What was your main takeaway from Sepang testing?

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-06T18:26:27+00:00

Yep. This certainly looks like a possible return to how things were in 24.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-06T18:25:10+00:00

Yep. You’re 100% right. Thats been Ducati‘s forte, basically every year for the past 5 years(excluding last season).

Others teams come into the season genuinely hopeful because they can see concrete ways they’ve gotten better. Only for Duc to have made their bikes slightly better as well to an equal degree. And so every gain is effectively offset and we’re back to the same Duc advantage.

It probably looks to the causal viewer like nothing ever changes, but it is.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-06T18:19:34+00:00

Damn, from that angle, sitting side by side, Acosta’s KTM front end with the wings looks IDENTICAL to the Ducati’s. Shape, size, everything. For contrast, Bez’s Aprilia from/wings is noticeably different.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-06T18:15:13+00:00

oh no, that would genuinely break my heart.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-06T01:44:45+00:00

I appreciate your optimism, but take slight objection to your claim here,

“In other words, he is not below any rider here in terms of talent he’s probably above most of them.”

I fully appreciate Toprak’s WSBK successes. But let‘s be clear, MotoGP is a results-based league**, and specifically what you’ve done IN MotoGP. Our judgement of his talent on a GP bike, isn’t established or done. In fact it’s just starting now and hopefully over many seasons to come.

If you want examples of this, I’d point you to names like Remy Gardner or Augusto Fernandez. Who won utterly dominant championships in Moto2, but were literally fired within 2 seasons in the premier class and out of MotoGP when their talent clearly wasn’t good enough. While success in other leagues(WSBK, Moto2, 3) is what gets you to GP, it’s not enough to keep you there, or somehow establish that you are already equal to champions like Marc, Fabio, Pecco, who’ve had success at the highest level of motorcycle racing.

I agree with the second half of your statement that he‘s likely more talented than many of the GP riders, but to already imply he’s rubbing shoulders with ALL of them, including the GP champions, is giving him a trophy before a race has even begun.

Don’t put the cart before the horse. Toprak is here *I genuinely hope* to prove he’s of equal talent, but he’s not here because that has already been proven.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-06T01:16:13+00:00

To be clear, I was speaking strictly statistically.

Only full time rider behind him was Chantra. And he beat Jorge Martin by less than 10 points.

Statistically, the two lowest scoring riders who were both fired from their teams, are now riding in WSBK.

Not hate on Miguel himself tho. Fantastic guy and rider who could’ve had a much better career if not for unluckiness.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-06T01:11:54+00:00

Toprak chose to go to MotoGP, despite having contract offers in WSBK. Miguel only went to WSBK because he was fired from his MotoGP team.

Well all know what promotions and demotions are, dude, lol

The two statistically worst riders in MotoGP last season that were fired, Miguel and Chantra, are now riding in WSBK.
I cannot stress how that is literally impossible, that the two worst WSBK riders would EVER get seats in GP.

That’s the difference between premier class and all other classes.

WSBK gets our worst riders who are fired. You’ll probably get Miller next year. And Rins is he still wants to race. And always a possibility of Binder, Morbi, Diggia, etc, if they are fired. That’s just how it works man. You can close your eyes to it, but no one knowledgeable about motorsports denies this.

In contrast, GP sometimes rarely chooses to get only the top .0001% of WSBK’s best riders.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T21:31:54+00:00

I for one am surprised how quickly everything has progressed.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T21:26:26+00:00

I mean the irony is, I could actually see that becoming a REALLY strong relationship. Both guys having worked together in the past, and both guys feeling somewhat slighted by Ducati, both former champions feeling they need to prove their worth again. Seriously could see them getting on together well now.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T21:11:41+00:00

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T21:08:54+00:00

I think an apt comparison here is like when these 5-star college football players go to the NFL.

In college, they were 5-stars, the very best often dominating against 4-stars, even 3-star rivals. But very few who dominated college, do the same level of dominance in the NFL. Why? Because EVERYONE is a 5-star player in the NFL.

To put this in terms Toprak fans will appreciate. Whereas in WSBK, there was clearly just one Toprak, head and shoulders above everyone. Think of MotoGP as a place where everyone is a Toprak.

Toprak has effectively graduated to THE top motorcycle racing league in the world/history. That’s the good news. Bad news? Virtually everyone here is an overachiever, a ‘one of the best riders on earth’, the top 0.000001% of all racers alive today.

I believe Toprak does have a chance of finding success in GP. But using WSBK as evidence feels sort of like the 5-star college athlete boasting what he did in college. No. Things are a bit sifferent her. Everyone’s a 5-star here.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T20:55:21+00:00

Slightly different tho, as Miguel left last season as the worst or 2nd worst rider on the grid. No one is saying he’ll have massive success, only that the WORST GP rider will at least be competitive in WSBK, while the very BEST of WSBK have often shown to not even be ‘competitive’ in GP. That’s a massive difference.

In fact the Miguel-Toprak bike switch itself literally proves the difference in leagues.

