in that.
5:44
Yeah, I was going to say I make them.
5:45
Too, you know it's. Hey, go, man.
5:50
I mean, I sorry I cut you off, but we're going, we're going to
5:53
catch it up. I'm trying to sort out the the
5:56
the situation at hand here. And you would think I would do
5:59
it the right way, but let me see if I can do it like this.
6:01
There you go bring in the guys I'm back.
6:04
It's it's been like a couple of weeks off.
6:06
The tech is not quite there. You know, I, I see Reese trying
6:10
to sort it out. We're going to bring him in
6:11
anyway because why not it's 2026.
6:15
You know what I'm saying? Blink 3 times Reese, if you
6:18
need, we need you need us to come get you.
6:20
Well, we're going to be talking rumors and we'll let them get
6:26
sorted out and, and bring them in and all that fun stuff.
6:29
But we'll start with what's up with TJ, man, because, you know,
6:33
let's let's do it. What have you heard for rumors?
6:36
I was going to start and say my rumors first, but I'm going to
6:39
wait till the end because it's I don't really pay attention to
6:42
him that much, but I seem like you see him.
6:44
So what have you seen? What have you heard?
6:46
How much of it are you buying into?
6:48
Or is it just all food for thought?
6:52
Yes, he might have to fill me in on on some rumors that you've
6:55
heard. I mean I haven't really seeing
6:59
much of them at check it out, but I'm seeing some switch up
7:04
and test riding. You haven't seen anything
7:06
saying, you know, Acosta's going to Ducati in 27 or nothing.
7:11
I mean, I mean. How, how much can we believe?
7:16
You know, I mean, I've seen a little bit of it, but like, you
7:18
know, talk. About I'm asking you to talk
7:21
about what have you seen. I'm not asking you to validate
7:24
it or verify it, but what what? What have you seen and what are
7:27
your thoughts on what you've seen?
7:30
Yeah, I mean, like, I mean, to be honest, I was just catching
7:35
up on the 2005 season. I mean, there's no rumors.
7:38
I heard like the switching up some test riders to get used to
7:42
the 27 bikes and then they're bringing over Jake Dixon or
7:47
something like that. Someone from I think from where
7:52
Super bike to test ride. But yeah, I'm excited to hear
7:56
what you guys want to talk about with the rumors.
7:59
All right, man, listen, man, you know, I, I, I have to say this
8:04
coming back to, to, you know, the 2026 season or just 2026
8:09
calendar normally for everyone, New Year's is all this crazy
8:12
oopla and this is the first year like I'm struggling to be like
8:16
trying to, you know, jump out the gate at 100.
8:19
So I feel you where you're coming from TJ with that, not
8:22
not having, you know, not not roaring, but it because of just
8:26
a vacation and and holidays and all that fun stuff.
8:29
So it it I get, but let's talk to Lewis, man, what's going on,
8:35
man? I You know I, I know you.
8:36
You keep your ears to the ground and you know I.
8:40
Never stop. Yeah, man.
8:45
I mean, you guys are on the chat, you guys are on the
8:47
thread. You see that?
8:48
I'm always sending out rumors and speculations and thinking
8:51
things that come across the wire Tech 3 talking about leaving
8:54
KTM. Obviously the big thing going
8:58
into 26 is you've got 18 of the 22 riders without a contract for
9:04
27. So that's, you know, 90% of the
9:08
grid does not have a contract for 2027.
9:12
And how many of those guys are going to stay on this grid?
9:15
How many of those guys are going to be gone?
9:16
And how many of those guys are going to be changing from teams,
9:19
changing from manufacturers? And possibly, you know, there's
9:22
rumors about CF Moto trying to become a new manufacturer within
9:28
Moto GP. If KTM loses one of their teams
9:32
then they'll slide in and they might take that open spot for a
9:36
manufacturer 2 bikes. Yeah, yeah, no, I, I agree with
9:40
you there. Before we get further into the
9:42
weeds, let's bring Reese into the building.
9:46
What's good? Reese, man, how you doing?
9:48
Welcome. Happy New Year and all that fun
9:50
stuff. You know, I, I think you and
9:52
Lewis right now might be in the same building, just on different
9:56
floors and you got might have bars in front of.
10:00
You what's going on fellas? Happy New Years and all you
10:02
guys, man. Hope everyone is happy over
10:04
that. Holidays and blessings but yeah
10:07
man I'm already excited for a 26 season.
10:10
Already testing and ready to go. Nice, nice.
10:13
So you heard a little bit of Lewis talk about the rumors and
10:15
stuff like, you know, what rumors have you heard whether
10:18
Moto GP World Super bike or as much as you can divulge in in
10:24
motor America, man, what you heard?
10:26
I mean, I've I've heard in GPI mean same thing as Lewis.
10:30
I mean a lot of guys don't have a ride for 27.
10:33
I mean, it's like half the grid is pretty much up for grabs.
10:38
And I mean, I've heard that. I think I sent it out to you
10:41
guys on that forum. I think.
10:42
I mean, from what I heard, I've heard Aaron Bassini talking to
10:47
Yamaha and 4:27, which where is that going?
10:53
I have no idea. So they're trying to grab him
10:57
up. But you know, and Renz is, from
10:59
what I hear, Renz is gone. His contract is not renewed.
11:05
World super bike. I mean, I've heard so far that
11:09
Oliveira is taking very well to that BMW.
11:11
OK. So maybe he won't get crashed
11:13
into this year. He got babies to feed, man.
11:18
Yeah, it's a different lifestyle when when you come up when
11:21
you're a civilian. So let's, let's talk about it
11:29
guys. You know, you guys put a lot on
11:31
the table. You know, I, I, I, I heard some
11:34
of that ridiculous stuff. I've seen different images of
11:36
Pedro Acosta on Aprilia on a, on AVR 46 on a, on a, on a factory
11:42
bike. We see Quatararo with stuff
11:45
going on out there. How much of this is, you know,
11:50
if we have, you know, as a fan, right?
11:52
We're kind of in it as well. So we're not we we have to keep
11:55
the sense from the nonsense. But how much of this should fans
11:58
be paying attention to? It is the offseason.
12:01
They probably should be listening to our show, but it is
12:03
the offseason. How much of this stuff should
12:05
should they be reading into? We'll start with.
12:07
We'll start with Lewis. It's, it's good to listen, man.
12:11
It is, it's, it's kind of like water fountain water cooler
12:15
talk. Like right now, it's nobody can
12:17
say anything definitively because the, the season hasn't
12:20
even started. And even though right now I can
12:23
guarantee you there are people already talking with the current
12:26
team that they're on and other opportunities because of one
12:29
opportunity to falls through. You need to have Plan B and plan
12:32
C. So people are definitely already
12:35
talking because these contracts don't happen overnight.
12:38
They take a long time. There's a lot of things to
12:40
consider. And then the manufacturers also
12:42
want to understand who's interested in writing for them,
12:45
who they're interested in, and if that party is interested in
12:48
them. And then there's like, you know,
12:50
4-5 or six months of like a, a, a dating ritual where it's like,
12:56
oh, well, let's see how they're riding this year.
12:57
Let's see how they're coming across.
12:59
Let's see how their season is going for them.
13:00
Because if they start doing really good with the
13:03
manufacturer they're on, then their stock for that manufacture
13:06
goes up. So maybe now they can go back to
13:08
that manufacturer and try to get more money.
13:10
But at the same time, their stock also goes up for another
13:13
manufacturer because, hey, this guy's doing great with Aprilia.
13:16
We want to get him over to Yamaha.
13:17
Or this guy's doing great with KTM.
13:19
We want to get him over to Ducati.
