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Pecco pisses me off! 1st to last to last to 1st WHF over.
-Pete
NEMRR #81 - ECK Racing
Cyclesmith Track Days
Woodcraft | MTag-Pirelli | OnTrack Media
'03 Tuono | '06 SV650 | '04 CRF250X | '24 Aprilia Tuareg
Seemed as if before the DNF he was really suffering with that front tire,I think only 2 other riders had the medium front ....what changed from the sprint?
Bad weekend for Aldeguer, few impressive saves before going down but seemed he had front end issues...
Great weekend for Alex..![]()
Scary moto3 crash. Woof - hope everything turns out okay.
The Pecco story is wild. On Saturday, his rear ride height device wasn't working. Apparently the 2024 rear ride height device was the fix he needed. It isn't a simple change though, doesn't exactly drop into the 2025 frame. Pretty amazing he was fastest without any device at all, makes you wonder.
On Sunday, he had a slowly leaking rear tire. I think he would have came back and won without that issue, as he was the only person on the medium front tire and was staying within a second of Alex. If that came into its own late in the race, he could have closed the gap.
I think its just super track dependent for Pecco, and when he doesn't have a podium pace, he just throws in the towel instead of fighting for a top 10. Needs to channel his inner FQ.
Last edited by JettaJayGLS; 10-27-25 at 12:27 PM.
A man of many names...Jay, Gennaro, Gerry, etc.
Pecco is a classic head case he's gotten almost as bad as Mavrick. When he feels good, he's fast when he has to work against the bike, he's ugly. Didn't see the Moto3 crash and not that a really want to. Was it a case off riding slow on the fast line or what on the sighting lap? Hope the kid is alright.
Yeah, full speed into a cruising rider on the sighting lap.
It was ugly. You can find the replay if you search for it.
Not a lot of details on his injuries, but he needed multiple surgeries.
Latest update says he’s stable https://www.the-race.com/motogp/moto...fter-accident/
A man of many names...Jay, Gennaro, Gerry, etc.
With some more digging: “He suffered injuries to his spleen, lungs, an open leg fracture, and reportedly experienced multiple cardiac arrests and significant blood loss.”
A man of many names...Jay, Gennaro, Gerry, etc.
So the racer injured was the one going slow? Not trying to blame anyone just asking.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mot...001ffcc3&ei=54
crash video..
Well that's ugly didn't seem to be in the racing line. The racer behind wasn't paying attention. sad to see, again hope the kid getting better fast!
I am on the same page of it being a racing incident. Listen to the Oxley Bom podcast on Sepang and they do a good job going into the racers mindset in that position. https://oxleybom.buzzsprout.com/2181...ve-reasons-why
I listen on Spotify.
I've pitched their podcast before, but its a podcast from an actual ex-racer (TT, not GP) and a prior Moto2, Moto3, and WSBK engineer - not journalists that have never thrown their leg over the seat of a bike.
Last edited by JettaJayGLS; 10-27-25 at 05:44 PM.
A man of many names...Jay, Gennaro, Gerry, etc.
Seems like both riders have responsibility for this crash. But on the sighting lap. Even though I have never done one I would think it's just a check the track and bike out run. After all your just going to be sitting for another 15 mins once you get back to the grid. I know shit happens, but this is a tad over the top.
One thing I disagree with is the outcry that dorna did something wrong here. The only way to reduce this kind of risk is to reduce exposure. If you aren't on track, you can't hit someone by accident. Also, the outrage for running the race is misplaced. If we conced that the consequences of the risks are too great to respect the riders, then the sport has no business running ever. That's a slippery slope. I have raced directly after fatalities on several occasions. Is it sobering? Yes. Would stopping racing achieve anything? Not in my opinion.
All forms of motorsports carry risk not sure why this one is more over the top then any of the other incidents that happened during race weekends. Agree with Paul's post.
I'm generally more than supportive of "getting back on the horse"... but would also contend that, to run a safe race, the racer's minds also need to be in the right place. A delay is NOT admitting that the sport is too dangerous to be participated in ,"ever", it's acknowledging that the sport has consequences and that people are human and have emotions. If a delay after a tragic incident is appropriate for rider and spectators alike to let the dust settle, then a delay is appropriate.If we concede that the consequences of the risks are too great to respect the riders, then the sport has no business running ever.
People grieve in different ways... everybody's different and that's okay. Some people need or want to immediately get right back to it and some people need a little break to process. It all depends on the circumstances and the person. There's nothing wrong with either approach.
Ideally, when possible, I think it should be a semi-public discussion and democratic decision amongst the participants themselves. More often than not, clarity and transparency leads to a "okay... with that out of the way let's get right back to it" approach that everyone feels good about because everyone feels supported and heard, rather than "you need to get back to it now because we said so. Dance, monkey. Dance."
