Ola Adodos MotoGP heads back to Barcelona, a circuit that holds many fond memories for some of our riders, i e.

Fabriocordorarro in his first Moto GP victory and some not so happy ones flash back to Alisia Spargaro celebrating the race, our lap too early, but in the fight for the very top step?

Can anyone stop Mark Marquees on his home turf.

Welcome back to Pittok sponsored by Shannon's Insurance.

I'm your host, Rinita Vanmullen, and I've bought along my partner in Chrime.

He's got more hot takes than the Catalan Sun and can drop Moto GP trivia Fassa.

Then Mark Marquees can go through that pack at the moment.

Matt Clayton, Matt, sorry, I had to give you a really good intro this time to fill in, because I mean, what are we gonna say?

Mark Marquez is gonna win in Barcelona?

I don't know about that.

Reronetta.

Look if I just go the fist pump and just depart this podcast about five minutes earlier is because I've got a lap too, so you know I've done an Alisha Spargo.

I'll just I'll just leave you to close it out.

But I always enjoy this round because it's not what it seems on paper.

It's a bit of an odd one because of the configuration of the track and the track surface and what have you, which I'm sure we'll get into.

And it's also it's not really a Mark Marquez stronghold, and given the form that he's been in for the last seven rounds, we have to take everything we can get at this point to think there might be someone else that could win the Grand Prix this weekend.

But thoroughly looking forward to it because it does throw up interesting races this place, which I'm sure we're going to get into in the next twenty five minutes or so.

Yeah, exactly, And I guess that's one thing I wanted to talk about, and hopefully our listens are interested to know about the track surface here, because this is one of the tracks on the calendar that does overlap with Formula One to start with.

But there's obviously a lot of other racing that happens here, like the European Championships, the Spanish Championships, all of that, but they do things like cycle events here and more car races and events that we don't know about.

But the riders often say about the surface of this track, it is one of the more difficult parts to it.

Yeah, it's one of the busiest tracks in Europe because of where it is.

So I mean, obviously you've been there, you know where this is.

But this is one of the more accessible tracks compared to major cities in Europe.

It's only about thirty k's outside of Barcelona.

God knows.

I've miss to turn off at the circuit about three hundred times when I've gone there off the freeway.

But it's a super busy track because f one goes there, sports car goes there, there's always track days going on, a lot of non motorsport related use as well, so it's a very busy place.

And the track surface itself, it's just this really weird mix.

It's billiard table smooth, which is great because lasting riders want is bumps everywhere.

Hasn't been resurfaced to my memory, I reckon it's twenty eighteen.

Was the last time it was surface.

I'd have to go and dig that out.

I reckon it's twenty eighteen.

And there's something about this track when it gets hot that it doesn't actually grip up.

It becomes even more slippery, to the point where it's always like riding in the wet to some degree.

There's absolutely no rear grip whatsoever.

And you combine it with the configurations of corners here there's a lot of really long corners, so you end up with these really strange races a lot of the time where they build to a boil.

Right.

You have these really really slow build ups and it's all about you know you're going to run out of tire at some point, but when do you deploy it.

Do you make a bolt at the start and try and get a lead that you can't relinquish.

Do you push in the middle part of the race?

Do you have anything left in the last five or six laps?

So you end up with these quite interesting sort of strategic races that perhaps you don't see anywhere else.

But the number one word you're going to hear what it's two words you'll hear all weekend from Barcelona.

You'll just hear grip or complete lack thereof, and everyone will just be talking about spinning the entire time because there is just absolutely no rear grip at this place, so it throws up interesting races.

But something when I was doing a little research.

I actually do some research occasionally for this podcast.

It's really strange, right, So it's September.

Last year we had two races in Barcelona because the season n AALI was moved there from Valencia when that region got flooded.

So last year we were there in round six and Round twenty.

So we're there in May and November, and here we are in September.

So you can take a lot of what happened last year and kind of throw it out because last year when we were there in May, it was super hot.

When we were there in November, the sun, as you know, sets megafast in Barcelona and it goes super cold, and like November in barcelona's like really pushing it as far as you want to race there.

