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Let's take a look at what is being said in the paddock, some are gossip, some are rumors, some maybe will become news. We give them to you as we heard them!
And what about the photo with Michele Pirro on the cover? But did you see the look? He wasn't full of amazement because he was talking to test team leader Marco Palmerini, who had asked him for two more race simulations in 50-degree asphalt, he was simply on the phone with his little daughter who was singing the national anthem to him...but why!? We think he is training her for his podiums in CIV!
To skip or not to skip? half the paddock with fingers crossed
Among those who suffer the most from the increase in the number of Grands Prix are the mechanics, nothing extraordinary, then, that everyone is rooting for the Argentine Grand Prix to be cancelled once again. We've got nothing against Rio Hondo, even if it is not exactly New York and us veterans remember with affection Buenos Aires, however we raced there uninterrupted from 2014 to 2019, then in '20 and '21 the GP was cancelled due to Covid while the last one due to economic and political difficulties. Vacation diehards are also betting against the Balatonring.
The shadow of the long 'P' over Michelin, thinking big, indeed extra big
It has been talked about for years, but so far the long P tyre manufacturer has only put its hands on Moto3 and Moto2. It was taken for certain as a replacement for Michelin when its contract with F1 was in jeopardy, but that was instead renewed. Now the rumor has surfaced again. The big news is that the talks between the Clermont-Ferrand manufacturer and Dorna have been entrusted to a professional negotiator. It seems that this hasn't gone down at all well with Carmelo. In the meantime, development of the new front, also tested here in Sepang, continues in Ladoux. An extra large tyre. It says 130 on the casing, but it is actually a 140 mounted on a 4-inch rim. Basically a Moto3 rear!
Carlo Pernat's absence in Malaysia: did he already know everything?
On these very long overseas trips, one gets very tired: 12+ hours a day in the circuit, often in blast furnace temperatures. Nothing strange, then, that in the evening some of us resort to massages, often practiced inside the hotels themselves. This year, however, the service has been suspended in a great many hotels. The reason? Apparently a government clampdown for a more 'professionalization' of the sector and to offer a better image of the country. Fortunately, many teams have a physical therapist...but of course that's not the same thing. Is it a coincidence that for the first time in decades Carlo Pernat missed the trip?
The market is not always about the riders
We are used to talking about the rider transfer market from mid-season onward, but sometimes some teams are able to pull off a big coup at the beginning of the year, for example Pramac. No, we are not talking about the move to Yamaha but rather about the team's latest acquisition: as PR in fact Paolo Ianieri, a former correspondent on motorcycle racing for Gazzetta dello Sport, has arrived. Recall that last year's surprise transfer from press to communications was that of Antonio Boselli, from the microphones of Sky TV to the Aprilia team.
Two and four wheels: F1 is getting closer and closer
The communicating vessels between the top two-wheel and four-wheel categories are always open. We wrote about Enea Bastianini 's management switch from Carlo Pernat to Enrico Zanarini, Eddie Irvine's longtime manager. For MSM, the agency that brought, among others, sponsor Prima to Pramac, Andrea Gamberini and Francesco Principe, longtime collaborators of the legendary 'all black' Zanarini, were seen at Sepang.
Sometimes they come back: a great 'ex' puts the wheels back on the track, but so does a CEO
Once a rider, always a rider. You know, it's hard for ex's to give up a few laps on the track, if only for the simple exhilarating thrill of the acceleration of modern super sports bikes. Some, however, have resisted the temptation and despite having excellent past careers behind them, they have always refused to don the leathers again...but as Oscar Wilde said 'I can resist everything except temptation,' so the legendary Davide Tardozzi has succumbed to Michele Pirro and will be the opener of a round of the V4 Elite Cup at Misano. In the one on June 15 it seems that the delicate task will even be entrusted to Claudio Domenicali, Ducati CEO. There is the concern among the amateurs who risk, during the rolling start, not being able to stay anywhere near Tardozzi, the first winner of a Superbike race, on a Bimota, at Donington in 1988. That year the Ducati team manager won five races on the YB4.
World's longest celebrations in Kuala Lumpur.
The longest celebrations of 2024 is the work of Paolo Campinoti, who started in Barcelona at the end of the year after Jorge Martin 's victory and continued here in Malaysia at the famous Marini's on 57 restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. To the tune of 'We are the Champions' (and what else?) for three nights during the shakedowns, the likeable Paolo took the stage with the venue's big screens looping the best images of the Pramac triumph.
Come and have a coffee with us.
The first thing everyone does in the morning is go to their favorite hospitality for coffee. Emilio Bastianini, Enea's dad, still hasn't adjusted to his son's decision to switch to KTM and has remained loyal to Ducati. It's always best to maintain good relations. It seems that the Austrian roastery in Mattighofen is not yet up to the level of the Borgo Panigale one.
