Latest / B 4EVA Kool "Race A Motorcycle" Podcast / First round of WorldSBK in the books plus a look ahead at the MotoGP 2026 season in S6 Ep 10

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First round of WorldSBK in the books plus a look ahead at the MotoGP 2026 season in S6 Ep 10 · B 4EVA Kool "Race A Motorcycle" Podcast

0:00
My name is Rex. It's the Beef Ever Cool podcast.
0:02
I want to thank everyone for their comments and their ads and
0:06
their likes and all that fun stuff.
0:08
We really appreciate it. It's another episode.
0:11
World Super Bike is about the World Super Bike already started
0:14
or the GP starting this weekend. We're going to kick this thing
0:17
off. Let's go.
2:03
Tune into the Be Forever Cool podcast again.
2:06
My name is Rex 45 World Super Bike just happened in Phillip
2:10
Island. What an exciting race.
2:14
I know some people may have cancelled their subscription
2:17
after listening to last episode, but I'm still holding on to
2:21
mine. It was still exciting.
2:23
There's still a lot to talk about and let's see if who's
2:27
going to prove me wrong tonight on the show.
2:29
Let's get this thing going and get this thing really going.
2:33
TJ, man, welcome to the show. Man, how you doing tonight?
2:36
I'm doing great, can't complain really.
2:39
Besides this damn snowman, like I ride bikes man.
2:45
Like I I know I should move somewhere warm, but like this,
2:48
winter needs to end. Yeah, yeah.
2:50
Yeah, yeah, just got dumped on with like 20 more inches of
2:53
snow. So it's just a longer wait in my
2:56
mind until we get some 4050° weather, which is like maybe
3:01
another week or two, but. Man, listen, man, I'm, I'm, I'm
3:05
going to be up that way in a couple of days.
3:07
And I was hoping that it'd be going away, but it sounds like
3:12
there's something coming back in, in another day or two.
3:15
So it doesn't sound like, I mean, it's the worst snow storm
3:19
or, or winter that side of the, the, the country has had in a
3:24
very long time. And and from the photos I've
3:27
seen online, man, I'm not looking forward to it.
3:31
Yeah, it's pretty bad. I mean like streets, honey
3:34
plows. Still some side streets left
3:37
pretty. Mine is, but yeah, just make
3:39
sure you bring some gloves in the hat.
3:43
That's what it's going to come down to.
3:45
Yeah. I mean, yeah, then your winter
3:46
gear, it's not over. Man, that's too bad.
3:50
That's too bad. We're going to keep it moving,
3:52
man. Lewis, man, welcome to the show,
3:54
man. How you doing this week man?
3:56
Good, good. You know here trying to get
3:59
ready before my next trip out. I got to head to Florida this
4:02
coming weekend, do an event and then following weekend I'll be
4:07
at Daytona for a few days. So just kind of trying to build
4:12
up that energy that to hit the road and and do that other part
4:17
of the job that's outside the office come.
4:19
On man, you just got to run outside with your T-shirt on.
4:21
It's pretty warm out. It's.
4:24
High. Yeah, man, it's, it's a tough
4:29
time of the year, but it is what it is.
4:31
I mean, it hasn't been this bad in in a long time, but it makes
4:35
it difficult to to move around. I'm not going to lie, fellas,
4:40
man, you know, welcome to the show.
4:44
First round of World Super Bike in Phillip Island.
4:49
I think I don't know if it's, I forget which when is the last.
4:53
I don't know if this was the last round or next year is the
4:55
last round for Moto GP that's going to be there.
4:58
But I mean, I know World Super Bike is still going to be there,
5:01
but it's still kind of, it still was on the forefront of mine
5:05
thinking like, man, this is such an iconic track and stuff like
5:08
that. To not have that happen in the
5:10
future. I mean, you know, we'll see what
5:12
the street racing look like for Moto GP, but let's talk about
5:15
World Super Black guys. It was a pretty interesting
5:20
weekend. You know, the big Moto guys
5:24
showed up, Ducati showed up. You know, we'll leave it there.
5:30
What do you TJ on the on the weekend and and what you saw and
5:36
are you keeping your subscription?
5:39
I'm definitely keeping my subscription.
5:42
Bulaga definitely ran the show, did very well, had like almost a
5:48
second pace faster than everybody and pretty much blew
5:51
everyone away. But the Ducati lockout's pretty
5:55
cool, you know what I'm saying, that they started the season
5:57
really good and but motor definitely stepped up for the
6:01
first race compared to them their season last year and being
6:08
promoter, being his first season.
6:10
So. But yeah, I think they were the
6:12
first place was really, really interesting, I think.
6:15
But hooligans just, you know, blew everybody away.
6:18
It's just cool to see pillar violence always that chance.
6:22
Yeah, no, I, I I completely agree.
6:25
Unfortunately my mouse is not one of my one of them is not
6:28
working as well as I'd like someone be reaching back and
6:31
forth like I'm at the bar. Lewis man.
6:34
I mean, you know, you were right on one hand that Bulgu was going
6:37
to run away with it. On the other hand, the the non
6:41
Kawasaki frame showed up, which is pretty interesting to see.
6:47
And you know, even though Bulaga it didn't look like he was going
6:50
to run away with it because of the weather, but it all it the
6:54
weather reminded me like it's not it's not going to be an easy
6:57
season. No matter even if you're the
7:00
fastest dude, you got to still do it.
7:02
Mother Nature. So I don't think it's, I think
7:04
we got to keep our subscription. I'm, I'm just, it's good to keep
7:08
the subscription just to see who's going to finish from 2nd
7:12
to 20th. I still think that at some point
7:16
this year, Bulaga will throw a couple just to keep the the FIM
7:20
off his ass and make sure that they don't penalize him or
7:23
reduce his Revs or something else.
7:26
But by far the the Ducati right now I think has finally built
7:32
what could be considered maybe the best package in Moto GP
7:36
because they addressed the one weakness of all the Ducatis that
7:40
they've had since the 999. And the single sided swim arm
7:46
looks sexy, but functionally it's not the best thing for
7:51
racing because you're putting too much stress on a stress
7:55
member of the bike in a weird position without having that
7:58
conventional tuning fork swing arm.
8:03
And, and now that they have that conventional swing arm, you
8:07
know, even Buluga is saying that he's getting even better drives
8:11
out of the corner because the bike is is less upset.
8:16
So that that doesn't bode well for everybody else that they're
8:19
really the one weakness that the Ducati had where they they chose
8:24
form over function by going with a single sided swing arm to
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appease all the Ducati Estas that like that single sided
8:31
swing arm, they finally realized, hey, function is
8:35
better than form. And like I said, I think they
8:37
built what could be considered one of the most lethal track
8:41
weapons ever made. You know, and listen, if there
8:44
was a poll taken, man, I I think it would be like point O to 2%
8:49
of the the Ducati Easters. As you say, that would be for
8:52
the double sided swing home and and to be second place.
8:56
But, you know, as purists, we want to win and I'd rather, I'd
9:00
rather have the ugliest machine on her on the racetrack as long
9:03
as I'm getting into them double. If you think about it, that's
9:05
that's bimoda. Bimoda is ugliest sin, but it it
9:10
works really well. So they're doing something well
9:13
right at that team that they're like, you know what?
9:15
We don't care what the bike looks like, but if it performs.
9:18
Yeah. Oh, I hear you there, man.
9:20
I hate that. Which is pretty crazy.
9:22
Reese, man. Welcome to the show, man.
9:25
How you doing? Like I've asked all the two
9:28
guys, was it enough for you to hold on to to, to buy another
9:32
month? Heck no, man.
9:36
I told you that's going to be a Ducati show, man.
9:39
It's just like, why am I watching this, man?
9:41
That's you guys, man. Oh.
9:43
Come on, That's how you, that's how you see it.
9:46
That's how you saw. I saw Ducati's up top all the
9:50
way. Like what else did I see besides
9:51
the Bomoda? The Bomoda.