13:21
Nobody is really in a rush to go to KTM because their financial
13:26
insecurity is is well known. So you know, if I'm, if I'm a
13:31
younger rider, I'm looking at Ducati, I'm looking at Honda and
13:33
I'm looking at Yamaha and Aprivia.
13:36
I'm not really looking at KTM. Like for right now, I'm the way
13:40
I look at KTMKTM is the land of misfit toys.
13:44
Like only the misfits want to go there because if they're around
13:47
in 27, at least you have a factory ride, but you might only
13:49
be a two person team. There's not.
13:52
I don't see a four person KTM team come 2027 because of their
13:56
financial struggles. Right, right.
13:59
You know, TJ, I've heard that you know, some, at least one
14:03
writer has already signed for the 2027 season.
14:06
Is do you think that's something that's believable?
14:09
And you know, is it, is it better, do you think to sign a
14:12
contract sooner than later? Obviously, if you if you know
14:14
where your money is coming from in 27, you just rest easy.
14:18
I think, you know, Fermin Alder Gear, when he signed to Ducati
14:21
early, I think people took notice to that and say maybe we
14:24
shouldn't sign that early because he was signed early as
14:26
well and still had to do a year Moto 2 before he come up.
14:30
What are your thoughts on, you know, if a rider signed and it's
14:33
more Pedro Costa, Alyssa stowed out there that I heard, you
14:38
know, would it be if he did sign, do you think it was wise
14:41
to sign early than late, then wait?
14:45
I mean, yeah, I mean, you definitely want to secure a seat
14:49
just to be, you know, confident and look forward.
14:54
But you know, the the process is very long.
14:57
They're switching to a different CC bike and it's going to be
15:01
completely different. A lot of packages going to be
15:03
taken away. So I don't know.
15:08
But I think it's just that the process is long.
15:11
Just I guess it's just going to be whoever pulls the trigger
15:13
first. That thing's just going to be
15:15
signed up to sign up to sign. And but yeah, it's going to be a
15:19
big test also because I'm sure you're going to have to have a
15:24
different riding style for what's available for this bike.
15:28
It's not as fast as the when they are now.
15:31
And yeah, I don't, I don't, I just they just got to wait a
15:35
little for a little time to go by just to make sure it's the
15:38
right, right fit. But I'm sure once, once the next
15:42
couple signings go, I think it's just going to it'll be a quick
15:46
process and then you don't want to be last, right?
15:50
Right, right. Well, you know, Reese, you're
15:52
the official team principal for the Be Forever Cool race team.
15:56
So what are we looking to sign Pedro early if you if you, if
16:02
you had the opportunity to or like Lewis said, do you want to
16:05
wait and see how he does next season and then make a decision?
16:11
I mean, I'm with Lewis. I think you want to wait, see if
16:13
his stock goes up to see what happens, to see how he's
16:15
actually going to perform. You know, just kind of wait the
16:19
sign because maybe you jump the gun and sign them too early.
16:23
You know, what if he gets hurt? What if he gets really injured
16:27
or he just doesn't perform well? You know, a lot of guys will
16:30
say, I want to leave and then don't perform well at all.
16:33
And it's like, well, you really ain't doing thing over here.
16:36
So what's what's the purpose you.
16:39
Know what I mean? Right, right, right, right.
16:45
Well, I lost everybody. I'm the only one here.
16:47
Yeah, you're the only one here. But you didn't lose everybody.
16:50
I'm just working it out. It's like like TJ, man, I'm I'm
16:54
still working out. To get back to work.
16:56
I have to take it sometimes, man.
16:59
You know, what about these other guys?
17:01
You know, OK, we talked about Acosta, you know, what about the
17:04
the Frankie's of the world, the Wrens, you know, some of these
17:08
other guys. Is it more on the team side, the
17:10
riders side to kind of, you know, stop making those advances
17:15
to to possible future teams? Or is it more to the the teams
17:19
that need to seek out the riders?
17:22
Initially at the beginning of the year if the team deciding
17:25
what they want to do with the current riders.
17:28
So like right now for instance, Aprilia has two riders that they
17:31
need to decide if they want to resign them for 2027.
17:36
I think at the very top of a previous list is they definitely
17:38
want to resign Bizeki because he's shown that he's a great
17:43
rider on the bike. He was super competitive last
17:46
year and I don't think he's going to come into this year and
17:48
be less competitive than he was last year.
17:50
So I think at the very top of the list, every manufacturer has
17:53
like their A category riders that are their own riders,
17:57
whether or not they want to re sign them.
17:59
Then they're a category riders that are not on their team now
18:03
and how important it is to try to get them on their team.
18:06
Because if they only have two seats, you got to decide do I
18:09
want to keep one of these two guys and get rid of one of these
18:11
guys? Do I want to try to keep both of
18:13
the guys that I have and not even bother looking.
18:16
So the team has to kind of go through this process 1st and
18:19
once the team sorts things out, then the team has to try to go
18:23
after these guys. And now that's where the riders
18:26
step in. And this usually happens usually
18:28
by like the fifth or sixth round of the season where like the
18:33
teams have kind of presented opportunities to the riders.
18:36
And now the riders need to go out and either test the rider
18:38
market or decide, hey, I want to stay with this team, let me sign
18:41
with them now. And that's why usually you'll
18:43
hear about re signings before you hear about new signings.
18:48
New new signings usually come a little bit further in the
18:51
season. Because if, if it's May and
18:54
we're in our third race and my main riders like yeah, next year
18:57
I'm going to Yamaha. I'm not giving him shit for the
19:00
rest of the year. He's lucky if I buy him tires,
19:02
bro. So that's why you hear re signs
19:08
during the season and towards the end of the season, like when
19:11
this the, the, the, the season is kind of ending when you're
19:14
down to like the last four or five events of the year, that's
19:17
when you hear, oh, this rider is going to a new team next year.
19:21
Because if a rider tells me in April, I'm out.
19:25
Cool bro. Your chain is going to break a
19:27
lot this year man. Just randomly you're going to
19:32
get all the used parts. I understand why.
19:37
Oh, hey, Martine has the contract.
19:38
He has because of, you know, team principles like you and
19:42
lawyers like. Yo man, you got to.
19:46
It's all about the numbers. I'm paying you $8,000,000 to
19:50
ride with me this year and you're telling me before the 3rd
19:53
event of the year you're not going to be with me the next
19:56
year? Now, I don't want to see my
19:57
investment go to waste, but you're not.
20:00
You're no longer my A rider. You're not getting any of my new
20:04
equipment. You're not getting any of the
20:05
new systems. I'd rather give that to somebody
20:08
on my satellite team and maybe that kid on the satellite team
20:12
will take your place next year for half the price.
20:14
Right, right, right now, you know, TJ and and Reese, do you
20:19
think, you know, Lewis has taken it personal or someone in the
20:24
position to make decisions like that?
20:26
Just taking it personal when a writer says they're leaving
20:28
early. Because on one hand, if you give
20:31
an early notice, you're being respectful, you're not leaving
20:33
the team hanging, right? And usually what we have heard
20:37
from writers that have done that is they say they're giving 100%,
20:41
you know, you know, first hand, Reese, what that's like.
20:44
And also, Lewis, I'll, I'll leave that last rebuttal for you
20:48
at the end, but what do you, what do you, what do you think?
20:50
Is it a good thing for riders to say, hey, I'm leaving early or
20:53
should wait until the last minute?
20:54
Like I don't want to pick on Vinyalis but it's the closest
20:58
name that came to mind. Start with.
21:03
You, I mean it. Oh, so when CJ goes go.
21:06
Ahead, Reese, You. You already got it.
