October 2, 2025 • 31 mins
Marc Marquez has the MotoGP Championship wrapped up, while Pecco Bagnaia dominated last week in Motegi - are they on a collision course heading into Mandalika? I preview the IndonesianGP, and make picks for the race!
The Rundown:
- The IndonesianGP! I preview Round 18 of the MotoGP Championship
- The Track - all about the atmosphere
- The Favorites - will we finally get the Marc-Pecco battle we've been waiting for?
- The Watch List - can Honda continue to impress?
- The Hot Seat - Alex needs to pick up the pace
- The Picks! For the Sprint and MotoGP races
Who do you think will win the IndonesianGP? 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:
- The IndonesianGP! I preview Round 18 of the MotoGP Championship
- The Track - all about the atmosphere
- The Favorites - will we finally get the Marc-Pecco battle we've been waiting for?
- The Watch List - can Honda continue to impress?
- The Hot Seat - Alex needs to pick up the pace
- The Picks! For the Sprint and MotoGP races
Who do you think will win the IndonesianGP? 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.
Why hello, and welcome to motoweek. My name is Wilson.
Thank you so much for listening to the only MotoGP
show on the Internet that thinks Mark Marquez isn't even
going to show up this weekend. Okay, maybe he'll show up,
(00:23):
but then be like, oh no, I forgot my helmet.
I can't believe I'm so forgetful. That could cost me
the championship. Oh wait, never mind. Okay, he'll be there,
he'll be racing. But it is crazy to think that
he could simply sit out the last month and a
half of the season and nobody could catch him, even
(00:44):
if somebody won every single race from here on out.
That is just how dominant Mark Marquez has been this season,
and he's not necessarily done yet, although now he might
have a familiar new challenger in the form of his
teammate peg Go back Yahya after Peco had that dominant
resurgence in Japan, and that actually sets up an interesting
(01:05):
proposition this weekend as we head to Indonesia. Mark has
nothing more than lose Peco technically, Does I mean he's
third in the championship right now, he could lose that,
but he could also fight for second, So there is
something at stake for him. But let's face it, realistically,
(01:26):
based on what he expected, what Dukati expected this season,
it's a wash for him. It's over, it's done, and
so it's very likely that from his standpoint he doesn't
have a whole lot to lose either. But based on
what we've seen in Japan last weekend, he's fast right now,
and of course Mark is always fast, and so could
(01:47):
that set the stage for an epic Dukati shootout at
the front. I've got my fingers crussed for sure. And
that's not the only question heading into Mandalika. Honda had
a really strong run in Motegi. Can that continue? And
of course Peco is right in the middle of that
battle for second to fourth in the championship, and so
(02:07):
we have to wonder what Alex Marquez, who struggled last weekend,
and Marco Pitzeki, who actually looked good, what they're gonna
do in that hotly contested race over the next five rounds.
So with the very historic Mark Marquez championship already decided,
we now really enter a new phase in the season.
What does that mean? Well, we'll start to try to
(02:28):
figure that out on this episode of the program as
we preview round eighteen of the twenty twenty five MotoGP
World Championship, the Indonesian GP at the Mandalika International Street
Circuit in Lombak, Indonesia. Before we get started, though, I
would like to take a brief moment to invite you
over to the website if you've never checked it out.
You can get all of the latest episodes as soon
(02:50):
as they're released at motoweek dot net. You can follow
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(03:14):
you do feel like supporting the program and you don't
have to feel obligated to, you can do that on Patreon.
Just go to Patreon dot com slash motowek. All right,
so last week what a wild and unexpected weekend of racing.
I mean, the only thing that happened that was in
the big surprise was actually Mark winning the championship. Nobody
(03:35):
expected pecobag Yaya to do a complete one pint eighty.
In terms of performance, Honda looked really good. Alex Marquez struggled. Meanwhile,
guys like Franco Morbidelli and Marco Bitzeki and Pedro Acosta
just kept doing what they have been doing in the
second half, which is slowly getting better and better and
closing that gap a little bit here and a little
(03:56):
bit there against the Ducates. And so we carry all
of that momentum into this weekend in Indonesia. Before we
get to the riders, let's talk about the circuit for
a minute, because Mandalika is still relatively new. It was
only completed in twenty twenty one. The first motor GP
race here was in twenty twenty two, and it's already
had its moments. I mean, even before it opened. There
(04:18):
was controversy with the local population while it was being built.
Then once it was open, there were pavement issues in
the first couple of races. That's all kind of been
solved now, at least the track part of it has.
And this place reminds me of a slightly more technical
version of Argentina. Like Rio Hondo, Mandalika is flat with
(04:39):
a combination of a few fast flowing parts with one
or two more technical bits tossed in. The most interesting
of which, for me at least, is that section from
turns fifteen through sixteen and into seventeen, the final stretch
before that start finish line. It features a mid speed,
gentle right hander in fifteen that then decreases sharply in
(04:59):
radius to a right hairpin in sixteen. Then you change
direction entirely to an over ninety degree left hander that
dumpshow onto the start finished straight and you're in a
drag race to the line. That section provides some quality
opportunities for a last second pass, and it kind of
balances the faster portions of the track. I think we
could see quite a bit of action there as well
(05:20):
as a few mistakes that could ruin the last minute
charge for the podium. Turns two, three, and four should
see some action as well, being the next lowest part
of the circuit, and then turn ten is a hard
breaking zone that may also provide some opportunities to pass.
The other defining characteristic of Mandalika is a trio of
arching right hand turns from five to seven, and that
(05:43):
drew a lot of praise from riders for the excitement
it provides. It's very similar to turns sixth through rate.
It's a pang or what we saw a couple of
rounds ago, the very famous curvon A and Misano from
turns eleven through fourteen. It's not really a chance to pass,
per se, but it is a chance to make up
ground or lose a lot if you blow your line. Now, overall,
(06:04):
I wouldn't call Mandalika a character track. You know, it's
flat and pretty normal. I mean, it's a far cry
from what we saw a couple of rounds ago in
Misano or what's coming up at a place like Phillip Island.
But for me, the race here is going to be
a lot like Thailand or what we saw last weekend
in Motegi. Not quite as much about the track, although
(06:27):
Motegi is a pretty awesome track, But I think it's
gonna be more about the fans and the atmosphere they create.
Indonesia is crazy about motorcycles. It's gonna be packed, They're
gonna be one hundred percent energized and that's what's gonna
make the race fun here, all right. So that's where
they're racing. Now, let's dig in with the riders, and
like we normally do on a pre race show, we'll
(06:48):
split things up into three categories. The favorites, the guys
who I think have the best shot at winning this weekend,
my watch list, three riders with an interesting story coming
into this weekend that I'm going to be paying attention to.