9:54
In all fairness, that's been the last four or five years, man.
9:57
I mean, you know. But who's going to beat Bulaga?
10:01
Well, this is we don't, we're going to talk about that tonight
10:04
because, like, I don't know if you caught what I said to Lewis
10:07
about Mother Nature playing a part in this thing because
10:13
Sunday didn't look like it was going to be a clear runaway.
10:17
And you know, that's something to keep in mind.
10:19
Even if he is the favorite, he still has to deal with Mother
10:22
Nature. Right.
10:23
But you know, every time any, any race, from GP to US to World
10:27
Super Bike, when it's a wet race, even the back guys have
10:31
the back markets have a chance. Yeah, yeah.
10:34
And and that's what I'm saying. So it's not he's, he might win
10:36
the title. It's as I say, he'd probably win
10:38
the title. But you know, those guys on
10:41
those green and white bikes look pretty good too.
10:44
But how many? How many chances or how many
10:46
rounds is it going to rain? Well, I mean, listen, you know
10:53
us, us, us, us Islanders, you know what I'm saying?
10:56
They do some dances and they do some things and things happen,
10:59
man. I don't question it it it just
11:01
happened. I know Lewis know what I'm
11:02
talking about. Hey, we can you can try to do
11:07
the rain dance. Don't mean it's going to work.
11:11
Well, you know, let let's let's talk about it, dude.
11:14
Like Lewis said, the Ducatis look really good.
11:19
Yuri Montela. I think that is that right?
11:21
That might get his name right. Second place on the Ducati from
11:24
Barney. What's his not?
11:26
Not Batista. What's the other guy's name?
11:29
Babasati. Who?
11:32
No, no, he's on, he's he's on. He's on the Go 11 team.
11:35
What's Yeah, Montela, he's. On the barn.
11:39
Montela, Montela, I mean, he looks good.
11:41
He looks like he might be able to say, hey, man, I remember you
11:45
in the world would Bulaga. I think I can keep up with you.
11:48
He was looking he was looking real nice on the Ducati as well,
11:51
even though it's not a factory bike.
11:52
He was still and it's the first round.
11:55
So you never know. I do think you know those green
11:58
bikes and and even Val Fasari on the on the go 11.
12:02
These are guys that race with Bulaga in in Moto 3, Moto 2.
12:06
They ain't scared of them. They ain't scared of them,
12:09
right? Your thoughts, TJ?
12:11
Can anybody any of those other good bodies take them out?
12:14
We know Lowe's is out. So he's, he's, he's nursing his,
12:17
his fractured arm. I mean, yeah, I mean, I was, I
12:22
was looking forward to Ikalakawana, you know, giving
12:26
this shot. He he he rode pretty well.
12:28
I mean, he got 6th place. But yeah, I think Montella
12:32
Baldessari definitely have a chance to try to battle with
12:36
Bulgar. I mean, for anything, they're on
12:38
the same Ducati. I mean, well, they're on a
12:41
Ducati, but you know, so they they have a better chance.
12:45
It's the. V4 on at least.
12:47
Yeah, that's good. So yeah, it's all to Bulgar to
12:52
make a mistake. I mean, it is Phillip Islands,
12:54
the first race. I mean, wait till we go to the
12:56
next round and you have to do a whole nother setup and you do
13:00
got to come focus. There's there's nothing handed
13:02
to you. So he's going to have to have a,
13:05
a mindset for three races every weekend to try to do what top
13:09
rack did is get the 1st place lock on every time.
13:12
But it's going to be tough. I mean, overall that that last
13:15
race, like you mentioned that I thought he, somebody had him,
13:20
you know, because because of the weather, but somehow he swung
13:23
his way through. It didn't take him very long at
13:26
all and he got right to the front and just took off.
13:29
It was kind of impressive, but you know.
13:32
I I I think. Somebody's going to, somebody's
13:35
going to capitalize on that. He.
13:37
Was was definitely trying. I think if he had a couple more
13:40
laughs, it's going to be like, man, man, I'm on the run.
13:46
Lewis, man, what about these other Ducatis out here?
13:50
Baltazari, Montela, even Alvaro got on the podium as well which
13:56
which was which was pretty good to see.
13:58
Goal 11 Is this the only track that they can set up a Ducati
14:01
for? Because last year and only did
14:04
the same thing. No, I mean, I, I think they
14:06
could set up AI think they could set up a bike for almost any
14:09
track. But that's that's also a
14:11
question to ask for Bimoda, you know, what tracks of is B motor
14:15
going to struggle? What is the weaknesses in that
14:18
particular bike? Because on the Ducati side, the
14:21
Ducati doesn't have a ton of weaknesses.
14:23
You know, like realistically that bike will work well at
14:26
every track. And this this track specifically
14:30
is, is a fast corner sliding kind of track.
14:33
So maybe that works well for some bikes doesn't work well for
14:35
others. So it's going to be interesting
14:38
as the season goes on to see which bikes adapt to which
14:40
tracks. I think Ducati has the best,
14:43
best platform overall to perform at every single track.
14:46
So the Ducati boys, whether it be the Go 11 or the Barini or
14:52
the factory team, they should do well at more or less every
14:55
track. I'm interested to see what BIA
14:58
Mota's going to be doing. BMW didn't have a great weekend
15:02
this weekend. Oliveira cut the middleman out
15:04
and just took himself out this weekend in one race.
15:07
It was like so. So that didn't work out too
15:09
well. But again, it's Phillip Island.
15:12
It's a unique track, it's a fast track.
15:15
It's a track where you get to slide the bike a lot to get up
15:18
the get the speed. So it's got probably a little
15:20
bit of a different setup than other tracks.
15:23
So now let's go to a more conventional track where, you
15:27
know, the braking is a little bit different.
15:28
You're not sliding the bike up and down Luki Heights and around
15:32
all these bends and let's see who has this set up next week.
15:35
And you know, I think from week to week you're going to see
15:37
different players. I don't think it's going to be
15:39
the same players all the time. I think it'll be a couple of
15:41
Ducatis at the front of Biamoda in the top 7 or 8 and and Yamaha
15:48
right down at the bottom right where I kind of said they were
15:50
going to be man. Yeah, I mean, I just listen,
15:52
man, Speaking of Reese, man, I mean, what's going on there?
15:56
But let's talk about Vasani on the Vimodo.
16:01
He's in second place in the championship.
16:04
He seems to been pretty consistent.
16:07
I see Montela Tella at the same time, you know, he's he's 26
16:12
points. So Bulgu is way out front.
16:15
Do you think that the green and white bike has enough to to kind
16:20
of stay in second place? So you think it's just a matter
16:22
of time before the Ducati boys all figure it out and then
16:25
they're going to be 1234 and five, maybe even 6?
16:30
I mean, it could be a matter of time before they figure it out.
16:32
They're trying to figure out the double sided spring arm to get
16:34
the actual right set up, the right grip, consistency on grip,
16:39
trying to keep the heat in the tires.
16:41
So it's it could be a matter of time.
16:44
But I know they look really, really good out there.
16:47
I actually got a chance to catch it.
16:50
And I mean Bimoda, it's just all going to depend on how they set
16:53
their bikes up and where they're going to set.
16:55
I mean, you know, this round they look good.
16:59
Let's see what they can do for the next round.
17:01
I mean, it's it's one, it's one round.
17:04
It's not numerous rounds yet. So we can't judge them just off
17:08
of 1. So we'll see what they do next
17:11
round. All right, let's talk about girl
17:16
loss since we're talking about Bimoda.
17:18
I mean, they, he looked pretty bad.
17:20
It's tough when you're the only bike on the grid.
17:22
Lewis, you mentioned that last week.
17:25
It's pretty tough. I mean, is it more or less we
17:27
should just be happy that we have a guy in the US in on the
17:31
world stage? Or is this you know, all these
17:35
Kawasaki owners need to start writing letters to Kawasaki
17:38
Kawasaki to to to do more? I mean, it's nice to have an
17:43
American there, but it's, it's, it's, it's sad to have an
17:46
American struggling so much. A guy that has a ton of talent
17:51
because, you know, he had to kind of settle for the ride that
17:54
he got on a bike that's not getting any kind of development.
