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Pit Talk: MotoGP Mid Season Review · Pit Talk

0:00
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the very first episode of the
0:03
Speaker 1: Moto GP edition of Pittalk here on Fox Sports. I'm
0:07
Speaker 1: Rinita Vmuelin and adjoining me, it's my co host, the
0:10
Speaker 1: incredibly knowledgeable and always insightful Matt Clayton. Matt, it's great
0:14
Speaker 1: to have you here.
0:16
Speaker 2: Ronida, it's lovely to be here.
0:18
Speaker 3: And I will say off the top, if you're going
0:19
Speaker 3: to keep introducing me like that every single week, we're
0:21
Speaker 3: going to have a long and very successful relationship here.
0:25
Speaker 2: It's a what a great start.
0:27
Speaker 1: Perfect That's exactly what we want. But for those of
0:30
Speaker 1: you tuning in for the first time, Pittook has been
0:33
Speaker 1: the go to for Formula One fans and now we're
0:36
Speaker 1: bringing that same passion and analysis to the world of
0:39
Speaker 1: Moto GP. Matt, we have a lot to talk about
0:43
Speaker 1: so far this season because for me as a fan
0:46
Speaker 1: of the sport, it has just been so exciting from
0:49
Speaker 1: round one and.
0:50
Speaker 3: Katar it's been an unbelievable season and we're at this
0:54
Speaker 3: strange midpoint of the season now where we're nine out
0:57
Speaker 3: of twenty rounds in, which is not quite the halfway
0:59
Speaker 3: stage if we're going to be mathematically correct here, but
1:01
Speaker 3: we have had this break since the last race in
1:04
Speaker 3: Germany before we kick things off in Great Britain again
1:06
Speaker 3: in a couple of weeks time. But it feels like
1:08
Speaker 3: we've had three seasons worth of things happen in nine races,
1:11
Speaker 3: and it's kind of hard to know where to start
1:14
Speaker 3: because we've had these huge ebbs and flows in the championship.
1:17
Speaker 3: But where we stand at the halfway stage is that
1:20
Speaker 3: Pecovanay leads the championship, obviously on course to win his
1:23
Speaker 3: third straight Mooto GP world title, but it's nowhere near
1:26
Speaker 3: as straightforward as that. And you know, I'm sure we're
1:29
Speaker 3: going to touch on in this episode. There's just been
1:30
Speaker 3: so many things happening behind the scenes, let alone on
1:33
Speaker 3: the track that have really shaped the story of this year.
1:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely. I think with Peko coming into the second half,
1:42
Speaker 1: I'm going to call it the second half, because they
1:43
Speaker 1: are on their summer.
1:44
Speaker 2: Break, we'll call it the second half.
1:45
Speaker 1: We'll call it the second half. Coming in, he's got
1:48
Speaker 1: that ten point championship lead, and like you said, it's
1:52
Speaker 1: not as straightforward as what it seems throughout this year
1:55
Speaker 1: so far. Juge Martin, who is his biggest rival yet,
1:58
Speaker 1: and was his rival last year right up until the
2:00
Speaker 1: final round, has been chasing him. Or has had that
2:03
Speaker 1: championship lead sorry, and is chasing his first ever world title,
2:07
Speaker 1: and it seems like or Hee has maybe slipped into
2:11
Speaker 1: not quite the mentality that he's needed to maintain that
2:15
Speaker 1: championship leader status with a few incidents that he's had
2:19
Speaker 1: crashing out of the lead, which we will definitely discuss
2:22
Speaker 1: as well. But Peco Bannaya is well on his way
2:26
Speaker 1: to taking that the title. He is obviously re signed,
2:30
Speaker 1: He's staying with you, caddie for the next year. He
2:32
Speaker 1: does have a new teammate coming in, which doesn't seem
2:35
Speaker 1: to have flustered him in any way. He's keeping cool.
2:38
Speaker 1: He is the professor as he is known. But heading
2:41
Speaker 1: into the British Grand Prix and then the flyaway rounds,
2:43
Speaker 1: this is where we're really going to start to see
2:46
Speaker 1: who has not necessarily the skill, the talent, but the
2:50
Speaker 1: endurance to ride it out, stay strong and be consistent
2:53
Speaker 1: for the rest of the year.
2:55
Speaker 3: Well, I think you mentioned something really crucial there where
2:58
Speaker 3: you know he has a new teammate for next year,
3:00
Speaker 3: and you know Mark Marquez, he's not going to win
3:02
Speaker 3: this year's World Championship. He hasn't won a race yet,
3:05
Speaker 3: and I used the word yet because I think he
3:06
Speaker 3: is going to by the time this season's over. But
3:09
Speaker 3: he effectively took a timpin bowling ball knocked all the
3:12
Speaker 3: pins over at Migello when he basically said Pramak is
3:16
Speaker 3: not an option for me. I described it in a
3:18
Speaker 3: story for Fox Sports as it was like he took
3:20
Speaker 3: motor GP snow globe and just shook it crazily. And
3:23
Speaker 3: the flakes are still coming down from that because he
3:26
Speaker 3: rejected Jakati's preference to go to Pramac for next year,
3:29
Speaker 3: and there's been this crazy ripple effect that's happened since
3:32
Speaker 3: in that because he was going to become Bagya's teammate
3:35
Speaker 3: next year, Juge Martin pretty much rage quick Jacati and
3:38
Speaker 3: went to a Prillier. We knew that that was going
3:40
Speaker 3: to mean an AA Bastianini needed a new home. He's
3:43
Speaker 3: gone to katm We know Jack Miller's out there. There's
3:45
Speaker 3: been this all of these ripple effects from that one
3:48
Speaker 3: sentence that Marquez said. But I think the two things
3:51
Speaker 3: for me with Vanyai, He's got incredible momentum coming into
3:54
Speaker 3: this mid season break. He was probably one of the
3:56
Speaker 3: few riders that didn't want to break quite frankly, because
3:58
Speaker 3: he had this awesome run a form going in those
4:01
Speaker 3: last four rounds going.
4:02
Speaker 2: Out of the Saxon Ring.
