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The opening World Superbikes round at Phillip Island was a memorable one for Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega who just clean sweeped the broom of race wins and also Superpole wins for the first time – just too good indeed.

Hats off to team-mate Alvaro Bautista who made lots of track position which was sensational from 11th to 2nd, as well as another Italian Andrea Iannone in 3rd along with his runner-up sprint race finish on what has been an all Ducati podium.

More of Ducati with Scott Redding making up some solid progress from 6th on Saturday to back-to-back 4th Sunday – he looks so ready for a podium or even a race win now. You also got Danilo Petrucci running Top 5 all weekend long including a Superpole race podium to collect in 3rd.

But not so much from the BMW in defending champ Toprak like that unlucky opening lap crash with Bautista in the sprint race to an mechanical issue midway through Race 2 – still plenty of time to catch up though as seen with his fightback to 2nd from Race 1 yesterday.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on Oli Bayliss who continued to back up another 7th place finish also today in the Supersport class that puts him 5th in the riders’ standings as he’s the one to watch there just like his legendary dad (a 3 x WSBK champ btw from the 2000s) Troy Bayliss.

And thank you to Phillip Island for showcasing a top-notch show of Superbikes representing both here as well as the world’s best for another year.

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Nicolo Bulega was simply too good from start to finish including that pole award earlier in the day with the Race 1 win for the No.11 Ducati bike at Phillip Island.

While everyone were out of reach chasing Bulega all along, there’s at least 1-2 riders went after the defending champ Toprak Razgatlıoğlu who struggled to keep up from 2nd down to 5th and then up back front again over the first few laps. 

It could’ve been a Ducati 1-2 had Alvaro Bautista not stuffed up that one and only mandatory pit stop halfway through 20 laps that gave Toprak his position back in 2nd. But at least Bautista is happy with the result in 3rd and Toprak able to stabilise 2nd – just not enough time though like we saw in the Superpole session.

And off the back of that thrilling Top 4 fight on the run home also in Race 1 of the new World Supersport season (2nd tier), shoutout to Oli Bayliss in 7th with Luke Power picking up a few points in 12th.

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Looks like Dodge wants to go back to NASCAR once more having heard new rumours from the weekend’s Daytona 500 but looks like they would rather start from the bottom at Trucks level under Ram since the engines everyone in this competition use now are spec ones – not too bad to get in at an affordable cost.

Gonna be great seeing more competition with Ram joining Chevy, Toyota and Ford back out on the race track that will make them a decent enough contender to fight for race wins and even championships.

Don’t know which teams will be up for it but shouldn’t be a problem if Dodge under Ram officially comes back.

And yes, they would also wanna go Cup and even Xfinity racing as well at some point as long they find an engine builder but not on their own via in-house. 

It’s easy to put in the Charger there since they just got a new generation model last year that also offers an electric & plug in hybrid option and they now both come in a two-door coupe and a four-door sedan.

Watch this space for that and let’s hope the rumors do come out true this time.

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Here it is…the Alpine A525.

Looks a whole lot pink as always thanks to title sponsor BWT that mix and matches well with the iconic French racing blue.

Gonna miss BP/Castrol as well as the Renault E-Tech branding even though it will be the last year they will be using their own Renault engines but let’s get behind Jack as he’s got a lot to prove over the next few weeks and months especially when his next race (Aus GP) will be on home soil come Sunday, March 16 at Albert Park.

No matter what happens I’m sure Jack will be a great team-mate with the more experienced Pierre Gasly – seems they get along pretty well on paper. As said, all he has to do is back up with some solid Top 7-10 results right from the word go including his lap times in practice & qualifying (needs to happen ASAP or else…) and sure he will be able stick around long enough from here at Team Enstone (whole lot iconic there). 

He’s the first driver to come through their own academy which is something we should be proud of but still long way to go towards proving everyone wrong if he was to survive and keep his seat after 5-6 races – up to Jack to make things right now in this A525.

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It was awesome to see Legacy Motor Club begin their 2025 campaign with a bang in their 2nd year using Toyota engines off the back of their huge off-season change of crew and even minority investment thanks to the man of the hour himself Jimmie Johnson.

He still has something to offer whose patience paid off after he came home third even though he races part-time these days, John Hunter Nemechek had a solid Top 5 car all day long other than the late yellows but happy though with 5th & Erik Jones not far off down in 12th – fortunately he was okay.

This is still a team in progress when things will take time but surely they will be more than ready to sweep Top 10-15z every weekend including an odd Playoffs run in possible – time will tell with JJ calling the shots now himself in majority charge.

Plus, happy to see Jimmie’s former team Hendrick celebrating this year’s Daytona 500 win in none other than William Byron.

And shoutout to ex-player Aaron Woods who stopped by at Daytona the other day to promote NRL/Rugby League with the new season opener soon in Las Vegas.