17:57
I mean, just down the road, there's a company that's using
17:59
the same exact motor in a different setup and both of
18:03
their guys are finishing in the top 7 and and you've got the
18:08
same exact motor. But your setup is so antiquated
18:12
and the company that you work for that makes that motor is not
18:15
investing any money into your team.
18:17
So you have to go out there, ride around by yourself.
18:19
You don't have a second person to try to, you know, get
18:22
information or try multiple setups to see what works.
18:25
Like you're the one year you're a one man crew man.
18:28
It's almost like he's a privateer racing in a in a
18:32
professional league at this point, you know, and it's sad
18:34
because I want to see Garrett Gerloff succeed.
18:38
I know we know he has a talent. We've seen him struggle, but
18:41
we've also seen him fight at the front.
18:43
But if this is what he's kind of be going to be reduced to, I'd
18:47
rather him find a ride back in the US and just come back to the
18:51
US. As much as I want to see an
18:52
American in World Super Bike, I don't want to see an American
18:54
backmarker knowing that, you know, the limitation is the ride
18:57
that he's on, not the rider himself.
19:00
Right, right. A lot of TJ, man.
19:02
I mean, you heard what Lewis said.
19:04
I kind of feel that way. But when you look at them Yamaha
19:07
boys, girl off is like, look, man, there's only six Ducatis.
19:11
Where am I supposed to go? Yeah, I mean, I I think he gave
19:16
a good fight and it just shows like, I mean, his first, the
19:21
first race here in 11th and then going to the Super Bowl, I
19:24
thought he did really well. He had a great start.
19:27
He maintained his spot. You know, he finished in 6th
19:30
place. And then, you know, story tells
19:34
that a longer race distance that they can't handle it.
19:37
So like, you know, they didn't have it the third race moderate,
19:41
it was raining, but still the finish in 10th, that just kind
19:45
of shows you where they are and long, long distance racing and
19:49
recalled it last last week when we talked about it that Kawasaki
19:53
finished in and 10th is like a win.
19:54
So but yeah, it's a via solo right out there and do what he
19:59
did. I thought it was good.
20:00
I mean, and the Yamaha boys, they said they like they need to
20:04
step up as well. I mean, Carol did a little
20:07
better than them, so. Right, right.
20:09
Reese Man, if you had Girl Off's number on speed dial, you tell
20:13
him to come back to the States. Technically I do have a number
20:17
on speed dial for one last thing I heard I mean same thing like
20:22
Lewis says and tji mean just with a you know, as a one rider,
20:28
what what can you do? You have no nothing to bounce
20:31
off. You have no idea, no nothing.
20:33
It's just you, just a one man crew and for the last time I
20:37
heard, they're really not giving him any more product.
20:42
As you know, run what you got. That's it.
20:44
It's pretty much that's what I hear that is going to run what
20:47
he got. There's no more, you know, not
20:49
that much. So he he's out there alone and
20:51
it's sad to see an American back there and not getting the help
20:55
that he could use. I mean, we all know what the kid
20:58
can do. And you seen him over here and
21:00
run and you seen him when he first went to world super bike
21:02
on the Yamaha. He was very well and then he had
21:05
that mental labs running the top rack and that's when it kind of
21:08
just went, you know, backwards. But you all know what the kid
21:12
can do. Yeah, yeah, for sure.
21:16
So Kawasaki, next I'll put another bike on the grid.
21:18
Let's make this thing happen. Let's talk about the the not so
21:22
elephant in the room, BMW, Petrucci and Oliveira.
21:28
I mean, you know, last year and the year before and the year
21:31
before, this is kind of where BMW has been.
21:36
You know, I think for Danilo and for Oliveira, these two guys are
21:40
new on the BMWI think they get a pass.
21:44
You know, when you look at where they finished compared to Kawi
21:47
and the Yamahas and Hondas and stuff like that, this didn't
21:51
hear like this might be a win. I mean.
21:53
You know, why are we giving them a pass, though?
21:55
Because last week you were saying how Petrucci and many of
21:58
the people that commented were saying how Petrucci has been
22:01
around for a long time and this is a great opportunity for him.
22:05
He's not a new rider. He been he been riding in World
22:08
Super Bike for a minute. You know how the tires work.
22:10
And that bike won the championship last year.
22:12
So why can't he win? Oh, because he is talented.
22:15
He. Didn't let me finish.
22:16
It was a pass or right, you know, no.
22:19
Pass or it's a fail. And it's a fail.
22:22
Ain't no pass. You don't.
22:23
You don't get a pass, man. You don't get a pass.
22:26
What what I'm saying to you is when you have the Ducatis who
22:29
pretty much dominated the top five position and outside
22:32
Bassani BMWs kind of 10th to 8th.
22:39
Yeah, but last year it was every race it was in the top three.
22:43
Yeah, but there was one just in the top three.
22:45
Then I there's two close together, closer together.
22:47
I don't. Want to?
22:49
Pass So can let me ask you a question.
22:50
Is it the bike or is it the rider?
22:54
Also new bike this year so we can't compare.
22:55
Bikes. It's what this, this what is
22:58
different? The Wing.
23:00
One new bike it's. The rider, sure.
23:03
That's just like the guy that was arguing with me talking
23:06
about some BMW the top bike. I'm like when and where besides
23:10
with top rack? So, so you got you.
23:13
Do you guys get what I'm saying here?
23:15
What are your thoughts on BMW? They got some work to do.
23:21
They got some they they got some work to do.
23:23
I mean, like it's obviously I think what top rack had two
23:27
years on the BMW and then I mean he dominated both years, but
23:31
they're not top right for sure. They they also a lot older.
23:36
And it's definitely an adjustment going to our BMW as
23:40
far as everybody always says. But yeah, I thought it was
23:44
pretty cool watching them battle each other going back and forth,
23:48
but I didn't really do no good. But I feel like they are top 10.
23:56
So it's better than being way in the back.
24:00
But for BMW sake, they probably just like they missed out
24:05
breakfast. Sure, because they used to wince
24:08
and they're saying it right now, so I'm sure they're off to a
24:11
best time in mind. There you go, TJ.
24:14
Glass half full. Now let's talk about the other
24:16
half of the Glass Lewis. MDMDMDMDMD no, you're you're
24:21
jumping on to a bike that won the championship last year.
24:24
Expectations are going to be really high.
24:26
You got 2X photo GP riders. Again, expectations already like
24:31
all these things are setting the expectations very, very high.
24:35
And did they deliver this weekend?
24:38
They didn't deliver this weekend.
24:40
You know, Oliveira obviously had his issues.
24:46
They weren't major issues, but you know, now you kind of take a
24:50
step back and they're like a 8th, 9th, 10th place bike.
24:53
And that's where BMW used to be outside of top rack, outside of
24:58
top rack, everybody else that was on the BMW was a 89 10th PL.
25:01
bike. So I this is a little bit like a
25:04
Marquez syndrome, hiding the deficiencies of the bike by
25:07
having a rider that's incredibly talent and can ride around those
25:10
deficiency. It's what Marquez did on the
25:12
Honda and nobody else can do. And it's what Top Rack was able
25:17
to do on the BMW and nobody else can do.
25:19
And even a great rider is limited by the bike he's on
25:22
because look at Top Rack right now in World Super Bike.
25:25
You know, we have a commentator that didn't listen to the entire
25:29
podcast and made a comment on a clip and I corrected him and he
25:34
said, well, tires don't make that big a difference.
25:36
Yeah, Top racks in World in Moto GP right now.
25:40
And he's saying I can't, I can't do that on these tires.
25:44
So tires do make a difference and and moving, you know, you
25:48
got a great guy. He moved to a different platform
25:50
is not working for him and it's a subpar platform.