21:07
Go ahead, man. No, I mean, it's it's like a
21:10
vigniales. I mean, unfortunately, I mean,
21:13
if a if a rider says I want to leave early, how do I know if
21:17
that ride is giving a full 100% to it or, you know, crashing
21:24
purposely or, or just not really caring like, you know, just not
21:29
really giving a damn about anything.
21:30
I mean, we put as guys, the crew guys, you know, you put hard
21:34
work into this bike, they'll get it to where you need to be the
21:38
to, you know, to win. And now you're just smashing up
21:40
parts. How do you know I have that part
21:42
still available, especially if it's a a custom made part.
21:46
You know, now I got to spend another 30 hour manic hour
21:50
labour to rebuild that part and take all my time out just to get
21:55
it back to what you, you know, so.
21:58
I, I realize you, you guys take it personally when a writer
22:02
leaves early because you, you guys lean on data a lot to tell
22:05
what a writer is doing and not doing.
22:07
What are your thoughts, TJ, On, on, on what Risa said.
22:11
And it, it, you know, because like we hit a writer, say I'm
22:14
here for the job on camera, they say they're here and they hit
22:16
you 100%. And I think you guys have access
22:19
to the data to know if they're giving 100% or not.
22:21
What were your thoughts, TJ? Well, I mean, yeah, like I got
22:26
to see like Lewis could be very harsh, but he might not be
22:31
giving me all the things that he's saying.
22:34
So I might want to, you know, say that I want to leave and and
22:40
I might not feel sorry because, you know, I feel like I can get
22:43
a better opportunity down the road.
22:45
Same time. Like, it ruins reputation, you
22:49
know what I'm saying? So like you don't want to be
22:52
like Horry Martin or, or like he's like, you can't do this
22:55
anymore otherwise he's out out the game, out the GP, you know,
22:59
so and also you don't want to ruin your brand.
23:01
So it's like a thin line. So I mean, yeah, yeah, there's
23:05
some, there's some harsh, harsh teams, but you have to be
23:10
because you. Can't be weak.
23:13
Basically like you can't just let people just say what they
23:15
want to do. You like can't control.
23:18
You do want a good rider, but like Maverick, yeah, he has
23:24
something about him that just leaves a foul, sour taste.
23:28
I don't want to like, bring it to like Border America style
23:30
with Josh Herron, that type of deal.
23:34
But you know, you don't want to burn any bridges.
23:37
So, like, you don't want to say you're leaving too early, I
23:40
guess, unless you sign that contract.
23:43
But at the same time this is. Another rumor he's I thought is
23:49
that he wished he would have handled the Yamaha situation
23:51
differently. So you know, you know, we're all
23:55
growing. Anything we miss, Lewis?
23:56
Anything you want to add? Nah, that's it man.
23:59
I mean like I said, the the way the contracts usually come out
24:03
if you look at the ebbs and flows is the first half of the
24:05
year is re signing. So you'll see all the re
24:07
signings happen pretty early in the year for the the the key
24:12
players like Yamaha is going to want to re sign quarter watts.
24:14
If it's going to happen, they're going to have to back up the
24:17
brink truck early in the year. Ducati is going to want to re
24:21
sign Marquez. That's going to happen.
24:24
They'll re sign Marquez before they sign Pekko.
24:27
That's guaranteed. KTM is going to want to try and
24:31
re sign Vinales and Acosta. Like I don't see, you know, the
24:36
other two guys. I don't see Bastianini and I
24:39
don't see which is. Bender.
24:48
Bender Bender. I don't see Bender and
24:51
Bastianini as the top 2 prospects.
24:54
For KTMI see Vinales and Acosta and then for Aprilia.
25:01
Aprilia their top top re signing is going to be Bazaki.
25:06
I don't know if Martine is going to be in there.
25:09
I think it's going to really come down to how Martine handles
25:12
the first half of this season because he's he's an expensive
25:15
rider. He's a rider that comes with a
25:17
lot of baggage. And last year he put the team
25:20
through a lot of drama that he didn't need to put them through.
25:24
And so, you know, I hate to say it, man, Italians have long,
25:30
long memories for bitterness. I don't know if you know this.
25:34
I don't think it's just Italian. I mean, listen, we're going to
25:37
be talking about it. Specifically, season.
25:40
And the Spaniards nominated from like 2000 and what 9 until
25:46
recently with the VR party 6 Academy Bros.
25:49
But I don't, I don't think Aprilia is going to Aprilia is
25:52
going to look at this as you know what we got an opportunity
25:55
to get out of the get out of the Martin game and possibly get
26:02
into like an Anea Bastianini, get into a Quateraro, get into
26:06
another top flight rider and now have two top guys on the factory
26:11
Apprelia team with a bike that's coming along really, really
26:13
well. Everybody's saying is the most
26:16
competitive bike behind the Ducati.
26:19
What do you think that? Contracts.
26:22
What do you think the contract's going to look like?
26:24
It's going to be like one year signings, 2 year signings like.
26:28
The only the only person that I would sign just looking at the
26:31
list here, the only person I would sign the one year or like
26:35
one year with an option would be a rookie or like somebody like
26:38
that, like everybody else, you know like Raul Fernandez came on
26:43
strong Al Luguera, he started strong and then he withered
26:47
pretty fast like he might be a year to year deal if he stays
26:50
with track house Vigales, I would give a two year deal.
26:53
I. Think, you know, he hurt himself
26:55
and he he he saved himself. He at least deserved another
26:58
couple of years. But I was going to, I was going
27:00
to say, you know, if. I would give him a guarantee
27:05
with A1 re up if he finishes with certain points or in a
27:09
certain position like hey, if you finished in the top ten your
27:12
your second year is automatically guaranteed right?
27:15
Because I put a car in some of these guys, especially the
27:17
younger guys, man. Well, yeah, I was going to say
27:19
because you can, at least you can move people up, right?
27:22
If instead we got rid of, oh, hey, Martin, bring one of those
27:25
guys up from track house to factory and bring somebody in
27:28
from Moto 2, right? They don't necessarily because
27:31
at this point, you know, track house has the luxury of, of
27:35
being a new team and necessarily have to show, you know,
27:39
dominance. But they're kind of doing what
27:41
VR46 did, right. They kind of came in and and
27:44
kind of, you know, they they're showing themselves in year 2,
27:49
you know, which is which is good for for for American team or a
27:52
new team in general, right. So what do you, what do you,
27:56
what do you thoughts, TJ or Reese on that?
27:59
And, you know, it would it make sense for a Prolia to, you know,
28:03
you know, use the use the satellite team, even though
28:05
they're all on factory bikes and and bring people in that way
28:08
versus snatching the Bastionini or one these other guys there.
28:12
And I'm a big fan of Bastionini. And, you know, I'm not sitting
28:14
here saying that's not a bad, that's a bad look.
28:16
But, you know, you already got two guys that, you know, I think
28:21
I, I agree, would have gotten on the podium this year, this past
28:24
season if he didn't hurt himself because he was running really
28:26
well before even Bizecki figured it out.
28:33
Reese or Yeah? I'll go.
28:36
I mean, I think it's a good look to actually bring them up from
28:41
that satellite team, put them on that factory bike, especially if
28:44
they're doing good. I mean, look what they were
28:45
going to do. I mean, look what they did the
28:48
Marquez or Jorge they they were planning on doing.
28:51
They was bringing someone up and then put a younger guy on the
28:55
the satellite team. Like, I mean, you've seen bro
28:57
with that Al, with that Al Gore come in there so.
29:04
It's. It's almost like a stepping
29:06
stone. You actually get in there, you
29:08
learn the bike or out of gear. I'm sorry.