4:04
Speaker 3: He probably needed a break because he was getting married
4:05
Speaker 3: in the break, So you've got to make time for
4:07
Speaker 3: things in life other than winning Motor GP racers. But
4:10
Speaker 3: he's got this amazing momentum. And I think you mentioned
4:13
Speaker 3: it before about Jugey Martin being his primary championship rival.
4:17
Speaker 3: Again this year, it kind of feels a bit like
4:20
Speaker 3: last year in that I'm not sure that Peko is
4:22
Speaker 3: the quicker rider of the two. I think over one lap,
4:25
Speaker 3: I think oll Hey Martin is the fastest guy motor GP.
4:28
Speaker 3: But has he really learned from last year where I
4:31
Speaker 3: felt that was a championship that Martin lost as much
4:34
Speaker 3: as Peco won because Martine would frash from advantageous positions
4:38
Speaker 3: or he'd be four seconds ahead and then run off.
4:40
Speaker 3: Remember the race in Indonesia where he threw it down
4:42
Speaker 3: the road that last round at the Saxon Ring, that
4:46
Speaker 3: felt to me like a race that he had to win,
4:48
Speaker 3: and he had it under control for probably eighty percent
4:51
Speaker 3: of it and then chucked it down the road with
4:53
Speaker 3: two laps to go, and not only did that flip
4:56
Speaker 3: the order in the championship standings where Peko takes that
4:58
Speaker 3: ten point lead into the breaker you mentioned, I think
5:01
Speaker 3: it's a bit of a oh no, is he going
5:03
Speaker 3: to do this again with Martin? And that kind of
5:06
Speaker 3: feels like the narrative of the season. But getting back
5:09
Speaker 3: to my initial point, because of the scattering of riders
5:12
Speaker 3: for twenty twenty five, it's kind of shaped how twenty.
5:15
Speaker 2: Twenty four is going to finish.
5:16
Speaker 3: I think because of the top six guys in the
5:19
Speaker 3: World Championship, Banya as the only guy staying with the
5:21
Speaker 3: same team next year, and I think that's going to
5:25
Speaker 3: start to play a part the further the season goes,
5:27
Speaker 3: because you know, as we know, Jorge Martin's moving to
5:30
Speaker 3: a new team and his team is moving to a
5:33
Speaker 3: new manufacturer. You add those two things together and I
5:36
Speaker 3: just wonder how long he's going to be able to
5:39
Speaker 3: sustain this championship fight.
5:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, when you just mentioned that, it's like a light
5:43
Speaker 1: bulb went off in my head. I didn't even think
5:45
Speaker 1: of the fact that they are all changing, right Pecko's
5:49
Speaker 1: the only one I guess has that. Not security is
5:52
Speaker 1: probably not the word, but that foundation there and I
5:55
Speaker 1: think johe Martin in his mind he can be world champion,
6:01
Speaker 1: right and we can see that you said, he is
6:03
Speaker 1: very very fast on the bike, is extremely talented. It's
6:06
Speaker 1: just these little one percentage that I fear is going
6:09
Speaker 1: to hinder him. But my other thought is Doucaddi aren't
6:13
Speaker 1: going to want him to take that number one plate
6:15
Speaker 1: with him over to a Prillier that they're going to
6:17
Speaker 1: want that to say at Jucaddi one.
6:19
Speaker 3: Hundred yeah, one hundred percent. I think that's going to
6:22
Speaker 3: be a primary storyline for the rest of the year.
6:25
Speaker 3: I don't think Doukatti are going to hinder Martine's championship chance.
6:29
Speaker 3: I don't think they're going to put roadblocks in his way,
6:32
Speaker 3: but the fact that he's leading to a Prillier, like
6:34
Speaker 3: you said, there's absolutely no way they want that number
6:36
Speaker 3: one plate going to a rival manufacturer, Littlone, a rival
6:39
Speaker 3: Italian manufacturer. Let's throw that into the mix as well.
6:42
Speaker 3: But there's the other part of this in that Pramak
6:44
Speaker 3: is leaving Ducadi to go to Yamaha for next year.
6:47
Speaker 3: It ends a twenty year relationship with between Pramak and Ducatti,
6:51
Speaker 3: so you can't imagine that Dukadi are going to be
6:53
Speaker 3: giving Pramak too many new bits for the rest of
6:55
Speaker 3: the season. Anyways, Well you're off to Yamaha. We're not
6:58
Speaker 3: telling you what we're doing for the rest of this year.
7:00
Speaker 3: It let alone after that, So you had the fact
7:02
Speaker 3: that Martin's off to one factory, Pramac's off to another factory.
7:06
Speaker 3: I think they're going to be two things that really
7:08
Speaker 3: hurt Martine's bid. Now we know he's fast enough, that's
7:11
Speaker 3: not in question. Can he be smart enough for the
7:14
Speaker 3: rest of the season, because to my mind, Banyall is
7:16
Speaker 3: one of those guys. He's a bit like a dog
7:18
Speaker 3: with a bone, like he doesn't make He doesn't make
7:21
Speaker 3: as many mistakes as used to. No one's infallible, but
7:23
Speaker 3: he makes so few mistakes and once he gets to
7:26
Speaker 3: the front of races. We've seen this a couple of times,
7:28
Speaker 3: Like he did it at Magello, he did it at
7:30
Speaker 3: Catalunya in the feature race. Once he got himself to
7:33
Speaker 3: the front. The whole weekend at Asen, no one saw him.
7:36
Speaker 3: He was just off on a different planet. He has
7:38
Speaker 3: those weekends where you think, I don't think this guy's
7:41
Speaker 3: going to beat himself, and when he's got a championship lead,
7:44
Speaker 3: you add the factor in there of Martine leaving and
7:48
Speaker 3: Pramac leaving. Other guys will win races, but I would
7:51
Speaker 3: be hugely surprised if Banyai doesn't win the World Championship.