So you've got this different sort of set of parameters this weekend.

So yeah, we do the end of season tests there.

We had to race there in round twenty.

You had to race there in Round six.

I don't know how much relevance that's got for this weekend because it kind of feels like it's a bit of a hard reset because we're here in September.

It's weird.

I'm just looking at the weather forecast, so for example, it's saying, well, the circuit is it's class as Barcelona, but it's just outside more in Catalan territory.

Yeah, moderl dolars.

Yeah, well mellow.

Yeah, So looking at the weather Friday, it's saying possible rain a top of twenty three, Sunday a top of twenty five, and then Sunday a top of twenty seven.

But a lot of bit overcast on Sundays.

So, like you said, that does change everything.

And if this track is slippery and everything we're hearing about this script, what other writers going to go off?

They have all this data, like they say, But I think it's going to be a case of who can utilize the tires their best.

And we know that a Prilliers are strong here.

We know that that previously they have won Elisa.

Yeah.

So are we going to see more of Marco Batzeki this weekend like we have been seeing in those last few Grand Prix?

Is he really going to take it to Mark Marquez this weekend?

Yeah?

This has been in a Prillier track, even when a brilliant work great at other tracks.

He said.

In twenty twenty three they won the sprint and the Grand Prix, won two in the Grand Prix with the Spargo and Maverick Vignalez.

As much as we were laughing about Alaish losing count of how many laps there were to go that one year, which frankly, of all the circuits in the world, he should know how many laps there are to go.

He's probably done fifty million laps around there.

Because you mentioned Granolia's before, which is literally down the road from this track, That's where Alasian Pole grew up.

So strange that he wouldn't know how many where the timing towel was to see the laps counting down.

But this was a good Aprillia track even before Aprillia were quite decent.

We know that Aleish won the sprint there last year, which was a lot of that was just Peco making a massive mistake on the last lap and falling off.

But this is a good a Prillia track.

Aprilli has been pretty good for well since Silverston.

Since Berzeki won at Silveston, we've seen the Aprilli has been right up there.

He's been on the podium I think four times in the last five Grand Prix.

And then you've got the Juge Martine factor in that he's still so underdone and not necessarily ready for Grand Prix racing and the bike.

But what he did in Hungary last time out, sixteenth on the grid, fourth in the Grand Prix, I'm like, oh, okay, he's coming maybe faster than we thought.

And if there was ever going to be a Sunday where Mark is vulnerable, I think it could be here because of the corner configuration of the track.

The Aprilli is generally very good around here.

Their bike is clearly the second best in Motor GP right now.

Bazeki's kind of back in twenty twenty three.

Bez form now like the best we've ever seen of him, and I still think that Juge Martin's going to win a race before this seasons.

I just have this feeling that there's going to be a particular set of circumstances.

We know that the championship's been a total disaster, but the abilities there in the bikes there we might find out where the bike's ceiling is, because I think he's the guy most likely to find it, so I'm actually look the sprint.

If Mark stays on board in the sprint, I think Mark wins, because that's what happens with sprints in twenty twenty five, as we've seen so far this year.

But over the longer Grand Prix distance, and because of the super particular way this track needs to be ridden, I could see it proorlyer really pushing Mark.

The flip side to this, of course, is that I kind of feel like Mark's been riding with a little bit left in the tank the last few rounds, particularly hungry.

It kind of felt like he could have pulled the pin whenever he really wanted to, so we might get The answer to the question is also how far fast is Mark really in that if he really has to push, then we might see how quick he is, because in Hungary I kind of thought he was just sort of keeping guests entertained for the first half of that race before he disappeared.

So I like a prilious chances this weekend, but I don't think it'll be in the sprint.

I think if it happens, it'd be in the longer race on the Sunday.

I wanted to ask you this later, but I'm going to ask you now, because this is the home grownd Prix for many a lot of these Spanish and as Hangen riders have done millions of laps around their circuit.

