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Insidebikes’ 2025 motorcycle racing preview

Marc Marquez

MotoGP

There’s been a lot of change in the MotoGP paddock for 2025, with the biggest talking point being Marc Marquez’ acquisition of the second factory Ducati seat alongside two-time champ Pecco Bagnaia.

Marquez, an eight-time world champion, staked his career by swapping a factory Honda ride for a private Ducati last year and was rewarded with the most desirable ride in the paddock for 2025. All eyes will now be on the 32-year-old, to see if he can bag a seventh title in the premier class.

The battle for the seat came at the expense of Jorge Martin, who took the 2024 title on board the satellite Pramac Ducati. He leaves the Borgo Panigale family to take his number one plate to Aprilia, with the Pramac team also ending a 20 year association with Ducati to start a new adventure with Yamaha.

 

 

 

Jorge Martin

 

Yamaha’s decision to run a top tier satellite squad suggests they are serious about returning to the front after several years in the doldrums. Fabio Quartararo remains the top man in the Monster Energy backed factory squad, with a new V4 engined YZR-M1 widely rumoured to be waiting in the wings.

There’s plenty of talking points going into the season, not least around KTM’s participation in the series. The cash strapped Austrian company has its most formidable line-up to date, with Brad Binder and young sensation Pedro Acosta in the Red Bull sponsored factory team and Grand Prix winners Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales at the Tech3 squad.

 

KTM four rider line-up

 

Even if the team do start the year, there remain question marks over how much development the RC16 race bike will receive, as administrators look to cut costs in the beleaguered business. Interestingly all four riders seem to have ‘full factory’ status, with the bikes lining up in almost identical liveries. Maintaining those relationships might create some challenges as the year progresses…

Add in three rookies for 2025 and the MotoGP series looks to be one of the most interesting yet. The calendar has also been given a bit of a shakeup, with the British Grand Prix staying at Silverstone but moving from late August to the last weekend in May, although there are still no Brits in the premier class.

Jake Dixon will be looking to put a title challenge together in Moto2, although he’ll be in new surroundings as he joins to the MarcVDS squad and switches from a Kalex to Boscoscuro chassis. In Moto3, there will be two Brits on the grid, with 18-year-old Eddie O’Shea making his full-time debut on the MLav Honda while Scott Ogden moves to KTM for his fourth year as a world championship rider.

 

WorldSBK

 

Toprak Razgatlioglu

 

The 2024 Superbike World Championship was all about Toprak Razgatlioglu and his stunning championship win on the previously unfancied BMW M 1000 RR. The Turk was almost unbeatable after the opening few rounds and will be a short odds favourite to take a third title this year.

His closest rival last time out was Niccolo Bulega, who was sensational in his debut season on the factory Ducati. If anyone’s going to push Razgatlioglu, it’s likely to be the young Italian. His team-mate. Alvaro Bautista can never be written off either. The two-time champ has a disappointing 2024 campaign but he and the Ducati had enough highlights to remind everyone of just how fast a combination they make.

Expect some interest in the new Bimota team, which replaces the multi-championship winning Kawasaki Racing Team. With Kawasaki owing a significant stake in the boutique Italian constructor, the KRT outfit will run the new Bimota KB988, which houses a Kawasaki ZX-10RR Ninja engine in a high end new chassis. Brit Alex Lowes has been fast in testing and looks worth a punt for at least a few race wins, while we’re also looking forward to seeing how fellow Brits Sam Lowes, Tarran Mackenzie, Jonathan Rea, Scott Redding and Ryan Vickers perform.

Lowes, Redding and Vickers will all be Ducati mounted, 26-year-old Vickers making his world championship debut while Redding returns to the Italian brand after some barren years with BMW. Multiple champion Rea will be looking to put a disastrous 2024 campaign behind him as he enters his second season with Yamaha, while Mackenzie will be hoping Honda can make some big strides with bike development after some character building years on the Fireblade.

Testing for the world superbike series has been inconclusive, with wet weather limiting the number of practice laps. We’re also looking forward to seeing how the world supersport championship pans out too. The series has been gaining riders and interest in recent years, since switching to new rules opening up the class to motorcycles beyond the traditional 600cc four-cylinder sports bikes. Ducati won with a 955cc Panigale V2 last year and now Yamaha is swapping its venerable R6 for a new racer based around the R9.