And then the hot seat, a trio of riders that
I think have to go out and absolutely perform this weekend,
and I'm gonna tell you exactly why. Let's start with
(07:08):
the favorites. We will take these guys in championship order,
which means we have to start with our newly crowned
twenty twenty five Moto GP world champion, that of course,
is Mark Marquez, who, by the way, statistically speaking, at
Motegi had his worst round in terms of results when
he finishes both races, his worst round since Silverstone all
(07:32):
the way back in May, and it was just the
second round all year long where Mark didn't win at
least one of the two races run. The other one,
of course, was that same Silverstone round. Is that concerning? No,
not really. I mean Mark's mission last weekend in Motegi
was just securing the championship, not taking risks to win races,
(07:54):
and in the end he still finished second in both
the sprint and the Moto GP race, and oh yeah,
by the way, won the championship as well. So it
certainly wasn't a bad weekend for Mark Marquez and really
not a concerning one either, other than the fact that
pecobag Nyaya was appreciably faster and Mark, let's face it,
did seem to struggle a bit trying to get around
(08:16):
both Joamir and Pedro Acosta. Now, whether that was Mark
losing a little something or if he was simply playing
it safe, that's a matter of debate, but one that
could easily be settled starting this weekend in Indonesia, because
Mark doesn't have to play it safe, he doesn't have
to protect the points anymore. He's free to go all
out and try to win his first ever race at Mandalika.
(08:39):
I'm up to this point he's only ever had a
sprint podium that came one year ago on the Grassini Ducati.
That lack of a record here definitely leaves the door
open a little bit more wide open than it maybe
normally would. But I fully expect that Mark is going
to go for it here and because of that, we
will definitely get to find out if you know, the
(08:59):
pas couple of rounds he's been off a little bit,
or if he was just holding back because he didn't
want to make a mistake. It's going to be absolutely
clear once we get out on track this weekend, and
that could maybe set up an amazing duel with the
next rider on the favorites list. Yeah, he's back, Peko
bag Yaya. Well he's back on the list. Is he
(09:21):
back in general? Well yeah, last weekend in Japan he was.
It was an incredible double victory. He looked absolutely fantastic
on the GP twenty five that had thoroughly confused him
for the vast majority of the season. But Dukadi showed
up in Japan. They made some big adjustments to the
bike and it worked and it totally turned Peco's momentum around. Now,
(09:44):
the big question in the room was that real. Was
it an anomaly, was it luck? Was it a matter
of right bike, right track, right adjustments, or was it
something else? Well, if we're being perfectly honest, there was
an element of luck involved. And what I mean by
that is that they made some big changes to the
(10:06):
bike and you don't know if they're gonna work or not.
You're just kind of guessing, because if they knew it
was gonna work, they would have done it months and
months ago, right, So yeah, they got lucky in the
sense that they went the right direction. But once they
hit on the right setup, Pecko performed with it and
he regained the confidence to ride like he's always been
(10:28):
able to. And that is so huge, Because I've said
this on the past couple of shows. I think that
Peco was really getting into his own way. For months,
he was in his own head and was convinced that
he couldn't ride this bike. And I think that maybe
part of it was that the bike wasn't that much
different than it was in the past. It's just that
(10:50):
they told him, hey, we took this big swing, it
might work. That it cleared his head enough that he
could concentrate on riding instead of worrying about the bike.
So what does that mean for show? Well, he's already
the most successful rider on the Moto GP grid. Amandelika's
short history. He's got a Moto GP win, a sprint win,
two total Moto GP podiums. All of that came in
(11:12):
the last three point races run here, So that's a
good bit of momentum coming into this one. Now, we've
seen those kind of stats race after race after race
this year and it didn't pan out. But in those instances,
he wasn't coming in with the momentum that he's carrying
in from Japan. Now we get to find out if
(11:34):
that makes a difference. We get to find out if
that'll carry through to this weekend, and if it does,
we potentially could see a no holds barred battle between
Pekko Bagyaya and Mark Marquez finally, and it'll be so
excited about that. But that's as long as Peko doesn't
go into preservation mode himself over third in the standings. Now,
(11:55):
with Alex Marquez struggling in Motegi and opening the door
for second, there should be some motivation there for Peco
to go for it, because if you can close that
gap a little bit right now, he's got a shot
to maybe even make a play for second if he
can keep racing like he did last weekend, and that's
a lot of pressure to put on one good weekend
after such a string of mediocre races. But this is
(12:19):
going to be a very, very important round for Peco
bag Naya, and we're going to learn a lot about
those changes du Katti made and if they're going to
be a lasting improvement or if this is just kind
of a blip on the radar right now. Funder rider
I want to talk about in the favorites category is
Marco Bitzeki. Now, he was definitely overshadowed in Japan by
(12:41):
well by a lot of things, by Mark's triumphant championship,
by Peco's surprising comeback, and by the fact that his
sprint ended almost immediately off the lights when his teammate
Jorge Martin pimballdom into the Turn one gravel trap. But
in the Moto GP race, despite the fact that he
was banged up from that wreck on Saturday, he was
just as fast as he has been the entire second
(13:02):
half of the season, finishing fourth despite a ninth place
spot on the starting grid, and that only reinforced the
fact that both bez and the RSGP are still fast.
Just because they didn't catch our attention last weekend, the
same way that pecobag Yaya did, or Pedro Acosta or
the Factory Hondas. Doesn't mean that the Aupili has lost
(13:23):
a step. It has not. In fact, over the last
eight rounds, Marco has made it to the checker flag
in twelve of the sixteen points races, and in those
finishes his average is three point zero eight. This is
across sprints and MotoGP races, three point oh eight. And
I know it feels a little bit like Bez isn't
(13:43):
quite as strong right now as he was, say between
Bruneau and Hungary, and that technically might be the case,
but not by a lot. And he's still very capable
of podiums. I mean, he did finish on the sprint
podium in Indonesia in twenty twenty three. After that he
hasn't finished lower than fifth, including last year when he
was fourth in the sprint and he was fifth on
(14:05):
Sunday in the motor GP race. You know, if Peko
is indeed on his game, and that's one more of
those ducats that could make life difficult for Bez. But
I'll tell you he is still a top five rider
even with Peco in the mix, and he's absolutely capable
of running for a podium, especially with the motivation to
catch Bagnyaya for third overall in the standings. So those
(14:28):
are my favorites. Now let's move on to the watch lists.
These aren't necessarily riders that I think are going to
finish right off the podium. In fact, they could compete
for a podium. I just think each one of them
has a very interesting story heading into the weekend, and
that's going to make me keep my eye on them.