29:10
You learn the bike, you learn the how the bike handles, you
29:13
learn the team. You know, you're not expected to
29:17
be the top guy coming in there. So I think going into the
29:22
satellite team is actually a great stepping stone.
29:23
And then give the rookies and the younger guys from Moto 2 an
29:26
actual place in the seat to actually get into the GP series,
29:31
into the big the big class. Nice, nice TJ, anything you want
29:37
to add to the the Aprilia squad? And it seems like Aprilia is
29:40
going to be #2 bike or #2 factory behind Bacardi.
29:47
No, I think they have a really great line up besides knowing
29:52
what Marty can do in this in his situation, hopefully come back
29:56
strong. But it is good to have like I go
29:59
around the satellite where you can develop him to possibly be a
30:02
potential one or two rider on your factory team.
30:07
So I do like the the set up right now.
30:10
Definitely think it'll be really strong going into 2026,
30:13
especially the way Bazecki rode his ass off and hopefully set an
30:19
example that this bike is good. No doubt, no doubt.
30:23
Let's jump into World Super Bike a little bit and you know, maybe
30:29
a little bit late for Alvaro, but he's still but he's still
30:32
talking about that weight thing and majiggity man.
30:37
I'm with Lewis, just shut the hell up.
30:40
Come on man, listen, go put £20 on you and walk around for a
30:44
year. I got it right now.
30:46
I've been walking around for the past year and a half trying to
30:50
get rid of it. I'm trying to get lighter.
30:58
I'm just saying like Alva Batista and this, this was a,
31:02
this was a complaint, even a Moto GP with Bautista, with
31:05
Pedrosa, with all these little jockeys that I.
31:09
I I purposely meant to cut you off, but I felt bad for Pedrosa
31:12
because with with when the temperature was low and he
31:15
couldn't put the heat in those tires, he was.
31:18
He he suffered. Yeah.
31:20
No, no, I agree. Like if anybody, if I, if I was
31:23
Pedrosa, I would actually walk around with an extra £20 and if
31:27
it got a little cold, I'd be like, yo put this on the bike so
31:30
I get a little more weight on the rear tire so it won't be so
31:32
cold. But our Bautista man over the
31:35
past two years has just become a complaint machine and.
31:39
You. Know there's a reason why he's
31:42
not on the factory team, but it's not like he sucked on the
31:44
bike. I think they just got tired of
31:46
listening him whining to complain.
31:48
I mean, just an interview he did, I think a day or two ago.
31:51
He's saying that he's the reason why World Super Bike is such a
31:55
prominent place for Moto GP guys to go.
31:58
Now I'm like what? He has a point, though.
32:01
He has a bit of a point. What?
32:03
Point. Remember that the goal is to.
32:06
Think about this for a second, right?
32:08
Because in, in, in, in, in watching these old GP races, we
32:12
saw a lot of world super bike riders going to GP.
32:15
Now we're seeing the reverse, a lot of GP riders going in.
32:19
But before Alvaro I, I yeah, before Alvara from 2015 to 20,
32:27
there was there was Nikki Hayden, there was what Tito
32:31
Rubay like. Marco Melandry But Biaggi?
32:36
You want to tell me that Alvaro Bautista is more important than
32:39
Biaggi? But but that was like, that was
32:41
like what we're not talking about like 2015 back.
32:47
But OK, but World Super Bike was for where the old guys went to
32:51
and die and retired, Yeah. Exactly, that's that's the
32:54
dumping ground for guys who can't make it in GP anymore.
32:57
You're. Not.
32:58
Making world super bike better. You have to think Jonathan Ray
33:01
dominated for a grip. So you got the six years with
33:04
Jonathan Ray dominated and then you got after that.
33:07
So there was a period of time where motor GP riders weren't
33:09
dominating in in World Super Bike and until Alvaro came
33:13
through. But you're absolutely right,
33:15
Beyaze, the the guy, Melandri, all these guys that came out
33:20
before him and and you know, vice versa from, you know, world
33:25
super bike to go to GP and stuff like that.
33:28
So he has a point, but it's also the same.
33:30
And I'm I'm going to talk about it's also like people saying,
33:33
you know, Marquez is the greatest comeback ever, right?
33:37
You know, it's a bit of a hype. Yeah, it's, it's it.
33:40
I think that Bautista has been his hair dye, the chemicals too
33:45
strong and it's getting through his and messing with his brain
33:49
because he really starting to believe his own height, like
33:52
he's smelling his own farts and thinking they smell good like
33:55
you. You didn't get, you didn't go to
33:59
World Super Bike, you didn't have a job in Moto GP.
34:01
You had no other choice. And when you?
34:03
Got there. There was other competition
34:05
there. You had Jonathan Ray already
34:07
there. You had all these other guys
34:09
there. You have to think about it
34:10
though. You know, you had the guys
34:12
before on the Ducati that struggled, struggled.
34:15
You know the. Because the Bible's a shit box.
34:18
In 2018-2019. Listen from the from the time
34:21
that the 1099 stopped being the Moto G, the World super bike
34:26
platform for Ducati. The entire Pentagale years.
34:31
That bike was a shit box. Come on man.
34:34
Choppy baby. Listen, all the Pentagales were
34:37
shit boxes. What bike did Alvaro Bautista
34:41
win on? They listen, they.
34:42
These guys the. V4 when he first went there.
34:46
When he first went there he went on a Pentagon, not on AV4.
34:49
No, same thing. Same thing.
34:50
Pentagon V4. No, he didn't.
34:53
He went to V. Four No.
34:55
He didn't like Alvaro went on AV four.
34:57
It wasn't like because 2018 was the V4 year.
35:00
So he he was on AV4 and the and, and the guys before that maybe,
35:05
but yeah, yeah, yeah, Chavi Davis or these guys were already
35:08
on the V4. But, but and they couldn't and
35:13
they couldn't beat Ray, right? They couldn't beat Ray.
35:15
They couldn't beat tap rock. You know what I'm saying?
35:19
I'm I'm I'm one of the other guys like the lowest bass and
35:22
all these guys they could 20. 19 is when they went to the V4.
35:26
Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
35:27
It was a special edition in 2018 and 2019 they went to the V.
35:31
Four. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
35:32
So before that Chave, all these guys that were racing were on
35:35
the Panigale, which was a shit box.
35:37
It was designed as a shit box. And that's why they had to
35:40
completely redesign the bike, because somebody thought that
35:43
making the engine, the frame was a good idea because it works so
35:47
good for them in in Moto GP for all the years that Casey's owner
35:51
and nobody else can make the bike work.
35:54
And then once they actually decided to put a frame around
35:56
AV4 motor, all of a sudden the pipe got better.
35:59
So Albert Bautista just came in at the right time.
36:02
It's not like there wasn't already talent there.
36:05
And then even when he came in, guess what?
36:08
He won a bunch of races in a row because he should.
36:11
He's a Moto GP rider going to world super bike on a very
36:14
dominant on a bike that had a great platform.
36:17
And guess what? As soon as they made one change
36:19
to the bike, what happened? My man folded like a cheap suit,
36:22
kept. Crashing it, it wasn't one
36:24
change. It was a big change, but you
36:25
also had the two years where he went to Honda, right?
36:28
And you had Red and all these other guys that.
36:30
Came in, he's so good. Why didn't he make the Honda
36:31
better? All right, I'm just saying.
36:37
That's why I'm bringing. It up.
36:39
I'm I'm bringing the game, I'm about to change the game.
36:42
But when you went to Honda, guess what?
36:44
You're only as good as the bike you want.
36:47
TJ, you want time. I mean, I was just going to say
36:51
Avril when I started watching him.
