A few thoughts on the last race, then on to the upcoming test. I'm generally not a conspiracy theorist, but Gifting Pecco pole position like that at the 11th hour seemed more than just a little fishy. Maverick was literally asking the Marshals what he was supposed to do and by the time he figured it out he was cooked! Martin did himself no favors in this race. He should have simply gone inside of Pecco at turn 1, instead he thought better of it, changed his mind and nearly took both of them out and wound up dropping back into a mid pack fight he had no business being in. He complained after the race about Vinales racing him so hard leading up the Marquez/Zarco battle ahead, but If I were in Vinales place I would have done the same, especially after losing Pole like that! Martin then ran into Marquez clearly if you watch the replay in real time, racing incident. Marquez move on Bezzecchi was a little more clear cut, and Bezzecchi is on the war path over it, even storming Marquez trailer after the race to" talk to him"! Honestly, moves like that happen every race and it is just a matter of time before someone goes down. The Aero Packages IMHO are partly to blame, more stuff to get tangled up in close combat. Marquez will likely have no friends aside from his brother in the Ducati garages next year, but that was always going to be the case, especially since the bulk of the Ducati guys are VR46 Academy guys save for Bastianini and Martin. Ought to be entertaining! The fact that they will all share data is certainly interesting to ponder! The KTM boys crashing out of the race from the front just put an exclamation mark on their 2023 season. KTM is close, and the addition of Acosta might be the turning point for their program. KTM is one of the most aggressive teams from a development standpoint, and they will no doubt want to keep Binder happy into his next contract! Not sure whats going to happen at Aprilia. Maverick is getting on with it, but Aleix sort of spit out his dummy at the end of the year and with the shake up at RNF things will be complicated for sure.
The test this week is full of question marks. Marquez went to the medical center to be checked out after the clash with Martin. His availability may be in question for this test anyways. Same category for several riders, Bezzecchi, Mir, and several others are all still healing from recent injuries so we might have to wait for the Sepang test to see who's got what! The teams are all finally set at least with the announcements of Marini and Digiannantonio both official now. As mentioned earlier Ducati will have there fair share of Ego management issues to sort through next year. The bad blood from the Rossi vs Marquez days will surely continue, especially if Marquez gets on with the Ducati like the bulk of the world press thinks he will. The guy can ride anything clearly, but his body is just not as resilient as it once was. Bet against him at your own peril. I honestly believe Honda has a bitter pill to swallow next season. Losing both Marquez and Rins (the only Honda winner this year!) to rivals. Rumors swirling about Puig being ousted and Marquez possibly taking Red Bull with him to Gresini wont help. I am particularly interested to see what happens with Yamaha actually, Dorna may be giving them and Honda concessions for the coming season, we'll see. Rins on an inline four again (I presume!) could be lightning in a bottle, and between he and Quartararo they have two proven riders to take the fight to Ducati if they get a little more speed. Again, unsure if Rins will even be able to test this week so...
So we have some new blood coming with Acosta, a few riders moving to new teams/brands and likely a few more regulatory changes coming. Questions about the runaway Aero wars, the Shapeshifter suspension devices and the Tire pressure regulations are just a few of the hot topics. Going to be a long winter.
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