Could this be the one the Sunday race where we see Johei Martin finally back on the metorgp podium in twenty twenty five.

I could see a podium.

Yeah, absolutely.

I don't think he's quite ready to win a race yet, but I think he's absolutely on course, given his adaptation has been super fasted, like really impressive.

I thought that there'd be a race like he did in Hungary coming up, but I didn't think it'd be yet.

I thought it might be until we get to the flyways something like that.

So yeah, absolutely, I could see him on the podium.

But you mentioned the fact that there's so many riders from in and around this area and they've all done a million laps here.

They've generally all done a million laps yet Anyway, like whenever Jack Miller does any training on a proper track when he's not going around go kart tracks, it's not far to get up to Catalonia from where he is.

All of these guys whether they're Spanish or not, have done ten million laps around this place, which is kind of fun because it takes just a variable out of the equation.

It's like there's none of this unfamiliarity stuff you think of last round at Baloton Park, nobody knew the track.

This track's probably the circuit on the calendar where these riders, all of them.

I can't think of another track where you would do more laps than this.

Maybe Malaysia because you've been there for preseason testing.

Other than that, they're always here.

They know this track so so well.

So it becomes who can read the condition's best, Who thinks on their feet the best, who adapts the fastest.

You mentioned that weather forecast coming in.

I love the fact that no three days are the same, right, so you're going to have this sort of like moving ground beneath you the whole time.

Who can improvise the best?

And going back to the Juge Martine question, he's a guy who and I'll say this politely and it's actually a comp rather than a criticism.

I'm not sure there's a hell of a lot of thought and historical precedents going into the way Jullgey Martin rides.

I think he's an instinctive writer.

This is a weekend where you need to just adjust to what it is that you've got underneath you and perhaps not spend the entire weekend concerned about or lamenting the fact that you don't have something at Peco Vanya.

So that might be one of those weekends where the less thinking you do, with the more riding you do, maybe it's better off for you.

And the more intellectually you try to approach this weekend, the more you might tell yourself.

If knots, I.

Think, yeah, Pecovana into a tea at the moment.

Right now, man, let's talk about the other resurgence that I'm really enjoying at the moment.

A prelier to the side, I will talk about Pedro Acosta because he's leading the charge for KTM and I feel like this could be this could be another strong weekend for him.

I'm looking at the data from last year's race, and Pedro Acosta had the best race lab, you know, and it wasn't that far off of Alicias Bugger's pole lab to be fair.

That's in in the Moto GP race.

So could we see another strong Pedro a Costa race this weekend.

It's interesting.

I kind of feel that Pedro the first half of this season.

I said, the first eight to ten rounds, there was so much outside noise going on with him and with KTM.

We know they had their financial problems over the off season.

New parts and things were slow to arrive on the bike.

What's the future of this team?

Who's going to own it, who's going to buy it out?

We know they got themselves into some financial difficulties.

We also know that he was having his head turned.

He was getting super restless.

You know there's links with Ducati.

Is he possibly going to Honda?

Is he trying to get into onto a VR forty six D Catty.

It felt like the riding part was fine, but there was just a lot of outside noise coming from the team and was his head turn and was he trying to get out of all of that.

I don't think it's any coincidence that as KTM's got itself sorted financially.

We know that there's been some Indian investment in that company.

Things seem a lot more stable now from a financial platform, and all of the potential avenues that he could have gone to have dried up for the time being, and we've seen this week that VR forty six is going with the same lineup for next year with Franque Morberdelli being resigned.

That was kind of his only chance really to get on into Catti the hont The things closed up because we know that's a done deal now, and then I think if Honda were going to look elsewhere, I don't think he's top of that Q necessarily.

I think, well, hey, Martin would be.

So things have kind of stabilized in terms of the team in the manufacturer and also for him.

I don't think it's any great surprise that his form has started to go up basically since Bruno when he first got on that podium.

The start of the year was super disappointing because it felt like he was focused on the wrong stuff, and we know how good the guys he had one of the better rookie seasons we've seen in a while.

To me, he's now back to where he probably should have been at the start of the season.