36:54
He's definitely on a good run. I don't know who, who who, who
36:59
changed the game. I don't know if it was Top Rock
37:01
who who was like this. The weight got to change where
37:05
the rules flipped and they had to got ready.
37:08
Scott read over guys so like so yeah, when they when they added
37:11
that weight, Why? They listened to Scott read, but
37:14
they listened to Scott read and they screwed and Scott read.
37:17
Like I don't want to say he's. Like say it, say it.
37:21
Was saying like Gypsy was involved with sethe so but top
37:28
that change and top red top red hasn't done anything.
37:32
Yeah, in his mouth, bad luck, you know, But yeah, I will just
37:39
need to. He should have just been eating
37:41
a lot of food this offseason, you know, just even the playing
37:45
field for himself. Like instead of just
37:47
complaining. I I don't it seems like he is
37:50
the only one complaining. I don't know if it's only him
37:53
that's had to add weight because, you know, I don't know
37:55
who else falls into that category.
37:59
Wait till he's the lightest guy. But I'm sure there's other guys
38:04
around his weight that probably has to be around the same range,
38:07
but I'm not sure. But that is that is that's kind
38:10
of suck if he's the only one that has to add weight.
38:13
But still, he needs to, it's been, it's been 2 years now.
38:16
He needs to be like, all right, this rule's not going to change.
38:19
So, you know, he's getting old. He's getting older and grumpier,
38:24
that's all. No, no, no doubt there, man it.
38:28
It it's pretty crazy. Alright, I think we have meet
38:32
rumour mill and, and what's going to happen in, in, in like
38:36
45 days or how many days people are counting down and all this
38:40
stuff. But let's talk about 2005 Moto
38:45
GP. Valentina Rossi has won his
38:48
fifth world title. You know, you ever seen these
38:53
cartoons of Tom and Jerry where the cat is just playing with the
38:57
mouse and just kind of just letting them run away and then
39:00
grabbing them back? Letting them run away, grabbing
39:02
them back. It seemed like Rossi kind of did
39:04
that all year. And the only competitor who had
39:08
apparently had a gypsy curse on them, Sete, he was the only one
39:13
that was really challenging him. And, and it was it, it was wild
39:16
to see because in today's racing, I don't, outside of the
39:20
tire pressure that we've seen from Marquez and and back NIA
39:24
this past year where they let riders go in front of him.
39:27
In most racing, we don't, we don't let people go in front of
39:31
you. You have to get in front of me,
39:32
but I'm not going to let you. That's ridiculous to see.
39:35
So you know what you guys thought on out of 2005 season
39:39
after, you know, Rossi won his, you know, pitfall title to still
39:42
come out and still want to dominate, still want to win 13
39:45
races or whatever for the season and and just obliterate these
39:49
these these people and essentially play with them.
39:53
Please know who came out second that season, An irrelevant rider
39:57
that went to World Super Bike called Marco Milantry.
39:59
But Alper Bautista is greater than him.
40:02
Just continue. I was going to bring it up too,
40:07
but we'll, we'll, we'll, let's go with Reese.
40:09
Let's go with Reese. What are your thoughts, man, on
40:11
the 2005 season? What Rozzy, did you know, they
40:15
they're they it's the point where commentators are talking
40:18
about there's a gypsy curse and, you know, they got to try to
40:21
undo it for Sete and all this stuff.
40:23
And the fact that, you know, you guys more Lewis and Reese on
40:29
that level of seeing these riders, you know, like, yeah,
40:34
you have seen riders that struggle, that are in front and
40:37
just make dumb mistakes for reasons that you can't explain.
40:41
So you'd say it's a curve, right?
40:44
So but what you guys thought it was on the 2005 season?
40:46
I thought it was pretty incredible, one of the best
40:48
seasons ever. And it just shows the level of
40:51
riding. I mean, yeah, it shows the level
40:54
of riding. I mean, so the the mentality
40:57
that you have to stay upfront. You know, Lewis would tell you
41:00
it's, I don't ever say it's a gypsy curse.
41:03
I call it a rider's curse. They just get the hell in their
41:06
fucking head and start thinking too goddamn much.
41:09
That's exactly what they do. It's like, don't think, just
41:11
ride. And when you can actually not
41:15
worry about something and not think so damn much, you'll just
41:18
become a better rider. Just actually go out there and
41:20
ride. It's like a rider would get in
41:22
their head. They start thinking so much they
41:24
actually want to become almost a mechanic.
41:27
They want to become and they try to do things out there.
41:30
They're like, oh shit, do I need to do this?
41:32
Oh shit, I think I messed up. And as soon as they get the fuck
41:34
out there and start thinking that oh shit, I'm out front now
41:37
what? What the fuck do I do?
41:39
Do I do this? Do I do just ride the
41:42
motherfucker? And as soon as they start doing
41:44
that, down they go. That's it.
41:46
I know that feeling of sitting here, like tie your pressure
41:49
right. It's like not eating enough food
41:54
and drink enough water. You know it.
41:57
The head game is for real. And anyway, yeah.
42:04
Well, yeah, I mean, that was definitely another great season.
42:09
I know we chatted a little about it before, but I think Rossi
42:13
definitely made his statement Race 1, you know, with Setay,
42:19
and Setay had high hopes from his season before that.
42:23
This was the season where he can, you know, get some wins,
42:26
and it just didn't happen that way.
42:28
It's just crazy how it does seem like he was cursed.
42:31
But Rossi made a statement. The first race went at her eyes
42:35
that that LastPass in the the last corner.
42:40
And then from there, it was just like he had no luck at all.
42:44
I mean, he, you know, got on the podium set to a few times, maybe
42:48
two or three times. But the times that he was in
42:52
first and either crashed or ran wide into the dirt and just
42:55
couldn't hold it, it's just like like Reese says, this dude was
42:59
definitely was in his own head the whole season.
43:03
Rossi definitely messed his mental up.
43:05
And I said it was a cakewalker. Rossi, I mean, he did have his
43:09
challenges, but he already knew that he can pull ahead, pull
43:15
three riders in if he had to. He's always been up running up
43:19
front for the past couple of seasons.
43:21
So all he had to do was finish top five basically.
43:25
He only had a couple of riders challenging himself.
43:28
I felt like it was a cakewalk. He did and went in by over 100
43:32
some points so. But it was a credible season
43:35
thing. Right.
43:36
What do you, what do you think, Lewis?
43:39
He should have gone to see the gypsies and, you know, talk to
43:42
the folks in the caravan. Man, it was.
43:47
It's painful to watch somebody just being dismantled and and
43:53
that's what and he dismantled himself, man.
43:56
So like, you know, by the numbers in that season, there
43:59
were 17 races and they didn't do Sprint races then.
44:02
So there was only 17 GPS. That's it.
44:04
That's all they raced in the 17 GPS.
44:08
Rossi had one retirement and that was the only time that he
44:12
finished off the podium the entire season.
44:16
So he was either on the podium winning 11 times or in second or
44:21
third place six times with only one race that he didn't finish.
44:26
Sette Jibenow had seven DNFS where he didn't finish at all
44:34
and he was only on the podium and he was only on the podium 4
44:38
times. So in 11 races, 7 times he
44:42
didn't finish. Four times you were on the
44:44
podium and five other or six other times he wasn't even on
44:48
the podium. Like you're talking to guy that
44:50
the year before came in second in the championship and this
44:54
next year the dude couldn't find pit in pit out, couldn't find
44:59
the tire vendor, didn't know where the gas can was like
45:02
nothing. Like nothing went right for him,
45:04
man. And and this is kind of where a
45:07
little bit of that allure of Rossi kind of came into play.
