October 23, 2025 • 35 mins
Aprilia took the fight directly to Ducati - and won - in Australia. But Sepang is much friendlier to the Desmos. Will Aprilia's run continue? I preview the MalaysianGP!
The Rundown:
- Sepang! Preview of the MalaysianGP
- The Track - does it favor Ducati enough to overcome their Australian struggles?
- The Favorites - Bezz sets his sights on a double-win
- The Watch List - A trio of Phillip Island upstarts get another chance to impress
- The Hot Seat - including the rider on the grid with the most Sepang success
- The Picks! For the Sprint and the MotoGP race
Who do you think will win the MalaysianGP? Let me know on Facebook or the Motoweek Reddit Sub.
Find all of the latest episodes at Motoweek.net, follow on Bluesky and Instagram – and you can support the show on Patreon!
Thanks for listening!
The Rundown:
- Sepang! Preview of the MalaysianGP
- The Track - does it favor Ducati enough to overcome their Australian struggles?
- The Favorites - Bezz sets his sights on a double-win
- The Watch List - A trio of Phillip Island upstarts get another chance to impress
- The Hot Seat - including the rider on the grid with the most Sepang success
- The Picks! For the Sprint and the MotoGP race
Who do you think will win the MalaysianGP? Let me know on Facebook or the Motoweek Reddit Sub.
Find all of the latest episodes at Motoweek.net, follow on Bluesky and Instagram – and you can support the show on Patreon!
Thanks for listening!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Frommotoweek dot net. It's the MotorWeek podcast with your host Wilson. Well,
hello and welcome to Motoweek. My name is Wilson. Thank
you so much for listening to the only MotoGP show
on the Internet that actually thinks Peco bag Yaya might
run well this weekend. Now, I'm not terribly confident as
(00:24):
I say that. I mean, we've all seen how he's
run the past couple of rounds. It has definitely not
been good. But and stick with me here, Just like
earlier in the season when I said, hey, Mark Marquez
can't win every race, well, Peco can't be terrible in
every race himself. I mean, yeah, if you want to
be technical, Mark did kind of keep on winning after
(00:47):
I said that all the way up until Marco, Butteki
took him out, so that kept right on going. But
the Peco thing, it can't be the same, right, I mean,
He's gonna run better eventually, right, Okay. I don't really
know where Peco is kind of coming from right now,
but I do know that as we head into Sapang
this weekend that Bagnyaya happens to be the most successful
(01:11):
rider on the Moto GP. Great at this circuit, and
he's only a tiny bit behind Mark Marquez for the
best Moto GP rider, well full time MotoGP rider there,
so maybe maybe he might be able to turn things around.
But that's just one of the storylines heading into Malaysia
this weekend. Obviously, Marco Bitzeki is going to be looking
(01:32):
to get that double victory that penalties took away any
chance of last weekend in Australia, We've got multiple close
battles in the riders standings, including an outside chance that
Alex Marquez could lock up second overall in the championship.
And then, of course for the last two Moto GP
races we've seen an unexpected first time winner. Could it
(01:52):
happen again? Yeah? I actually think it could. So let's
preview round twenty. Can you believe it? We are twenty
if he races into the season round twenty of the
twenty twenty five MotoGP World Championship the MALAYSIANGP at the
fast and challenging Sepang International Circuit in Selangor, Malaysia, just
(02:13):
south of Kuala Lumpur. All right, let's get going up.
Before we start, though, I would like to take a
brief moment to invite you over to the website if
you've never checked it out before. You can get all
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look for motoweek, or on Instagram at motoweek USA. And
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(02:36):
can do that on Facebook at Facebook dot com slashmotoweek
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for the people on Patreon, and so we're going to
(02:56):
work on that as we head toward the off season.
But if you want to join in over there, just
go to Patreon dot com slash motoweek. All right, so
let's dive in to this weekend's race at Malaysia. We've
hardly had any time off since all of the excitement
and the surprises of Australia, but we're right back at it.
And not only do we have the regular track and
(03:18):
the drama and the championship to contend with, but Yamaha
is going to be back this weekend with the V
four engine. I'm super excited for that. Test writer Augusto
Fernandez is going to try to do his best impression
of Raoul Fernandez and see if he can't maybe even
win a race. That's not gonna happen, But I'm very
excited to see what the Yamaha V four can do
(03:39):
and how it's improved since the last time that they
rolled it out on track. So let's talk about Malaysia
and Sepang International Circuit and the one manufacturer that I'm
sure is pretty thrilled to be headed to this particular
part of the world this weekend because after missing out
on the sprint podium completely and then only getting one
rider on the box in the Moto GP race at
(04:01):
Philip Island, Dukati is almost certainly looking forward to the
super fast three and a half miles Topang International Circuit
because it is definitely a great match for the prowess
of this GP twenty five. Well, every single Desmo out there.
The Malaysian GP is all about straight line speed, hard
(04:21):
breaking hot temperatures and then a couple of twists thrown
in for good measure. Hard acceleration and breaking zones are
the dominant feature at Sepang, but there are also a
couple of midspeed corners and a pair of double apex
turns that kind of balance things back at least a
little bit to the corner speed and momentum bikes. And
that's why up until recently this place has really been
(04:44):
a perpetual battle between Honda and Yamaha. It was really
only once Dukati started to get their chassis figured out
that it then allowed them to take full advantage of
all of that horsepower on the big straits and then
not lose all of the ground that they gained in
the middle section of the the track. But that being said,
the straits are the dominant feature here what you could
(05:05):
call the backstretch and the front stretch or really back
to back closing and starting a lap, and they are
really fast. You come down the back side of the strait,
it's one hundred and eighty five miles per hour over
two hundred miles per hour on the front stretch, and
they're joined by about a forty five or fifty miles
per hour hairpins, so big acceleration, big top speed, and
(05:26):
big breaking zones. There are really four hard breaking zones
at Sapang, and that means plenty of places for the slipstream,
plenty of places to pass, and also ample opportunities to
wait too long to give on the brakes and ultimately
blow a corner. And Term one is a prime example
of an opportunity or a mistake waiting to happen, not
(05:48):
necessarily on the first lap, but after they get up
the full speed, then Term one can be very very treacherous.
Term four is deceptively hard because it's coming at the
end of a strait that kind of curves at the beginning,
so it's easy to not realize how fast you're going
and then way too long to get on the brakes.
But it's not all about going in a straight line
and hitting the brakes and then accelerating again. This isn't
(06:10):
the red Bull ring. There are some twisty bits. There
is the very sector wanded acid like pancoral out chicane
at turns one and two, the double apix combo at
seven and eight, and then turns ten and eleven with
a gentle bend that kind of closes in on you
then at thirteen fourteen you have that same exact idea,
but it's more extreme, and that's a very critical corner
(06:32):
because not only is it tough, but that then leads
onto the back straight, which of course hard breaking the
onto the front straight, and that final corner between those
two straights is so much fun because a there's a
lot of action that happens there and b Unlike a
lot of corners at a lot of tracks, there are
several lines that you can take through that final corner,
(06:54):
and that means that if you're close, there is always
a chance to switch it up and try to do
something heroic by taking a different line, trying to get
a different run out of that final corner and then
drag racing to the line. It's not the exact same thing,
but it's the same idea of the final corner in Herrath,
where there's not just one way to get through there,
and because of that, it could lead to a little
(07:15):
bit of strategy depending on how your bike's handling and
where you think you can get on the throttle earliest.