And I want to start because we're going to take
it in championship order again with Franco Morbidelli because just
(14:50):
like Marco Bitzeki, he definitely falls into the forgotten category
with all of the surrounding drama in Motegi. His last
two race weekends have been very best like he used
just a tiny step off of Marco's pace. Frankie had
a double fourth in Misano and then he followed that
up with a double fifth last weekend in Japan. Now,
(15:14):
those efforts are not only easily outpacing VR forty six
team mate Fabio d jan Antonio, but they've also been
just enough to hold off the surging Pedro Acosta. Frankie
leads the KTM rider by just a single point for
fifth in the rider's standings, and Acosta is not going away.
(15:35):
Frankie is gonna have to keep that streak going this
weekend if he wants a chance to remain ahead of Pedro.
Now the good news, Mandalika was the site of Morbidelli's
best race weekend last season. He finished fifth in the
sprint and then fourth in the Modal GP race, and
at that point he was really getting into a consistent
rhythm on the Ducati after all of the drama at
the beginning of the year, with his preseason injury and
(15:57):
that slow start. Now he returns to this track in
a much better place, but also with the confidence that
he established here a year ago, and so that could
give him some extra momentum heading into this weekend. Now,
could it be enough to return to the podium like
we saw earlier in the season. Maybe, And he's gonna
need those types of performances if he wants to defend
(16:20):
his spot in the championship to the next rider that's
on the watch list, Pedro Acosta, who had a really
weird weekend in Japan. He started fourth, finished a strong
third in the sprint, and then he was seventeenth in
the Moto JP race. There was an explanation though, and
(16:40):
if you remember, he was running up near the front
and then got passed by one or two riders and
then just dropped like a rock through the field. Will
Apparently he was having break problems, and in a way
that's a good thing because it means he didn't just
drop off in terms of performance. But it was certainly
also a bad thing in the sense that at Marks
(17:01):
he had another mechanical issue for NRC sixteen that has
become alarmingly problematic in the reliability department over the past
couple of rounds. But strange mechanicals aside, Acosta has been
a podium threat ever since Bruno and we saw that
in the MOTEGI sprint, and like I mentioned just a
moment ago when we were discussing Frankie Morbidelli, Acostas hot
(17:23):
streak has him and KTM within a point of being
top five in the rider's standings, which would be a
fantastic way for both of them to end the season
and reinforcement of the progress that KTM has made in
the second half of the year now, Pedro has only
raised a Moto GP bike in Mandliko one time. Of course,
last year his rookie year, and he was brilliant here,
(17:47):
qualified on the front row, finished sixth in the sprint,
and then second to Jorge Martin in the Moto GP race,
easily besting third place pecobag Naya. So he's got speed now,
he had speed here a year ago. If the kids
em doesn't fall apart, he's going to have a shot
to be competitive. He's gonna have a shot to run
(18:08):
at the podium. I mean. Then the final rider on
my watch list for this weekend is Juam Meir. He
for me is the thun rider in this category, because
you got this guy who has wrecked out of more
races than he's finished this year, which is about standard
operating procedure for him. Since he came to Honda a
couple of years ago, and on the rare occasion he
(18:30):
actually makes it to the end of a race, he
regularly struggles to get into the top ten. And we
know what to expect out of Juammeir, and yet we
get to Motegi and he suddenly qualifies on the middle
of the front row. Finishes fourth in the sprint and
then gets his first ever Honda podium in the Moto
(18:50):
JP race. And through it all he was able to
avoid wrecking out. He was able to avoid a late race,
or a mid race for that matter, through the field,
and that gave us all just a little bit of hope,
real hope that the latest parts brought to the table
by Honda might actually be effective in bridging part of
that gap to the European bikes and at the same
(19:13):
time putting pressure on Yamaha to step up their game
and do the same. Question is much like the situation
earlier with pecobag Yaya. Was this a real leap forward
or was it an anomaly? Or since we are talking
about Honda, is it some bit of home field advantage
at a track where they do a lot of testing
(19:35):
and that could be a thing now. Fortunately for all
of us we don't have to wait around for answers.
We get to find out starting this weekend. Although we
do have to remember going in that Mir's best finished
Amandalika was a sixth. That was a couple of years
back when he was still on the Suzuki, so it
might be a bit difficult to really gauge where they're at.
(19:57):
But we should get at least some understanding. And besides,
that's what we have Luca Marini for. That's kind of
his thing. His specialty is to show us exactly what
the bike is capable of, and no more or no less.
So even if we don't get a real measure out
of Mer, we might get one out of Luca Marini.
One thing is for sure, though, If Mer can turn
(20:17):
in a repeat performance, then Honda really has accomplished something
significant heading into the off season. So I'll be watching
not just Mihr, but all of Honda closely. All right,
So let's move on to the final category, the hot
seat riders, who I think absolutely have to go out
and perform this weekend because there's something on the line,
(20:38):
something significant to race for. And the first rider in
this category might be a little bit of a surprise
Alex Marquez. And I know, I know, he's second in
the championship. Why on earth would he ever be in
this category? Well, it's actually because he's second in the
championship right now. If we rewind just a little bit
a couple of rounds back to Catalunya, and in those
(21:01):
two rounds, Alex once again look like the number two
rider in the world. Then we fast forward the last
weekend in Motegi and Alex stumbles, and it's not just
that he stumbled, it's that he had a bad weekend,
just as it appears that Peco Bagnaya is regaining his mojo,
and that is why Alex needs to go out and
(21:24):
perform this weekend. Locking up second overall in the championship
is very much within his sights, but he's not there
quite yet. Alex has a sixty six point lead over Bagnyaya,
but if Peco keeps lighting up the field, that league
could evaporate very very quickly if Alex isn't up there
in the podium positions as well. So Alex Marquez has
(21:47):
to make Motegi the outlier. He has to get right
back into podium form if he wants to lock himself
in as second to his brother in the championship at
the end of the season. Moving on. Next up is
Fabio de Jian Antonio, and much like Alex Marquez needs
to be focused on Peco bag Naya, for Digia the
target is his teammate Franco Morbidelli and if you remember it,
(22:08):
wasn't very long ago at all that those two VR
forty six riders were neck and neck in the top five,
and Digia was ahead at one point, but Frankie's consistency
and Fabio's inconsistency allowed Morbidelli to gain some distance in
that internal contest, despite the fact that he's missed a
couple of rounds this season, and now on top of that,
(22:30):
Pedro Acosta's had this big surgeon. He's passed Fabio di
jaan Antonio as well, So Fabio is struggling quite a
bit with inconsistency, especially on Sunday. In the past seven
Moto GP races, he's only finished four and in the