7:54
Speaker 3: And Ronetta the thing. For me, this is kind of
7:56
Speaker 3: snuck up on a few of us. There's only three
7:59
Speaker 3: riders in the line thirty years that have won three
8:01
Speaker 3: World Championships in a row, and it's kind of like
8:03
Speaker 3: a who's who of Motor GP. It's Mick Dowan, It's
8:06
Speaker 3: Valentino Rossi, and it's Mark Marqueerres. If Banyay converts from
8:10
Speaker 3: where he is at the mid season break, he's the
8:12
Speaker 3: fourth guy in thirty years.
8:14
Speaker 2: To win a hat trick of titles.
8:16
Speaker 3: Maybe we need to reassess how good this guy is
8:19
Speaker 3: in sort of terms of Motor GP as a whole,
8:22
Speaker 3: because it's kind of snuck up on a few of us.
8:23
Speaker 3: It's like, well, this guy is starting to do something.
8:25
Speaker 3: It's pretty historical and the names I mentioned, those three
8:28
Speaker 3: are in everyone's top five for the greatest riders that
8:31
Speaker 3: have ever done it. So maybe we need to reassess
8:33
Speaker 3: what we think of Pecker.
8:35
Speaker 1: And then think about next year when Mark Marquez is
8:38
Speaker 1: Pecker's teamate on the GPN twenty five. What is that
8:42
Speaker 1: going to mean.
8:43
Speaker 3: I cannot wait for this. It's like, what's to say.
8:46
Speaker 3: It's like two foxes in the same headhouse. It's going
8:48
Speaker 3: to be absolute chaos because Banyai has got the stability
8:53
Speaker 3: in the continuity. He knows the TV, and he knows
8:55
Speaker 3: the management, and he knows the bike, and he also
8:58
Speaker 3: Marquez doesn't care, and he knows Marquez doesn't care because
9:01
Speaker 3: Marcus is going to come in and just do what
9:03
Speaker 3: Mark does and that he's going to just be completely ferocious.
9:07
Speaker 3: He'd be the last guy you'd want as your teammate
9:10
Speaker 3: when you've got this nice, sort of cushy situation where
9:13
Speaker 3: everything's perfect for you, and then you've got Mark Marquere's
9:16
Speaker 3: injury free. He's back in for me. He's like, all right,
9:20
Speaker 3: or you guys have been taking my world titles that
9:23
Speaker 3: I've addicated for the last five years while I've been injured.
9:25
Speaker 3: It's going to be absolutely awesome and on track it's
9:29
Speaker 3: going to be great. We've seen a couple of little
9:30
Speaker 3: flashpoints this year with these two already, but can you
9:33
Speaker 3: imagine what's going to be going on off track, like
9:35
Speaker 3: the decade management next year, there's going to be some
9:37
Speaker 3: serious investment in like parachute while going on, because there's
9:40
Speaker 3: going to be some proper headaches going on in that garage.
9:43
Speaker 1: Oh, I am so excited for twenty twenty five, but
9:46
Speaker 1: let's focus on twenty twenty four because there's still so
9:48
Speaker 1: much to happen. Speaking of Marquez and his year, he
9:52
Speaker 1: is on a year old bike. He's on the GP
9:54
Speaker 1: twenty three, and for those who might not understand them,
9:57
Speaker 1: the big differences in that we are seeing it because
10:00
Speaker 1: Marquez seems to be the only writer on the GP
10:03
Speaker 1: twenty three who is able to podium or be up
10:06
Speaker 1: the front and fight, and so we know that's Mark right.
10:08
Speaker 1: He is one of the greatest ever. But I'm interested
10:12
Speaker 1: to see going into the remainder of the season because
10:15
Speaker 1: at the start of this year there was so much
10:17
Speaker 1: high Marquez is known for favoring the any clockwise, the
10:20
Speaker 1: left hand majority circuits. Right we went to Coder, he
10:24
Speaker 1: wasn't amazing like we expected him to blow everyone out
10:27
Speaker 1: in the water because he was on a ju Cadti.
10:29
Speaker 1: Same thing in Saxon Ring this year. It was it
10:31
Speaker 1: was good, but it's not like this amazing Mark Marquez
10:34
Speaker 1: like we've seen in the past. I'm wondering if this
10:37
Speaker 1: summer break reset, knowing he's going to the Factory Ride
10:41
Speaker 1: next year, a if Dukeati you are going to start
10:43
Speaker 1: having him testing new parts, We're going to see his
10:46
Speaker 1: bit change a little bit more to match the Factory riders.
10:50
Speaker 1: But what's it going to be like as Mark goes
10:53
Speaker 1: into obviously the British Grand Prix, we've got the back
10:56
Speaker 1: to back in Mazzano and the Amelia Romana, you know
10:59
Speaker 1: the Saying one which is VR forty six home round
11:03
Speaker 1: essentially it's where they test, right, there's going to be
11:06
Speaker 1: big changes there. Then the flyway rounds where it comes
11:09
Speaker 1: into stamina because they're changing time zones basically every weekend.
11:13
Speaker 1: What do you think do you think we're going to
11:14
Speaker 1: see Mark really step his game up in the second half? Yeah?
11:19
Speaker 3: I think something you mentioned there was really key in that.