I don't know if he's made some amazing leap or something.

He's just back in the conversation now we know that circuit to Catalogia has an enormously long front straight where top speed then breaking down into turn one is a really really big deal there.

That KATM is an absolute rocket ship in a straight line.

It's motor Chip's fastest bike in a straight line.

It's all about for me.

If he can qualify on the first couple of rows, I think he's going to be a major player on Sunday.

He has this bit of a propensity to mess up Q three a little bit when he's been a Q two Rather I'm going forward the right here Q two when he's had a good weekend.

You look at Hungary last time out.

He was fastest on Friday, he was right up there on Saturday and then chucked it in.

Q two started too far back.

He's on the third row.

Never really got a chance to do something in the sprint, fell off, came through the pack and had a good Grand Prix and finished second in the end.

But I think his weekend was he put a seiing on himself because he made the mistake at the important part of the weekend.

If he gets up the front, he's clearly the best KTM ryder right now because Vignalees is half fit.

Brad Binder he's had not a great year by Brad Binder standards, fast you need.

He's coming on, but he's coming from a fair way back.

So yeah, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see a Costa right up there.

But you know what's interesting, and I'm sure you're probably going to bring this up.

I wrote earlier in the week for Fox Sports dot com dot AU that we talk about the Ducatti Cup at the start of the season, and if you look at the headline results to Caadi is still winning everything because I've got Buck Marquez riding for them.

But you look at where the other Ducaties are relative to where they were at the start of the season.

If you're on a Ducati in the first five rounds, you're probably finishing in the top five of the Grand Prix, because they are all finishing in the top five in the Grand Prix.

But we've got fourteen minutes into this podcast and we've talked about Joge Martin, We've talked about Marco Batzeki, We've talked about Pedro Acosta.

There's different brands that are getting in the mix.

Now, you quoted that stat the last time we did a pod where there were four manufacturers in the first five finishes at a Grand Prix for the first time in two years when we're in Hungary.

Last time.

It's still Marques and a Ducati up front, but the configuration of what's behind him has really changed from probably Silverston onwards.

That's really exciting as a neutral because quite frankly, you and I don't care who wins.

We just want to see a good contest.

We want to see it be entertaining.

And I like the fact that, yeah, Dcati's still winning everything because I've got the best rider in motor GP.

But it's not a foregone conclusion anymore as to who's going to be making up the podium and challenging for polls.

We've seen that, so a cost is part of that mix, but I think it's a wider mix now where you can't just turn up at a track and go, oh, yeah, Decatti's going to lock out the podium here because it's not happening as often as it was.

I'm literally looking at the championship standings right now as we speak, and you're smack bang on the points.

So yeah, okay, the first three are do you caddies, and we know that it's Mark Marquez, obviously Alex Marquez who had that incredible strong start to the year that surprised us all and obviously things have changed, and Peco Baannoya because there was that consistency of him being third overall for that first half of the year.

Right.

Then we get to fourth position, Marco Bezekion Aprilia Pedro Cossa in fifth on the ktm Okay.

Yeah, then a couple more of the the JU caddies, but Fabio Digi Antonio who's on the same bike as Mark Marquez, He's currently in seventh.

Then let's go further down.

We've got Zako in ninth for Honda, and rounding out in tent is faber Corduro.

So the top six as we assumed it was going to be for did you caddy Cup?

It's not that You caddy Cup.

There's there's a few little hints and sprinkles of other manufacturers in there.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Since Berzeki won at Silveston, he has scored the second most points on the grid in that span, more than Alex Marquez has other than Mark, and over the last four rounds, I think it's Mark ahead of Berzeki, ahead of a Costa.

So you've only got one to caddie in the top three since Bruno, So it's definitely changing.

And I think maybe we're not noticing it as much because we look up and Mark Marquez is on a fourteenth race winning streak.

He this is becoming a lot more now about I don't know if the bike's making the difference, the ultimate difference anymore.

I think Mark is, and not necessarily because Mark's level has dropped.

He's just stayed exactly where he's been all year.