other three he's only finished better than thirteenth once that
was a fifth in San Marino. Ducati rider who's Italian
(22:54):
better do well in San Marino. Mandalika is far from
Digitia's best track, but he did land fourth here in
twenty twenty three, So now is the time to try
to harness a little bit of his teammates consistency and
get himself back in the game, not only when it
comes to the internal VR forty six competition, but when
it comes to trying to catch back up to Pedro
Acosta and then the final rider on the hot seat
(23:16):
this weekend is Joanne Zarco and he's another interesting Honda
rider for me. You know, we haven't really dug in
too Zarco's numbers first half, second half, or really early
in the season and then later on. But in the
first seven rounds of the year, Zarko's average finish on
Sunday was six point eighty five. And if you toss
(23:39):
out the US round where he finished seventeenth, and that
was clearly an outlier, if you throw that out, the
number jumps up to five point one six. So Joanzarco
was essentially a top five rider, top five top six rider,
right And he had no retirements during that span, and
he scored fifteen points in sprint races in the ten
Moto GP rounds. Since if we look at Sunday, Zarko
(24:02):
has retired from five of those, and in the remaining five,
his average finish is twelve point four compared to a
conservative six point eighty five or an optimistic five point
one six, all the way down to an average finish
outside of twelfth, and he's only scored nine points in
sprint races during that span, So there has been a
(24:24):
significant drop off from the open of the season, the
first third of the season to what's come since. And
the weird part about it is that Honda as a
whole has gotten better while Zarko has gotten worse. I mean,
all this is all going on. Luca Marini has been
holding the line as kind of a sixth through eighth
place rider on any given weekend, and then of course
(24:46):
mir has been terrible, but then he had this wild
breakthrough in Motegi, and so where Zarko had far and
away been the top Honda rider early in the season,
now it looks like both factory guys are handing it
to him now. In fairness, Joan was ninth last Sunday,
but that would have still likely been enough to be
(25:07):
only some kat chantra had Marini made it to the
end of the race. So seeing his factory stablemates consistently
outracing him and being a rider with a win and
two podiums this season, but now having an average finish
of twelve point four, it is time to see more
out of Zarco, who actually does, by the way, have
in Indonesia podium. He did that back in twenty twenty
(25:29):
two of course that was on the Dukati. So those
are the riders. Now there's only one order of business
left to take care of. I need to make picks
for this weekend's race, and I will be perfectly honest
with you guys, this is a really hard race to pick.
I mean, early in the season, it's like, Okay, I'll
pick Mark, I'll probably pick Mark again. I'll pick Mark again.
(25:50):
But now with Mark, you know, not having dominated the
past two rounds, and Peko looking the way that Peco
did in Japan, it makes it difficult to figure out
what the heck is gonna happen this weekend. But I'm
gonna try all right. So like I normally do, I'll
pick my top three finishers for the sprint on Saturday,
and then for the Moto GP race, I'll pick my
(26:10):
top five. We'll start with that sprint, and then third,
I'm gonna go with Alex Marquez. I think Motegi was
an anomaly and I fully expect to see him back
in podium for him right away. In second, I'm gonna
go for Pedro Acosta. I love the way he's riding
right now. His confidence has been consistently building. Although I
(26:33):
don't think that it's built up to the point where
he can keep up with the rider. I'm gonna pick
the win this sprint, and that is who's it gonna be,
Peco or Mark? Peco or Mark. I'm going with Mark Marquez.
He's got nothing to lose. He's been generally amazing on Saturdays,
and as we all know, Peco bag Naya has really
(26:54):
struggled in sprint races, and so somebody, Peco Pedro, Alex Bez,
one of these guys is gonna have to go out
and beat Mark for me to stop picking him on Saturday.
Then we get to Sunday in the Moto GP race.
In fifth, I'm gonna go with Franco Morbidelli. He's been
steady and consistent for the past two rounds and really
(27:15):
for the majority of the season. I don't see that changing.
In fourth, I'm gonna actually go with Alex Marquez here
outside of the podium spots. I don't think he's lost
that much speed. He has something to race for. It's
just that the competition is kind of picked up around him.
So I'm gonna pick him just off the podium and
on the back of the podium I'm gonna go with
Marco Bidzeki. Yeah, he might be a little banged up,
(27:38):
but he's still very fast. The aprilia is very good
and bez is just great at managing the end of
a race, so I like him for the back of
the podium. In second. I'm gonna say that Peco Bagnyaya
is Japanese. GP wasn't a fluke that they have something
and he'll be able to show it more on Sunday
(27:59):
than what we'll see on Saturday. He's been much more
of a Sunday rider really the past couple of years
than a sprint racer, and this could be the first
real opportunity to see him duel with Mark. I hope
we get to see it, and if we do, I
think I'm gonna give the edge. I mean, how can
you not give the edge to Mark Marquez? And I'll
pick him to win this race. I do think he
(28:20):
was holding back the last couple of rounds. He doesn't
have to anymore. It's gonna be hard for anybody to
beat him. But who knows, maybe Peco will surprise us
with something fun. So just to recap in the sprint,
I've got Alex Marquez third, Pedro Costa second, and Mark
Marquez your winner. And in the Moto GP race Franco
Morbidellium fifth, Alex Marquez fourth, and on the podium Marco Bozeki,
(28:43):
Peco bag Yaya and then your winner, Mark Marquez. Do
you agree? Do you disagree? You know what to do,
Get online and tell me why my picks are garbage
and who you think is going to win the race. Instead.
You can do that on Facebook, at Facebook dot com,
slash MotorWeek dot net, or over on the Reddit subbit
are motoweekend. Since we have a race, that does mean
(29:03):
we will have a post race show check back at
the conclusion of the weekend. I will recap all of
the MotoGP action and Mandalika, review what's left of the
championship picture, and then give you my take on the
weekend of racing. At that point, it'll be your turn
give me your comments on Facebook and Reddit. I'll try
to discuss some of those on the next show. In
the meantime, since we've got plenty more races coming up
(29:27):
and plenty more post race shows too, I don't want
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(29:48):
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(30:09):
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(30:29):
just haven't figured it out yet. In the day job
this week is doing the same thing that the day
job was doing last week, which is kicking me in
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(30:50):
so let's find out what happens this weekend and hope
that maybe, just maybe, we finally get that Mark Peco
shootout or at least some incredible race at the front
of the And if we do, we'll definitely chat about
it after it happens. So until we talk again just
a couple of days from now, I want to thank
you so much for listening Ride Safe, and I'll talk
(31:11):
to you soon
Frommotoweek dot net. It's the MotorWeek podcast with your host Wilson.
Why hello, and welcome to motoweek. My name is Wilson.