25:53
He's on a Yamaha and everybody on a Yamaha Moto GP is
25:55
struggling 17th place or lower even for like Fabio Quadararo.
26:01
And then now, but we got two guys that stepped into top racks
26:04
place on BMW and they're not providing the results that I
26:07
think BMW is expecting. BMW is expecting a lot more than
26:11
8th, 910th place, right? And, and these guys have had
26:15
some really good times in Moto GP.
26:18
So they're not, they're not slouches by any stretch of the
26:20
imagination for sure. What are your thoughts, little
26:24
Reese, on, on the BMW situation? You know, should the BMW family
26:33
throw some more money at at the racing program and get some more
26:37
bikes on the grid? I think they're sitting at like,
26:40
you know, 19 Billy or something like that.
26:42
So they got some money to spend. I mean, you got some money to
26:47
spend, maybe 2, maybe another one, maybe two more.
26:50
I mean, but I mean, you're still trying to figure out chassis
26:54
tires set up for suspension there there's a numerous
27:00
scenarios you can throw at this bike.
27:02
And you know, for everyone that says like, like Lewis, like
27:05
Lewis said, tires play the biggest difference.
27:09
It's that is a huge, huge factor.
27:12
Tire, tire, tire. You know, you know, we you can
27:16
take two of our tires compared to two world super bike tires,
27:21
our tires look like bowling balls like like it's, it's hard.
27:26
It's a hard compound. Or you could take, you know, the
27:29
two Pirellis that when we was over at Royal super bike, like
27:33
as soon as they came off and you set them, you know, on top of
27:36
each other and let it sit there for about a good 20 minutes, it
27:41
was stuck together like they were stuck together.
27:44
So it plays a factor and it don't ever let that, don't ever
27:50
let someone tell you that doesn't, but it does.
27:53
Do your homework, do your homework fans.
27:55
We love you. Do the homework guys.
27:57
Let's talk about World Super Sport before we we talk about
28:01
the upcoming round for Moto GP. Surprise, surprise, a Moto two
28:06
guy, 1st and 2nd place in the championship already.
28:09
I mean, if I'm, if I'm Chad and Chu, I mean I'm like I'm kicking
28:13
rocks because I'm pretty good. Chad was like, this is my year.
28:19
Is, is, is this a good thing for Moto 2 riders to be coming into
28:22
the Super sport? Because I mean, you know, it's
28:26
it's almost like NBA players, the bench players coming back to
28:30
college and balling. Yeah.
28:34
I mean you, if you're saying that, then you would say Olivera
28:36
and Petrucci would be leading, right?
28:39
Oh well, give them time, Give them time.
28:42
What, another five years? No, no, no, no, no, it was
28:48
earliest day one like we'll talk.
28:49
We'll I'll change my mind by the fourth round.
28:56
But what are what are your thoughts on on what arenas has
29:00
done? Because he he he hadn't won a
29:02
race since 2020 in Moto 3 when he won the championship.
29:05
So this is a guy. I mean, I noticed that this is
29:07
tough to be not run for limit that many years and get nothing.
29:11
Go home with nothing every year. Honey, how did you do?
29:14
I got nothing. Wasted another weekend.
29:19
So you missed the family. You missed all of our special
29:22
events for nothing. Listen, man, it's this
29:25
motorcycle race is not for the faint of the heart as I've
29:27
heard, but what are you guys thinking on what Arenas has done
29:31
and Macia, who's who's who he put his second overall.
29:37
What are your thoughts on those two guys?
29:39
This this brings me back to all the veteran Moto 2 guys that
29:44
need to get the hell out of Moto 2.
29:46
If you see that you have no pathway to Moto GP, leave Moto 2
29:51
unless you're making bank. Unless you're making 3400K to
29:54
ride a Moto 2 bike and finish in 7th, 8th place year after year
29:59
after year, leave Moto 2 and go to World Super Sport.
30:02
Look for other opportunities. Because, you know, as a racer, I
30:05
don't want to show up every weekend knowing I have no chance
30:08
of winning or, you know, do it. Aaron, connect on be what you're
30:13
going to be 38 years old racing 17 year olds.
30:16
Like at a certain point, like, dude, leave.
30:19
You're not going to GP. You got too many tattoos.
30:21
Nobody in GP is going to hire you.
30:24
Go to world super sport where they like tattoos and and get
30:28
some championships there. Like at a certain point, like
30:31
if, if it's not a money thing, if you're truly in it for money
30:35
and competition, if you're only in it for money, then stay in
30:37
Moto 2 all you want, man. You get to travel all over the
30:39
world, you get to eat for free, stay for free.
30:42
It's a great gig. I'm not, I'm not knocking it.
30:44
But if, if money and results are what you really are in it for
30:48
and the results aren't coming in Moto 2, find somewhere else to
30:51
go play, man. These guys in Moto 2 have a ton
30:54
of talent and you see what they're doing right now.
30:56
They're going to World Super sport and they're they're
30:58
schooling guys have been in world Super sport for a minute.
31:00
It's not like these guys are new so look at the different
31:04
opportunities. Don't become that 37 year old
31:07
Moto two guy that's been in the class for like 9 years.
31:12
Legal. What's his name?
31:14
Pizzani. Pizzani only does the Mizano
31:19
round about his 2006 motor Honda bike 2 motor 2 bike.
31:26
His wild card every year. Every year, man, look.
31:29
But at least it's only. I give him props, you know, he
31:31
does it, you know, like. And he makes it to Q twos most
31:34
of the times. Yeah, so he's still got speed
31:37
for a 30 something year old. So you know what I'm saying, but
31:40
that's a little bit different than going around to every
31:43
round. What are your thoughts, TJ on on
31:45
these two motor two guys and and even the rest of the field
31:48
because it looks like it looks like they're going to stretch it
31:50
though. Yeah, man, it's a good way to
31:53
start the season for sure. I know the first race there was,
31:59
I don't I don't know how the Super Sport paddock was going
32:03
on, but like the first race, there's a lot of riders that
32:05
went down just getting their field.
32:08
The second race is a lot cleaner, a lot smoother and it
32:11
was definitely good to see Arenas get his get a win, you
32:14
know, after getting 4th just missing the podium.
32:17
But the the both two guys looking good.
32:20
Not saying they're going to run away with it, but there's a
32:22
possibility. You know, it's just Phillip
32:25
Islands like it's it's a Fast forward track, hard to pass.
32:29
So a lot of tracks are way different.
32:31
The like we was talking about the weather changes a lot.
32:35
Think race 2 they had to come in the pit and change up and stuff
32:39
like that. So it was an interesting race,
32:42
but I think arenas is did very well.
32:47
But I want to say aren't you take it, I know that that's just
32:50
kind of his season. So let's see.
32:51
It's going to be interesting. But I was also looking at what
32:54
Lewis was saying that there's definitely a lot of opportunity.
32:57
There's about 202728 Raiders or something like that in the
33:02
field. So.
33:04
So it's a stacked field. Yeah, well, there's there's
33:08
there's one thing. Listen man, the Moto.
33:11
Kids are always gonna. Win Moto 3 guys gotta come
33:13
knocking at that door until they come knocking at the door.
33:16
The Moto 2 guys are safe so and there's not a lot of Moto 3 guys
33:20
coming up so but I, I feel you. It's you know, I think in any
33:25
sport it when you're in it, it's hard to know when to walk away
33:30
and I don't know how many people get it right.
33:33
So you know it it it is it's a tough thing, especially when you
33:37
haven't been at the top of the mountain.
33:39
You know, it's hard to walk away so but you know, the smart ones
33:43
will hopefully will you know, to make the Max Biaggi, some of
33:46
these other guys that left Moto GP and and made a name for
33:50
themselves in in the world super bike series and now they're
33:53
legends in that series. You know, they figured it out.
33:57
The Speaking of Moto GP, we got the first round coming up.
34:01
I don't even know where it's at. Is it in Thailand?