45:11
Because Rossi, I think was having one of the things that a
45:14
lot of risers will tell you is if you're having a good time,
45:18
you're riding really, really good.
45:20
Because if you're confident in your riding, you actually are
45:23
riding around with a smile under your helmet because you know you
45:26
could put the bike anywhere. You're not crashing.
45:29
You're qualifying first on almost every race or the top
45:32
three in every race. Like you're doing everything you
45:34
want to do. The bike's going exactly where
45:36
you wanted to go when you get into that sink with your bike.
45:39
That's the happy place, man. And what happened to Sette is he
45:43
got so far away from that unhappy to a unhappy place that
45:47
every time he put his leg over the bike and his head was like,
45:51
am I going to finish this lap? And guess what, 7 times he
45:55
didn't finish it because he was probably in his own head.
45:58
And what Rossi was doing is like, yeah, I'm gonna let you go
46:00
in front. I'm just going to keep showing
46:02
you, will showing you will showing you.
46:03
I know I could beat you at any time I want.
46:06
Right. But yeah.
46:08
If I keep showing you this wheel, you're going to fold.
46:11
Yeah, I was going to say you have to realize like, you know
46:14
and you know, you've raced. You guys have raced to have
46:17
somebody sitting behind you. You hit it and and you hit the
46:20
Revs, you hit it down shifts lap after lap, corner after corner.
46:24
Like how can it? It's it's you know, you see
46:27
Lorenzo do it. I mean, Lorenzo's the only one I
46:31
can say that one of the guys that can stay out front and just
46:33
not fold like that. That's hard to because you're
46:37
hearing it. It's like, how do you tune that
46:39
out when you're hearing it? And you have to get to that
46:42
level though, right? Lorenzo was one of the guys that
46:45
could break you from the front. Yeah, those guys break you from
46:48
the back. Lorenzo, when he hears you
46:50
behind, he is just like metronomic in the way that he
46:55
does his laps. Like I remember watching Lorenzo
46:57
races and he would do 22 laps within like 2/10 of a second
47:02
every lap. And it's like even if you're
47:06
behind him and you're using him as a rabbit, eventually he's
47:09
going to break you, dude. Like you're not going to be able
47:11
to do that the way he's doing it.
47:14
And and. Rossi.
47:15
Rossi knew he could break people from behind, he just had to stay
47:18
there and had them listen. But even when he rode against
47:21
Lorenzo, Lorenzo would win a lot of races from the front and
47:24
break Rossi. Yeah.
47:27
And and so and we'll talk about it as it come up because you
47:29
we'll see what how Rossi was. And, you know, we're fortunate
47:33
to have history in front of us or, you know, behind us as far
47:36
as, you know, watching these reruns and stuff like that.
47:40
Because we can look at races where Rossi lost sight of what
47:43
the young Rossi used to do, you know what I mean?
47:47
Because at this point, he was the, he was the predator that
47:50
was toying with riders and he got away to, I mean, listen, the
47:53
guy, the guy has 5 championship row.
47:55
Shout out to Mcdoon, who also has 5 championship in a row.
47:58
I believe Marquez has five or four in a row as well.
48:02
You know what I mean? It's not a easy, you know,
48:04
obviously Jonathan Ray has it in the world.
48:06
Super bike. They make it look easy, you
48:10
know, and having fun doing it. But it's, it's, it's, it's
48:13
pretty wild. And I want to bring up Melandry,
48:16
who's third year in in Moto GP and, and fighting and fighting.
48:21
You want to talk about Edwards, who you know, he jumped on the
48:23
the Yamaha and Roxy's teammate and fighting Nikki Hayden his
48:27
third year and he's beating. And these guys are the top guys
48:30
and they're young guys. So is it also like a changing of
48:33
the guards that would happen around this time as well, where
48:36
we see the young riders, really young, really upfront, where a
48:41
lot of the older guys like Kevin and and you know, and Biaggi and
48:45
some of these other guys that and Capper Rossi.
48:47
And it does. These guys are starting.
48:49
I mean, obviously they got injuries and all this other
48:51
stuff, but it's starting to fall off.
48:53
It's also a time when there's a changing of the guards as far as
48:55
the in Moto GP, too. What are your thoughts, TJ?
49:00
Yeah, I mean these young guys like Mickey Hayden and all them
49:05
like they were they definitely showing a potential.
49:07
So like it it kind of like it's it's hard to explain.
49:12
Like yeah, it's like you see the new talent coming in.
49:15
So the focus is more on like Rossi and the new talent.
49:19
So it kind of phase out the ones who can't do it anymore, like
49:23
Sethe. And I know what we were talking
49:26
about earlier. Not to go off topic, but like
49:28
Sethe assigned to a new to Ducati during the season.
49:34
So maybe he wasn't getting, you know, like all the all the
49:39
products, like we were talking earlier, but but but yeah, I
49:46
think the the young town, like Nikki and all them there's it's
49:49
like the new wave. And then you kind of see like
49:53
you say, and you see it with the Moto GP now, like it's like the
49:56
younger town is being recruited and it's there's only a select
50:02
few guys that are still around that's just been there for a
50:05
long time. Otherwise it's, you know, they,
50:07
they kind of pushed out so. Yeah, right.
50:09
You know, Reese, you know, you see this in the World Super in,
50:13
in Motor America, the Super bike class.
50:17
Obviously you see it watching the World Super Bike and and
50:19
Moto GP. It's easy when you're a new
50:23
rider to come in and win the lower classes and win them
50:26
back-to-back and stuff like that.
50:27
But when you step up with a big dog, it's a different story,
50:30
right? Oh hell yeah.
50:33
It's a big different story. We got it's something to prove
50:36
you got, you know it. You're trying to go against guys
50:39
that have been doing it for years, guys that know the game,
50:44
guys that are going to let you get out front and I'm going to
50:46
let you go out front. You're going to tire yourself
50:48
out or you're going to make a mistake.
50:51
You know, we get the young guys coming in and say I want to
50:53
prove something and they'll get out front and make an easy
50:57
mistake and then that's it. They can't they can't bounce
51:00
back. Where am I getting your head?
51:02
I'm going to stay right here. I'm going to show you a will.
51:04
I mean, you got to look at like a old guy, like a, you know,
51:07
when Josh Hayes was in his prime, I mean, you couldn't keep
51:10
up with the old dog. It was just like the the guy was
51:13
untouchable. I mean, look at Johnny Ray.
51:16
He was untouchable for what, six seasons in a row?
51:18
And he was the old dog, You know, now you guys, they had the
51:22
new young guy coming. You had top rat coming, you had
51:25
Cameron coming. You know, that was just
51:29
something of a different type of breed that the older guy saw
51:34
something in and they took under their wing and say, hey, I'm
51:38
going to show you something. And they took it and they ran
51:41
with it and put their own spin on it.
51:43
Now they're untouchable. Right, right.
51:47
Lewis, how, how important is that?
51:48
What you, as you hear Reef talks about the the old guards
51:53
teaching the young guards and taking them under their wing.
51:55
And I obviously, I think the old people have to like you to say,
51:59
OK, I'm going to help you. They're not giving the secrets
52:01
to everybody. How important is that for a
52:03
young writer? I mean, that's it, that's
52:06
mentorship. You know, that's, that's, if you
52:08
look at any, any trade in the world, you know, you become, you
52:12
come in as a, as a, as a rookie, then you become a journeyman and
52:16
then you eventually become a tradesman and, and a mentor.
52:20
And you have to, you have to, if you can lean on somebody that's
52:23
been there and done that, that's the people that you want to turn
52:26
to. I mean, you know, Reese just
52:28
mentioned Josh Hayes. Josh Hayes actually mentors a
52:31
lot of the riders now in Moto America on their riding.