Thank you so much for listening to the only MotoGP
show on the Internet that thinks Mark Marquez isn't even
going to show up this weekend. Okay, maybe he'll show up,
(00:23):
but then be like, oh no, I forgot my helmet.
I can't believe I'm so forgetful. That could cost me
the championship. Oh wait, never mind. Okay, he'll be there,
he'll be racing. But it is crazy to think that
he could simply sit out the last month and a
half of the season and nobody could catch him, even
(00:44):
if somebody won every single race from here on out.
That is just how dominant Mark Marquez has been this season,
and he's not necessarily done yet, although now he might
have a familiar new challenger in the form of his
teammate peg Go back Yahya after Peco had that dominant
resurgence in Japan, and that actually sets up an interesting
(01:05):
proposition this weekend as we head to Indonesia. Mark has
nothing more than lose Peco technically, Does I mean he's
third in the championship right now, he could lose that,
but he could also fight for second, So there is
something at stake for him. But let's face it, realistically,
(01:26):
based on what he expected, what Dukati expected this season,
it's a wash for him. It's over, it's done, and
so it's very likely that from his standpoint he doesn't
have a whole lot to lose either. But based on
what we've seen in Japan last weekend, he's fast right now,
and of course Mark is always fast, and so could
(01:47):
that set the stage for an epic Dukati shootout at
the front. I've got my fingers crussed for sure. And
that's not the only question heading into Mandalika. Honda had
a really strong run in Motegi. Can that continue? And
of course Peco is right in the middle of that
battle for second to fourth in the championship, and so
(02:07):
we have to wonder what Alex Marquez, who struggled last weekend,
and Marco Pitzeki, who actually looked good, what they're gonna
do in that hotly contested race over the next five rounds.
So with the very historic Mark Marquez championship already decided,
we now really enter a new phase in the season.
What does that mean? Well, we'll start to try to
(02:28):
figure that out on this episode of the program as
we preview round eighteen of the twenty twenty five MotoGP
World Championship, the Indonesian GP at the Mandalika International Street
Circuit in Lombak, Indonesia. Before we get started, though, I
would like to take a brief moment to invite you
over to the website if you've never checked it out.
You can get all of the latest episodes as soon
(02:50):
as they're released at motoweek dot net. You can follow
on social media, head the Blue Sky and just search
for motoweek, where you can head over to Instagram and
look for at motoweeka. Most importantly, though, I want to
know what you think, so leave your comments on Facebook
at Facebook dot com slashmotoweek dot net, or over on
the Reddit sub at r slash motoweek. And finally, if
(03:14):
you do feel like supporting the program and you don't
have to feel obligated to, you can do that on Patreon.
Just go to Patreon dot com slash motowek. All right,
so last week what a wild and unexpected weekend of racing.
I mean, the only thing that happened that was in
the big surprise was actually Mark winning the championship. Nobody
(03:35):
expected pecobag Yaya to do a complete one pint eighty.
In terms of performance, Honda looked really good. Alex Marquez struggled. Meanwhile,
guys like Franco Morbidelli and Marco Bitzeki and Pedro Acosta
just kept doing what they have been doing in the
second half, which is slowly getting better and better and
closing that gap a little bit here and a little
(03:56):
bit there against the Ducates. And so we carry all
of that momentum into this weekend in Indonesia. Before we
get to the riders, let's talk about the circuit for
a minute, because Mandalika is still relatively new. It was
only completed in twenty twenty one. The first motor GP
race here was in twenty twenty two, and it's already
had its moments. I mean, even before it opened. There
(04:18):
was controversy with the local population while it was being built.
Then once it was open, there were pavement issues in
the first couple of races. That's all kind of been
solved now, at least the track part of it has.
And this place reminds me of a slightly more technical
version of Argentina. Like Rio Hondo, Mandalika is flat with
(04:39):
a combination of a few fast flowing parts with one
or two more technical bits tossed in. The most interesting
of which, for me at least, is that section from
turns fifteen through sixteen and into seventeen, the final stretch
before that start finish line. It features a mid speed,
gentle right hander in fifteen that then decreases sharply in
(04:59):
radius to a right hairpin in sixteen. Then you change
direction entirely to an over ninety degree left hander that
dumpshow onto the start finished straight and you're in a
drag race to the line. That section provides some quality
opportunities for a last second pass, and it kind of
balances the faster portions of the track. I think we
could see quite a bit of action there as well
(05:20):
as a few mistakes that could ruin the last minute
charge for the podium. Turns two, three, and four should
see some action as well, being the next lowest part
of the circuit, and then turn ten is a hard
breaking zone that may also provide some opportunities to pass.
The other defining characteristic of Mandalika is a trio of
arching right hand turns from five to seven, and that
(05:43):
drew a lot of praise from riders for the excitement
it provides. It's very similar to turns sixth through rate.
It's a pang or what we saw a couple of
rounds ago, the very famous curvon A and Misano from
turns eleven through fourteen. It's not really a chance to pass,
per se, but it is a chance to make up
ground or lose a lot if you blow your line. Now, overall,
(06:04):
I wouldn't call Mandalika a character track. You know, it's
flat and pretty normal. I mean, it's a far cry
from what we saw a couple of rounds ago in
Misano or what's coming up at a place like Phillip Island.
But for me, the race here is going to be
a lot like Thailand or what we saw last weekend
in Motegi. Not quite as much about the track, although
(06:27):
Motegi is a pretty awesome track, But I think it's
gonna be more about the fans and the atmosphere they create.
Indonesia is crazy about motorcycles. It's gonna be packed, They're
gonna be one hundred percent energized and that's what's gonna
make the race fun here, all right. So that's where
they're racing. Now, let's dig in with the riders, and
like we normally do on a pre race show, we'll
(06:48):
split things up into three categories. The favorites, the guys
who I think have the best shot at winning this weekend,
my watch list, three riders with an interesting story coming
into this weekend that I'm going to be paying attention to.
And then the hot seat, a trio of riders that
I think have to go out and absolutely perform this weekend,
and I'm gonna tell you exactly why. Let's start with
(07:08):
the favorites. We will take these guys in championship order,
which means we have to start with our newly crowned
twenty twenty five Moto GP world champion, that of course,
is Mark Marquez, who, by the way, statistically speaking, at
Motegi had his worst round in terms of results when
he finishes both races, his worst round since Silverstone all
(07:32):
the way back in May, and it was just the
second round all year long where Mark didn't win at
least one of the two races run. The other one,
of course, was that same Silverstone round. Is that concerning? No,
not really. I mean Mark's mission last weekend in Motegi
was just securing the championship, not taking risks to win races,
(07:54):
and in the end he still finished second in both
the sprint and the Moto GP race, and oh yeah,
by the way, won the championship as well. So it
certainly wasn't a bad weekend for Mark Marquez and really
not a concerning one either, other than the fact that
pecobag Nyaya was appreciably faster and Mark, let's face it,
did seem to struggle a bit trying to get around
(08:16):
both Joamir and Pedro Acosta. Now, whether that was Mark
losing a little something or if he was simply playing
it safe, that's a matter of debate, but one that
could easily be settled starting this weekend in Indonesia, because
Mark doesn't have to play it safe, he doesn't have
to protect the points anymore. He's free to go all
out and try to win his first ever race at Mandalika.