Now the big straits definitely lend themselves to the ducats
and now the ktms with their great top speed too,
for sure, but with all of those tricky kind of
technical bits in between, that tilts the scale back towards
the handling bikes, and so this is an overall test
(07:35):
slanting just a little bit toward the big power and
big breaking bikes. And that's why we've seen a lot
of different winners here over the years. Even in the
past two two and a half years where Ducati has
really kind of dominated, it hasn't been just one rider,
because it really is a factor of how you're riding
(07:56):
at the time, what tire you pick, and how adaptable
you are, how quickly you can change with the changing conditions,
and that's led to a lot of variety at the
top of the podium and really on the podium as
a whole. And that's why this place is very much
a wild card track in the same way that we
typically see out of Phillip Island. Because even though do
Kati have won the last five consecutive points races here,
(08:20):
that's been with four different riders, Peko bag Yaya was
the only repeat rider in that span and in the
last eight race weekends in Malaysia spanning an entire decade.
Because they took a couple of years off due to COVID.
Peco and Andrea de Vizioso are the only riders to
have won more than one race of any sort in Tapang.
(08:40):
So will we see that trend continue of non repeat
winners and maybe get a surprise and have another first
time winner. Well, let's dive in and look at the riders,
and we'll do this how we typically do a race preview.
I'll break things up into three categories. My favorites, the
guys I think have the best chance of winning this weekend.
The watch list who have an interesting story or are
(09:02):
on a hot streak coming into this one, and because
of that, I want to see how they'll adapt to
a track that may be challenging for them. And then
the hot seat, a trio of riders that I think
absolutely have to step it up this weekend. And I'll
tell you exactly why I think that. We'll take each
category and championship border and so as we dive into
the favorites here, since we don't have a Mark Marquez
(09:22):
to talk about, we're going to start this category off
with the rider that's second in the championship right now,
Alex Marquez. And you know Sepang is a little bit
different for Alex than the vast majority of the tracks
that we've seen this year, because well, in most places,
Alex has had a bit of a checkered past in
terms of results. When it comes to Sapang, he's actually
(09:46):
been really good here since he's gotten on that Christini Ducati.
He had a double fourth place here last year, and
then in twenty twenty three, just three rounds back from injury.
By the way, Alex won the sprint and then he
was second in the Moto GP. Rate sounds pretty familiar, right,
and that's a really good thing because, like we've talked
about the past couple of race weekends, Alex right now
(10:09):
is just not looking quite as dominant as he was
in the first half of the season, and he's a
prime example of how much ground the likes of a
Prillia and KTM have made up on Ducati in the
latter half of the year. So Alex is losing a
little bit to the competition. But what's always very comforting
(10:29):
when you need to pick up your pace a little
bit is coming to a track where you have confidence,
and with the success that he's had here in the
past two years, I think the boosting confidence that'll give
him will definitely help him build them what was a
solid but not great weekend in Australia. And on top
of that, as we all know, Alex has a lot
(10:50):
to race for. He's got a shot to clinch second
overall in the championship, although personally I think he's going
to have to wait until Portugal only because of how
well Marco Bitzeki is right right now, and Marco is
his main competition at this point. But Alex doesn't need
to go out there and win anything, right, he doesn't
even need to go out there and finish second like
he had the majority of the first half of the year.
(11:11):
He just needs to avoid wrecking and score some decent points,
and he's absolutely capable of doing that. In fact, I
think he's capable of more than that, given how he's
run here the past couple of years, and so I
think he'll be somewhere in podium contention, probably not at
the front, but second through fifth I think is a
good range to expect out of Alex Marquez this weekend.
(11:33):
Then as we move on to Marco Bitzeki, well, when
you look at his stats, it's a pang it's a
bit more of a wild card scenario here because he's
kind of gotten worse as time has gone by. I'll
explain what I mean. And his rookie season, Bez was
fourth in the Malaysian GP. Then in twenty twenty three
(11:53):
he dropped to sixth in the Moto GP race and
seventh in the sprint. So yeah, six seven, I know.
And then last year his Moto GP race was a
ninth and the sprint a tenth. Although most of last
year was in an anomaly for Bez, he just wasn't
on his game. Is that regression mildly concerning? Sure? But
(12:17):
the overshadowing factor here is how Marco was riding right now.
I mean, in a world absent of Mark Marquez, Marco
Pateeki is arguably the fastest rider on the grid, and
we saw that last week in Philip Island where he
walked away in the end of the sprint and then
came back from a double long lap penalty to still
somehow be on the podium on Sunday. He's got the
(12:38):
speed and maybe more importantly, he's got the confidence right
now as well. I mean, Bez wasn't rattled by Fabio
Quachruro stealing the pull from him in Australia. He wasn't
phased by running multiple laps behind Raoul Fernandez in the sprint,
and that he wasn't deterred by the penalties in the
Moto GP race or how he got stuck behind Quatruro
after he ran that second long lap. He simply kept fighting.
(13:01):
He showed speed whenever possible, So he's gonna be a
factor in this one. I mean, Aprilia is clearly making
strides heading toward the end of the season and gaining
on Ducati, and I would guess that both A and
Bez would love to try to cap that progress with
a double victory weekend. They're gonna be thinking that from
here on out for the final three rounds of the year.
(13:22):
I don't know which one is the most possible. Maybe Portugal,
I don't know. Sepang is probably a really good bet,
far more than Valencia because weird stuff always happens at Valencia.
But one way or the other, Bez and his Aprilia
will be the bike and the rider to beat, I
think going into this weekend, or at least that's what
people are gonna think until we get on track and
start to sort things out. A final rider in the
(13:43):
favorites category for me this weekend is Pedro Acosta and Man.
The up and down second half saga for Acosta continues.
I mean, it seems like every weekend he comes through
in one of the races, and then something happens in
the other a wreck, an incident beyond his control, or
like last Sunday at Philip Island, a steady fade from
(14:06):
a solid podium position to being more than four seconds
off the back of the podium by the checker flag.
And I'll admit that fade was mildly concerning. But for
the most part, Acosta has been consistently fast, even when
the results don't reflect that. And if you continue to
be fast, you're eventually going to find your way to
(14:26):
the podium, which Acosta has, but you're also going to
find your way toward the top of the podium, which
is really where he needs to be aiming now. Acosta's
rookie debut last year in the Malaysian GP I thought
was solid. He was ninth in the sprint, fifth in
the Moto GP race, so points in both races. I
would maintain that KTM really isn't making the same kind
(14:46):
of progress Aprilia is. Right now, I think what we're
seeing is more Acosta persevering and his talent showing through
than the RC sixteen making massive strides forward like the RSGP.
But KTM does have the top speed thing going for them,
and so paying is built for top speed. So if
Acosta has the confidence in that front tire that he
(15:08):
can really lean on it, because the KTM is notoriously
hard on the front, then I think he has a
chance to be a contender at the top because we
know he's gonna have the straight line speed. The past
couple of rounds, he's looked really, really good on breaking.
It's just center off that they're kind of losing a
little bit there and then late in the race tirewear.
So I think that if he can manage that, he's
got a chance to be a contender near the top.
(15:29):
Although what we've seen out of the bike so far
hasn't impressed me yet as having race winning stuff, not
yet at least, but we'll see what KTM has for
this weekend. So those are my favorites. Now let's move
on to the watch list, and these aren't necessarily riders
I think are going to finish just outside of the podium.
