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It's a quiet time of year in the motorcycle world. The international shows are past, the new model announcements are trailing off. The outdoor racing season is done and indoor Supercross hasn't started yet.
The off season is a great time, however, to relax with some racing videos and catch up on some of what you missed earlier in the year, maybe because you were out riding yourself. If you'd like some moto entertainment, let me recommend a few.
Pecco Bagnaia's big comeback in MotoGP
When the 2022 MotoGP season started, lots of people expected Pecco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team to win the championship. But after Bagnaia fell 91 points behind defending champion Fabio Quartararo, how many still believed? A few in the Ducati paddock did.
This video produced by Ducati does a good job of showing the evolving tension over the course of the year as the championship seemed to be falling out of reach and later, when it appeared to be back within the team's grasp — which is when you most fear it slipping away. You can see it in the nervous foot-tapping of Ducati racing boss Gigi Dall'Igna and the body language of Bagnaia's girlfriend Domizia Castagnini. But it all ended in joy.
A taste of World Superbike
It's not that easy to follow the Superbike World Championship here in the states, but if you missed the season and Álvaro Bautista's triumphal return to Ducati, WSBK's YouTube channel can get you up to date quickly. WSBK posts quick highlight videos of every round of racing, in addition to interviews and other features.
If you watch just one, I recommend the final round at Phillip Island in Australia, where weather made the competition as much about strategy as speed, and nobody played it better than Bautista, especially with his risky but masterful performance in the Tissot Superpole race.
How the MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike championship was won
Formula One's "Drive to Survive" show brought new levels of popularity to the series. By comparison, MotoGP's similar effort, "MotoGP Unlimited," would be better called a flop. Almost a year ago, I wrote about "Pressure to Rise," the behind-the-scenes series following the MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike championship. Not only does "Pressure to Rise" do a great job of introducing the personalities in the paddock, but the team also produces and airs each episode quickly. You can often see the inside story of what happened at the most recent race before the next round is even run, instead of a year later. After the episodes air initially on Fox Sports 2, they're made available on the MotoAmerica YouTube channel.
Since they're all there to be viewed for free, you could binge watch the entire season, if you have time. If you're going to watch one episode, I recommend the final one, shown below. It not only follows the action at the final round at Barber Motorsports Park, where the title was decided, but also gives a brief recap of every round that came before, so even a viewer who hasn't followed the series understands how the two-man battle for the championship reached the final reckoning.
Garrett Gerloff's farewell to Yamaha
The days of U.S. riders dominating the roadracing world championships are far in the past. Today, with no U.S. rider in the top class in MotoGP, the U.S. roadracer competing at the highest world championship level is Garrett Gerloff in the Superbike World Championship. And 2023 is going to bring some big changes for the Texan.
Gerloff's entire professional career at the domestic and international levels has been on Yamahas: his debut on a YZF-R6 in AMA Pro Racing, his subsequent MotoAmerica Supersport championship on an R6, his MotoAmerica Superbike race wins on a YZF-R1, and his World Superbike podium finishes on an R1. But in 2023 he will be riding a BMW M 1000 RR for the Bonovo Action BMW team in WSBK.
With so much history on Yamahas, Gerloff posted a retrospective video on YouTube before he begins the BMW chapter of his racing career.
There's a cold winter rain lashing my window as I write this. Do I wish I were out for a ride on a warm summer day? Or maybe better yet, riding to the track to watch one of these races in person? For sure. But this time of year I take what I can get, and a few racing videos are good off-season fun.