11:21
Speaker 3: You know, is he going to be testing bits of
11:23
Speaker 3: next year's biker will be getting more developmental parts. I
11:26
Speaker 3: think he'll get a lot of the pieces that may
11:28
Speaker 3: have gone to Martin. Quite frankly then that because he's
11:30
Speaker 3: obviously riding a factory bike in a satellite team. So
11:33
Speaker 3: the fact that Martin's leaving might inadvertently benefit Marquez in
11:36
Speaker 3: the short term. But you mentioned Cocher and you mentioned
11:39
Speaker 3: Saxon Ring. Cocher was super early in the season. I'm
11:42
Speaker 3: not sure Mark was one hundred percent ready to win
11:45
Speaker 3: a race at that point. As good as he is
11:47
Speaker 3: round there, we know how good he is on these
11:48
Speaker 3: anti clockwise tracks. And then Saxon Ringy smashed himself up
11:51
Speaker 3: on Friday and free practice with that terrifying crash at
11:54
Speaker 3: the waterfall was one of those ones that you recoil
11:57
Speaker 3: back from the couch when you see it. He still
11:59
Speaker 3: did through from getting out in Q one to finished second,
12:02
Speaker 3: you know, even with you know, saw ribs and broken
12:05
Speaker 3: hand and some other bits and pieces. So he's still
12:08
Speaker 3: no slouch around the Saxon Ring. But I reckon there's
12:10
Speaker 3: two races that are coming up the rest of the
12:12
Speaker 3: year where we'll find out. These are the two races
12:14
Speaker 3: I think he's most likely to with one of them's Arragon,
12:17
Speaker 3: he's always incredibly good around there. Another track that goes
12:20
Speaker 3: his preferred way, and the other one that we're probably
12:23
Speaker 3: overlooking a little bit because he hasn't been himself for
12:25
Speaker 3: a little while is phil Poland he's so good in Australia,
12:29
Speaker 3: another circuit where you know, we've seen him do some
12:31
Speaker 3: pretty remarkable things in the past. I mean, you look
12:34
Speaker 3: back at that the race that he got on the
12:36
Speaker 3: podium with a repso hond the the Alex Rins win
12:39
Speaker 3: a couple of years back, considering how poor that bike
12:42
Speaker 3: was and considering I think he had one and a
12:43
Speaker 3: half working shoulders at the time, you know, it was
12:47
Speaker 3: kind of remarkable that he was even able.
12:48
Speaker 2: To get up there.
12:49
Speaker 3: So to me, they're the two rounds. I think you
12:52
Speaker 3: could look at Mark ticking the box of winning again.
12:55
Speaker 3: But I think the question that's been answered already this
12:58
Speaker 3: year is I mean, they had been some doubts, right,
13:01
Speaker 3: it's been so long since he's been fully fit, and
13:03
Speaker 3: then even when he was fit, he wasn't on a
13:05
Speaker 3: bike capable of winning anything. Now he knows, yes, it's
13:08
Speaker 3: a GP twenty three. He's the only rider on that
13:10
Speaker 3: twenty three with the exception of maybe Fabio Degan Antonio,
13:14
Speaker 3: who's kind of been the underrated star of the year.
13:15
Speaker 3: But you look at the other guys on that bike.
13:17
Speaker 3: Marco Berzeki this year, we've just not seen him after
13:19
Speaker 3: how good he was last year. Mark's got on that bike,
13:22
Speaker 3: He's got no experience with it. He's still finding his
13:24
Speaker 3: feet and he's up there on podiums. He's stirred in
13:27
Speaker 3: the championship. You know he wants more than that because
13:29
Speaker 3: he's Mark Marquez. But I think there are a couple
13:31
Speaker 3: of rounds this season. I think you'll tick the wind
13:33
Speaker 3: box this year and then yeah, like we were saying before,
13:37
Speaker 3: bring on twenty twenty five because it's going to be fun.
13:39
Speaker 1: You mentioned Philip Island there, and I feel like we
13:42
Speaker 1: can't talk about Philip Island Australia. I made a GP
13:44
Speaker 1: without talking about Jack Miller, and unfortunately there has just
13:49
Speaker 1: not been the year that he has wanted to it
13:51
Speaker 1: or we have really hoped for him. He has been
13:54
Speaker 1: replaced at katm by the rookie Pedrocossa, which you can
13:59
Speaker 1: understand with the year that Pedro has had and just
14:02
Speaker 1: how well he is just gelled on that gas Gas
14:05
Speaker 1: KTM essential bike. But with Jack Miller, I just fear
14:09
Speaker 1: that he puts so much into developing that KTM and
14:13
Speaker 1: even Pitt Bira, the Motorsport managing director, has said that,
14:17
Speaker 1: you know, we're so thankful for what he's done. We
14:19
Speaker 1: can see massive improvements in the bike, but why is
14:22
Speaker 1: the results that like from what I'm not trying to say,
14:25
Speaker 1: Brad Binda's done well, Pedro Acosta's donewell. Jack Miller's bought
14:29
Speaker 1: that technology over and nothing's come of it, and it's
14:32
Speaker 1: just such a shame.
14:34
Speaker 3: Even by Katim stand As, that was bizarre. They basically
14:36
Speaker 3: said to Jack, oh, look, you've done a fantastic job
14:38
Speaker 3: developing the bike, but we actually don't have a ride
14:40
Speaker 3: for you in any of the four seats that we
14:42
Speaker 3: have in our two teams. It's just the most KTM
14:44
Speaker 3: thing ever to do. But the Acosta thing, Acosta is
14:48
Speaker 3: one of these guys, you know, to my mind, because
14:50
Speaker 3: I've been around this too long time, old a costas
14:53
Speaker 3: these generations mark market is in that you could just see,
14:57
Speaker 3: you know, those young guys that come through like him.
15:00
Speaker 3: Marquez had those signature moments through one, two, five and
15:02
Speaker 3: Moto two A Costa was doing it in Moto three
15:05
Speaker 3: from day one. He is an absolute force of nature.
15:07
Speaker 3: I think he was always destined to be on that
15:10
Speaker 3: bike for twenty five. I think it got the sided
15:13
Speaker 3: super early and the very first race that guitar at
15:16
Speaker 3: four o'clock in the morning or whatever time it was.
15:18
Speaker 3: I remember Jack crashing on the start of the second
15:20
Speaker 3: lap and a Costa's fighting with Marquez at his first
15:22
Speaker 3: Motor GP race. I'm like, oh, okay, you know that
15:25
Speaker 3: kind of you know, the dye was kind of cast there.
15:28
Speaker 3: For Jack, I was a little bit surprised that he
15:31
Speaker 3: didn't stick around with the gas Gas thing, which is
15:33
Speaker 3: being rebranded. But again, that whole crazy rider market chaos.
15:37
Speaker 3: All of a sudden, you've got an Abas GENII and
15:39
Speaker 3: Maverick Vinales are available, and you can kind of understand
15:42
Speaker 3: why KTM might go there.
15:44
Speaker 2: Vinalees.