They might finish on the podium. Heck, many one of
these guys can maybe even win the race. But the
(15:51):
reason that they're on this list is because they each
have interesting stories based on what they did last weekend
or what they've been doing recently, and that's making me
want to keep an eye on them as we head
into the Malaysian GP. First rider on that list Fabio
to jan Antonio, and you know, I was initially hoping
that Frankie Morbidelli was going to be the VR forty
(16:12):
six rider that would step up his game in Australia,
but instead it turned out to be Digia that rose
to the occasion. And that's why he's on the watch
list this week because I'm very curious to see how
he follows a really good round, because Fabio has struggled
with consistency all year long, but he put it all
together in Phillip Island fifth in the sprint, then salvaged
(16:34):
an entire weekend for Ducati with an impressive charge from
tenth on the grid to second in the Moto GP
race to score the only podium of the weekend. For
the Desmo Riders. As a result, digian Antonio also passes
Morbidelli for sixth in the riders standings, taking a very
narrow eight point lead, and despite not showing the consistent
(16:55):
pace that somebody like Pedro Acosta has, he's only seventeen
points behind for fifth, and that would be not just
a huge score for Digita and his best ever Moto
GP was althothough even sixth would be his best ever
result in Motor GP, but that would also put all
of the GP twenty fives, which as we know, really
(17:16):
GP twenty four point eighty seven six is in the
top five in points, and that would represent at least
a little bit of redemption for a bike that had
such a rocky preseason development period where they didn't even
use the engine that they created for this year. And yeah,
they would have probably preferred the GP twenty five P
one two three, you know, in the standings, but given
(17:38):
the situation that they were handed and the struggles that
some of those riders have had and are having pet Go,
that would still be a great result to have three
GP twenty five's in the top five along with the
GP twenty four and then of course you probably have
Marco Bitzeki. Digia's best at Pang finish was a less
than stellar ninth in Moto GP. So let's see what
(17:59):
his follow up round to Australia brings the next rider
on the watch list. And I don't think anybody's going
to be surprised by this one. Raoul Fernandez, and I
don't have to explain this one too much. I mean,
he was absolutely the rider of the weekend in Phillip Island.
He termed him one of the most unlikely performances of
the Motor GP season maybe longer maybe the past two
(18:22):
or three years, and of course everybody is keeping their
eye on him heading into this weekend to see what
the follow up in Sepang looks like. But I will
say this that even though Australia was next level stuff
from the track house rider, it wasn't like he didn't
give us a few hints because if you remember, he
(18:42):
was sixth and third in Indonesia, sixth and the Motor
GP race, third in the sprint, and then he was
seven eight before that in Japan, which is not only
steady progress forward across three rounds and six races. I
mean from seven eight to sixty three to one two.
But that's also an average finish during three consecutive rounds
(19:04):
of four point five across every single points race. Put
together a four point five that is legit stuff. So
Fernandez has been getting better. It's not purely an anomaly, right,
and Appribia, as we know, has been getting way better.
We've seen that out of Marco Bitzeki. He's gone from
a guy who was an afterthought at the beginning of
(19:25):
the year to the writer that we're now thinking of
as the favorite as every single weekend begins. So that
begs the question, what's next for Fernandez? Can he keep
this up at us a Pang track where his best
finish is fifteenth, you know, And that's why we'll all
be watching to see what he might be able to
do next. Although I'm not expecting him to go out
(19:46):
there and win really or even get a double podium.
If he's closer to that seven eight in Japan, I
think that's a good follow up anything better than that
icing on the cake. We'll have to see how much
confidence he shows up with and if he can slot
in and be the Alex Marquez to Marco Bitzeki's mark Marquez.
That would be a really strange and unexpected turn of
(20:07):
events to end the season with. And then the final
rider on my watch list this weekend is Luca Marini.
And I know what you're thinking. You're like, oh my gosh,
not him with Luca again. No, this isn't the same
situation as like Raouel Fernandez. There has a been a breakthrough, right,
He's just steady is as steady does. And so we wait,
we wait to see if he and Honda, and really
(20:28):
him on the watch list is more about Honda than
it is specifically about Luca Marini, because I'm looking to
see if Honda can find that next little something that
could take them to another level where they can fight
at least with KTM, maybe get a step closer toward
a Prillian du Kati and a step closer to being
in podium contention. But when it comes to Marini, his
(20:52):
streak of solid results continues. He was sixth in the
Moto GP race and eighth in the sprint in Australia.
That keeps him level on with the previous five rounds
before it, you know, and in fact, in the six
rounds since Hungary. Marini's overall average result if we include
where he actually crossed the line in the Indonesian sprint
as supposed to where his tire pressure penalty left him
(21:14):
in the standings, then in eleven finishes over twelve races
he had one DNF in the other eleven finishes, his
average is six point four or five. So not really
a top six rider anymore, but very very close to it.
And so it makes me wonder. We've seen for me
and al Deger have a breakthrough two rounds ago, we
saw Raoul Fernandez have a breakthrough one round to go.
(21:38):
Is Marini the next rider to shock everybody in the paddock?
I'm not terribly confident about that. I mean, he was
tenth in the Moto GP race and ninth in the
sprint in twenty twenty three. It's a pang fifteenth last year.
We'll see if he and Honda can bring the next
big thing in a streak of big things that we've
seen across the last couple of rounds, if they can
(22:00):
replicate that this weekend. But don't don't hold your breath.
It would be fun though, if something like that happened.
All right, So the final category of riders for this
weekend's race. Are the riders that I've put on the
hot seat. They've got to go out and perform this weekend.
We're going to start that list with Peco Bagnyaya. And
(22:20):
I mean, do I even have to say, why do
I have to explain this at all? I mean, Bagyaya's
troubles over the past couple of rounds have been well
documented and well covered by the media, although nobody, including
Peco himself, really has discovered any changeable reason, any solvable
reason behind it. And really it's not just the last two,
(22:41):
it's three of the last four rounds that had been terrible.
Peko has scored zero points in Australia, before that, Indonesia,
and most shockingly a couple of rounds before that at
his home track of Misano, all while Marco Bazeki was
chasing him down for third overall in the rider's standings
and then passed him. But the weird thing about the
streak for Peco is the round in the middle of
(23:05):
the misery because prior to Indonesia and Australia, which I
think were his worst two rounds of his entire career,
right immediately before those and right after Misano, Peko turned
in his most impressive performance of the entire season, back
to the old Peco double win in Japan, and you
(23:28):
know that's the thing, that's the thing that gives me
just a little bit of hope that he might be
able to pull something out of his hat this weekend.
It's a pang where as I mentioned at the beginning
of the show, he has the best record of any
rider that's actually going to be on the grid this weekend.
Two wins, three podiums, one sprint podium, and he is
the defending winner of this race. Now, he's been the
(23:49):
defending winner of some other races this year, including in
Australia where he's been absolutely terrible, So that doesn't really
mean anything in and of itself, but that round that
Motegi was proof of what I said at the top
of the show. Peco can't always be bad and spang
is a track where he has the ability to be good,
(24:09):
and he needs to be because Bez is already ahead
of him and could gain more ground and Pedro Acosta
is only forty one points behind and with three rounds
to go, the way that Peco has been riding meaning
scoring nothing forty one points is not a comfortable lead
for him at this stage, so he's got to step
up his game. He can step up his game, Willie.
(24:30):
That's the question that we're all going to find out
the answer to soon enough. Next up on the hot
seat for me Franco Morbidelli, and I think this one's
pretty self explanatory too. I expected a lot more out
of him in Australia. I expected something out of him
in Australia and we pretty much got nothing instead. It
was his teammate Digia that led the way, and Frankie
lost his spot in the championship to his teammate as
(24:52):
a result. But worse than losing ground, he just didn't
up his game at Phillip Island at all, a track
where he could have run well, and he needs to
turn that around. I mean, Morbidelli has been through a lot.
He fought through injury this season and despite missing multiple rounds,
he was able to hang in there as a top
five rider. But now as we're getting into the closing
(25:13):
stretch he's been slipping. He gave up fifth and then
now he give up sixth. There is time to turn
it back around and try to get back by his
teammate and then maybe set his sights on the top five.
But he's got to do it now because there are
only three rounds left. He's got not one, but two
riders to pass to be able to accomplish that. And
this isn't his best track. He did have a sixth
(25:35):
that was all the way back in twenty nineteen in
the Moto GP race. He was also sixth in the
sprint last year, but hey, it's Sapang. He's got a Ducati.
This track likes Ducati's, so he needs to make something
happen to save sixth in the standings. And if he can,
then Acosta is still not out of reach in fifth.