Last edited by OreoGaborio; 10-29-25 at 12:36 PM.
-Pete
NEMRR #81 - ECK Racing
Cyclesmith Track Days
Woodcraft | MTag-Pirelli | OnTrack Media
'03 Tuono | '06 SV650 | '04 CRF250X | '24 Aprilia Tuareg
I hear what you're saying, Paul - but these are kids, and that complicates the hell out of it.
I'm sure some are wired to tough it out. Others are not, but will be pressured to do so and are incredibly vulnerable at that age. Maybe they shouldn't be racers if they aren't mentally strong enough, I dunno.
Would you want your kids to race in those circumstances (rhetorical, I don't have kids and you don't either)?. Either way, that "choice" is taken away due to the pressures from the organization, sponsors, etc.
Not an easy problem, I don't have a solution. I don't disagree or agree with Dorna and accept the decision.
I know you were a educator (and continue to be on-track!) so you probably have a better understanding of how a child's mind works in the face of outside influence.
How do you foster empathy but also force them to close the shield and forget about it.
Do you even want a racer to have empathy or do you want to teach them to put it aside when they need to?
Thinking about my racing mindset, probably more so in bicycles than moto, I work in two mindsets:
1) super relaxed and confident - everything just works, I'm flowing
2) hyperfocused - this is going to be really hard and I need to grit it out and not make a single mistake.
If I find myself in the middle, that is the most dangerous. I can think back on a few occasions - but one of them was definitely when racing after seeing ambulance filling bad crashes on dangerous final corners/sprints, when I knew I was going to have to go put myself in the same exact spot an hour later.
Last edited by JettaJayGLS; 10-29-25 at 10:51 AM.
A man of many names...Jay, Gennaro, Gerry, etc.
KTM to slash workforce by over 50%, MotoGP operations to be hit
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...8c6c90f6&ei=27
Bajaj Auto has revealed plans to cut workforce by over 50% across several areas at KTM, including motorsport, as it inches closer to completing a takeover of the Austrian manufacturer.
Bajaj’s managing director Rajiv Bajaj stated in an interview that it intends to halve expenses across various departments in a move that will directly affect KTM and Tech3’s MotoGP teams.
“This is really low-hanging fruit. We observe an opportunity to reduce overheads by more than 50%, including R&D, marketing (including racing), operations, and general administration,” Bajaj told CNBC TV18.
“The previous management has already reduced headcount from 6,000 to 4,000, which is still considered too high.
“Interestingly, of these 4,000, only about 1,000 are blue-collar; 3,000 are white-collar, which is perplexing because the blue-collar employees make the motorcycles.
“Future volume shifts will impact blue-collar employees relatively lightly; the issue will be with expensive white-collar headcount.
“It reminds me of Mark Zuckerberg's words about managers managing managers managing managers who manage the people who do the work. The management overhead and bureaucracy in this otherwise excellent organisation were astonishing.”
Bajaj was outspoken in his criticism of KTM’s former management, though he stopped short of naming former majority shareholder Stefan Pierer, whom he largely holds responsible for the company’s financial collapse.
“We were all taken by surprise, most of the industry was quite shocked at how rapidly this developed,” he said. “My mind goes back almost 30 years to what my first management guru, Dr John Wallace, told me: the single biggest reason for corporate demise is corporate greed. I have really witnessed this play out at KTM over the last 12 months in particular.
“Broadly, I would say there were three types of greed.
“First, operational greed, best exemplified by what happened in the last couple of years when KTM Austria kept producing and overproducing, even though the spike in demand post-COVID had declined. As a result, KTM distributors and dealers worldwide were carrying over a year's worth of inventory, which was preposterous.
“Second, what I would call strategic greed. Companies often get into businesses they have no business getting into. In the case of KTM Austria, the best example was getting into the bicycle business, specifically the electric bicycle business.
“These two factors combined to take KTM to insolvency in a matter of months.
“Now, you might say that Bajaj was part of it, and I would concede that yes, we were also part of what went wrong, but as a minority partner, we could not prevent this.
“I can share that we did our best to resist it, so much so that it led eventually to the third kind of greed, which I may call governance greed, where certain decisions were taken either without our knowledge, without our information, or sometimes without following due process.”
Bajaj voiced confidence in KTM’s revamped management, as it charts its new course as a leaner and more efficient organisation.
“This is a problem not caused by 99% of KTM employees. This is a problem of the erstwhile top management of KTM, and most of them are gone,” he said.
“What we have now in place is a wonderful new team that I personally feel very confident about.
“The entire team is already in place, barring one vacancy, which will be filled in the coming months. It’s a combination of some of our older colleagues, who are still very passionate and committed to KTM, particularly in areas like product planning, R&D, and legal, and some outstanding new colleagues, led by our new CFO and new CHRO.”