52:36
Like he's a rider coach for a lot of riders.
52:37
He'll sit down with riders and review their data and show them
52:40
what they can do a little bit differently because he knows
52:43
what the data looks like because he's been on all these tracks.
52:45
He's riding these tracks, He's one of these tracks.
52:48
And he can go in and sit with you and he can show you, hey, on
52:50
this corner, if you did this a little different because there's
52:52
the way I used to do it, you know, you might gain the 10th of
52:54
a second. You might, you know, get a
52:56
better drive. You might do.
52:57
So he, you know, learning from guys that have been there super
53:00
important. And that's why it's good to have
53:03
an ego, but it's a good to keep your ego in check because if you
53:06
don't keep your ego in check, these well known guys aren't
53:10
going to want to mentor you or they're going to look at you as
53:12
a threat, you know? So mentorship is super
53:15
important, especially from quality riders.
53:18
You know, you look at what Valentino Rossi does through his
53:20
VR46 Academy, there wouldn't be as many as Italians riding right
53:24
now in Moto GP if they didn't come through the VR46 Academy.
53:27
Almost every Italian in Moto GP right now owes it to the VR46
53:32
Academy. Every for bastion.
53:35
Yeah, no Bastion is is part of was was part of VR46 as well
53:40
all. Right.
53:40
Yeah, I didn't even know that. There you go.
53:42
So, you know, all these guys in one way or another owe a thanks
53:48
to Rossi for being that mentor and giving them the pathway to
53:51
get into Moto 3, Moto 2, Moto GP.
53:56
And even here in the US, you know, Josh Hayes is a great
53:59
example. I mean, the reason to tell you,
54:01
man, he goes into the paddocks with these young guys and he
54:05
will sit there and look at their data and talk to them.
54:08
And he does this all out of the kindness of his heart, man.
54:10
He's not getting paid for it. He should be paid for it, but
54:13
he's not. He doesn't because he wants to
54:15
see young talent continue to grow.
54:18
You had two American guys from We have 46 years.
54:21
Yep. And then you see two, you know,
54:24
you see in this year, you know, Nikki Hayden had had been with
54:29
Rossi. So he, you know, he kind of knew
54:31
already or he had worked under Rossi.
54:34
He saw how Rossi worked. Colin Edwards is now, you know,
54:37
with Rossi in the same garage seeing how he works.
54:40
So both of these American guys also benefited from them because
54:43
if you look at all the other Americans, dude, by this time,
54:45
Kenny Roberts junior was well on his downturn on his way out.
54:49
John Hopkins, you know, he was struggling on and.
54:54
Off. I meant to ask that it was, is
54:56
that the Suzuki, was that the Suzuki or was it really just?
54:59
No, Hopkins had some personal issues.
55:02
So on the on the track and off the track, he had a lot of
55:05
issues because of injuries and so forth, right?
55:07
And so that made it difficult for him.
55:09
And then if you look at the rest of these guys, dude, Ruben Zaus,
55:12
he was already, you know, well past his prime.
55:15
Troy Bayless. I mean, this dude had been
55:17
racing since 1963. I think at this point he's like
55:21
75 years on a bike. So he was, he was, he was, you
55:26
know, so it was a little bit of a change into the guard.
55:29
And this happens every eight to 10 years in Moto GP.
55:33
You get this new influx of younger guys that get the
55:36
opportunity and all of right, all of a sudden start to step up
55:39
because a lot of these guys, you know, 30s, mid, early, mid 30s,
55:43
you know, you're done. You know, there are a few guys
55:46
that are racing in their late 30s, early 40s.
55:49
Yeah, outside of. I'm a Bautista.
55:53
Yeah, well, him and there was a British guy that was racing for
55:57
Hoffman or somebody. He was out there 4021.
56:01
I mean, Rossi was racing pretty late in his game too, but and he
56:05
was still competitive, but even he eventually lost his factory
56:08
seat to somebody else. And you know, this is just the
56:12
decline, man. You know the you can win every
56:14
race in the world. There's one race you'll never
56:16
win and that's the race against Father Time.
56:18
For real, you cannot beat that man.
56:21
Undefeated. I mean, you still have, you got
56:24
to look, you had JD and I think Gagne come through VR46.
56:30
Yeah, they've been. They've been to the ranch.
56:31
They've. Done.
56:32
They've been to the ranch. That's, that's, that's, that's,
56:35
that's pretty crazy. You know, it's what's, I mean,
56:39
you know, we've, I've talked about it in basketball mostly,
56:42
but it in, in the same thing in motorcycle racing.
56:44
These guys, the, the, the guys that can stay healthy, have the
56:48
best careers. They may not be the best riders,
56:51
but they were able to stay healthy and and they have the
56:54
best careers because, you know, you got these guys that they
56:57
fall once they like glass and, and, and it's unfortunate.
57:02
Yeah, that's, that's that's, yeah, that's a you know, And
57:05
that also goes back to being young.
57:07
When you're young, you bounce. When you get old, you thud.
57:13
We ain't bouncing that hard, man.
57:14
We bouncing hard, not getting back up.
57:16
It's 1 bounce directly on the ground.
57:19
Boom. Medic.
57:23
Medic. Bring out what is it that little
57:27
white hay Bale that says medic, you got asked and I'm not
57:31
getting up. So let me ask you this.
57:36
Do you guys think that I, I know the answer, I guess, but it's,
57:39
it's I still got to ask it. Speaking of medic, because like
57:44
back then these riders used to get like they get knocked, they
57:47
were getting knocked out like they, they, they were saying
57:50
goodnight for a little bit. Like some of these NFL players
57:53
be, you know, it's like, do you think that that riders,
57:59
obviously, I know with the tech and everything, everything has
58:01
gotten better. So it, it, it's like that's the
58:04
one thing we see. We don't see riders getting as
58:07
hurt when they crash. And when they do get hurt
58:10
nowadays, though, it is, it's still not as bad as them because
58:14
these guys, you'll see legs just you already, once you see them
58:17
roll a couple, you're like, that's broken.
58:19
It's like that leg is not supposed to bend like that.
58:21
You can just see it. We we're not seeing that as much
58:23
anymore, But you know, we still seeing some serious crashes.
58:27
Well, we're we're still in the time before airbags, so the
58:32
airbags haven't been put into play yet.
58:34
So what's happening is the tracks are starting to adapt a
58:38
little bit more for safety, but the safety equipment is still
58:42
the same safety equipment for the previous 15 years.
58:45
Right. PJ.
58:48
Yeah, I'm saying we we're starting to see like more
58:53
accidents where it's like higher pace, I'll say more like
58:56
qualifying the the front runners, you know, but but yeah,
59:03
like the the accidents and the safety back then is still crazy.
59:07
Like they were actually carrying people off on the stretchers.
59:10
Oh yeah, yeah, there was there was there was races where they I
59:15
think it was the year before, but like there is still can't
59:18
get out of my head. Like guy crashed on the straight
59:20
away and they just rolled them off to the side.
59:26
So like, you know, like we definitely come a long way.
59:32
Where where how Lewis said we kind of matched the safety of
59:36
the track with the gear. Like there's a lot of run off
59:39
now and then obviously the technology with the suits and
59:44
there's technology with, you know, boots, gloves, all that,
59:47
all that stuff, helmets. So we've gone pretty far with
59:51
that and it's good to see where we came from.
59:57
Anything you want to add, Reese? I mean, I agree with, you know,
1:00:01
Lewis and DJI mean we come a long way, man.