But like I said, the time is running out, the
(25:55):
points are running out. He's got to perform better than
both of those riders right now, which means he needs
to be worlds better than he was last weekend at
Phillip Island. Then the final rider on the hot seat
is a Neea Bassinini. And you know, the world feed
commentators were all about Bestia last weekend and I kind
of get why. I mean, his finishes of tenth in
(26:16):
the sprint and ninth in the Modal GP race in
and of themselves aren't all that memorable until you consider
that he started twentieth on the grid and so qualifying
ruined his weekend. And if he lets the same thing
happen in Sepang, he could throw away a great opportunity
at a track where he has been really, really good.
(26:36):
He had to win two years ago, three podiums and
a sprint podium. Those results are almost as good as
Bagnyaya and not even that far behind a guy like
mart Marquez. You know, last weekend, the race pace was there,
so he just needs to focus in on Saturday and
getting a better starting spot. Pedro Acosta has shown us
that the KTM does have pace, and so Basionini needs
(26:59):
to try to take full advantage while he has an
opportunity to track where he feels really really comfortable. All right,
So that does it for the riders, which means we
only have one more order of business to take care of.
I've got to try to make some picks, and this
is kind of tough for the same reason. Last weekend
was tough because there's no Mark Marquez. You can't just
pick Mark and be done with it. And really it's
(27:20):
tough because of what we've seen in the last two
rounds for me and Aldiger winning, Fernandez winning and finishing second.
I mean, everything is up for grabs right now in
Moto GP, and we're getting to tracks where you would
expect Dukati to dominate, but Ducatti's top two riders are
off the board. I mean, Mark is off the board entirely,
(27:43):
and Peco is like out to lunch right now, and
so it really mixes things up, especially when you throw
on top of that that Alex Marquez, who is just
a lock for second for so many rounds this season,
doesn't have that pace anymore. So I'll give it a try. Anyway.
Here are my picks for the top three in the
sprint and then the top five for the Moto GP race.
(28:05):
In the sprint, in third, I'm gonna go out there
and say that Franco Morbidelli is going to figure out
a way to step things up. I know it's not
his best track, but he's on a Ducati and this
track is gonna favor Dukati's and so I'm gonna take
a flyer on Frankie to finish third in the sprint,
ahead of him one spot in second. I'm gonna go
(28:26):
back to the Alex Marquez till on this one and
say he makes his triumphant return to second spot on
the sprint podium. Now, Alex is just really good here.
He's been really good in the past two years, and
he was solid last weekend. I think that the track
gives him a little bit more of an edge, and
so I think he'll be competitive. But your winner, I
gotta go Marko Bitzeki. He was so good last weekend. Yeah,
(28:50):
the penalty kind of robbed him of a chance to
have the double win. I think he's gonna come back
with a vengeance here with his sight set on that
exact goal, and in the sprint it's gonna be tough
to beat him. So Marco Pitteki your winner in the
Moto g P race going down to fifth, this is
a flyer. This is like picking Frankie to finish on
the sprint podium in fifth. I'm going to go with
(29:14):
Peco Bagnyaya. I mean, he's been so good here in
the past, and honestly, finishing fifth for him right now
would be like winning a race. That's how bad he's
been running. So definitely taking a shot on Peco for fifth,
I'm gonna take an even bigger shot in the dark.
In fourth, I'm gonna pick an A Bastiennini, another rider
(29:35):
who is awesome here, but unlike Peco, he doesn't have
like the emotional baggage coming into this one. Instead, he's
got a little bit of a boosting confidence because of
how good his race pace was in Australia. So I
think if those guys focus in on qualifying and he
gets anywhere in the front half of the pack, he
could be much more competitive. And so I'm gonna pick
(29:55):
an Air to finish fourth, just off the podium, one
spot behind Alex Marquez. I don't think it's a stretch
to think that Alex can finish on the podium here,
especially given the competition and the fact that this is
a relatively good circuit for him. So Alex in third
and second. Since Frankie finished on the podium in the sprint,
I'm gonna put his teammate Fabio de Jay and Antonio
(30:18):
on the podium for the Moto GP race. He was
really good and really strong in the latter half of
the race in Australia. Saving tires is going to be
really really helpful at a place like Sapang as well,
so I could see him coming on strong in the
second half of the race. But your winner to finally
get that double victory weekend Marco Bitzeki. And I'll tell
(30:42):
you this is not a gimme. I mean, this is
saying that Aprilli is gonna win both races, and then
Marco Bitzeki is going to win both races. And I
don't think there's a guarantee of either of those things
at this point. I'm just going with the rider who
I think is running the best right now, and that
is Marco Bitzeki. But could we see another surprise? Yeah,
could we see another out left field winner that we
(31:03):
never thought would be a winner. Maybe I'm not gonna
put it outside of the rum of possibility, but I'm
gonna play it safe because I have to try to
pick somebody based on logic, and Marco is the most logical.
So to recap in the sprint, Franco Morbidelli third, Alex
Marquez second, and you're winner Marco Pitzeki. In the Moto
GP race, fifth place, pecobag Nyaya, fourth place in Abastianini
(31:24):
and on the podium Alex Marquez, Fabio di Jan Antonio
and a double winner, Marco Bitzeki. Do you agree, do
you disagree? You know what to do? Let me know
about it. Get on Facebook or Reddit, tell me why
my picks are absolute rubbish and who you think is
going to win the race instead. Because we have a race,
that means, of course, we will have a post race show,
(31:46):
so check back at the conclusion of the weekend. I'll
recap all of the Moto GP action in Sepang, review
the championship picture in that hotly contested battle for fourth,
fifth and sixth, and then tell you what's happening with
Alex Marquez in second. Then of course i'll give you
my take on the weekend, which I'm hoping is a
weekend of good racing and weekend of maybe a couple
of unexpected surprises. After that, then it'll be your turn.
(32:09):
Give me your comments on Facebook or Reddit and we'll
discuss those on the next show. We've got a week
off before our final double header of the year in
Portugal and Valencia. I do want to talk a little
bit about the Amaha V four and about some other
topics that you guys are interested in, So leave those
comments and we'll try to do a show next week
where we talk about some of that stuff. In the meantime,
(32:30):
there are still shows on the way. Of course, after
the end of the year, we'll have the post race test,
and then we'll talk throughout the off season as we
get ready for twenty twenty six and believe it or not,
Moto Week's tenth year of shows. In fact, I guess technically,
because we started at the beginning of the twenty sixteen season,
I guess this technically is the tenth year. Yeah, it is,
(32:54):
So as we kick off twenty twenty six, it will
have completed ten full year of shows. And because I'm
only realizing that right now, because I only looked it
up the other day, then I think we'll designate twenty
twenty six as a year where we celebrate the ten
year anniversary of Motoweek. It's really really weird, by the way,
to say that out loud and think about what that means.
(33:17):
Oh man, wow. So I don't want to get too
far into it, but a preliminary thank you to everybody
who has supported the show and listened to the show
for this long. I mean, it's super crazy to think about,
but we're not there yet, so just keep that in
mind and come up with some ideas of fun stuff
that we could do. But we got a lot of
shows on the way. My whole point here is, if
(33:39):
you haven't done it yet, would I highly recommend you
subscribe to the program. You can do that on Apple Podcasts,
YouTube podcasts, Speaker, stitcherplayer, dot Fm, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Audible podcasts.
Basically go to your favorite podcasting site. Type in Moto
week you should be able to find the program. Of course,
you can find all of the latest episodes as soon
as they're released on the way site at motoweek dot net.
(34:02):
You can follow on Blue Sky just search for motoweek,
or on Instagram at motoweek USA. Most importantly, leave your comments.
