MotoGP | 2026 | Silly Season

If nothing else it's a win for the series. A new passport that could open the series more to turkey and also to a religious fan base.

Now, just need an American.

 

Masterclass gaslighting...

 

lol. He looks so happy.

 

Reminds me of the Seattle running back "Im just here so I dont get fined". Fricken cant remember his name but was funny as shit. Thats Jorge today at the Aprilia event.

 

Marshawn Lynch. Actually one of the most fun guys to ever play NFL football. Look him up on youtube. Try his Daytona test drive.

 

It's official?

 

I don't see it being reported anywhere either. Not even crash.net which is the TMZ of motorsport has anything about this being "official."

 

Seems like someone's been reading too much "Motogp Weekend" and "Now Moto News". They make crash.net look like Peabody winners.

 

Honestly, I haven't even heard of those other two outlets. TMZ is salacious enough. Anything more and I'd need a bath and a lie down to calm the nerves. "Oh, deary me. Can you believe they said that?"

 

Watching him on Murderville almost killed me.

 

So is this also the thread where we can talk about Herve's Tech 3 squad moving from a broke KTM to Yamaha? That would be an outlet for Miller or someone else who might happen to be on a Yamaha contract. I'd love to see how Tech 3's lease contract is worded.

-T

 

I don't think it's a given any ktms will be on the grid next year

 

Not sure Herves ever gonna go back to Yamaha. As I recall, Yamaha was not treating him very well by the end.

 

I think if anything, it'll just be precautionary conversations for now. Meaning I think Herve's contract and deal doesn't necessarily need to be ironclad for him to stay. I believe his deal is pretty sweet with the Red Bull money covering a massive chunk. It would be prudent for him to have conversations about what to do "if" KTM can't provide bikes next year, but I don't think he's trying to bail asap at any cost. It's not like Pramac are lighting the world on fire with their satellite Yamaha squad.

Current Team Standings:

• 5th: KTM Factory
• 6th: Yamaha Factory
• 8th: Tech3 KTM
• 11th: Pramac Yamaha <aka last>

Now when it comes to negotiating NEW contracts for 2027+, that's a whole different story because I think there is an implied concern over KTM's ability to develop a bike with a neutered budget (if they exist at all). Honda and Yamaha it would seem many presume will do well since they have the financial security, prior experience with smaller displacement GP bikes, and both seem to have a new found passion for proper bike development they had been missing. Ducati will likely do well as they've been the leaders in bike development for a few years now bringing a lot of the new tech into the paddock. Aprilia I think are going to suffer 2027+ at least initially. Their budget is much thinner, they don't necessarily have a powerhouse test rider line up, and with the expenditure and drama/debacle surrounding Jorge Martin leaving, their future looks rough to say the least. If I was Herve I'd probably do just as I said above. Have some precautionary conversations now in case KTM doesn't arrive in 2026, but otherwise stay the course. Have serious conversations now about 2027+ to switch to Honda, Yamaha, or Ducati if possible.

 

Like Ben said I don't see that ever happening. Jarvis and Yamaha really didn't treat Tech3 well.

If I was a betting dude and the choices were Yamaha or retire I'd put my money on sailing off into the sunset.

 

Here's a semi-related team bombshell: https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/1...-ex-f1-boss-guenther-steiner-investment-talks What if Guenther Steiner takes over Tech 3 and starts talking to other manufacturers?

I recall (I could be wrong) a time when Yamaha had bikes on the grid in both Marlboro and Gauloises colors on different teams. It could be quite the coup for a team to lease high spec Yamahas and flaunt Red Bull sponsorship parallel to the Monster backed factory squad. Pramac seems well positioned to do just this, Tech 3 maybe too. Think of the rider market flexibility this gives Yamaha!

With all the equipment and support parity between "factory" and "satellite" teams these days (reference Martin's 2024 championship) I would think the casual fan's impression is that a Ducati is a Ducati and a Yamaha is a Yamaha regardless of which sponsorship it has. The idea of feeder teams in my eyes is diminishing. Manufacturers can capitalize on this in the next few years as uncertainty around adjustments to the Pirellis and new '27 rules package could mean that a satellite team with a comfortable rider can steal another title or two from the factory teams. Comments like Aldeguer's around intended promotion to the factory team seem less important.

This is all a long winded way to say I'd bet some junior riders don't switch teams much in the near future unless it is to switch manufacturers.

-T

 

Don't know if Steiner will take over but it'd definitely be an interesting development.

 

Where are the race threads? Is Bigbird ok?

 

https://forums.13x.com/index.php?th...pro-aragon-grandprix-june-6-to-june-8.390045/

 

I mean that's a huuuuuuge stretch from where we are now. It would seem most likely that Gunter "invests" (aka money and connections presumably for sponsors) in hopes of the team's value going up over the years with Liberty Media getting involved. READ: not own the team and take over.

I can't imagine Red bull would want to dump all their sponsorship on a satellite team that's running the same equipment as a factory team that also carries Monster's title sponsorship. That's literally aligning with the underling to the competition when Red Bull tries to position itself as the TOP.

"IF" KTM step down and Red Bull no longer has a team with a title sponsor, I would bet they shift sponsorship to more riders and try and lock out the other factory riders <or> dump it into the Factory Ducati team and Marc. Personally, I think Red Bull only have a team sponsorship in MotoGP because it's KTM (a fellow Austrian team... for now).

Add to that the comment about "feeder teams" not mattering? How? It's been at least a few years since any rider has arrived in the top class on a factory team, with a huge majority going to the feeder / satellite team stepping stone. The last I can remember is Binder to Factory KTM in 2020 (5 years ago). I would argue the opposite is becoming more true. Riders now are more likely to continue from a satellite team to the same manufacturer's factory team (performance pending) because there's more factory contracts being handed out now than there were 10 years ago. It used to be that the satellite team contracted a rider and paid their salary whereas now, many of the satellite riders are contracted to the manufacturer to keep them on the path to the factory team.