But look at where alex is, look at where Peco is.

The VR forty sixty caddies, it always seems like one of them has a decent weekend, but never both of them at the same time.

I mean, Digia was pretty unlucky and hungary because he had that electronics glitch on the on the grid, probably would have fished top four in that race.

But this it doesn't feel like there's that same ever present du Catti lockout now of these top four or five positions, and it's what we want to see, and someone like a resurgent Acosta or Bazeki who's just unlocked this super consistent run.

It just adds to the mix and yeah, we know who's gonna be world champion.

Let's be honest, there's no intrigue here.

But the back end of the season is going to be interesting to see how this narrative plays out.

Du Cati Cup or not du Catti Cup.

We've got eight rounds to find out.

Can we just talk about the fact of Let's tell her like the storytelling side of it.

Take it away from the racetrack for a minute of the sprint in Hungary where it was Mark Marquez and the two VR forty six's and I don't know if you saw that clip that Moto GP posted Matt where it was the you know how they all get in the back of the car because they take them to the podium, which is normally where the fan z owners.

And there was Digitia who was talking to Mark, and that was Morbidelli who was just looking out the window.

And you can definitely tell where Morbidelli's alliance lies within the whole forty six and then ninety three.

I love those videos.

Well, two things to me.

Can we get a bigger car for them to sit into?

Why are there three adults sprammed into the back of a car like I'm not getting in the back of a car with two other adults, like what I was sitting in the front, So one get a bigger car or a bigger car sponsor.

I don't know what that is, but those videos are so funny, not because of what is said.

It is because of what is not said.

And you need a body language.

Oh I love reading a bit of body language, like Morbidelli was just looking at the window like he could wait to get out of the car.

And if you've been around Fabio jan Antonio, he's literally the nicest guy at motor GP.

He will talk to you forever, so he's happy to start a conversation with anyone, whether it's Mark or not.

And you could kind of tell Mark was sitting in the middle of these two, but it was a little bit on the awkward side.

It was so funny to watch because he's not just sitting there with his brother, sitting there with Pecko looking sad that he's been beaten again.

There's just so much interesting body language at a ninety second video.

I always make a point of watching them, but I never really necessarily listen to what's being said.

With my not particularly great Spanish or reading subtitles.

I just love watching the body language between the three of them.

That one was super interesting.

I'm glad you picked up on that.

Yeah, no, I loved it.

And then when obviously I saw Frankie was resigning R forty six, and I've replayed that video in my head and I'm like, yep, we know where his alliance lies on.

Oh yes, oh yes.

But before we round out this weekend, we obviously have to talk about Jack Miller because we are waiting for the announcement of whether Jack is resigning with Yamaha for next year or if he's going to go to well Superbanks.

Matt, you obviously have the inside knowledge within the paddock.

Have you heard any updates?

Do you think we'll get an announcement this weekend?

So let's go behind the curtain here.

I sin, I thought it was gonna happen Tuesday night, so we speaking Thursday morning.

I sent someone who would know a message and said, just asking for a friend, but do I need to stay up past midnight tonight to write a Jack Miller has resigned with Pramak Gamaha story.

And the response I got was tell your friend they could have it early night it's not happening tonight, so I did have it early night.

It was great.

But I think what this now comes down to, and this is something that we talked about off air a little while ago, and I'm not going to reveal any secrets here, but I think it's going to happen.

I think the timing of this now, because it has been pushed and pushed and pushed.

Would it not make sense that this gets announced at Massano, given that it's Pramac's home round, It's the race that they it's the race that they have the greatest sort of commercial ties to, it's a home race of paler Cabernati in that team.

I don't think there's any great conjecture as to the fact that it's going to be Jack because you look at all the other moves that have happened in the rider market in the past two weeks on the superbike side and the Motor GP side.

So this week in Motor GP we've had Jones Ziico signed for twenty six and twenty seven.

That's interesting.

We'll get hum back to that.

Lukamurini signed at Honda for next year.

Franco Morbidelli confirmed at VR forty six for next year.