There won’t be a NASCAR race though on the same weekend unlike last year but will they will be back in the middle of March.

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It was awesome to see Alpine in a MotoGP bike for the first time as part of a sponsorship deal at Pramac Racing’s Yamaha team with another Jack in it by another Aussie in Jack Miller. 

Loving the blue strip of Alpine there on the middle of their new 2025 spec bike & their race suits as yes, Pramac is a customer to Yamaha but will get factory support. 

So good news from the organisation who knows what it takes to win a championship as an independent outfit with the teams’ championship two years ago as well as last year with Jorge Martin when they were riding Ducatis at the time.

Like Jack Doohan, he’s also got plenty to prove at the same time over a one year contract, and let’s hope they can both prove everyone wrong so they can both stay at both Alpine teams for a long time.

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Still a long way to go when it comes to their results following a slow 2024 racing Toyotas for the first time, but Legacy Motor Club certainly made a lot of steps up lately mainly off-track including an ownership change now, with Tom Wagner’s Knighthead Capital just got onboard (who owns Birmingham City) with Maury Gallagher stepping back & 7 x champion Jimmie Johnson running the show more often as majority owner.

Yes, chopping and changing things can be hard especially being team owner rather than full-time racer but at the same time, it looks promising for both the 42 and 43 cars to deliver this year. If they can really be battling Top 10-15 every week plus a win or two, we could see LMC expand into a 3rd full-time car after all – as long as the price is right and they’re content using their own built cars with a Toyota PU.

Whichever one asset they would want to go with expansion, time will tell especially when the charter system has now updated a little for at least another seven years.

But hey, the fresh investment is here for Jimmie Johnson’s team to turn things around thanks to Tom & who knows if the legendary 43 or even 42 turns up in victory lane someday? Watch this space.

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This week was a huge week for Alpine-Renault’s No.7 Jack Doohan from celebrating his 22nd birthday the other day to turning up straight at work aka pre-season duty for his first seat fit in Enstone with a new-look hair cut. 

I guess he will want to go a bit more faster then who would want to stick what worked well him in the past – probably to match his personal best on raw pace through one lap, especially when it comes to a full race weekend which is very important for Jack.

Then there’s him stopping by at the office with the man currently running the show that knows about the history of Enstone all too well even though he’s not really Team Principal these days – Flavio Briatore.

Looking forward to the new car reveal soon (A525 chassis) + pre-season testing while Jack is on it working hard every day & always be in the points soon with Pierre.

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I am delighted to have Max Stauffer onboard who spent a few minutes on the phone earlier today having recently joined the Yamaha squad over the off-season alongside the series veteran and 3 x champion Mike Jones ahead of the upcoming ASBK season that will begin as part of the Australian World Superbikes round support bill next month at Phillip Island in Victoria.

We talked about his season from last year when he first stepped up into the Premier Class (Pirelli Superbike category) along with his on-track expectations for the new year of 2025 including some four-wheel crossover talk such as Supercars and Formula 1 like Jack Doohan’s step up into the big time at Alpine-Renault plus many more with his recovery, etc.

SB: First of all, you had some good Top 10 finishes last season including a few occasional podiums. What have you learned last season in the premier ASBK class, which kind of rounds you had & didn’t had success with that would make a huge difference, and how you’re able to pivot towards the front runners in 2025?

MS: Yeah, well 2024 was overall not a bad season for me. Unfortunately, it was injured a lot throughout the year in which I think some injuries might have hindered some performances. I was quite faster at the Queensland tracks that turned out to be really good for me, especially in Morgan Park Raceway – a track that I’ve struggled on on the smaller bike. It should be fast and competitive there, although I was injured on a big bike was quite a big relief. Focusing on 2025, I’ve gotta work on my consistency during races and if I can work that out, then I think I’ll be there to fight for the front row. The raw speed seems to be quite good as I seem to be pretty fast at one lap but I just need to try working on limiting the crashes and be a little bit more consistent throughout the year and throughout the races.

SB: Before you stepped into the premier class, what was the one thing you missed the most as a rider but also still keeping tabs as a spectator when it comes to the ASBK’s list of support categories? Even when World Superbikes & Supercars come over?

MS: One thing I missed is probably not really understanding how to manage a tyre when it’s easy in the smaller classes such as tyre life at the end of the races. That was probably the biggest thing when I stepped up into the premier class was just to managing the tyre and working out when to be fast in the race which was challenging & it didn’t really come too easy for me. But having the support categories there looking back, you can see that I probably could have worked on those things a little bit earlier still. And it’s great to have the World Superbikes out there because when you’re a support category to them, you can watch and learn so much just from what they’re doing by implementing it into your own weekend, so you can try and adapt in order to learn a little bit quicker as well as speeding up the process a bit more.