1:00:03
I know this is Lewis Field because he deals with all the
1:00:06
suits and you know, the crash impact.
1:00:09
So, but I definitely agree, we have come.
1:00:13
Like back in the day, you just seen them getting rolled off,
1:00:16
you know, getting pushed off to the side and just leave them
1:00:19
there for the race. You know, the one crash that
1:00:22
stands out of my head still, you know, if they had a little bit
1:00:25
more safety was the the Simicelli crash.
1:00:28
That just always stands out of my head.
1:00:31
But I mean, the airbags that we have now is a lot better that
1:00:35
than what they had before. The suits are a lot tougher.
1:00:39
The helmets are a lot better. It's just the crashes that we
1:00:44
have now are, it's just like we're pushing our bodies to the
1:00:48
they're, they're pushing their bodies to the limit, you know,
1:00:51
to the absolute limit of speed and the G forces that they're
1:00:54
doing. But we all know the faster you
1:00:57
go, the harder that ground hits. No doubt, yeah.
1:01:04
Go ahead. So as far so as far as safety
1:01:06
goes, like when it comes to helmets, helmets, the drop test
1:01:10
for a helmet back then is was just a standard straight drop
1:01:13
test. And most helmets get dropped
1:01:15
from the same distance because the drop, the speed you're going
1:01:20
forward makes it irrelevant to the speed you hit the ground
1:01:23
when you go downward. If you if that makes any sense.
1:01:27
If you're going 100 miles forward, you're only still
1:01:30
falling 6 feet downward. Right.
1:01:34
Right. You're just skipping.
1:01:35
So one of the things that they didn't have back then is they
1:01:37
didn't have rotational force impact tests.
1:01:40
And most of the guys that did get the bell rung or were
1:01:43
knocked out, they weren't always knocked out from the fall from
1:01:45
the bike. Even when you were ejected off
1:01:47
the bike and high sided at a peak, maybe, maybe you hit like
1:01:51
a 7 foot, 7 1/2 foot height. You don't get launched 20 feet
1:01:57
in the air like they would say Moto GP.
1:01:59
Like if you got launched 20 feet in there, you would clear the
1:02:01
fence. Like you get launched.
1:02:04
You get launched about 7-8 feet in the air and the drop test for
1:02:07
most helmets is about 7 or 8 feet high and it hits the ground
1:02:11
and a certain amount of energy. Now what they didn't have then
1:02:13
that we most manufacturers have now is rotational impacts
1:02:17
because that's where you really get hurt in motorcycle crashes.
1:02:21
It's not the initial thud of hitting the ground unless you
1:02:23
fall in a really bad way. It's all the rotating after you
1:02:26
hit the ground. It's all that frictional force
1:02:29
that that the inertial force that you're trying to dissipate.
1:02:32
And when you put your hands out to try to stop yourself, I'm
1:02:35
sorry, that's the equivalent of trying to stop 100 mile an hour
1:02:38
car with your hands. You just going to break your
1:02:40
fingers, your wrist, your elbows, dislocate shoulders.
1:02:42
That's why you kind of tuck and roll and bring all your
1:02:44
extremities in because you're trying to dissipate that energy.
1:02:48
So when we get into like the next couple years, you'll see
1:02:51
that the safety equipment continues to change throughout
1:02:54
the years. And even now, safety equipment
1:02:56
is still changing. Airbags are getting bigger.
1:02:58
Helmets have new technology in them to take into account
1:03:01
rotational force. But even with all these
1:03:04
injuries, you know, most of it is still just broken bones,
1:03:07
dislocated shoulders, things like that.
1:03:10
You know, it's not like a fighter that gets punched in the
1:03:13
face, you know, 100 times about, and then in 10 years, they start
1:03:18
to show CTE. As of right now I don't think
1:03:21
any motorcycle racer has CTE and no matter how many.
1:03:25
I mean unless he's crashed a really bad career and crashed
1:03:28
like 300 times. Like Ali Bear.
1:03:32
Mark Marquez on Honda. Well, Mark, Mark Marquez, most
1:03:36
of his are just low size, like he loves to low size.
1:03:39
Just just throw that front end there's.
1:03:40
Some high size in there too. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
1:03:43
Yeah, a couple. Good ones but the majority of
1:03:46
his is are low sides because he just asked too much of the front
1:03:49
tire. But you in this day and age, in
1:03:51
2005, high sides were still a very, very relevant thing.
1:03:56
High sides now happen in Moto GP, but they happen under
1:04:00
certain circumstances. Back in 2005, high sides were
1:04:04
the norm. Like if you crashed, you were
1:04:06
going over the top, you weren't going on the side.
1:04:10
I think Marc Marquez gets probably 7 feet as well.
1:04:14
He he he run like 7030 low side to high side ratio.
1:04:20
Brutal, brutal out there guys. Well, before we get out, I'll,
1:04:25
I'll leave if you have anything I miss I want to say and add in
1:04:28
to to this 2005 season, the craziness of it or, or just the
1:04:35
rumor. Oh, I did have one rumor.
1:04:40
Oh man, I, I wish I could. I, I, I, I can't remember what
1:04:43
it is, but there was one thing I heard that I want to bring up
1:04:46
and we hadn't talked about. I don't, I don't remember what
1:04:49
the rider, which rider it was, but we'll, we'll get it next
1:04:53
time. Anything I miss guys before we
1:04:55
get out of here. I just want to say that Nikki
1:04:58
Hayden had a hell of a season. Yes.
1:05:03
I mean, there was one race where he was winning and then happened
1:05:07
to have a red flag with him. So body laid in the middle of
1:05:09
the track. So, you know, so he didn't end
1:05:15
up winning after the restart, but I mean for for his
1:05:19
performance throughout the year coming in 3rd, like like I could
1:05:23
see how we prep Nikki Hayden how we do.
1:05:26
And, and, and you know, to put the first, I think that was the
1:05:28
first year for Laguna Seca or going back to Laguna Seca.
1:05:31
Oh, right. Who dominated the hell out of
1:05:33
Laguna Seca? And they not to bring this up
1:05:38
but when they sing the national anthem they messed it up first
1:05:43
time. I had the Guta Seika too and the
1:05:47
dude messed up the national anthem.
1:05:49
They they, they don't let anything slip.
1:05:51
They let the 2 old dudes in. The Muppets, they call it
1:05:53
everything. Oh my God.
1:05:57
Yeah, Laguna hometown, half a second.
1:06:00
Man, that that came in big time for Nikki, you know?
1:06:04
Oh. Yeah, you guys keep thinking I'm
1:06:07
lying, but that that that hometown half second is real.
1:06:10
That he was he was ghost from every, every, every every
1:06:15
session. He was top guy.
1:06:17
That's that's something rare to see and and we know, and again,
1:06:22
it's like we've seen the other other tracks.
1:06:24
So he didn't really dominate the same way, but it was pretty
1:06:28
impressive the way he did and, and you know, 30 year Moto GP to
1:06:31
do what he did. And obviously we know in 2006 he
1:06:34
wins it and we'll talk about that next week as well and, and,
1:06:37
and dive into it. But that's, that's a, that's a
1:06:39
very hell of a season for for him.
1:06:41
And, and no wonder why he's where he's at today and how we
1:06:44
look at him today. For sure, for sure.
1:06:48
Sure. No doubt.
1:06:50
My name is Rex 45. We got TJ with two wheels and
1:06:52
coffee. We got Reese from Attack Yamaha.
1:06:55
We got the real Luis Ortega the numbers guy.
1:06:58
It's the Be Forever Cool podcast, the number one podcast
1:07:01
in the world. My name is Rex 45.
1:07:04
Peace.