34:03
Is it that? Thailand.
34:04
Thailand, yeah, yeah, First round testing happened.
34:10
It looks like it's going to be a, like we said last season,
34:14
Aprilia, Ducati, maybe a Honda, maybe a KTM.
34:20
What do you guys looking at? I mean, we do, we help keep our
34:24
subscription for Moto GP. Is it going to be a fight to the
34:27
end or you guys feel like Marquez is going to just kind of
34:31
dominate and kind of just stretch the field, start with
34:34
TJ. It's just after watching all the
34:38
clips and stuff like that, I think it's going to be a really
34:40
interesting season because some riders are going to be concerned
34:45
about next year. Manufacturing can be signed
34:47
about next year and also this year.
34:50
So it's like different specs that they can be riding
34:54
different like Michelin or Pirelli tires, like different
34:57
packages want to select and what they want to put towards next
35:01
year and stuff like that. So I think once the first couple
35:05
of races and if it's, you know, whoever puts the best foot
35:09
forward is that's that's what's going to be I think it might be
35:12
Mark definitely a brilliant out there.
35:15
But yeah, I think it's going to be Ducati again, Mark Marquez,
35:19
possibly Alex again. I do want to see if Pekko can,
35:26
you know, be a part of the teammate and not be in the back
35:28
and cry all the time. So we'll see.
35:30
But I, I definitely want to see those John Mahon step up, but I
35:34
don't know, it's not going to be like people, but we'll see how
35:37
much they want to put into the season because 2027 is a big
35:41
year also. Right, right.
35:44
What are your thoughts, Reese man, on the on the the upcoming
35:48
season? You know is it, is it, you know,
35:52
Ducati all the way or what are your thoughts?
35:56
I mean, Ducati does have the the most likely chance, but KTM is
36:02
knocking at that door after KTM I think is, I mean, yeah, KTM,
36:06
Aprilia, but I think KTM is going to be right behind
36:10
Aprilia. I think Hondas and Yamaha, that
36:13
that's going to be my prediction.
36:16
But I think Ducati does have the the most likely chance to win
36:22
out of anybody. But never know.
36:26
You never know what Aprilia, I mean, those guys are pretty much
36:31
beating the door down. You know, it's it's sad to see
36:36
the blue guys back there. It's definitely sad and to see
36:38
top right back there and frustrated and watching testing
36:42
and and watching Fabio give the middle finger to the bike is
36:45
kind of it's it's heartbreaking, but hey, that is what it is.
36:50
Acosta's influencing cuatro. What's going on?
36:53
Man? Come on.
36:54
This can't be good. Not for the sport.
36:58
Lewis, man, what? What are you looking to see this
37:02
coming round? I mean the 2026 Ducati's.
37:05
Is it safe to say we won't know until the race starts how these
37:09
bikes are going to do the testing is not enough info to
37:13
say like we it's a foregone conclusion that Ducati's going
37:16
to run away with it or Aprilia is even stronger than last year.
37:20
But, you know, it kind of seems like it.
37:22
I, I think we're going to pick up right where we left off last
37:25
year. You know, I think we're going to
37:26
pick up with Marquez, Marquez and, and.
37:31
Marquez Oh, my bad, my bad. Marquez, Marquez and Baz being
37:36
like right at the top three. Petco in the top five, like I
37:41
think it's going to be the same the usual suspects that we had
37:44
last year towards the end of the year.
37:45
I think everybody's picking up. I think Aprilia is, is still
37:50
coming on strong. You know, I think now they're
37:55
almost neck and neck with Ducati.
37:57
I, I still see a couple of places where the Ducati could
37:59
possibly gap the the Aprilia, but I think the Aprilia has
38:05
caught up to the Ducati more than anybody else and we saw it
38:08
at the end of last year and I think they're just carrying that
38:10
momentum to this year. So we'll see after that.
38:15
I think KTM and Honda are actually on par with each other
38:19
now. KTM has the horsepower, but
38:20
Honda has, it seems they have the better rhythm.
38:24
You know, they're not just depending on horsepower.
38:26
They're actually good in a straight line there.
38:29
It seems to be the bike. The bike has become a lot more
38:31
stable and braking and it's getting better drive.
38:35
So the rear grip is is a lot better.
38:37
So I think Honda and KTM are almost on par.
38:42
I mean, KTM is still by far the fastest bike in a straight line.
38:45
I saw some of the speed trap times for the KTMS and it's
38:48
ridiculous man that that bike's got to have like 270 some
38:52
horsepower. They just can't figure out how
38:55
to keep it on the track. No, no.
38:58
And they can't figure out how to stop it.
39:01
Parachute man, parachute parachute guys.
39:05
I mean, you know, we talked about some of the the the
39:07
manufacturers, but you know, just thinking about it, you guys
39:11
are talking, we're talking, you know, all six Ducati riders have
39:15
a chance to be in the in the top 11.
39:18
You know, we'll say all four KTM's.
39:20
It's fair to say I think all four KTM, not KTM, sorry, are
39:23
all four pro years I think have a chance to be in there as well.
39:26
It's definitely I think I guru is going to be there.
39:30
I think raw is going to be there.
39:31
Obviously Bez and I think Martine is going to be there
39:34
because he ain't got no choice. He got to say face and it's safe
39:37
to say 2 of the Hondas are going to be there and two of the KTMS
39:40
are going to be there and Marini and and Mia and Vinales and
39:46
Acosta. Is that about right guys for the
39:47
top 12? That sounds about right.
39:49
Yeah, sounds about right. Unless somebody takes out
39:52
mirror. Mirror crashes out.
39:56
It's tough for for for for Yamaha.
39:59
So what does Yamaha do in this situation?
40:03
You know, as, as, as you know, you guys say that quarter hour
40:07
gave gave the bike the finger and all this Jack Miller, I
40:10
mean, I think he's happy to be a Moto GP even though it's a
40:12
contender. What do these guys, I mean,
40:15
rinse seemed a little bit happy, but like, you know, what is the
40:18
mindset going to be going into the season when you're when when
40:21
you're at the back of the grid? I mean, is it just every weekend
40:24
you're going for a Hail Mary? Pray.
40:28
Pray, pray for rent. I mean, you know, once you get
40:34
in race mode, a lot of things are different.
40:38
So you can have the right setup and still not pull it out.
40:41
So it's just the race distance, you know, that's that's the the
40:45
fact that he was just hopefully. Yeah, they have to pray.
40:51
I feel bad for him. Like Alice, Renz always has a
40:54
happy mindset. He's always just OK with
40:57
everything. I never really seen him upset.
40:59
Fabio is definitely done. I'd.
41:01
Be happy to man, I finish dead last every week if I get that
41:05
check. Right after having a broken leg
41:08
instead of variety, it's just like, yeah, this fight's OK, you
41:11
know, but I think it's important knowing that you have a teammate
41:15
here you want to like be together, but your enemies at
41:19
the same time, it's important to get top ranked up to speed in a
41:24
way just he he probably has a chance to help out Yamaha, you
41:28
know so. I mean, Reese, listen, if these
41:32
boys called you and say give them some advice, what kind of
41:35
advice do you give these guys for the season?
41:36
Is it like, you know, do you pick the certain races where you
41:39
say these are the ones that you know, we should be able to fight
41:42
for the top five in? These are the ones we can fight
41:44
for the top 12 in to have some benchmarks?
41:48
Do we is it, is it is it where the whole team has to come
41:51
together, all four bikes and the riders and everybody to kind of,
41:55
you know, try to get one bike and have a good one round?
41:59
Pray to the rain God, start doing the rain there.
42:01
And that's what you can do. That's the best we can you can
42:04
do right now. That's all they got.
42:07
Unless they show some kind of miracle, a hidden jewel or
42:13
something, you know, a hat trick that they're hiding something.