 

British Superbikes

British Superbike (BSB) has long played host to some of the most exciting racing around and 2025 looks to be no different.

Last year’s victor, Kyle Ryde, emerged victorious after a memorable battle with 2023 champion Tommy Bridewell – the pair swapping positions on the very last lap of the championship to determine the destination of the trophy. They’ll be back to resume battle with the same teams, Ryde at OMG Yamaha and Bridewell at Honda Racing.

With Ryde’s 2024 team-mate Ryan Vickers off to WorldSBK, Bradley Ray returns to the championship after a two year sojourn in the world series, returning to the team with which he won the 2022 BSB title.

Third placed Glenn Irwin will be looking to shake off his nearly man tag, staying with PBM Ducati for a third consecutive year. PBM are one of three single-rider Ducati riders on the grid this year. Moto Rapido Ducati join forces with the evergreen veteran Leon Haslam, while TAS Racing switch from BMW power to the Panigale V4 R – bringing with them talented Scot Rory Skinner. Don’t be surprised to find all three of them on the podium at some time in the year, and potentially making a run for the title. This really is a wide open championship.

Being BSB, you expect any number of riders and teams to be up at the sharp end. Other names to look out for include former Moto2 world champion Danny Kent on the Martrain Yamaha and Charlie Nesbitt on the Hawk Racing Honda. Nesbitt is joined by class rookie John McPhee, who enters BSB for the first time after a career spent riding smaller bikes in the world championships. The series has a later than usual start in 2025, with the championship kicking off at Oulton Park on the first weekend of May.

 

Isle of Man TT

 

Dean Harrison at TT

 

For many racers, and indeed fans, the highlight of the racing season remains the iconic Isle of Man TT Races.

Having taken his first wins at the 2024 festival, including victory in the flagship Senior TT, Davey Todd joins Peter Hickman at the FHO Racing BMW team, with the duo racing in the BSB series as well as the big road races. Todd will also race Hondas for Padgett’s in the supersport races, and will surely be fancied on the Yorkshire team’s Paton in the supertwins, while Hickman is likely to run Triumphs under his own PHR Performance banner in supersport again, and a Yamaha R7 in supertwins.

Honda Racing continue with Dean Harrison as their lead rider, looking to build on their first year together in 2024, and he’ll again be sharing his garage with TT icon John McGuinness. The 23-time TT winner, who will be 52 by the time of the races, is no longer considered one of the favourites for wins but he’s a podium outsider and still hugely popular with the fans, who would be delighted to see the Morecombe Missile towards the top of the results sheets.

Michael Dunlop – now officially the greatest TT racer of all time with 29 wins, has yet to formally announce his plans. He’s been spotted testing a Ducati Panigale V2 over the winter, fuelling suggestions he’ll join forces with TAS Racing, who run Todd on the Italian machine in Supersport last year. The Northern Irish squad have split with Todd and BMW, and will be running Ducatis in BSB. They’ll be out on the roads as well, meaning there’s a strong chance we’ll see a Ducati superbike at the TT too. Dunlop has ridden Hondas in the big bike classes in recent years but has never been afraid to make bold changes. We look forward to seeing how his plans unfold in the coming weeks.

With experience counting around the challenging TT course, it is unlikely we’ll see a real surprise come out of nowhere to challenge the most fancied quartet of Dunlop, Harrison, Hickman and Todd, but if anyone’s going to do it we’d put our 10p on former BSB champion Josh Brookes. The Australian came second in last year’s Senior TT, albeit following retirements for Dunlop and Hickman. Being a Honda rider in BSB, he’s going all in with the same manufacturer at the TT. He’ll race alongside Paul Jordan at the Jackson Racing squad, lining up on Fireblades in the big bike races and CBR600RRs in the two supersport outings.

 

Peter Hickman and Davey Todd

 

The 2025 race season starts on the weekend of 21-23 February, with the traditional WorldSBK opener at Australia’s Phillip Island circuit, with MotoGP from Thailand the following weekend. There will be a change for TV viewers in 2025. British Eurosport, which has shown WorldSBK and BSB in recent years, has closed – with all content moving over to the subscription-based TNT Sports.

TNT Sports will show all MotoGP, WorldSBK and BSB rounds, with highlights and some live action (including all MotoGP Sprint races and some BSB meets) on free-to-air channels.

Photos: Manufacturer supplied

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