(08:39):
I'm up to this point he's only ever had a
sprint podium that came one year ago on the Grassini Ducati.
That lack of a record here definitely leaves the door
open a little bit more wide open than it maybe
normally would. But I fully expect that Mark is going
to go for it here and because of that, we
will definitely get to find out if you know, the
(08:59):
pas couple of rounds he's been off a little bit,
or if he was just holding back because he didn't
want to make a mistake. It's going to be absolutely
clear once we get out on track this weekend, and
that could maybe set up an amazing duel with the
next rider on the favorites list. Yeah, he's back, Peko
bag Yaya. Well he's back on the list. Is he
(09:21):
back in general? Well yeah, last weekend in Japan he was.
It was an incredible double victory. He looked absolutely fantastic
on the GP twenty five that had thoroughly confused him
for the vast majority of the season. But Dukadi showed
up in Japan. They made some big adjustments to the
bike and it worked and it totally turned Peco's momentum around. Now,
(09:44):
the big question in the room was that real. Was
it an anomaly, was it luck? Was it a matter
of right bike, right track, right adjustments, or was it
something else? Well, if we're being perfectly honest, there was
an element of luck involved. And what I mean by
that is that they made some big changes to the
(10:06):
bike and you don't know if they're gonna work or not.
You're just kind of guessing, because if they knew it
was gonna work, they would have done it months and
months ago, right, So yeah, they got lucky in the
sense that they went the right direction. But once they
hit on the right setup, Pecko performed with it and
he regained the confidence to ride like he's always been
(10:28):
able to. And that is so huge, Because I've said
this on the past couple of shows. I think that
Peco was really getting into his own way. For months,
he was in his own head and was convinced that
he couldn't ride this bike. And I think that maybe
part of it was that the bike wasn't that much
different than it was in the past. It's just that
(10:50):
they told him, hey, we took this big swing, it
might work. That it cleared his head enough that he
could concentrate on riding instead of worrying about the bike.
So what does that mean for show? Well, he's already
the most successful rider on the Moto GP grid. Amandelika's
short history. He's got a Moto GP win, a sprint win,
two total Moto GP podiums. All of that came in
(11:12):
the last three point races run here, So that's a
good bit of momentum coming into this one. Now, we've
seen those kind of stats race after race after race
this year and it didn't pan out. But in those instances,
he wasn't coming in with the momentum that he's carrying
in from Japan. Now we get to find out if
(11:34):
that makes a difference. We get to find out if
that'll carry through to this weekend, and if it does,
we potentially could see a no holds barred battle between
Pekko Bagyaya and Mark Marquez finally, and it'll be so
excited about that. But that's as long as Peko doesn't
go into preservation mode himself over third in the standings. Now,
(11:55):
with Alex Marquez struggling in Motegi and opening the door
for second, there should be some motivation there for Peco
to go for it, because if you can close that
gap a little bit right now, he's got a shot
to maybe even make a play for second if he
can keep racing like he did last weekend, and that's
a lot of pressure to put on one good weekend
after such a string of mediocre races. But this is
(12:19):
going to be a very, very important round for Peco
bag Naya, and we're going to learn a lot about
those changes du Katti made and if they're going to
be a lasting improvement or if this is just kind
of a blip on the radar right now. Funder rider
I want to talk about in the favorites category is
Marco Bitzeki. Now, he was definitely overshadowed in Japan by
(12:41):
well by a lot of things, by Mark's triumphant championship,
by Peco's surprising comeback, and by the fact that his
sprint ended almost immediately off the lights when his teammate
Jorge Martin pimballdom into the Turn one gravel trap. But
in the Moto GP race, despite the fact that he
was banged up from that wreck on Saturday, he was
just as fast as he has been the entire second
(13:02):
half of the season, finishing fourth despite a ninth place
spot on the starting grid, and that only reinforced the
fact that both bez and the RSGP are still fast.
Just because they didn't catch our attention last weekend, the
same way that pecobag Yaya did, or Pedro Acosta or
the Factory Hondas. Doesn't mean that the Aupili has lost
(13:23):
a step. It has not. In fact, over the last
eight rounds, Marco has made it to the checker flag
in twelve of the sixteen points races, and in those
finishes his average is three point zero eight. This is
across sprints and MotoGP races, three point oh eight. And
I know it feels a little bit like Bez isn't
(13:43):
quite as strong right now as he was, say between
Bruneau and Hungary, and that technically might be the case,
but not by a lot. And he's still very capable
of podiums. I mean, he did finish on the sprint
podium in Indonesia in twenty twenty three. After that he
hasn't finished lower than fifth, including last year when he
was fourth in the sprint and he was fifth on
(14:05):
Sunday in the motor GP race. You know, if Peko
is indeed on his game, and that's one more of
those ducats that could make life difficult for Bez. But
I'll tell you he is still a top five rider
even with Peco in the mix, and he's absolutely capable
of running for a podium, especially with the motivation to
catch Bagnyaya for third overall in the standings. So those
(14:28):
are my favorites. Now let's move on to the watch lists.
These aren't necessarily riders that I think are going to
finish right off the podium. In fact, they could compete
for a podium. I just think each one of them
has a very interesting story heading into the weekend, and
that's going to make me keep my eye on them.
And I want to start because we're going to take
it in championship order again with Franco Morbidelli because just
(14:50):
like Marco Bitzeki, he definitely falls into the forgotten category
with all of the surrounding drama in Motegi. His last
two race weekends have been very best like he used
just a tiny step off of Marco's pace. Frankie had
a double fourth in Misano and then he followed that
up with a double fifth last weekend in Japan. Now,
(15:14):
those efforts are not only easily outpacing VR forty six
team mate Fabio d jan Antonio, but they've also been
just enough to hold off the surging Pedro Acosta. Frankie
leads the KTM rider by just a single point for
fifth in the rider's standings, and Acosta is not going away.
(15:35):
Frankie is gonna have to keep that streak going this
weekend if he wants a chance to remain ahead of Pedro.