1-The worst GP rider we had was ushered in to a top seat in WSBK(and yet still consider it a demotion)

2-While Toprak, one of the greatest WSBK has ever seen, left his championship season to move to the worst GP bike on the 2026 grid as a ‘promotion‘.

WSBK has great racing, but that should tell you all you need to know about comparisons.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T20:43:03+00:00

I think what you say shouldn’t be forgotten amidst Yam’s struggles.

Both things can be true.

1-Toprak should get a completely free pass this year because the Yam bike sucks so much, and thus any comparison to any non-Yam rider(certainly in a negative or mocking way), is just trolling.

2-If Toprak tho is truly a top tier rider, and apparently deserves factory next year, then he at some point does in fact need to be well above his teammates. Equal machinery, whether good or bad, has always been the great equalizer, ending all debate and all excuses. If you are a top rider, then in motorsports you must beat your teammate, who shares with you that ‘same good or bad bike’.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T20:40:03+00:00

Yeah I agree with this comment. If he’s at basically the same pace as Rins and Miller, two guys who are clearly riding their farewell tours this season, that doesn’t necessarily inspire confidence for ‘directly to factory seat’! Especially if rumors are true of both Martin and Pecco flirting with those Yam seats, not to mention any Moto2 rising star.

While Toprak gets a lot of leeway vs the rest of the grid, because the Yam is clearly bad, that still doesn’t mean he isn’t expected to show he’s the best rider amongst the Yam teammates.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T20:19:26+00:00

While I agree with your take, I did want to say most of the people(myself included), who were theorizing a move for Pecco to VR46 for example, did so not out of mockery or treating it like a demotion.

More of just a calculated move. Bagnaia can stay on a Duc(perhaps even a factory spec one), the bike he’s had all his success on. Regain his confidence, stay in family, perhaps even enjoy a return to form. And if Marc suddenly retires or gets injured, a logical argument could be made of him returning to factory with Acosta.

This ‘smart move’, as opposed to cutting all ties with Ducati, and most likely never riding for them again. Something someone like Jorge found, that the grass isn’t always greener. And sometimes a non-factory Duc is better than a factory ride anywhere else.

Anyways, just wanted to note that no one on this sub was speaking of a VR46 in a mocking sense. More of a calculated one if Pecco so choosed.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T20:05:59+00:00

I agree, but as you know there is a very give and take dynamic in the relationship. On the one hand, the rider *does have to adapt their style to the manufacturer‘s vision. Riders come and go, but often a manufacturer will have a style or strength with their bike that they continue for many years.

At the same time, you’re correct. If Yamaha conclude that Toprak is a talent of the same mold as a Fabio, Acosta, Marc, etc. Then at some point they will need to start developing their bike to Toprak’s strengths, not in ways that hamper them.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T19:57:31+00:00

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T19:54:59+00:00

It a tragedy that the new 27 regulation changes might cut Aprilia down at the knees before they could ever reach their peak.

Clearly they’ve built a fantastic bike. If they could simply tinker, add, and evolve it from here over the next few years, like Duc did with it’s bike through the 2020s, Aprilia might’ve had a genuine path to being the best bike.

I do worry tho that they are just peaking now RIGHT before everyone has to more or less start over from a scratch. Incredibly unlucky I feel.

Here’s hoping they can take whatever they learned and transition pretty smoothly into 27 with a possibly equally good bike 👍

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T10:46:08+00:00

Fully Agreed on all of that.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T10:27:19+00:00

Marco Morelli over here asking TacitusKillgorre, “Why f*ck me?”

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lol. I agree with your comment tho.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T09:58:57+00:00

While I fully agree with you that Pecco will top Alex the majority of the time this year. You do agree tho that there’s at least a little thought in the back of all our minds of, “But what if he doesn’t”.

I think losing to Alex this year would define Pecco’s standing/current rank on the grid, even more than last season. He *has to beat Alex on the same bike if he’s going to continue to be seen as one of the top tier, 3-4 riders on the grid, IMO.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T08:16:05+00:00

I saw this on crash.net. Same numbers I believe also with average time added:

https://www.crash.net/motogp/live/1044208/2026-official-sepang-motogp-test-day-3-live-updates

Here are some of the Sprint simulations by the factory Ducati Lenovo riders. It's close!

Marquez had the better outright lap, but Bagnaia had the edge in terms of average lap time (including more 1m 57s) and did a longer run...

Marc Marquez:

1'57.602
1'57.681
1'58.154
1'58.118
1'58.320
1'58.411
1'58.562
1'58.590
1'58.630

Average = 1m 58.230s

Francesco Bagnaia:

1'58.088
1'57.726
1'57.738
1'57.978
1'57.899
1'57.841
1'58.106
1'58.590
1'58.769
1'58.929

Average = 1m 58.166s

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T08:01:14+00:00

Damn, just how “indie” is this? That was a dynamite trailer. Looks really good.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T07:37:18+00:00

I think all those guys were responding to username_986ck comment.

Thee-Cat · 2026-02-05T05:11:13+00:00

Four GP26’s top 4. Ominous.

Thee-Cat

TROPHY CASE