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How every MotoGP team should solve its 2026 rider market problem (ad-free)
🕑 Added 2025-06-05 06:30:01 +0000 UTCThe MotoGP rider market was supposed to be pretty settled heading to 2026, but it’s actually gone crazy - and not just because of Jorge Martin’s antics.
Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer - with interjections from Simon Patterson in the Isle of Man TT paddock - give their takes on all the potential moves and which riders and teams actually need a break from each other and a fresh start regardless of what the contracts actually say.
Plus the latest Toprak Razgatlioglu/MotoGP link and the lessons from things Davide Brivio’s done in the past.
Comments
Jeff Jackson
I could be off but the Biggest difference I have picked up over the years is MotoGp is more oriented towards carrying corner speed vs stop turn go in WSBK. The MotoGp bikes are much stiffer and less compliant hence the constant topic of chatter and vibration. It's rare to hear about chatter and vibration in WSBK because the frames are production based and have much more flex. You probably won't see Toprak doing those turn stoppies on a MotoGP bike because the bikes don't respond the same way. But hey, Toprak seems to be a different animal, we will see!!!
Xepha
Can someone please explain why surpassing WSBK talent wouldn't translate to form in MotoGP (yes, this is a 'why not promote Toprak' question)? I think there's an analogy here to F1 vs IndyCar, but the bikes seem way more similar in terms of how they're piloted than the cars do. F1 cars make radically more downforce, and there's no huge difference in track type for bike racing, but there is bimodal variation across track types for car racing (ovals). It really seems like people talk about WSBK as if it's the minor-league for MotoGP, and logic says that if someone's killing it in the minors it is worth some team giving them a call-up. I'm sure there are technical differences that make this comparison inadequate, but what are they???
Jeff Jackson
Val you said you were disappointed with Yamahas technical director. How are you feeling about him after showing up to Aragon with 4 different chassis, 4 swing arms,some of them carbon, multiple aero packages and 3 different engines.