42:17
But honestly, I don't see it. I don't I don't know what to do
42:21
with them right now. Did they did they wait too long
42:24
moving to the V4? The problem with that vote, the
42:29
problem with always what I hear with the Japanese is they they
42:31
have they're like old school and they they're like, if it's not
42:35
broke, don't fix it. And I'm like, bro, that shit is
42:38
broke. Like fix it been broke for
42:41
years, fix it. But that's their thing.
42:44
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And then they never wanted to
42:47
fix it. And now, I mean, this goes back
42:49
to what Rossi days where he was complaining about it when he was
42:52
on it. So they said, yo, there's it
42:54
coming. Is the fix TO850CC?
43:00
The fixes just sit out of here and figure this thing out.
43:03
Save them. Figure this out.
43:07
Or they could just ask Suzuki to buy the old Suzuki GSXRR race
43:12
bike, which was better than the Yamaha five years ago, and just
43:16
race that thing with Yamaha body work.
43:19
Good. Yeah, you're right.
43:20
It's still. Finished better than what they
43:21
got now. Like I'm blue but Jesus Christ
43:26
man, what in the world are y'all doing?
43:29
And I'm going to GP and I'm looking like, yeah, we're going
43:32
to eat crow in this one. Well, I mean, we, we already
43:36
started to see the rumors swirling of people jumping ship.
43:41
And I think even, I think before the first round, we'll have a
43:46
couple more people confirm contracts and probably before
43:49
Koda, we'll have some more people confirming contract.
43:51
I think the teams are going to try to lock in, like I said, the
43:55
guys they really want as early as possible.
43:58
So I, I see a lot of changes. I, you know, according to the
44:02
rumor mill, I see Alex Marquez and Benales being factory KTM.
44:06
That seems to be like the prevailing rumor right there.
44:10
I see Acosta and Marquez being the Ducati squad, which would be
44:15
a first. I think it would be the first
44:17
time ever that there's a non, there's not one Italian on a
44:20
Ducati factory team since Ducati went GP racing.
44:25
I don't think there's ever been a time that there wasn't an
44:28
Italian plus somebody else. Right, right, right.
44:33
I'm trying to think. I mean, it would have been, it
44:36
was Casey. Who else?
44:37
You know, Casey Stoner and somebody.
44:39
Edwards, not Edwards was there. Hayden was there with what?
44:42
Ross. Rossi.
44:43
Who was Hayden with after Rossi? Was it?
44:49
Because check. Well, Checke was there, right?
44:53
That's too early on. That's early, early.
44:57
But that was that was Biaggi. There was there's always been an
45:01
Italian on the Ducati for as long as they've been in GP.
45:04
Yeah, it's Capparazi for a while, so.
45:06
So there's two Spaniards on the Ducati, that's going to be a
45:09
first and that's just further going to show that Ducati is a
45:13
German company with with Italian bragging.
45:17
Now, let me ask, I think I've asked this a few times and I
45:22
mean, I can I you know, I think Lucas should stay with with on
45:25
the factory seat, but Mia should definitely have a factory seat
45:29
with with, with Honda, right? I mean, you know, it's like who
45:33
who are you going to take from Yamaha to to replace Mia?
45:36
One guy that has a championship and he has a championship.
45:40
I mean, you know. I I think mirror, mirrors.
45:45
If, if y'all, if I'm sorry, the Honda's going to keep one guy
45:48
that's on the bike now it would be Mir.
45:51
You got a world champion. He's the he's the number one
45:54
rider. He's the team leader, you know,
45:57
he's the one that's helping as much as everybody else develop
46:00
the bike. Like, I think if anybody's going
46:01
to keep a factory seat between him and Marini, it's going to be
46:05
Mir. But Marini had a better year
46:07
than him last year. Yeah, he did.
46:09
And Marini took one for the team.
46:10
He got hurt at Suzuka for Honda, right?
46:13
Which is. The motivation to win it all.
46:16
But yeah, I don't know, man. I think Honda should keep Mir
46:22
and Luca because it's really tough to.
46:24
I mean if they're going to sign a contract it should be at least
46:27
wait till the summer break. Like that's if they're going to
46:31
do something, then if they don't pull the trigger right away,
46:34
then it's probably something that's going to wait until like
46:36
right before or after the summer break and they'll see who's
46:40
who's, who's doing better this year.
46:42
Right, right. But I still, you know, if I had
46:44
to, if I had to bet right now, I would pick Marini over, I mean,
46:47
Mir over Marini. Right, right.
46:49
Yeah, I agree. What are your thoughts, TJ, on
46:51
that? I mean, should Honda keep their
46:52
lineup? Should they be looking at
46:54
Quadraro? I mean, because I mean outside
46:56
of KTM really, you know, I don't know where Quadraro could go
46:59
because I don't. I mean Honda is better than the
47:01
Yamaha for sure, but I mean. I think I think Honda probably
47:07
pulled the trigger kind of later than all the other
47:10
manufacturers. They probably want to see who
47:13
they can pull before making a decision.
47:16
If they could get a quarter round or something like that,
47:19
then they would. But I think they should
47:21
definitely keep Mayor over Luke and Marini.
47:24
I like them both, but even though Mayor has crashed a lot,
47:27
I think he has a smoother riding style and I think if he went
47:32
somewhere else, he would definitely shine.
47:36
Yeah. I just, I just think they're
47:38
just just, it's going to hold out to see if they can do
47:40
something better. But I don't know if that's going
47:42
to happen. Just just that may.
47:45
Them boys are going to have a 10% rule, whatever they offer
47:48
anybody else, give us 10% less because we don't want to go to
47:50
Yamaha. You know, I mean, Christy, at
47:54
this point it's going to come down to who's going to save
47:56
Honda the most money, right? Because like, unless they can
47:59
get the KTM, because I do think Aprilia is locked up.
48:02
And maybe I mean, if, if Mark Alex Marquez just go to the KT
48:09
and then Garcini's open, right? But like, what are your
48:12
thoughts, Theresa on on, you know, what Honda should do and
48:15
you're looking at Luca and and Mayor and and Quatararo and
48:19
whoever else that might be trying.
48:20
I mean I think Quataro is the only person that can go to the
48:22
factory seat anyway for Yamaha at this point.
48:28
I mean, at this point it's kind of up in the air.
48:30
I mean, both of the guys are real good.
48:32
I mean, like Lewis said, Marini, Marini, Mir is one that can help
48:38
develop the bike. He is one versus, you know,
48:42
Valentino's half brother. But I would keep Mir.
48:48
I mean, honestly, would, you know, do I think he's better?
48:55
Yes and no. And it's just like, yeah, like I
48:58
speak about the NBA. Do I really count the
49:00
championship in the bubble A championship?
49:03
No. Oh my goodness.
49:06
I'm a competitor, you know, so do I really can count mirrors
49:10
Championship and. Listen man, the the the bubble
49:14
was pure basketball. Pure basketball, No distraction.
49:19
And the people that held it together came out on top.
49:24
You can't even believe that you're dying on self that's.
49:27
What they said. When half when half the teams
49:29
weren't even there. I mean, nobody wanted to.
49:32
They didn't want to be alone. Listen, I'm a I'm a competitor
49:37
through and throughout. If I'm going to say I'm the
49:39
best, I want to beat the best, right?
49:42
That's it. Yeah, as as we've always said,
49:44
you got to show up and you got to finish.
49:46
The players that didn't show up made a choice.
49:50
Right. And I get like I said, it was
49:52
mirror, I mean a championship. It is, it's it's it's a win.
49:58
I see what you know, it is. It is a win, but it has a
50:02
hashtag next to it. It has.
50:03
It has a asterisk next to it man.
50:05
Yeah, but you know what? The check that he cashed for
50:07
winning the championship, it also has asterisk next to it,
50:10
says champion bonus. So he doesn't care if you think
50:14
he's got a asterisk he gets in the record book.
50:17
It still shows Johan Mir, Moto GP champion.
50:21
They also showed that, showed that you can.
50:26
I know it's a short season, but it showed that you don't have to
50:29
be on the podium all the time. When they cherish it, it's kind
50:31
of finished. Slow and steady man.