You can do that on Facebook at facebook dot com,
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And if you do want to support the program celebrate
the tenth anniversary even though it's not here yet technically
I guess, then you can do that on Patreon at
(34:24):
Patreon dot com. Slash motoweek. Links to just about everything
I mentioned can be found on the website at motoweek
dot net. All right, so till we talk again a
couple of days from now. Let's find out what happens
in this malaysiangp and if we get another surprise winner,
or if Marco Pitteki can finally complete the task of
(34:46):
getting a double win weekend, or if we get something
in between, who knows, maybe Pickle step back up. Whatever happens,
we'll talk about it on the backside of the weekend.
I want to thank you so much for listening. Ride safe,
and I'll talk to you soon.
Frommotoweek dot net. It's the MotorWeek podcast with your host Wilson. Well,
hello and welcome to Motoweek. My name is Wilson. Thank
you so much for listening to the only MotoGP show
on the Internet that actually thinks Peco bag Yaya might
run well this weekend. Now, I'm not terribly confident as
(00:24):
I say that. I mean, we've all seen how he's
run the past couple of rounds. It has definitely not
been good. But and stick with me here, Just like
earlier in the season when I said, hey, Mark Marquez
can't win every race, well, Peco can't be terrible in
every race himself. I mean, yeah, if you want to
be technical, Mark did kind of keep on winning after
(00:47):
I said that all the way up until Marco, Butteki
took him out, so that kept right on going. But
the Peco thing, it can't be the same, right, I mean,
He's gonna run better eventually, right, Okay. I don't really
know where Peco is kind of coming from right now,
but I do know that as we head into Sapang
this weekend that Bagnyaya happens to be the most successful
(01:11):
rider on the Moto GP. Great at this circuit, and
he's only a tiny bit behind Mark Marquez for the
best Moto GP rider, well full time MotoGP rider there,
so maybe maybe he might be able to turn things around.
But that's just one of the storylines heading into Malaysia
this weekend. Obviously, Marco Bitzeki is going to be looking
(01:32):
to get that double victory that penalties took away any
chance of last weekend in Australia, We've got multiple close
battles in the riders standings, including an outside chance that
Alex Marquez could lock up second overall in the championship.
And then, of course for the last two Moto GP
races we've seen an unexpected first time winner. Could it
(01:52):
happen again? Yeah? I actually think it could. So let's
preview round twenty. Can you believe it? We are twenty
if he races into the season round twenty of the
twenty twenty five MotoGP World Championship the MALAYSIANGP at the
fast and challenging Sepang International Circuit in Selangor, Malaysia, just
(02:13):
south of Kuala Lumpur. All right, let's get going up.
Before we start, though, I would like to take a
brief moment to invite you over to the website if
you've never checked it out before. You can get all
of the latest episodes as soon as they're released at
motoweek dot net. You can follow on Blue Sky just
look for motoweek, or on Instagram at motoweek USA. And
if you want to comment, I would welcome it. You
(02:36):
can do that on Facebook at Facebook dot com slashmotoweek
dot net, or over on the Reddit sub at r
slash motoweek. And if you do want to support the program,
and definitely don't feel obligated, but if you want to,
I will definitely appreciate it. And I still have my
other half telling me I need to do something cool
for the people on Patreon, and so we're going to
(02:56):
work on that as we head toward the off season.
But if you want to join in over there, just
go to Patreon dot com slash motoweek. All right, so
let's dive in to this weekend's race at Malaysia. We've
hardly had any time off since all of the excitement
and the surprises of Australia, but we're right back at it.
And not only do we have the regular track and
(03:18):
the drama and the championship to contend with, but Yamaha
is going to be back this weekend with the V
four engine. I'm super excited for that. Test writer Augusto
Fernandez is going to try to do his best impression
of Raoul Fernandez and see if he can't maybe even
win a race. That's not gonna happen, But I'm very
excited to see what the Yamaha V four can do
(03:39):
and how it's improved since the last time that they
rolled it out on track. So let's talk about Malaysia
and Sepang International Circuit and the one manufacturer that I'm
sure is pretty thrilled to be headed to this particular
part of the world this weekend because after missing out
on the sprint podium completely and then only getting one
rider on the box in the Moto GP race at
(04:01):
Philip Island, Dukati is almost certainly looking forward to the
super fast three and a half miles Topang International Circuit
because it is definitely a great match for the prowess
of this GP twenty five. Well, every single Desmo out there.
The Malaysian GP is all about straight line speed, hard
(04:21):
breaking hot temperatures and then a couple of twists thrown
in for good measure. Hard acceleration and breaking zones are
the dominant feature at Sepang, but there are also a
couple of midspeed corners and a pair of double apex
turns that kind of balance things back at least a
little bit to the corner speed and momentum bikes. And
that's why up until recently this place has really been
(04:44):
a perpetual battle between Honda and Yamaha. It was really
only once Dukati started to get their chassis figured out
that it then allowed them to take full advantage of
all of that horsepower on the big straits and then
not lose all of the ground that they gained in
the middle section of the the track. But that being said,
the straits are the dominant feature here what you could
(05:05):
call the backstretch and the front stretch or really back
to back closing and starting a lap, and they are
really fast. You come down the back side of the strait,
it's one hundred and eighty five miles per hour over
two hundred miles per hour on the front stretch, and
they're joined by about a forty five or fifty miles
per hour hairpins, so big acceleration, big top speed, and
(05:26):
big breaking zones. There are really four hard breaking zones
at Sapang, and that means plenty of places for the slipstream,
plenty of places to pass, and also ample opportunities to
wait too long to give on the brakes and ultimately
blow a corner. And Term one is a prime example
of an opportunity or a mistake waiting to happen, not
(05:48):
necessarily on the first lap, but after they get up
the full speed, then Term one can be very very treacherous.
Term four is deceptively hard because it's coming at the
end of a strait that kind of curves at the beginning,
so it's easy to not realize how fast you're going
and then way too long to get on the brakes.
But it's not all about going in a straight line
and hitting the brakes and then accelerating again. This isn't
(06:10):
the red Bull ring. There are some twisty bits. There
is the very sector wanded acid like pancoral out chicane
at turns one and two, the double apix combo at
seven and eight, and then turns ten and eleven with
a gentle bend that kind of closes in on you
then at thirteen fourteen you have that same exact idea,
but it's more extreme, and that's a very critical corner
(06:32):
because not only is it tough, but that then leads
onto the back straight, which of course hard breaking the
onto the front straight, and that final corner between those
two straights is so much fun because a there's a
lot of action that happens there and b Unlike a
lot of corners at a lot of tracks, there are
several lines that you can take through that final corner,
(06:54):
and that means that if you're close, there is always
a chance to switch it up and try to do
something heroic by taking a different line, trying to get
a different run out of that final corner and then
drag racing to the line. It's not the exact same thing,
but it's the same idea of the final corner in Herrath,
where there's not just one way to get through there,
and because of that, it could lead to a little
(07:15):
bit of strategy depending on how your bike's handling and
where you think you can get on the throttle earliest.
Now the big straits definitely lend themselves to the ducats
and now the ktms with their great top speed too,
for sure, but with all of those tricky kind of
technical bits in between, that tilts the scale back towards
the handling bikes, and so this is an overall test
(07:35):
slanting just a little bit toward the big power and
big breaking bikes. And that's why we've seen a lot
of different winners here over the years. Even in the
past two two and a half years where Ducati has
really kind of dominated, it hasn't been just one rider,
because it really is a factor of how you're riding
(07:56):
at the time, what tire you pick, and how adaptable
you are, how quickly you can change with the changing conditions,
and that's led to a lot of variety at the
top of the podium and really on the podium as
a whole. And that's why this place is very much
a wild card track in the same way that we
typically see out of Phillip Island. Because even though do
Kati have won the last five consecutive points races here,
(08:20):
that's been with four different riders, Peko bag Yaya was
the only repeat rider in that span and in the
last eight race weekends in Malaysia spanning an entire decade.
Because they took a couple of years off due to COVID.