Now the good news, Mandalika was the site of Morbidelli's
best race weekend last season. He finished fifth in the
sprint and then fourth in the Modal GP race, and
at that point he was really getting into a consistent
rhythm on the Ducati after all of the drama at
the beginning of the year, with his preseason injury and
(15:57):
that slow start. Now he returns to this track in
a much better place, but also with the confidence that
he established here a year ago, and so that could
give him some extra momentum heading into this weekend. Now,
could it be enough to return to the podium like
we saw earlier in the season. Maybe, And he's gonna
need those types of performances if he wants to defend
(16:20):
his spot in the championship to the next rider that's
on the watch list, Pedro Acosta, who had a really
weird weekend in Japan. He started fourth, finished a strong
third in the sprint, and then he was seventeenth in
the Moto JP race. There was an explanation though, and
(16:40):
if you remember, he was running up near the front
and then got passed by one or two riders and
then just dropped like a rock through the field. Will
Apparently he was having break problems, and in a way
that's a good thing because it means he didn't just
drop off in terms of performance. But it was certainly
also a bad thing in the sense that at Marks
(17:01):
he had another mechanical issue for NRC sixteen that has
become alarmingly problematic in the reliability department over the past
couple of rounds. But strange mechanicals aside, Acosta has been
a podium threat ever since Bruno and we saw that
in the MOTEGI sprint, and like I mentioned just a
moment ago when we were discussing Frankie Morbidelli, Acostas hot
(17:23):
streak has him and KTM within a point of being
top five in the rider's standings, which would be a
fantastic way for both of them to end the season
and reinforcement of the progress that KTM has made in
the second half of the year now, Pedro has only
raised a Moto GP bike in Mandliko one time. Of course,
last year his rookie year, and he was brilliant here,
(17:47):
qualified on the front row, finished sixth in the sprint,
and then second to Jorge Martin in the Moto GP race,
easily besting third place pecobag Naya. So he's got speed now,
he had speed here a year ago. If the kids
em doesn't fall apart, he's going to have a shot
to be competitive. He's gonna have a shot to run
(18:08):
at the podium. I mean. Then the final rider on
my watch list for this weekend is Juam Meir. He
for me is the thun rider in this category, because
you got this guy who has wrecked out of more
races than he's finished this year, which is about standard
operating procedure for him. Since he came to Honda a
couple of years ago, and on the rare occasion he
(18:30):
actually makes it to the end of a race, he
regularly struggles to get into the top ten. And we
know what to expect out of Juammeir, and yet we
get to Motegi and he suddenly qualifies on the middle
of the front row. Finishes fourth in the sprint and
then gets his first ever Honda podium in the Moto
(18:50):
JP race. And through it all he was able to
avoid wrecking out. He was able to avoid a late race,
or a mid race for that matter, through the field,
and that gave us all just a little bit of hope,
real hope that the latest parts brought to the table
by Honda might actually be effective in bridging part of
that gap to the European bikes and at the same
(19:13):
time putting pressure on Yamaha to step up their game
and do the same. Question is much like the situation
earlier with pecobag Yaya. Was this a real leap forward
or was it an anomaly? Or since we are talking
about Honda, is it some bit of home field advantage
at a track where they do a lot of testing
(19:35):
and that could be a thing now. Fortunately for all
of us we don't have to wait around for answers.
We get to find out starting this weekend. Although we
do have to remember going in that Mir's best finished
Amandalika was a sixth. That was a couple of years
back when he was still on the Suzuki, so it
might be a bit difficult to really gauge where they're at.
(19:57):
But we should get at least some understanding. And besides,
that's what we have Luca Marini for. That's kind of
his thing. His specialty is to show us exactly what
the bike is capable of, and no more or no less.
So even if we don't get a real measure out
of Mer, we might get one out of Luca Marini.
One thing is for sure, though, If Mer can turn
(20:17):
in a repeat performance, then Honda really has accomplished something
significant heading into the off season. So I'll be watching
not just Mihr, but all of Honda closely. All right,
So let's move on to the final category, the hot
seat riders, who I think absolutely have to go out
and perform this weekend because there's something on the line,
(20:38):
something significant to race for. And the first rider in
this category might be a little bit of a surprise
Alex Marquez. And I know, I know, he's second in
the championship. Why on earth would he ever be in
this category? Well, it's actually because he's second in the
championship right now. If we rewind just a little bit
a couple of rounds back to Catalunya, and in those
(21:01):
two rounds, Alex once again look like the number two
rider in the world. Then we fast forward the last
weekend in Motegi and Alex stumbles, and it's not just
that he stumbled, it's that he had a bad weekend,
just as it appears that Peco Bagnaya is regaining his mojo,
and that is why Alex needs to go out and
(21:24):
perform this weekend. Locking up second overall in the championship
is very much within his sights, but he's not there
quite yet. Alex has a sixty six point lead over Bagnyaya,
but if Peco keeps lighting up the field, that league
could evaporate very very quickly if Alex isn't up there
in the podium positions as well. So Alex Marquez has
(21:47):
to make Motegi the outlier. He has to get right
back into podium form if he wants to lock himself
in as second to his brother in the championship at
the end of the season. Moving on. Next up is
Fabio de Jian Antonio, and much like Alex Marquez needs
to be focused on Peco bag Naya, for Digia the
target is his teammate Franco Morbidelli and if you remember it,
(22:08):
wasn't very long ago at all that those two VR
forty six riders were neck and neck in the top five,
and Digia was ahead at one point, but Frankie's consistency
and Fabio's inconsistency allowed Morbidelli to gain some distance in
that internal contest, despite the fact that he's missed a
couple of rounds this season, and now on top of that,
(22:30):
Pedro Acosta's had this big surgeon. He's passed Fabio di
jaan Antonio as well, So Fabio is struggling quite a
bit with inconsistency, especially on Sunday. In the past seven
Moto GP races, he's only finished four and in the
other three he's only finished better than thirteenth once that
was a fifth in San Marino. Ducati rider who's Italian
(22:54):
better do well in San Marino. Mandalika is far from
Digitia's best track, but he did land fourth here in
twenty twenty three, So now is the time to try
to harness a little bit of his teammates consistency and
get himself back in the game, not only when it
comes to the internal VR forty six competition, but when
it comes to trying to catch back up to Pedro
Acosta and then the final rider on the hot seat
(23:16):
this weekend is Joanne Zarco and he's another interesting Honda
rider for me. You know, we haven't really dug in
too Zarco's numbers first half, second half, or really early
in the season and then later on. But in the
first seven rounds of the year, Zarko's average finish on
Sunday was six point eighty five. And if you toss
(23:39):
out the US round where he finished seventeenth, and that
was clearly an outlier, if you throw that out, the
number jumps up to five point one six. So Joanzarco
was essentially a top five rider, top five top six rider,
right And he had no retirements during that span, and
he scored fifteen points in sprint races in the ten
Moto GP rounds. Since if we look at Sunday, Zarko
(24:02):
has retired from five of those, and in the remaining five,
his average finish is twelve point four compared to a
conservative six point eighty five or an optimistic five point
one six, all the way down to an average finish
outside of twelfth, and he's only scored nine points in
sprint races during that span, So there has been a
(24:24):
significant drop off from the open of the season, the
first third of the season to what's come since. And
the weird part about it is that Honda as a
whole has gotten better while Zarko has gotten worse. I mean,
all this is all going on. Luca Marini has been
holding the line as kind of a sixth through eighth
place rider on any given weekend, and then of course
(24:46):
mir has been terrible, but then he had this wild
breakthrough in Motegi, and so where Zarko had far and
away been the top Honda rider early in the season,
now it looks like both factory guys are handing it
to him now. In fairness, Joan was ninth last Sunday,
but that would have still likely been enough to be
(25:07):
only some kat chantra had Marini made it to the
end of the race. So seeing his factory stablemates consistently
outracing him and being a rider with a win and
two podiums this season, but now having an average finish
of twelve point four, it is time to see more
out of Zarco, who actually does, by the way, have
in Indonesia podium. He did that back in twenty twenty
(25:29):
two of course that was on the Dukati. So those
are the riders. Now there's only one order of business
left to take care of. I need to make picks
for this weekend's race, and I will be perfectly honest
with you guys, this is a really hard race to pick.