15:45
Speaker 3: We know that Vinales has amazing days or days down
15:48
Speaker 3: the bottom and kind of nothing in the middle. But
15:50
Speaker 3: I guess they're hoping for more of the peaks and
15:52
Speaker 3: less of the troughs. But for Jack, we know he's
15:54
Speaker 3: got this great experience. Now ridden for Honda, Ridden for Jucati,
15:58
Speaker 3: Ridden for KTM, A very good developmental rider. He's old
16:02
Speaker 3: and wise these day, as much as Jack and hatey
16:03
Speaker 3: saying that. I mean, he's twenty nine years old now,
16:05
Speaker 3: he's been around ten years. We kind of overlooked that
16:08
Speaker 3: because he missed Moto too. He's a very good developmental writer.
16:11
Speaker 3: But it's the same old bugbears with Jack this year.
16:14
Speaker 3: It's tire where he's got no tires in the last
16:17
Speaker 3: part of the race. Qualifying has been unusually poor for
16:20
Speaker 3: Jack this year, so I think he's finding he's fighting
16:23
Speaker 3: his way through from the fourth fifth row a lot
16:25
Speaker 3: of the time to try and get himself in contention.
16:28
Speaker 2: We saw that at Cattaloon.
16:29
Speaker 3: You know, he starts well, came through very early, and
16:31
Speaker 3: then was on the floor three laps in. So it's
16:34
Speaker 3: been really difficult for Jack. I mean, statistically, he's on
16:37
Speaker 3: course for the worst season he's had to twenty sixteen,
16:39
Speaker 3: which is pretty grim when you discuss.
16:41
Speaker 1: It like that.
16:42
Speaker 3: But I think Jack is young enough and hungry enough,
16:45
Speaker 3: and now I think the benefit of that experience, both
16:48
Speaker 3: for this rule set and then when we're looking at
16:51
Speaker 3: twenty seven, twenty twenty seven, when all the rules change again,
16:54
Speaker 3: Jack's probably an underrated asset in that regard because there's
16:58
Speaker 3: not too many guys that have the experience with different
17:01
Speaker 3: iterations of bikes that he does. So look, there's still
17:04
Speaker 3: a few seats available for twenty five. He is going
17:08
Speaker 3: to end up on one of them. One pretty certain.
17:10
Speaker 3: I could absolutely see him on an aprillier at Trackhouse.
17:13
Speaker 3: I think he would be fantastic there, and that to
17:15
Speaker 3: me seems the most likely destination. But twenty twenty four. Look,
17:19
Speaker 3: the back end of twenty three wasn't fantastic for Jack,
17:21
Speaker 3: but I don't think in his worst nightmares he would
17:23
Speaker 3: have expected this season to have turned out like it has.
17:26
Speaker 3: But I guess in his favor is Brad Bend has
17:29
Speaker 3: been okay this year. But I think Brad's been at
17:31
Speaker 3: the level that he was last year. I think they're
17:33
Speaker 3: all being made to look a little bit ridiculous by
17:35
Speaker 3: a Costa, to be perfectly honest, because you've got this.
17:38
Speaker 3: You know, he's a teenager when he started the season.
17:39
Speaker 3: He's got no motor GP experience, and he's on podiums
17:43
Speaker 3: and he's second and third races, Like, what is going
17:45
Speaker 3: on with this kid? And he's he's flattened out a
17:47
Speaker 3: little bit because he's come back to regrets, to the
17:49
Speaker 3: mean of the bike a little bit. But maybe the
17:52
Speaker 3: ceiling of KATM is pedro ceiling, not necessarily Brad's ceiling.
17:56
Speaker 3: And I think everyone's maybe looking a little bit second
17:59
Speaker 3: rate because of just how incredible this a Costa kid is.
18:02
Speaker 1: He is incredible. Watching him in his style reminds me
18:05
Speaker 1: a lot of the old school riders. The way that
18:08
Speaker 1: he's sliding a bike into the corner and he's handling
18:10
Speaker 1: that machine. It is phenomenal to watch.
18:13
Speaker 3: Jack was so funny after Portugal. He said, I sat
18:16
Speaker 3: behind him for a couple of laps and I'm supposed
18:18
Speaker 3: to be concentrating on my race, and I'm.
18:19
Speaker 2: Looking at him, going, yeah, this kid's pretty good. Like
18:21
Speaker 2: he looks better on a bike than I do.
18:23
Speaker 3: Jack's taking notes, and you know, this new generation of riders,
18:26
Speaker 3: there's nine years between them, but the way to ride
18:29
Speaker 3: these bikes just it just morphs every single year. And
18:33
Speaker 3: Acossa's coming up with lean angles and sometimes you look
18:36
Speaker 3: at him going, where.
18:37
Speaker 2: Are you going?
18:37
Speaker 3: You're not going to get the like turned into this
18:39
Speaker 3: corner and he gets it turned. He's so so exciting,
18:42
Speaker 3: but he's also young enough to be totally fearless about everything,
18:45
Speaker 3: which is what I kind of love about him, that
18:47
Speaker 3: he's almost like too young to know any better. And
18:49
Speaker 3: the way that he rides and races. I think you'll
18:51
Speaker 3: see a lot of guys coming in that will leave
18:53
Speaker 3: me like the Acosta style in inverted commas for years
18:56
Speaker 3: to come.
18:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, I definitely think watching the Moto TiO motor guys
19:00
Speaker 1: coming through, you're a snack bang with that. But before
19:04
Speaker 1: we move on to I guess those categories, I want
19:08
Speaker 1: to talk about Franklin Morbidelli because the start of his
19:11
Speaker 1: year was terrible. He had that big crash in the
19:13
Speaker 1: off season, knocked himself out, couldn't even start his Ducati
19:18
Speaker 1: run at Pramat coming from the Yamaha, and basically showed
19:22
Speaker 1: up to Qatar for the race never having ridden the bike.
19:26
Speaker 1: And now look at him in the last few races,
19:28
Speaker 1: he's P five, P six, He's getting there, He's closer
19:31
Speaker 1: to the podium. I never would have expected this from
19:35
Speaker 1: Franklin Orberdelli.