50:34
He took that turtle style. I can't do it.
50:39
I can't give it man, I'm sorry. Can't do that first Marc Marquez
50:44
though, Marc. Marquez yeah, I can't give you
50:48
the full win. I can give it to you because,
50:50
yeah, it's in the record books and you won, right?
50:53
But deep down inside of me, me being a competitor, I mean,
50:56
like, yeah, I didn't that. I don't want that.
50:59
No, no, I get it. I get it.
51:01
You you do. I think, you know, if, if you're
51:04
used to dominating, you're going to do that.
51:06
And and you know, there's only a few people in most sports that's
51:09
that's able to do that. And, and it's a tricky, but you
51:12
know, it is, it is a win. So we'll we'll leave it there.
51:15
No, it's a win. I give them that.
51:17
It's a win. I'm not going to take it.
51:19
You know, and you, you think it's a good idea from the state
51:21
Honda to keep them because like I said, I don't I it's almost
51:25
like unless they're trying to save money, it's like it's
51:27
almost like a lateral move if they were to get rid of both
51:29
those they're riders. For two new riders, right, I
51:32
would keep them because they can take less money and then they
51:35
can actually ride the bike. You know you got two, you still
51:38
have two good riders, but they can take less and you can save
51:42
money and use that money in development.
51:44
Right. And at least you can see at, I
51:46
mean, I don't know if people are going to be signing a bunch of
51:47
one year deals for 27, but you know, you'll you'll see that the
51:53
you know, at the halfway through the season, which which
51:55
manufacturers have figured out the the 850CC bike and stuff
51:59
like that. Right.
52:02
Yeah. I, I think, I think a mere
52:05
Quadraro duo at Honda is a lethal combination because they
52:10
both have very similar riding styles.
52:12
They're very neutral in their riding.
52:15
They, they flow, they're smooth. I think they'll help develop a
52:19
bike in a way that makes it rideable for everybody else.
52:23
And if you look at the way Johann Zarko also rides, I mean,
52:26
now you got three guys that have almost the same identical style
52:29
of riding, which is very smooth on the brakes, smooth on the
52:31
glass, take corners almost identically the same way.
52:35
So they all are going to help develop a bike that all of them
52:38
can benefit from. So looking at it from a
52:40
mechanic's point of view, if I was going to invest my money,
52:43
plus you get the little extra twist of Honda giving Yamaha the
52:48
big gold bird and we're going to steal your number one rider.
52:52
Like 25 years ago you guys stole our number one rider.
52:56
I can, I can I? I can see that a little bit.
52:59
Petty bro Great. Yo Honda, come play the long
53:06
game. That's a long game.
53:09
You know, Speaking of Petty, before we pick, who's going to
53:13
pick our picks for the results of the first round?
53:17
Michael Jordan's driver won again back-to-back.
53:23
You know, from what I understand, the ratings is the
53:27
second highest from 20 years ago for Fox and NASCAR and stuff
53:32
like that. Michael Jordan starting to jump
53:36
on the camera and talk more as well, which is a good look for
53:40
the sport. Any thoughts on on, you know,
53:43
what he's doing for the sport of NASCAR?
53:46
TJ? Oh yeah.
53:50
I think it's really good. And I, I forgot what happened a
53:53
couple months ago, but like, it was like a lawsuit or something
53:56
that he spoke up about. So I think he's doing really
54:01
good for the sport. And I mean, obviously his name
54:04
carries himself also. So yeah.
54:08
And, and now his riders are winning.
54:10
I didn't see like the race itself, but it's really cool to
54:12
see that he got the results behind it and people can
54:16
actually kind of listen to him and it's like kind of bringing
54:21
more culture. Also, as you know, like, you
54:23
know, I think NASCAR is being predominantly like white sport
54:27
and a few mixed races in there, but it's good to just have, you
54:30
know, all cultures in it. So it's good to just hear him in
54:34
the sport and and Pop being a good cause.
54:38
Right, right. I I completely agree.
54:40
Reese, what are your thoughts, man?
54:42
You're you're you're in the South like me.
54:44
Yeah. You're are you a NASCAR guy?
54:46
NASCAR guy. A little bit I bet I started
54:49
there, but it's good to see, you know, Black History Month, black
54:53
owner wins. So it's kind of nice.
54:56
It brings a lot of culture to it.
54:57
I mean the controversy that they had with the lawsuit that he was
55:01
going up against and now and they come win.
55:05
So it it's almost like a you know, you know, fresh air, you
55:10
know, to see that, you know, just to bring something into it
55:13
and somebody else and not the same people or something
55:16
different and that he's bringing a different culture, a different
55:20
side to it. I mean, you seen him when like
55:24
he's in almost, I think it was in a sweat suit gear.
55:26
You know, he's not like a a normal owner owner in the suit
55:30
tie and everything else. You know, he's pretty much in
55:33
his jumpman gear. So it's kind of nice to see
55:35
that. Listen, and I'm going to ask
55:37
Lewis this because he's the numbers guy, is it more a win
55:41
for Jordan or win for NASCAR because he it is a free
55:45
publicity for his gear? I I don't think he needs any
55:50
publicity for his gear. Man.
55:52
Everybody knows what Jumpman is. It's been around for 3540 years
55:55
now. People been rocking it forever.
55:57
Like it's, you know, that's I, I mean, it's one of the most
56:00
iconic logos out there. That NASCAR money is still some
56:03
good money, man. But here's the thing, you know,
56:05
how much of this lawsuit, you know, has the lawsuit caused
56:11
NASCAR to maybe, you know, not be as I don't know, like, you
56:18
know, I, I know they've won the, the, the race is outright.
56:21
There hasn't been any controversy.
56:22
There's been no rules. But it's like you win a lawsuit
56:25
and all of a sudden like your team is winning also like you
56:28
getting a little extra push from the back.
56:31
Are they giving you an extra quarter tank of gas?
56:34
Yeah, yeah, Bubba, Bubba Wallace won last year for him and stuff
56:36
like that. So yeah, yeah.
56:38
So he's not like I, I thought so too when I, when I, when I first
56:42
saw it and I was like, Oh yeah, no, he's won last year too.
56:44
No, but I, I mean, I, I personally like it for a, a
56:48
bunch of different reasons. I live in Charlotte.
56:50
The NASCAR Hall of Shame is literally 5 1/2 miles from my
56:54
house. You know, this is NASCAR country
56:56
here. And I've been to a lot of NASCAR
56:58
events throughout my life and living in the South and for the
57:01
almost the last decade, I've been to the Charlotte Motor
57:04
Speedway many times. And I'll tell you what, man,
57:08
when I go there over the past decade that the crowd has
57:14
changed. I'm not going to say
57:16
dramatically, but the crowd has changed.
57:19
And I like to see this change in the crowd because, you know,
57:23
it's a predominantly white sport.
57:24
I mean, dude, I still go to NASCAR races and see a hell of a
57:27
lot of Confederate flags. And you know what?
57:30
That's your flag. Fly everything else.
57:32
But as a brown person, I don't really like that flag, man.
57:38
Like I got a thing you understand I don't.
57:40
Like what it represents to me. Like it might represent
57:44
something to you, but it also represents something to me.
57:46
I'll let you fly it. I'm not going to tell you can't
57:48
fly to free country. Do what you want.
57:50
But when I look in the crowds now, especially here when I've
57:53
gone to the Charlotte Motor Speedway, we have a a pretty big
57:56
community of Latin people that have come to this area over the
58:00
past decade. And more and more these people
58:04
actually, we go to these NASCAR events.
58:06
We like Motorsports and I'm and anything that brings more color
58:12
to this type of sport and expands its reach to other
58:16
segments. I'm all about it, man, because I
58:18
think NASCAR is a fun sport, man.
58:20
It's a great day with you and the family.
58:23
You get, you know, it's it's motorsport.