But then you look at the potential avenues where other guys have signed superbikes like iketh Le q Oona.

We know that Johnny Ray's retiring, Bautista's moving, sam Low's is heading over Sam Low's, Jake Dixon is heading over.

Got my British riders confused.

There's a lot of other dominoes in this that have fallen where we kind of thought.

So now we're just literally waiting on two announcements that are kind of in the done deal category, and I don't know which one will come first, But it looks like the Diogo Morrera thing to Honda is happening because both Yamaha and Honda wanted Marrera.

It looks like Honda have offered more years and full factory status, which makes sense.

And right now, if you're Marrera, you're sitting there, you're thinking, I get to choose between a Honda and a Yamaha.

I reckon twelve months ago that was a bit of a toss of the coin.

Now, I think Honda's shown more progress to me this year than Yamaha has, and with the uncertainty of this whole Yamaha V four thing, do you go with Honda, Yeah, you probably do.

That's a that we know is going to fall.

And then I think, I don't think Jack keeps his seat at Pramac by default, necessarily because I I've written this in the last couple of weeks.

There's a very sort of specific job requirement that he fills because they are fast tracking this V four.

You look at the other riders in the Yamaha stable for next year.

Fabio Couaturero has never ridden a V four in his life, Alex Ridds has done one or half of a season when he got injured at Honda in twenty twenty three and then left to go and right at Yamaha, and Top Brack has never ridden a moor GP bike other than a test at a race weekend.

Yet, so three quarters of your rider lineup have a grand total of seven races on a V four between them, and you're trying to bring this new bike in.

Who's Jack Miller written for?

He is written for Honda V four, written for Dacadi V four, written for KTM V four.

Vastly experienced knows how these engines work.

The fact they could have gone into next year with two rookies at Pramac Alex Ridds has done half a dozen races on a V four and Coaturo's ridden one that to me doesn't align with trying to bring the V four project along to make it your preferred engine of choice.

So it's a really specific job description if you like, like if you're applying for a job through some website or what have you.

Jack has more of the boxes ticked on that job description than a lot of other guys.

And you think, okay, Miguel Olivera's written some V fours as well, which he has, but then you look at the points table and it's been absolutely one way traffic this year.

Yes, Olivera's had some injury issues even when he's been fit.

I think he's out qualified Jack once all season.

I think it's fifty two to ten in the points all season.

So it's pretty clear which of those two writers should be retained.

So no, we don't have the announcement yet, frustratingly because we all want it.

I'm sure Jack wants it as well, but I'll be really keen to see what he's like in his pre event press availability at Cassialounia on Thursday night, Australian time, because in Hungary he was annoyed.

He was really angsty about everything.

I think there would have been some conversations behind the scenes there, just like look, just chill out here, we've got you, this is fine.

I think he's demeanor will be really interesting in his press debriefs at CATALOONYA.

What wouldn't surprise me at all is if he gets on the front foot with this this weekend, instead of waiting for the inevitable question to be asked by one of the press pack, he'll sit down and he'll go, yeah, look, no news on the contract yet, but I've been told it's all heading in the right direction.

So when I have some yews, I'll let you guys know.

And they just put that thing to bed instead of answering four or five questions about it and getting increasingly agitated like he did in Hungary last time out.

There's an art to winning the press conference if you like.

I reckon that he will go in there and be quite on the front foot about this and just put that thing to bed.

We have the race weekend, then maybe we get to Masato teams home race or sorted and everyone just gets on with life.

But yeah, that's a story.

I thought I would have written this week already, but apparently not.

I saw a video once again that Moto GP posted, and they asked Jack, oh, is there a question that you were just over being asked like you just want to be put to bed?

And he goes, what am I doing next year?

I answered that question, and then they said to him, do you remember that viral video last year where they found Jack had his blindfold on and he put his hands in a box and there was nothing there, and he goes, oh, is this my contracts for twenty twenty five?

It's so funny.

And this is where this is where we love Jack from a media point of view, in that he's this whole one year things not unusual to him.

