After 15 years of struggles, difficulty, and tragedy, Gresini is back. This one was for Fausto. For the first time since that legendary day in Estoril in 2006, Gresini Racing wins in MotoGP and history was made as Enea Bastianini shocked the world and gave us the sport’s first ever female team principal win!

We break down the unlikely win… and beyond, with Brad Binder and Pol Espargaro completing a podium that I don’t think anyone could have predicted going in. But there are rumblings beneath it all, with Gresini winning on the 2021 Ducati, while Pramac struggled on the 2022 bike, and Ducati’s factory were nowhere… with a hybrid of the two? This wasn’t the plan, and we discussed whether that’s good for business!

We also talked about the good ol’ vibe check. Yamaha’s feared struggles in testing were very much true, with Fabio Quartararo beaten to the line in 9th, Morbidelli 11th, and the customer bikes barely fighting for points. And what about Suzuki, who looked astonishing in practice, but struggled in race trim. We break that down too!

We also had Dennis Foggia and more drama in Moto3, as stewarding reared its ugly head again. Weaving on straights only hit with minor penalties with last year’s horror crash at COTA still fresh in the memory. Has the sport gone backwards in their stewardship? And are their solutions to be found?

All of that and more in an emotional, in-depth Motorsport101!

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IndyCar is back baby! And we got a fascinating return for the series in St Petersburg (FLORIDA), last weekend, as Scott McLaughlin, a man who was 60/1 going into the weekend, would win from pole, despite just about every usual IndyCar shenanigans being thrown at him.

From backmarker traffic, to cautions and a charging Alex Palou right at the end, we talk at length about the development and “project” of Scotty Mac in IndyCar and ponder whether this is a sign of things to come with the amount of faith that Team Penske has put in him.

We talk at length about the state of blue flags in the series after we saw dramatic blocking from Jimmie Johnson (Who totally wasn’t helping Alex Palou out), and Devlin DeFrancesco right at the end that gave Palou a couple of extra chances to close right in at the end. And to be honest, we wanted an excuse to poke some fun at another classic Will Power media rant after the race. But did he have a point? Should IndyCar’s “advisory” Blue Flag rule be changed?

We talk some of the surprises of the first time seeing the 2022 cars driven in anger. From a return to form for Rinus Veekay, Dalton Kellett nearly eliminating the reigning Champion in Round 1 of Qualifying… and everything on our mans, King Kirkwood!

All of that and more in our IndyCar St. Pete Report!

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The next episode in our season preview series is live as MotoGP returns on March 6th for its largest season ever! 21 rounds with the best riders in the world and we break it all down on Motorsport101!

We went factory by factory, so KTM come up first. Is Miguel Oliveira at risk of losing his seat as KTM position its star talent. Tech3 is right there with the dominant Moto2 lineup of 2021 fo Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez. Is there too many mouths to feed for the sport’s biggest underachievers!

Then Aprilia, who have their strongest line-up ever with Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales ready to go. They were playing down their pace in testing, but then they were also dabbing after topping timesheets. Can their concessions help them bridge the gap? Is their riders actually the weakness going forward?

Then we tackle Honda – Who seem to have a completely new bike to navigate. Everyone else in the setup seems to love it, but can their talisman in Marc Marquez adapt to a bike he’s struggling to understand? Suzuki has brought in renowned team boss Livio Suppo and are arguably the most visible improvers with more top speed and a hungry lineup. Could they surprise?

We also tackle Yamaha’s struggles and tease the possibility of Fabio Quartararo leaving them if things don’t change soon. The M1 is virtually the same as last year, and it seems Fabio might be the only one able to master it. Remind you of anyone? And finally, the fleet of 8 Ducati’s get a mention as their wheels spinning might actually make the 21’ version a bit better right now? Can Francesco Bagnaia go one better than last year?

All those questions and more on Motorsport101’s MotoGP season preview!

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