I mean, early in the season, it's like, Okay, I'll
pick Mark, I'll probably pick Mark again. I'll pick Mark again.
(25:50):
But now with Mark, you know, not having dominated the
past two rounds, and Peko looking the way that Peco
did in Japan, it makes it difficult to figure out
what the heck is gonna happen this weekend. But I'm
gonna try all right. So like I normally do, I'll
pick my top three finishers for the sprint on Saturday,
and then for the Moto GP race, I'll pick my
(26:10):
top five. We'll start with that sprint, and then third,
I'm gonna go with Alex Marquez. I think Motegi was
an anomaly and I fully expect to see him back
in podium for him right away. In second, I'm gonna
go for Pedro Acosta. I love the way he's riding
right now. His confidence has been consistently building. Although I
(26:33):
don't think that it's built up to the point where
he can keep up with the rider. I'm gonna pick
the win this sprint, and that is who's it gonna be,
Peco or Mark? Peco or Mark. I'm going with Mark Marquez.
He's got nothing to lose. He's been generally amazing on Saturdays,
and as we all know, Peco bag Naya has really
(26:54):
struggled in sprint races, and so somebody, Peco Pedro, Alex Bez,
one of these guys is gonna have to go out
and beat Mark for me to stop picking him on Saturday.
Then we get to Sunday in the Moto GP race.
In fifth, I'm gonna go with Franco Morbidelli. He's been
steady and consistent for the past two rounds and really
(27:15):
for the majority of the season. I don't see that changing.
In fourth, I'm gonna actually go with Alex Marquez here
outside of the podium spots. I don't think he's lost
that much speed. He has something to race for. It's
just that the competition is kind of picked up around him.
So I'm gonna pick him just off the podium and
on the back of the podium I'm gonna go with
Marco Bidzeki. Yeah, he might be a little banged up,
(27:38):
but he's still very fast. The aprilia is very good
and bez is just great at managing the end of
a race, so I like him for the back of
the podium. In second. I'm gonna say that Peco Bagnyaya
is Japanese. GP wasn't a fluke that they have something
and he'll be able to show it more on Sunday
(27:59):
than what we'll see on Saturday. He's been much more
of a Sunday rider really the past couple of years
than a sprint racer, and this could be the first
real opportunity to see him duel with Mark. I hope
we get to see it, and if we do, I
think I'm gonna give the edge. I mean, how can
you not give the edge to Mark Marquez? And I'll
pick him to win this race. I do think he
(28:20):
was holding back the last couple of rounds. He doesn't
have to anymore. It's gonna be hard for anybody to
beat him. But who knows, maybe Peco will surprise us
with something fun. So just to recap in the sprint,
I've got Alex Marquez third, Pedro Costa second, and Mark
Marquez your winner. And in the Moto GP race Franco
Morbidellium fifth, Alex Marquez fourth, and on the podium Marco Bozeki,
(28:43):
Peco bag Yaya and then your winner, Mark Marquez. Do
you agree? Do you disagree? You know what to do,
Get online and tell me why my picks are garbage
and who you think is going to win the race. Instead.
You can do that on Facebook, at Facebook dot com,
slash MotorWeek dot net, or over on the Reddit subbit
are motoweekend. Since we have a race, that does mean
(29:03):
we will have a post race show check back at
the conclusion of the weekend. I will recap all of
the MotoGP action and Mandalika, review what's left of the
championship picture, and then give you my take on the
weekend of racing. At that point, it'll be your turn
give me your comments on Facebook and Reddit. I'll try
to discuss some of those on the next show. In
the meantime, since we've got plenty more races coming up
(29:27):
and plenty more post race shows too, I don't want
you to miss a single episode, So if you have
not done it yet and you want to support the show,
I would highly recommend you subscribe. You can do that
on Apple Podcasts, YouTube podcasts, Speaker, Stitcher player, dot Fm, Spotify, iHeartRadio,
Audible podcasts, basically go to any podcasting site type in
(29:48):
motoweek you should be able to find the program. Of course,
you can always get all of the latest episodes as
soon as they're released on the website at motoweek dot net.
You can follow on Blue Sky just search for motoweek,
or on Instagram at motoweek USA, and most importantly leave
those comments tell me what you think and what you
want to talk about. You can do that on Facebook
(30:09):
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, you can do that
on Patreon at patreon dot com slash motowek. I want
to thank all the Patreons over there. At some point
I'm gonna get something good going over there for you guys,
(30:29):
just haven't figured it out yet. In the day job
this week is doing the same thing that the day
job was doing last week, which is kicking me in
the rear end. So I'm focusing on making sure I
get all the programs out as close to on time
as possible. But I didn't forget about you, guys, and
I really appreciate you supporting the show. So if you
want to join that group, then, like I said, you
can go to patreon dot com slash MotorWeek. All right,
(30:50):
so let's find out what happens this weekend and hope
that maybe, just maybe, we finally get that Mark Peco
shootout or at least some incredible race at the front
of the And if we do, we'll definitely chat about
it after it happens. So until we talk again just
a couple of days from now, I want to thank
you so much for listening Ride Safe, and I'll talk
(31:11):
to you soon
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