If I'm remembering rightly, I think he only ever had one multi year contract that was with KATM and one sees it into that contract he was being asked when he was getting booted for Pedro Acosta, which we as we know that ended up happening, So this is not unfamiliar territory for him.

But this is where Jack's such an asset to Motor GP in that Jack never ducks a question and sometimes I can imagine if you're working in the press department for his team, you'd have your head in your hands.

And some of these questions because Jack only has the truth filter.

There's no other filter.

You can't turn it off.

And that's one of the things you love about him.

You ask him a direct question, you get a direct answer, and then we all move on.

So yeah, sometimes the honesty is the best policy for Jack ninety five percent of the time.

But he does get himself into a little hot water because he doesn't know how to don't know how to big disorders with these things.

He doesn't.

I love that he finished that video.

Often you guys can see it on the Moto GP socials that he goes.

Yeah, if you just need any viral content, just put the camera on me.

I'll give it to you as it is.

He's not wrong's wrong, He's not wrong.

Moving on too quickly to our other Aussie sener ags, he is back this weekend after that massive crash that we saw in Austria.

Austria.

Yeah, okay, yes, it feels like we know we're on race four hundred of this season, so they're all starting to blend in.

But yes, Sena ags is back says he's ready to go.

So that's for Moto two.

And then obviously we have our Aussies in Moto three, jcob Ralston and Joel Kelso.

So once again we mentioned this earlier.

This is a track that the MotoGP writers have done a lot of laps on, but also our Aussies because they've been over in the Lower championships as well.

It's close to their home.

They ride here a lot.

There's close by is Rocko's Ranch.

I don't know mat if you've ever been there, but it's a it's a flat track place literally right next to the circuit, which is really cool.

A lot of the MotoGP riders and other wealthy bike riders and everyone goes there and trains flat tracks.

So the boys are local to this circuit just as much as they are for Philip Island.

Yeah.

Yeah, like all the Aussie guys would have done more laps around Barcelona than they would have done Philip Island for sure, and a lot of them when they moved to When they move to Europe to compete in the World Championship, they do go and live in Spain, and it makes sense to go and live close to this track because you can always get on it, so they're practically locals, they'll know their way around here.

Good to see center back.

That was a pretty scary accident.

Yes, you missed Grand Prix round, but that was one of those ones when you saw it as it happened.

Oh boy, that's like that had potentially really really bad consequences.

So I'm glad that he's back and Moto three at this track because of the nature of it is the last five laps of Moto three, like you'll find yourself just giggling most of the time because there's absolutely no analysis being done here.

It's like what on earth is going to go along?

So looking forward to that.

But before you get off the ifore we finish this podcast and get off the Aussie seed, do we need to talk about marquees matchpoint stats here?

Because there is a chance, and there is a chance that he could set himself up to win the World Championship at Massano, and wouldn't that be a story?

He can win the world He could win the World Championship Massado if things go well this weekends.

I've crunched the numbers.

I just want to let you know the numbers because I know you'll be wondering and our listeners will be wondering too.

So he is one hundred and seventy five points in the league right now.

So to be world champion at Massano, he needs to lead by two hundred and twenty two points.

Sounds like a lot.

So he needs to outscore Alex Marquez by forty seven points in the next two rounds.

That sounds like a lot.

The last two rounds were Austria and Hungary.

Mark has outscored Alex by fifty five points in the past two rounds, so it's absolutely doable.

At Massano.

Mark's been amazing for the last seven rounds.

Alex has gone the other direction.

He's had one Grand Prix podium and two sprint podiums in the last five rounds, so he's had of a potential ten podiums he had free and you think at the start of the year it was Mark Marquez first, Alex Marquez second in just about every single time we went for a race.

So Mark's in the best four he's been in for eleven years and Alex has dropped off and that's what's open this possibility that he could potentially win the World Championship at Massano, and as much as it would be kind of cool for him to win the championship in Japan because he's won championships in Japan in the past, and it's almost like full circle moment, he decided in Japan a couple of years ago that was time to leave Honda after all the success they'd had.