58:26
It's like motorcycle racing. It's the same kind of
58:28
atmosphere. There's competitiveness, there's
58:30
cars, there's mechanics, there's just so much stuff going on,
58:34
man. And and, you know, I hope that
58:36
they can continue this streak because 1 Michael Jordan himself
58:40
is a brand. He's he's I think globally he's
58:44
a bigger brand than NASCAR. Like you can go to like a town
58:48
in Africa and be like Michael Jordan and somebody would be
58:51
like, yes, yes, yes. You tell them Bubba Wallace and
58:53
they'll be like, oh wow, a bubble?
58:56
What? Yeah, for sure.
58:59
So this is a guy that can take your sport and elevate.
59:02
I just wish Michael Jordan would like scrape off whatever change
59:05
he has in his couch and make a race team here in the US in
59:08
motorcycle racing because it wouldn't cost that much.
59:10
Man, I. Mean he did do it for some
59:13
years, but it it'll be nice and and he almost I think came to
59:18
Moto GP back in the day, but it would be it would be awesome to
59:22
see him with a team in the US for sure again.
59:26
It would be pocket change for him, man.
59:28
Like literally it would be pocket change for him.
59:31
You say how much I if I spend this, I'll payless taxes.
59:33
All right, let's do it. Yeah, trust me, Reese will tell
59:38
you motorcycle racing is a great way to launder money.
59:44
It's a great way to launder money out here.
59:46
Great way to launder money. Oh, that's it, man.
59:49
They're they're they're beyond the point that everyone is legal
59:51
now. There's no more that happening.
59:53
Come on. That's.
59:54
What you think? I was going to say that's what
59:56
you think this is on the back end.
59:58
There's some, there's some illegal stuff going on.
1:00:00
We just ain't going to say no. Doubt.
1:00:03
I see nothing. I know nothing.
1:00:06
So let's talk about what's going to happen this round.
1:00:08
So we, we, we have AB forever. Cool trophy coming at the at the
1:00:12
end of the year for whoever racks up the most points.
1:00:16
It's like fantasy football without the tech and without
1:00:19
switching out riders every week we just play the riders on air
1:00:22
and there you go So what we're going to we'll start off we'll
1:00:26
pick three guys each and we'll keep score if they if they win,
1:00:31
we'll keep your riders. It doesn't matter if they win or
1:00:34
not unless they get ADNF or or them they're not in this point
1:00:38
scoring place. If they get one point, they get
1:00:41
you get one point. If they get 10 points, you get
1:00:43
10 points. If they 25, you get 25 and and
1:00:46
there's no double Sprint like in club racing.
1:00:49
So you know, double points on the first round and the last
1:00:56
round. So everybody shows up.
1:01:00
That's how they get you, that's how they get you.
1:01:02
Good for that. So so we'll go around the horn.
1:01:05
We'll start with TJ unless you need some time to think about
1:01:08
it. Who are your three riders for
1:01:11
the tie Round I. See, no, I think I think I got
1:01:18
it. I think I got it.
1:01:19
No, I think I got it. So I'm going to go with mark.
1:01:23
I'm going with mark because I feel like he really wants to end
1:01:27
this and get another championship before going into
1:01:30
the new bike. So I'm going to go with mark #2
1:01:33
will be Bez and my number 3 is going to be Maverick.
1:01:39
And that was that's crazy. But I feel like on the first
1:01:42
race of the year Maverick does really well.
1:01:45
So I'm going to say Maverick. Mark Bez and then yell is huh.
1:01:54
My goodness, I I like that. I like that.
1:01:58
I Reese, what do you got? You got Mark.
1:02:05
Man, you're kind of like. I got Bez OK, and I hate to say
1:02:14
it, but I got your boy Pekka. And listen, you know what it is
1:02:20
when it comes to winning. I mean, but we're in a new
1:02:24
track. We're at Thailand, so maybe, you
1:02:27
know, the guy that shined on him and he does something magical.
1:02:32
Doubt it, but you know. The feelings back.
1:02:35
Come on, man, the boys are back together.
1:02:40
I What you got what you got. Little butt cheeks.
1:02:43
Marquez, Marquez, Bazecki. OK I I need AI need a first
1:02:49
initial at least. Mark no, let me start a
1:02:53
different way. Marquez, Mark Bazecki and then
1:02:57
Alex Marquez. OK, all right, there we go.
1:03:03
Man, this is tricky. That's got some.
1:03:08
I got to wait on the shows right now.
1:03:15
You know, I think he's, I think he's coming into this season
1:03:20
understanding that he can compete now at the top.
1:03:23
And I think that's all he ever needed was that whiff that you
1:03:26
know what, man, I I can't compete at the top.
1:03:29
I think he's already tasted blood in the water and he's got
1:03:32
nothing to lose. You know, he's got nothing to
1:03:34
lose, he's already got a contract, so all you got to do
1:03:37
is go out there and perform all. Right.
1:03:40
So what you're saying is Bezins? Bezins.
1:03:42
It doesn't matter the place. All right, all right.
1:03:44
I got Bez. I'm gonna go with Bez.
1:03:46
I'm gonna go with Pekko. And the third one is kind of
1:03:51
tough, in all honesty. And I'm not picking your boys.
1:03:57
Let's see, who, who am I going with for the third one?
1:04:01
That's tricky. Yeah, I'm going to Costa.
1:04:08
No Marquez. No, no Marquez at all.
1:04:11
Holy crap. Whatever you I like, whatever
1:04:16
you had to drink tonight, make sure you bring it to the next
1:04:19
round. I see you.
1:04:22
That's like saying Bula wasn't Bula wasn't going to win the
1:04:25
first race. That's how he said.
1:04:26
That's how he says it's like, crazy.
1:04:33
Challenged by Mother Nature. I didn't say, you know, buy a
1:04:35
bike. That, well, that's that's the
1:04:37
one thing here is they are going to be in Thailand and the
1:04:40
weather there is super unpredictable every year, man,
1:04:43
because it's so hot and humid this time of year that any
1:04:47
afternoon you can get a thunderstorm, a flash
1:04:49
thunderstorm break out and all of a sudden your dry race is a
1:04:51
wet race. And now that kind of throws a
1:04:54
lot of wrenches in the works. Or they could do the same thing
1:04:57
they normally do and push up the Jeep, the GP race and everybody
1:05:02
afterwards. Yeah, they could, But you know,
1:05:05
it depends how much rain is actually going to come down.
1:05:08
You know, if it's going to be a full washout day, then it just
1:05:10
is what it is. So I don't think it drizzles in
1:05:12
Thailand, man. Yeah, man, there's no spot.
1:05:15
Drift. It's a heavy downpour or dry
1:05:18
day. That's it.
1:05:20
That's it, that's it. Well, we'll see, man.
1:05:23
It's going to be an interesting first round, just like World
1:05:27
Super Bike for me. I was excited, even though I
1:05:29
didn't expect, I'll say this in World Super Bike.
1:05:31
I didn't expect all those guys, all the Ducatis to do as well as
1:05:34
they did, but it was good to see.
1:05:38
Again, I don't know what you drinking on, but I need some of
1:05:41
that drink. Oh yeah, I'm I'll be at Daytona,
1:05:47
so I'll I'll see you there. I'll see you.
1:05:49
I'm on my way all righty. I'll also be at Daytona, so I
1:05:52
will see both of you guys there and maybe we can have a side
1:05:57
better who we think is going to win the the 200.
1:06:01
All right, there you go. All right, there you go.
1:06:03
I'm I'm actually, I'm stuck in Boston, so I'll be watching
1:06:06
from. Boston, yeah, You stuck under
1:06:08
like 30 inches of snow, so. I'll keep.
1:06:13
I'll plug. In no no doubt, no doubt be a
1:06:17
good time. My name is Rex 45.
1:06:19
It's to be forever cool podcast. I want to thank TJ with two ears
1:06:23
and coffee Reese from Attack Yamaha, Luis Ortega there with
1:06:27
the numbers guys. Peace.
1:06:29
He's out.