Although Bajaj has already injected several rounds of capital funding to keep KTM afloat and now effectively controls the Austrian manufacturer, the Indian conglomerate is still awaiting approval from the European Commission to formalise the takeover.
I think racers should have empathy, but more importantly, proper mental coaching. They are headed into one of the most brutal sports on the planet. If someone is not already mentally preparing them, I think THAT might be a failure on the parent's/team's part. The organizers have no choice but to complete the schedule IMO. It just doesn't logistically work to cancel or delay things beyond reasonable.
As an event organizer where this very thing could happen (and some tough stuff HAS happened), we are keenly aware of how many people suffer from a big incident. From riders to coaches, to families to the organizers themselves. A LOT of people feel it when someone gets hurt. As Peter said, everyone deals with it in a different way. Some people who have paid to ride will want to continue to ride and we are getting paid to make that happen. In order to respect everyone, we have to provide the option to continue. Everyone is free to step back if they choose.
I hear you on the fact that mental coaching should already be occurring, and I also hear you on the position that the race organizer is in.
I still am concerned to the fact that these children having no option but to race. Yes, they could pull out, but they're not going to cause of the outside pressures.
You will need to be able to deal with these issues in the sport if you want to succeed, I'm coming to terms with it being the right decision.
I wouldn't be upset if the fall-out would be mandatory mental coaching for moto 3 - I think we're past the day and age where scrappy families without money are sending their kids GP racing, and don't think the extra cost is a burden to the teams/families. Wouldn't be a full time roll - 1 coach could cover ~ten kids? Ideally they would grow and move on with the kids as well, which I imagine is happening in many instances.
Appreciate your opinion, as always - kind of crazy how well positioned you are to provide input on this exact topic.
A man of many names...Jay, Gennaro, Gerry, etc.
Great news is he is doing better. No longer in critical condition.
Very interesting conversation.
Hard for me to see the softer side as someone who only thinks of getting up and going again right away. More so in my younger days. Might have been just being a young dumb farm kid.. I never really grew up..
I do think Jay has a point that many modern high level racers come from means and not from grit. They need some coaching on the mental end.
IMO opinion the show should go on 99% of the time.
The older I get the Faster I wuz
Having seen my own son be transported by track ambulance and witnessing other family's going though that and worse. It's a very sobering feeling. I know this will come across as cold but if you put your kid in the bull ring you must be prepared for the bad as well as the good. The show and life move on whether you pause it for a moment or not!
Ducati confirms Marc Marquez replacement for rest of MotoGP 2025
World Superbike star Nicolo Bulega will replace Marc Marquez for the rest of the 2025 MotoGP campaign, Ducati has confirmed.
This year’s MotoGP champion has been sidelined since fracturing his shoulder at the Indonesian Grand Prix at the start of October and it was shortly announced afterwards that he would skip the rest of the season.
There have been two rounds since Indonesia, Australia and Malaysia, in which Marquez was replaced by Ducati test rider Michele Pirro, who failed to score a point in either weekend.
Talk had been strife about the possibility of Bulega stepping up to the plate, but Ducati’s superbike rider wanted to test the dominant GP25 first and did so on Thursday in Jerez.
Deciding he is ready for the challenge, the 26-year-old will contest the final two rounds of this year, Portugal and Valencia, for what will be his MotoGP debut having moved to Supersport in 2022 after three years of Moto2.
"I'm very happy to be able to close out a season like this with a nice last-minute surprise,” said Bulega, who has finished runner-up in the last two World Superbike seasons.
“Making my MotoGP debut is every kid's dream who aspires to become a racer. Furthermore, being able to ride the world championship-winning bike in the last two races of 2025 makes it even more exciting.
“It will be quite a challenge; I don't have any specific expectations. I'll approach this experience with all the necessary calm, also because, for now, I've only been able to test the Desmosedici GP at Jerez. That said, I certainly have no shortage of motivation to do well and give my all.”
Bulega has been signed with Ducati since his Supersport debut and he completed two seasons of the championship. He dominated the 2023 campaign before moving to World Superbikes for 2024.
Ducati boss Gigi Dall'Igna said: “I'm very happy to see Bulega working on the Desmosedici GP. Nicolo has been part of the Ducati Corse family since 2022, when we chose him to ride in Supersport.
“We believed in him, and he has repaid that faith with two seasons as the undisputed star in Superbike, where he came close to the title and became our benchmark rider.”
Bulega will serve as Francesco Bagnaia’s team-mate at factory Ducati for the upcoming rounds and next year he will become the outfit’s test rider in MotoGP alongside Pirro. This is potentially in preparation for a jump into a full-time seat in the premier class from 2027.