19:36
Speaker 3: How he started his year well, and particularly after how
19:39
Speaker 3: the last couple of years of god VM term in
19:41
Speaker 3: the Yamaha thing by.
19:42
Speaker 2: The end of it was a complete disaster.
19:43
Speaker 3: He's been so injured, he's had so many serious lingering injuries,
19:48
Speaker 3: and then, as you said, moving to a new manufacturer,
19:50
Speaker 3: hurts himself in the preseason on a superbike in Porteramow
19:53
Speaker 3: and he was massively underdone at the start of the season.
19:56
Speaker 3: But you're right, like Germany, he was good Acid, he's
19:58
Speaker 3: coming through. He's starting to actually be a factor now
20:01
Speaker 3: at the front of races, and you know, we forget
20:03
Speaker 3: the guy was the championship runner up at one point.
20:05
Speaker 3: It was that weird COVID season obviously where lots of
20:08
Speaker 3: things were strange, but we thought, maybe this is this
20:11
Speaker 3: guy's level, and it never really happened after that, after
20:14
Speaker 3: he moved to the main factory Yamaha team. But I
20:16
Speaker 3: think I don't think we've seen I don't think the
20:19
Speaker 3: best is so far in his past that we'll never
20:21
Speaker 3: see it again. I don't know if he's going to
20:22
Speaker 3: be super consistent with it, but you can see the
20:24
Speaker 3: arrow starting to trend up for him, and we know
20:27
Speaker 3: the bike's good, so he could be a guy that
20:29
Speaker 3: could factor into potential podium fights for the rest of
20:32
Speaker 3: this year. And then what does that mean for next
20:35
Speaker 3: year with him, because we know there's too fewer to
20:36
Speaker 3: caddies on the grid for next year. You can absolutely
20:39
Speaker 3: see him slotting in at VR forty six next year
20:41
Speaker 3: because they're probably got woman we know, but Zeki's going
20:45
Speaker 3: there's probably a space there to be back in the
20:47
Speaker 3: Rossie stable. But it's nice to see him back towards
20:50
Speaker 3: the front because there is a point of difference with
20:52
Speaker 3: him with the way he rides, and I think the
20:54
Speaker 3: sports kind of missed him at the front the last
20:55
Speaker 3: couple of years.
20:57
Speaker 1: You mentioned that as two less do you caddies, and
20:59
Speaker 1: I feel like so far we've pretty much covered you, Cadi,
21:02
Speaker 1: Kadium and Aprillia right all the European manufacturers, and you
21:07
Speaker 1: just don't have really anything to talk about with regards
21:09
Speaker 1: to Yamaha and Honda anymore, because I guess it's the
21:12
Speaker 1: European Championship at the front and it's the Japanese Championship at.
21:16
Speaker 2: The back of the pack.
21:16
Speaker 1: And it sucks. It's so sad to be like that
21:20
Speaker 1: because you think about those years ago whereas Fabio and
21:23
Speaker 1: Mark fighting and then the Dew caddies were further down,
21:25
Speaker 1: and now it's a complete one eighty iz, I don't.
21:30
Speaker 1: Luca Marini came into this year with I think a
21:32
Speaker 1: lot of confidence and my understanding of him as a
21:35
Speaker 1: writer is he is so knowledgeable and he's really good
21:38
Speaker 1: at developing the bike explaining. He can go into such depth.
21:43
Speaker 1: But I know we're not going to see wonders this year.
21:47
Speaker 1: But did Luca make the right decision going to Honda?
21:51
Speaker 3: I think Luca probably made the right decision for probably
21:54
Speaker 3: his bank balance and his career stability because he was
21:57
Speaker 3: only ever really going to be on a series of
21:58
Speaker 3: rolling one years with the care He's kind of the
22:01
Speaker 3: right guy for Honda where they are because quite frankly,
22:04
Speaker 3: it can't get worse than where they are right now,
22:07
Speaker 3: and he's the guy who can engineer a factory out
22:09
Speaker 3: of its problems. It's going to be a super slow burn, though,
22:13
Speaker 3: and I think, you know he's got next year. Whether
22:17
Speaker 3: he's going to reap the benefits of the knowledge that
22:19
Speaker 3: he brings to that project, you know, that remains to
22:21
Speaker 3: be seen.
22:22
Speaker 2: But it is funny.
22:23
Speaker 3: You've got this European Championship and the Japanese cut down
22:26
Speaker 3: the back, whereas you know, you go, like you were saying,
22:27
Speaker 3: you go back a few years and it was flipped around.
22:29
Speaker 3: But I think where Yamaha probably has the edge over Honda.
22:33
Speaker 3: They're slightly better on track. But they've also got Fabio Quatrero,
22:36
Speaker 3: and we know he's good enough because he's a world champion.
22:39
Speaker 3: I think getting him to commit to that project was
22:41
Speaker 3: a massive tick for Yamaha because I think it shows
22:45
Speaker 3: that if you provide this guy with the machinery, he's
22:48
Speaker 3: good enough to get them back towards the front. But
22:51
Speaker 3: for the two Japanese factories now like this year, next year,
22:54
Speaker 3: maybe the year after, small gains at best, it's all
22:57
Speaker 3: about when we get to the eight to fifty era
23:00
Speaker 3: for twenty twenty seven. They want to be ready for
23:02
Speaker 3: that because I can't see under this current rule set
23:05
Speaker 3: they're too far behind and the ground they have to
23:07
Speaker 3: make up in two years is too great. But it's
23:09
Speaker 3: all that what happens after that. Fabio is still young
23:12
Speaker 3: enough and good enough that he could be there to
23:14
Speaker 3: reap the reward of that. But look Repsol Honda. I mean,
23:16
Speaker 3: they've got this new paint scheme for this year.
23:18
Speaker 2: I don't know about you.
23:18
Speaker 3: I've barely seen it because they're never on TV because
23:21
Speaker 3: they're always running around thirty seconds off the pace in
23:23
Speaker 3: sixteenth play. So it's been absolutely bizarre to see how
23:27
Speaker 3: anonymous they are.
23:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, and the only time you'll see them is when
23:31
Speaker 1: it's you know, Yuan Meers crashed, or Luke and Marine
23:34
Speaker 1: crashed unfortunately, or Takannako or or Joan Zako. You know,
23:39
Speaker 1: it's just I do feel for them. But one of
23:42
Speaker 1: the things I'm looking forward to coming up, and I
23:44
Speaker 1: think that we need to take note of, is the
23:46
Speaker 1: fact that Yamaha only had the two bikes on the
23:48
Speaker 1: grid for so long. Honda have four because they have
23:51
Speaker 1: the LCR team with the two runners they just mentioned.
23:53
Speaker 1: But going into next year, they're going to have Pramac Yamaha,
23:57
Speaker 1: and I'm curious to see with how much much extra
24:01
Speaker 1: development they're going to get. Obviously they got Cal Crutchlow,
24:04
Speaker 1: who is an ex Grand Prix race winner.
24:07
Speaker 2: You know, he's been.
24:07
Speaker 1: Around for forever and I know that he puts a
24:09
Speaker 1: lot into developing that bike. But having those extra two
24:12
Speaker 1: bikes on the grid, the extra data that they're going
24:15
Speaker 1: to get from every race, every test, I feel like
24:18
Speaker 1: it's just going to help propel that Yamaha, and hopefully
24:21
Speaker 1: with Fabio what he's putting in now he's got the
24:24
Speaker 1: belief in Yamaha. He's also got the paycheck from Yamaha
24:28
Speaker 1: that they can just keep heading in that right direction
24:30
Speaker 1: and hopefully come closer to the front of the pack.
24:33
Speaker 3: Nothing like an eight figure paycheck to get you out
24:35
Speaker 3: of bed in the morning of it's I think you're right.
24:38
Speaker 3: Look double the data and if theoretically, if you double
24:41
Speaker 3: the data, you're going to have the time it takes
24:43
Speaker 3: you to get out of the slump that they are in.
24:47
Speaker 3: I think the choice of riders that Promac team are
24:49
Speaker 3: going to be super interesting because I think they'll go
24:51
Speaker 3: with an experienced head who's got some background with other
24:54
Speaker 3: manufacturers to bring that to the table, and probably a
24:56
Speaker 3: young motor II guy. You know, it's someone that's cheap
24:59
Speaker 3: and they can bring up and bring them through. And
25:02
Speaker 3: some reporting coming out of Italy this week is suggesting
25:04
Speaker 3: that that young guy could be Tony Abellino coming out
25:07
Speaker 3: of Moto two, which is an interesting choice because he's
25:10
Speaker 3: been very good in Moto two before, he's not been
25:12
Speaker 3: so great in the last year or so, so he's
25:14
Speaker 3: an interesting choice for that but someone like Miguel Olivero
25:16
Speaker 3: seems like he's favored for that role, and to me,
25:19
Speaker 3: he's at the right age and stage of his career
25:22
Speaker 3: where he can really help Yamaha push forward. But doubling
25:24
Speaker 3: their bikes can only be a benefit.
25:26
Speaker 2: Can't it. Oh?
25:27
Speaker 1: Definitely, And that's all we want is to see more
25:29
Speaker 1: on track action. I think that Moto GP as a whole,
25:33
Speaker 1: we have great battles on track. The writers are doing
25:37
Speaker 1: things that are just almost gravity defying. Thinking back to
25:40
Speaker 1: Juja Martin earlier the year dragging his whole shoulder for elbow.
25:45
Speaker 3: Unreal how many times as you watch that slow mood
25:47
Speaker 3: when it came, but I must have I reckon.
25:49
Speaker 2: I sat there just watched it for ten minutes, just
25:50
Speaker 2: finding new stuff to look at. It was preposterous.
25:53
Speaker 1: It is insane what these guys are doing on these bikes,
25:55
Speaker 1: and to only going to get better as we head
25:57
Speaker 1: into the second half of the year, going in into
26:00
Speaker 1: the British Grand Prix though it also marks the seventy
26:03
Speaker 1: fifth birthday of Moto GP and they're coming out with
26:06
Speaker 1: a retro round, which I thought was so cool. It's
26:09
Speaker 1: something we see a lot in motocross and the dirt banks.
26:12
Speaker 1: But I'm so excited to see all these liveries that
26:14
Speaker 1: come out through Honda and Yamaha and Jacadi and Priliocadium,
26:17
Speaker 1: all these guys who have been here for so long.
26:20
Speaker 1: I'm interested to see what replicas we get as well.
26:24
Speaker 1: If we just see some retro colors, awesome replicas from
26:27
Speaker 1: like a Barrychine or someone of that era, you know,
26:31
Speaker 1: it's awesome.
26:32
Speaker 3: I love the fact they're getting into the spirit of
26:33
Speaker 3: this in that you know, I wrote a story for
26:36
Speaker 3: Fox sports dot com a you or what livery should
26:38
Speaker 3: the five manufacturers used, and it got an incredible amount
26:41
Speaker 3: of engagement because people think of, oh, you know, then
26:44
Speaker 3: the Kenny Roberts, Yamahas or you know, different bikes from
26:47
Speaker 3: different eras where they want to see that again in
26:49
Speaker 3: a modern setting. I'm hoping they go the whole way
26:52
Speaker 3: with this, like forget a podium, Let's just have some
26:54
Speaker 3: hay bales and the writers can stand on those and
26:56
Speaker 3: get their trophies at the end of the race. And
26:58
Speaker 3: you know, can we get some good sideburns like Renny
27:00
Speaker 3: Gardner's raising at Silvice and he'll come up with some
27:02
Speaker 3: good facial hair for us, we need some like sixties
27:04
Speaker 3: seventies facial hair, a few hay bales, get all the
27:07
Speaker 3: Dorner stuff, you know. We need Matt Burton and like
27:09
Speaker 3: a nineteen sixties commentator outfit with some binoculars.
27:11
Speaker 2: Like we need to go the whole way here.
27:14
Speaker 1: I would love that if all the teams dress up,
27:16
Speaker 1: all the writers dress up. We see the long hair.