Peco and Andrea de Vizioso are the only riders to
have won more than one race of any sort in Tapang.
(08:40):
So will we see that trend continue of non repeat
winners and maybe get a surprise and have another first
time winner. Well, let's dive in and look at the riders,
and we'll do this how we typically do a race preview.
I'll break things up into three categories. My favorites, the
guys I think have the best chance of winning this weekend.
The watch list who have an interesting story or are
(09:02):
on a hot streak coming into this one, and because
of that, I want to see how they'll adapt to
a track that may be challenging for them. And then
the hot seat, a trio of riders that I think
absolutely have to step it up this weekend. And I'll
tell you exactly why I think that. We'll take each
category and championship border and so as we dive into
the favorites here, since we don't have a Mark Marquez
(09:22):
to talk about, we're going to start this category off
with the rider that's second in the championship right now,
Alex Marquez. And you know Sepang is a little bit
different for Alex than the vast majority of the tracks
that we've seen this year, because well, in most places,
Alex has had a bit of a checkered past in
terms of results. When it comes to Sapang, he's actually
(09:46):
been really good here since he's gotten on that Christini Ducati.
He had a double fourth place here last year, and
then in twenty twenty three, just three rounds back from injury.
By the way, Alex won the sprint and then he
was second in the Moto GP. Rate sounds pretty familiar, right,
and that's a really good thing because, like we've talked
about the past couple of race weekends, Alex right now
(10:09):
is just not looking quite as dominant as he was
in the first half of the season, and he's a
prime example of how much ground the likes of a
Prillia and KTM have made up on Ducati in the
latter half of the year. So Alex is losing a
little bit to the competition. But what's always very comforting
(10:29):
when you need to pick up your pace a little
bit is coming to a track where you have confidence,
and with the success that he's had here in the
past two years, I think the boosting confidence that'll give
him will definitely help him build them what was a
solid but not great weekend in Australia. And on top
of that, as we all know, Alex has a lot
(10:50):
to race for. He's got a shot to clinch second
overall in the championship, although personally I think he's going
to have to wait until Portugal only because of how
well Marco Bitzeki is right right now, and Marco is
his main competition at this point. But Alex doesn't need
to go out there and win anything, right, he doesn't
even need to go out there and finish second like
he had the majority of the first half of the year.
(11:11):
He just needs to avoid wrecking and score some decent points,
and he's absolutely capable of doing that. In fact, I
think he's capable of more than that, given how he's
run here the past couple of years, and so I
think he'll be somewhere in podium contention, probably not at
the front, but second through fifth I think is a
good range to expect out of Alex Marquez this weekend.
(11:33):
Then as we move on to Marco Bitzeki, well, when
you look at his stats, it's a pang it's a
bit more of a wild card scenario here because he's
kind of gotten worse as time has gone by. I'll
explain what I mean. And his rookie season, Bez was
fourth in the Malaysian GP. Then in twenty twenty three
(11:53):
he dropped to sixth in the Moto GP race and
seventh in the sprint. So yeah, six seven, I know.
And then last year his Moto GP race was a
ninth and the sprint a tenth. Although most of last
year was in an anomaly for Bez, he just wasn't
on his game. Is that regression mildly concerning? Sure? But
(12:17):
the overshadowing factor here is how Marco was riding right now.
I mean, in a world absent of Mark Marquez, Marco
Pateeki is arguably the fastest rider on the grid, and
we saw that last week in Philip Island where he
walked away in the end of the sprint and then
came back from a double long lap penalty to still
somehow be on the podium on Sunday. He's got the
(12:38):
speed and maybe more importantly, he's got the confidence right
now as well. I mean, Bez wasn't rattled by Fabio
Quachruro stealing the pull from him in Australia. He wasn't
phased by running multiple laps behind Raoul Fernandez in the sprint,
and that he wasn't deterred by the penalties in the
Moto GP race or how he got stuck behind Quatruro
after he ran that second long lap. He simply kept fighting.
(13:01):
He showed speed whenever possible, So he's gonna be a
factor in this one. I mean, Aprilia is clearly making
strides heading toward the end of the season and gaining
on Ducati, and I would guess that both A and
Bez would love to try to cap that progress with
a double victory weekend. They're gonna be thinking that from
here on out for the final three rounds of the year.
(13:22):
I don't know which one is the most possible. Maybe Portugal,
I don't know. Sepang is probably a really good bet,
far more than Valencia because weird stuff always happens at Valencia.
But one way or the other, Bez and his Aprilia
will be the bike and the rider to beat, I
think going into this weekend, or at least that's what
people are gonna think until we get on track and
start to sort things out. A final rider in the
(13:43):
favorites category for me this weekend is Pedro Acosta and Man.
The up and down second half saga for Acosta continues.
I mean, it seems like every weekend he comes through
in one of the races, and then something happens in
the other a wreck, an incident beyond his control, or
like last Sunday at Philip Island, a steady fade from
(14:06):
a solid podium position to being more than four seconds
off the back of the podium by the checker flag.
And I'll admit that fade was mildly concerning. But for
the most part, Acosta has been consistently fast, even when
the results don't reflect that. And if you continue to
be fast, you're eventually going to find your way to
(14:26):
the podium, which Acosta has, but you're also going to
find your way toward the top of the podium, which
is really where he needs to be aiming now. Acosta's
rookie debut last year in the Malaysian GP I thought
was solid. He was ninth in the sprint, fifth in
the Moto GP race, so points in both races. I
would maintain that KTM really isn't making the same kind
(14:46):
of progress Aprilia is. Right now, I think what we're
seeing is more Acosta persevering and his talent showing through
than the RC sixteen making massive strides forward like the RSGP.
But KTM does have the top speed thing going for them,
and so paying is built for top speed. So if
Acosta has the confidence in that front tire that he
(15:08):
can really lean on it, because the KTM is notoriously
hard on the front, then I think he has a
chance to be a contender at the top because we
know he's gonna have the straight line speed. The past
couple of rounds, he's looked really, really good on breaking.
It's just center off that they're kind of losing a
little bit there and then late in the race tirewear.
So I think that if he can manage that, he's
got a chance to be a contender near the top.
(15:29):
Although what we've seen out of the bike so far
hasn't impressed me yet as having race winning stuff, not
yet at least, but we'll see what KTM has for
this weekend. So those are my favorites. Now let's move
on to the watch list, and these aren't necessarily riders
I think are going to finish just outside of the podium.
They might finish on the podium. Heck, many one of
these guys can maybe even win the race. But the
(15:51):
reason that they're on this list is because they each
have interesting stories based on what they did last weekend
or what they've been doing recently, and that's making me
want to keep an eye on them as we head
into the Malaysian GP. First rider on that list Fabio
to jan Antonio, and you know, I was initially hoping
that Frankie Morbidelli was going to be the VR forty
(16:12):
six rider that would step up his game in Australia,
but instead it turned out to be Digia that rose
to the occasion. And that's why he's on the watch
list this week because I'm very curious to see how
he follows a really good round, because Fabio has struggled
with consistency all year long, but he put it all
together in Phillip Island fifth in the sprint, then salvaged
(16:34):
an entire weekend for Ducati with an impressive charge from
tenth on the grid to second in the Moto GP
race to score the only podium of the weekend. For
the Desmo Riders. As a result, digian Antonio also passes
Morbidelli for sixth in the riders standings, taking a very
narrow eight point lead, and despite not showing the consistent
(16:55):
pace that somebody like Pedro Acosta has, he's only seventeen
points behind for fifth, and that would be not just
a huge score for Digita and his best ever Moto
GP was althothough even sixth would be his best ever
result in Motor GP, but that would also put all
of the GP twenty fives, which as we know, really
(17:16):
GP twenty four point eighty seven six is in the
top five in points, and that would represent at least
a little bit of redemption for a bike that had
such a rocky preseason development period where they didn't even
use the engine that they created for this year. And yeah,
they would have probably preferred the GP twenty five P
one two three, you know, in the standings, but given
(17:38):
the situation that they were handed and the struggles that
some of those riders have had and are having pet Go,
that would still be a great result to have three
GP twenty five's in the top five along with the
GP twenty four and then of course you probably have
Marco Bitzeki. Digia's best at Pang finish was a less
than stellar ninth in Moto GP. So let's see what
(17:59):
his follow up round to Australia brings the next rider
on the watch list. And I don't think anybody's going
to be surprised by this one. Raoul Fernandez, and I
don't have to explain this one too much. I mean,
he was absolutely the rider of the weekend in Phillip Island.