Imagine what social media is going to be like if he wins the World Championship in Valentino Rossi's backyard in Messado.

Oh my god, Like you may as well just sit back from your chair right now, because it's going to be nuts in your world.

I I'm glad you bought it up because I wasn't sure whether to or not, but I think we need to talk about it.

So obviously I do social media.

And I was listening to an interview with Mark Marquez and he said, I don't want to win in San Marino.

His words were because that would mean Alex has had a bad run in bus.

What I didn't read here and what I'm reading through the subtext is I don't want to win in Italy, literally next door to Valentino's rossis because I will have to have security guards and get flown out by the Spanish Army.

Can you imagine that the people probably knocking on his boator home.

And the other part of this, of course, is that this is something that hasn't been discussed enough.

When's the next in season test.

It's the Monday after Massano because we've been talking about it, because Yamaha's going to run the V four and Crosserera and probably Jack Miller will get a run at that.

If you're Mark Marquees and you're going to have the world's greatest party after winning your seventh World Championship you've been waiting for since twenty nineteen, do you think you're going to want to go and test the next morning.

I wouldn't have thought so.

So Yeah, there's a number of reasons why he'd probably like it to be Japan.

The security aspect of Massarto might be one of them.

But yeah, I'm not sure I'd be up for a ten am pit laid open start on the Monday after winning a World championship.

I might call him sick that day.

I think I don't.

Blame you because he did say, you know, I'd rather win in Japan or Indonesia, and I felt like that was a very pr thing to say because of his massive fan base in Asia.

We know that, and then how much the love motorcycles and obviously Mark Marquez.

But yeah, I'm thinking maybe it's just because of the VR forty six army, because we saw what they did at Magello and I was there on the ground, and yes, the booing, the like.

Even Mark said, you don't have to hate my brother.

He had nothing to do with it.

But you know, so could you I just keep saying, could you imagine, just just picture it?

Yes, I can imagine it would be that.

Would make world news for sure.

Yeah, I can imagine it.

And there's there's probably a part of it, part of it for Mark that he probably secretly enjoy it as well, if only for the fact that, you know, the only way he really gets here is he needs to be excellent and Alex probably needs to be a bit rubbish, which he's not been great for the past five rounds.

I think we need to look at Alex Marquez's season and say, well, maybe the first seven eight rounds were kind of the outlier because he was so good at the start of the year, But that's also not really in keeping with how his career is beg to this point, like he was massively outperforming his normal expectations.

Mark's just doing what Mark does when he give him the best bike and the gritty makes everyone look a bit average.

So yeah, look, the main thing for Mark is he'll take a win wherever because it's been so long since he won one.

But yeah, winning it at Masano with everything you talked about and then the fact you have to do a test the next day.

Maybe not the greatest idea, maybe not.

But I think that's going to make this weekend even more exciting because listeners just see what's happening, Watch what Mark is doing, figure out the tactics he's doing, because yeah, like what if we do have a juge Martine, Marco Barzeki, a stronger prillier weekend and we see Mark maybe not pushing as hard as he normally does.

Like I feel like all that's going to come into play if he's really really considering this, not winning at Mazano because he keeps calling it impossible.

Nothing's impossible.

This year for Marcus, we've seen who would have thought we'd been talking about a guy winning fourteen consecutives.

Yeah, it's been one of those seasons.

Anything is possible this season, and yeah, the next two weekends as a back to back is going to be super interesting.

Definitely is.

But you guys can watch all of the Catalan Grand Prix live and I Break Free on Fox Sports and KO usually on channel five oh six on Fox Sports, so make sure you're checking that out.

If you want to read more of Matt's articles and what he has upcoming, you can do at Fox sports dot com do AU forward Slash Motorsport.

Plus you can keep up to date with all of our information our insider goss on our social channels at Fox Motorsport or Fox Sports OZ everywhere, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, you name it, it is there.

And make sure you have subscribed to Pittalk so you never miss an episode.

But from Matt Clayton and myself Ronita Vermullen, we're going to be back real soon with more Moto GP Pit Talk