27:19
Speaker 1: Oh Donna, if you're listening to this, you definitely have
27:22
Speaker 1: to do that.
27:23
Speaker 3: There's a reason this is an audio podcast because I'm
27:25
Speaker 3: working on my side burns now.
27:26
Speaker 2: Now I'm onnly checking yes.
27:30
Speaker 1: Well, I feel like we pretty much covered Moto GP.
27:34
Speaker 1: We have to just touch base on our fellow Aussies
27:37
Speaker 1: in Moto two and Moto three. We obviously got center Ags,
27:41
Speaker 1: who is a rookie and our only odsie in Moto two.
27:45
Speaker 1: Heading into that summer break, it looks like he's starting
27:48
Speaker 1: to get the hang and understanding. Coming from the European
27:52
Speaker 1: Championship to the World Championship. It's a big jump, and
27:55
Speaker 1: now we're seeing closer to the front. We're seeing in
27:57
Speaker 1: some more battles. I feel it's not going to be
27:59
Speaker 1: long until then it does get that final podium place,
28:02
Speaker 1: you know, not at.
28:04
Speaker 3: All, and you look at he's done really well at
28:06
Speaker 3: some tracks he's not been too which I think is
28:07
Speaker 3: super key for a young guy in this series. You know,
28:10
Speaker 3: these guys have done so many laps in that series
28:12
Speaker 3: of all of these tracks, and he's going to Magello
28:14
Speaker 3: for the first time, like he's very inexperience with somewhere
28:17
Speaker 3: like the Saxon Ring. I think he's really moving in
28:19
Speaker 3: the right direction. I think first probably four races or so,
28:23
Speaker 3: you know, finding his feet, but he looks super legit.
28:25
Speaker 3: The last four or five races, he's been right up
28:27
Speaker 3: there making Q two, he's been on the second row.
28:30
Speaker 3: I think the arrow is really pointing in the right
28:32
Speaker 3: direction for him. And then obviously that the segway to
28:35
Speaker 3: the two Assie kids in Moto three with Jacob Rolston
28:38
Speaker 3: and Joel Kelso we know Joel's been around for a
28:40
Speaker 3: while there. He's like a veteran in inverted commas of
28:42
Speaker 3: the class and nothing surprises you with Joel on his
28:45
Speaker 3: good days. I think Joel on these good days is
28:47
Speaker 3: an absolute frontrunner. We've seen that, but I've been super
28:51
Speaker 3: impressed with Jacob Rolston's maturity. I think that's the biggest
28:54
Speaker 3: stand out for me. I know you spoke to him
28:56
Speaker 3: recently for Fox Sports and this he doesn't come across.
28:59
Speaker 2: As your stay and a teenager.
29:00
Speaker 3: There's just a maturity and a belief in an inner
29:03
Speaker 3: calm about him that I Reckon's going to serve him
29:05
Speaker 3: really well. And he's in a high pressure environment. He's
29:08
Speaker 3: riding for Herbet pont Cheral, He's got a teammate in
29:10
Speaker 3: Danny Holgado that's right up the front of that championship.
29:12
Speaker 2: He's looked really good.
29:13
Speaker 3: From the start, and I think, you know, he's another
29:16
Speaker 3: guy that if he's on the podium by the end
29:18
Speaker 3: of the season, I would not be surprised in the
29:20
Speaker 3: slightest because I think he's ticking every box at the.
29:22
Speaker 1: Moment you hit the nail on the head that he
29:25
Speaker 1: is so calm, and when I was talking with him,
29:27
Speaker 1: you know, nothing's set in stone for him for next season,
29:30
Speaker 1: and he didn't even seem worried about it. He goes,
29:32
Speaker 1: I know, I'm there, I'm achieving things that we set
29:35
Speaker 1: out to achieve. They weren't expecting me to go and
29:38
Speaker 1: fight for the championship, but I'm clearly proving that I'm
29:41
Speaker 1: going to be Rookie of the Year and I'm heading
29:43
Speaker 1: in the direction that we want, and it's so good
29:45
Speaker 1: to see that. Yeah, he does have that confidence. We're
29:47
Speaker 1: seeing him closer to the front each time. He's consistently
29:51
Speaker 1: around that P eight, P nine, P ten, p twelve, constantly,
29:54
Speaker 1: And that's all you can want for your first year,
29:56
Speaker 1: right is to just come out of it simply unscathed,
30:01
Speaker 1: learn the lessons that you need to so he can
30:02
Speaker 1: go into next year and hopefully be fighting for that title.
30:06
Speaker 1: But yeah, I do think you're right. I think we
30:07
Speaker 1: will see him on the podium this year.
30:09
Speaker 3: Well, I know Ozzie has ever been Rookie of the
30:12
Speaker 3: Year in Moto three or one, two, five, so that
30:14
Speaker 3: would be super exciting that he's able to do that.
30:16
Speaker 3: It's probably him and help acare us that he'll be
30:18
Speaker 3: fighting for that, but he's absolutely in the hunt for it,
30:21
Speaker 3: which would be brilliant for him and obviously.
30:23
Speaker 1: For Australia definitely. But for those of you listening, that
30:27
Speaker 1: sums about everything up for Moto GPS so far this season,
30:31
Speaker 1: with a little bit of Motor three and Moto two
30:33
Speaker 1: in there. Just to bring you up to speed and
30:36
Speaker 1: that is about all the time that we have for
30:38
Speaker 1: the first ever edition of Moto GP hit Talk. We
30:42
Speaker 1: will be back ahead of the British Grand Prix, maybe
30:45
Speaker 1: with a special guest, so don't forget to subscribe so
30:48
Speaker 1: you never miss an episode. Plus you can keep up
30:51
Speaker 1: to date with all the latest Moto GP news on
30:54
Speaker 1: our socials at Foxmotorsport or via our website Fox sports
30:58
Speaker 1: dot com dot Au Forward Slab Motorsport, But from myself
31:03
Speaker 1: and Matt Clayton will be back with more Moto GP
31:06
Speaker 1: pittok soon