He termed him one of the most unlikely performances of
the Motor GP season maybe longer maybe the past two
(18:22):
or three years, and of course everybody is keeping their
eye on him heading into this weekend to see what
the follow up in Sepang looks like. But I will
say this that even though Australia was next level stuff
from the track house rider, it wasn't like he didn't
give us a few hints because if you remember, he
(18:42):
was sixth and third in Indonesia, sixth and the Motor
GP race, third in the sprint, and then he was
seven eight before that in Japan, which is not only
steady progress forward across three rounds and six races. I
mean from seven eight to sixty three to one two.
But that's also an average finish during three consecutive rounds
(19:04):
of four point five across every single points race. Put
together a four point five that is legit stuff. So
Fernandez has been getting better. It's not purely an anomaly, right,
and Appribia, as we know, has been getting way better.
We've seen that out of Marco Bitzeki. He's gone from
a guy who was an afterthought at the beginning of
(19:25):
the year to the writer that we're now thinking of
as the favorite as every single weekend begins. So that
begs the question, what's next for Fernandez? Can he keep
this up at us a Pang track where his best
finish is fifteenth, you know, And that's why we'll all
be watching to see what he might be able to
do next. Although I'm not expecting him to go out
(19:46):
there and win really or even get a double podium.
If he's closer to that seven eight in Japan, I
think that's a good follow up anything better than that
icing on the cake. We'll have to see how much
confidence he shows up with and if he can slot
in and be the Alex Marquez to Marco Bitzeki's mark Marquez.
That would be a really strange and unexpected turn of
(20:07):
events to end the season with. And then the final
rider on my watch list this weekend is Luca Marini.
And I know what you're thinking. You're like, oh my gosh,
not him with Luca again. No, this isn't the same
situation as like Raouel Fernandez. There has a been a breakthrough, right,
He's just steady is as steady does. And so we wait,
we wait to see if he and Honda, and really
(20:28):
him on the watch list is more about Honda than
it is specifically about Luca Marini, because I'm looking to
see if Honda can find that next little something that
could take them to another level where they can fight
at least with KTM, maybe get a step closer toward
a Prillian du Kati and a step closer to being
in podium contention. But when it comes to Marini, his
(20:52):
streak of solid results continues. He was sixth in the
Moto GP race and eighth in the sprint in Australia.
That keeps him level on with the previous five rounds
before it, you know, and in fact, in the six
rounds since Hungary. Marini's overall average result if we include
where he actually crossed the line in the Indonesian sprint
as supposed to where his tire pressure penalty left him
(21:14):
in the standings, then in eleven finishes over twelve races
he had one DNF in the other eleven finishes, his
average is six point four or five. So not really
a top six rider anymore, but very very close to it.
And so it makes me wonder. We've seen for me
and al Deger have a breakthrough two rounds ago, we
saw Raoul Fernandez have a breakthrough one round to go.
(21:38):
Is Marini the next rider to shock everybody in the paddock?
I'm not terribly confident about that. I mean, he was
tenth in the Moto GP race and ninth in the
sprint in twenty twenty three. It's a pang fifteenth last year.
We'll see if he and Honda can bring the next
big thing in a streak of big things that we've
seen across the last couple of rounds, if they can
(22:00):
replicate that this weekend. But don't don't hold your breath.
It would be fun though, if something like that happened.
All right, So the final category of riders for this
weekend's race. Are the riders that I've put on the
hot seat. They've got to go out and perform this weekend.
We're going to start that list with Peco Bagnyaya. And
(22:20):
I mean, do I even have to say, why do
I have to explain this at all? I mean, Bagyaya's
troubles over the past couple of rounds have been well
documented and well covered by the media, although nobody, including
Peco himself, really has discovered any changeable reason, any solvable
reason behind it. And really it's not just the last two,
(22:41):
it's three of the last four rounds that had been terrible.
Peko has scored zero points in Australia, before that, Indonesia,
and most shockingly a couple of rounds before that at
his home track of Misano, all while Marco Bazeki was
chasing him down for third overall in the rider's standings
and then passed him. But the weird thing about the
streak for Peco is the round in the middle of
(23:05):
the misery because prior to Indonesia and Australia, which I
think were his worst two rounds of his entire career,
right immediately before those and right after Misano, Peko turned
in his most impressive performance of the entire season, back
to the old Peco double win in Japan, and you
(23:28):
know that's the thing, that's the thing that gives me
just a little bit of hope that he might be
able to pull something out of his hat this weekend.
It's a pang where as I mentioned at the beginning
of the show, he has the best record of any
rider that's actually going to be on the grid this weekend.
Two wins, three podiums, one sprint podium, and he is
the defending winner of this race. Now, he's been the
(23:49):
defending winner of some other races this year, including in
Australia where he's been absolutely terrible, So that doesn't really
mean anything in and of itself, but that round that
Motegi was proof of what I said at the top
of the show. Peco can't always be bad and spang
is a track where he has the ability to be good,
(24:09):
and he needs to be because Bez is already ahead
of him and could gain more ground and Pedro Acosta
is only forty one points behind and with three rounds
to go, the way that Peco has been riding meaning
scoring nothing forty one points is not a comfortable lead
for him at this stage, so he's got to step
up his game. He can step up his game, Willie.
(24:30):
That's the question that we're all going to find out
the answer to soon enough. Next up on the hot
seat for me Franco Morbidelli, and I think this one's
pretty self explanatory too. I expected a lot more out
of him in Australia. I expected something out of him
in Australia and we pretty much got nothing instead. It
was his teammate Digia that led the way, and Frankie
lost his spot in the championship to his teammate as
(24:52):
a result. But worse than losing ground, he just didn't
up his game at Phillip Island at all, a track
where he could have run well, and he needs to
turn that around. I mean, Morbidelli has been through a lot.
He fought through injury this season and despite missing multiple rounds,
he was able to hang in there as a top
five rider. But now as we're getting into the closing
(25:13):
stretch he's been slipping. He gave up fifth and then
now he give up sixth. There is time to turn
it back around and try to get back by his
teammate and then maybe set his sights on the top five.
But he's got to do it now because there are
only three rounds left. He's got not one, but two
riders to pass to be able to accomplish that. And
this isn't his best track. He did have a sixth
(25:35):
that was all the way back in twenty nineteen in
the Moto GP race. He was also sixth in the
sprint last year, but hey, it's Sapang. He's got a Ducati.
This track likes Ducati's, so he needs to make something
happen to save sixth in the standings. And if he can,
then Acosta is still not out of reach in fifth.
But like I said, the time is running out, the
(25:55):
points are running out. He's got to perform better than
both of those riders right now, which means he needs
to be worlds better than he was last weekend at
Phillip Island. Then the final rider on the hot seat
is a Neea Bassinini. And you know, the world feed
commentators were all about Bestia last weekend and I kind
of get why. I mean, his finishes of tenth in
(26:16):
the sprint and ninth in the Modal GP race in
and of themselves aren't all that memorable until you consider
that he started twentieth on the grid and so qualifying
ruined his weekend. And if he lets the same thing
happen in Sepang, he could throw away a great opportunity
at a track where he has been really, really good.
(26:36):
He had to win two years ago, three podiums and
a sprint podium. Those results are almost as good as
Bagnyaya and not even that far behind a guy like
mart Marquez. You know, last weekend, the race pace was there,
so he just needs to focus in on Saturday and
getting a better starting spot. Pedro Acosta has shown us
that the KTM does have pace, and so Basionini needs
(26:59):
to try to take full advantage while he has an
opportunity to track where he feels really really comfortable. All right,
So that does it for the riders, which means we
only have one more order of business to take care of.
I've got to try to make some picks, and this
is kind of tough for the same reason. Last weekend
was tough because there's no Mark Marquez. You can't just
pick Mark and be done with it. And really it's
(27:20):
tough because of what we've seen in the last two
rounds for me and Aldiger winning, Fernandez winning and finishing second.
I mean, everything is up for grabs right now in
Moto GP, and we're getting to tracks where you would
expect Dukati to dominate, but Ducatti's top two riders are
off the board. I mean, Mark is off the board entirely,
(27:43):
and Peco is like out to lunch right now, and
so it really mixes things up, especially when you throw
on top of that that Alex Marquez, who is just
a lock for second for so many rounds this season,
doesn't have that pace anymore. So I'll give it a try. Anyway.
Here are my picks for the top three in the
sprint and then the top five for the Moto GP race.
(28:05):
In the sprint, in third, I'm gonna go out there
and say that Franco Morbidelli is going to figure out
a way to step things up. I know it's not
his best track, but he's on a Ducati and this
track is gonna favor Dukati's and so I'm gonna take
a flyer on Frankie to finish third in the sprint,
ahead of him one spot in second. I'm gonna go
(28:26):
back to the Alex Marquez till on this one and
say he makes his triumphant return to second spot on
the sprint podium. Now, Alex is just really good here.
He's been really good in the past two years, and
he was solid last weekend. I think that the track
gives him a little bit more of an edge, and
so I think he'll be competitive. But your winner, I
gotta go Marko Bitzeki. He was so good last weekend. Yeah,
(28:50):
the penalty kind of robbed him of a chance to
have the double win. I think he's gonna come back
with a vengeance here with his sight set on that
exact goal, and in the sprint it's gonna be tough
to beat him. So Marco Pitteki your winner in the
Moto g P race going down to fifth, this is
a flyer. This is like picking Frankie to finish on
the sprint podium in fifth. I'm going to go with
(29:14):
Peco Bagnyaya. I mean, he's been so good here in
the past, and honestly, finishing fifth for him right now
would be like winning a race. That's how bad he's
been running. So definitely taking a shot on Peco for fifth,
I'm gonna take an even bigger shot in the dark.
In fourth, I'm gonna pick an A Bastiennini, another rider
(29:35):
who is awesome here, but unlike Peco, he doesn't have
like the emotional baggage coming into this one. Instead, he's
got a little bit of a boosting confidence because of
how good his race pace was in Australia. So I
think if those guys focus in on qualifying and he
gets anywhere in the front half of the pack, he
could be much more competitive. And so I'm gonna pick
(29:55):
an Air to finish fourth, just off the podium, one
spot behind Alex Marquez. I don't think it's a stretch
to think that Alex can finish on the podium here,
especially given the competition and the fact that this is
a relatively good circuit for him. So Alex in third
and second. Since Frankie finished on the podium in the sprint,
I'm gonna put his teammate Fabio de Jay and Antonio
(30:18):
on the podium for the Moto GP race. He was
really good and really strong in the latter half of
the race in Australia. Saving tires is going to be
really really helpful at a place like Sapang as well,
so I could see him coming on strong in the
second half of the race. But your winner to finally
get that double victory weekend Marco Bitzeki. And I'll tell
(30:42):
you this is not a gimme. I mean, this is
saying that Aprilli is gonna win both races, and then
Marco Bitzeki is going to win both races. And I
don't think there's a guarantee of either of those things
at this point. I'm just going with the rider who
I think is running the best right now, and that
is Marco Bitzeki. But could we see another surprise? Yeah,
could we see another out left field winner that we
(31:03):
never thought would be a winner. Maybe I'm not gonna
put it outside of the rum of possibility, but I'm
gonna play it safe because I have to try to
pick somebody based on logic, and Marco is the most logical.
So to recap in the sprint, Franco Morbidelli third, Alex
Marquez second, and you're winner Marco Pitzeki. In the Moto
GP race, fifth place, pecobag Nyaya, fourth place in Abastianini
(31:24):
and on the podium Alex Marquez, Fabio di Jan Antonio
and a double winner, Marco Bitzeki. Do you agree, do
you disagree? You know what to do? Let me know
about it. Get on Facebook or Reddit, tell me why
my picks are absolute rubbish and who you think is
going to win the race instead. Because we have a race,
that means, of course, we will have a post race show,
(31:46):
so check back at the conclusion of the weekend. I'll
recap all of the Moto GP action in Sepang, review
the championship picture in that hotly contested battle for fourth,
fifth and sixth, and then tell you what's happening with
Alex Marquez in second. Then of course i'll give you
my take on the weekend, which I'm hoping is a
weekend of good racing and weekend of maybe a couple
of unexpected surprises. After that, then it'll be your turn.
(32:09):
Give me your comments on Facebook or Reddit and we'll
discuss those on the next show. We've got a week
off before our final double header of the year in
Portugal and Valencia. I do want to talk a little
bit about the Amaha V four and about some other
topics that you guys are interested in, So leave those
comments and we'll try to do a show next week
where we talk about some of that stuff. In the meantime,
(32:30):
there are still shows on the way. Of course, after
the end of the year, we'll have the post race test,
and then we'll talk throughout the off season as we
get ready for twenty twenty six and believe it or not,
Moto Week's tenth year of shows. In fact, I guess technically,
because we started at the beginning of the twenty sixteen season,
I guess this technically is the tenth year. Yeah, it is,
(32:54):
So as we kick off twenty twenty six, it will
have completed ten full year of shows. And because I'm
only realizing that right now, because I only looked it
up the other day, then I think we'll designate twenty
twenty six as a year where we celebrate the ten
year anniversary of Motoweek. It's really really weird, by the way,
to say that out loud and think about what that means.
(33:17):
Oh man, wow. So I don't want to get too
far into it, but a preliminary thank you to everybody
who has supported the show and listened to the show
for this long. I mean, it's super crazy to think about,
but we're not there yet, so just keep that in
mind and come up with some ideas of fun stuff
that we could do. But we got a lot of
shows on the way. My whole point here is, if
(33:39):
you haven't done it yet, would I highly recommend you
subscribe to the program. You can do that on Apple Podcasts,
YouTube podcasts, Speaker, stitcherplayer, dot Fm, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Audible podcasts.
Basically go to your favorite podcasting site. Type in Moto
week you should be able to find the program. Of course,
you can find all of the latest episodes as soon
as they're released on the way site at motoweek dot net.
(34:02):
You can follow on Blue Sky just search for motoweek,
or on Instagram at motoweek USA. Most importantly, leave your comments.
You can do that on Facebook at facebook dot com,
slashmotoweek dot net, or on the reddit submit r slash motoweek.
And if you do want to support the program celebrate
the tenth anniversary even though it's not here yet technically
I guess, then you can do that on Patreon at
(34:24):
Patreon dot com. Slash motoweek. Links to just about everything
I mentioned can be found on the website at motoweek
dot net. All right, so till we talk again a
couple of days from now. Let's find out what happens
in this malaysiangp and if we get another surprise winner,
or if Marco Pitteki can finally complete the task of
(34:46):
getting a double win weekend, or if we get something
in between, who knows, maybe Pickle step back up. Whatever happens,
we'll talk about it on the backside of the weekend.
I want to thank you so much for listening. Ride safe,
and I'll talk to you soon.
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