SB: When the World SBK Australian Round returns at Phillip Island next month, which world class riders you would like to meet in-person?

MS: Not in particular. I think all the World Superbike riders are quite cool – I’m just a big fan of all of them, really. I’m just excited to be in the paddock and sort of just be a part of the atmosphere and the atmosphere in the paddock and throughout the whole weekend, which is quite massive & cool to be part of and also a whole lot different compared to a traditional ASBK meeting. It will be cool to see Toprak (Razgatlıoğlu – reigning riders’ champion for the BMW Motorrad team) do well around Phillip Island and of course, it will be good to see Johnny Rea on the Yamaha be up front as well.

SB: Any Supercars driver you’re looking forward to see later in the year as well (at Ipswich’s Queensland Raceway as part of the support bill in early August)?

MS: The Supercars is a championship that I followed a lot & I’ve always been a bit of a fan of the Red Bull team. Not necessarily keen on meeting or talk to them but it’ll be nice to see the Red Bull team do well on it & just in general, be actually nice if I sort of be getting into the Supercars a bit more & start following the Championship a bit more closely than I do.

SB: How much do keep in touch with some riders who are now living in Europe? Also wondering if you’d be at least keen to race a the Australian MotoGP support race like the Moto 2/3 someday or have any other one-off rides lined up?

MS: I do keep in touch with the few of the riders overseas like Harry [Harrison] Voight in particular. We’re quite good mates & pretty much throughout the season, we message message each other a lot and talk about anything to do with bikes, really – Bikes and training. It’s pretty good that it’s nice to have a relationship with people over there because you always sort of kept in the loop as such and you sort of know what’s going on a little bit. But, yeah, it will be definitely be cool to do a Moto2 wildcard one day – whether that opportunity comes up, I don’t know. But for now, I don’t have really have anything else lined up at the moment as I’m just focusing on doing the best job I can for Yamaha in this year’s Australian Superbike Championship.

SB: Any race tracks would you like to race overseas like Silverstone in the UK for example?

MS: So I’ve written Assen TT (a track located in the Netherlands) before, that was a cool track. A track I would like to ride now would be Jerez which was a bucket list one – I’ve written there now. I’ve always sort of liked Valencia (Circuit Ricardo Tormo), Silverstone would be cool with a track that has a lot of corners but I think any of the European tracks are pretty awesome to be quite honest with you. They’re all so fast and flowing which is a lot different to the traditional Australian tracks, so to go over there and experience all those tracks and layouts and what not would be a fantastic experience nonetheless.

SB. Thoughts on Jack Doohan’s debut Formula 1 last month at Abu Dhabi for Alpine-Renault who is the son of motorcycle legend Mick Doohan with his home Grand Prix coming up in March at Albert Park? Any messages you would like to say to Jack? Also wondering if perusing a career with four wheels would be make sense from a safety point of view? Or why not be better off sticking with two wheels just for the thrill for it?

MS: Yeah, it’s pretty awesome that there’s another Aussie in the Formula One paddock where the Aussies seems to be quite strong. At the moment, it seems they have a strong presence anyway in the paddock with Oscar’s [Piastri – McLaren-Mercedes] doing quite well. And it’s pretty cool to see Jack [Doohan] in there now; so hopefully, he can sort of burst onto the scene and have a good year. It all comes together for him, in particular with his home round, if he could turn up & be straight on the pace by having a good race in front of his home fan base.

But yeah, Im I’m not really sure about the safety aspect of four wheels where they go as just as fast really. I’ve never really been that interested in cars as for me, it’s always been bikes and two wheels – that’s just what I like. But I know there’s plenty of other people think the opposite who just enjoy driving a car more than what they do riding a bike. So yeah, I’m not too sure about any of that as I’ve never driven a car competitively & I can’t really comment on that that too well.

SB: I wish we could see some more two and four wheel crossovers often from John Surtees to Valentino Rossi and even Casey Stoner too?

MS: Yeah, there’s definitely been a lot of great motorbike riders that have sort of made the switch which is something I’ve never really thought about. I suppose I’ve always just thought about trying to be as good as motorbike riders as possible. But one day, it’d be nice to definitely give it a go like jumping in a V8 Supercar or whatever race car and have a scoot around in order to sort of understand and appreciate more what it takes to be good in that field.

SB: Also wondering if you’re into Tennis? Especially at this time of January at the Australian Open with Alex De Minaur coming off on his career best performance to date lately other than being eliminated in the Quarter-Final the other day by Jannik Sinner? Your favourite bike & four-wheel car also? – it can be an everyday road legal or a racing-spec chassis. And like how Tennis players go off to recover after a long few hours match, how’s your own recovery holding up from race to race & season to season?

MS: I don’t really follow the Tennis that much. But my favourite sort of motor vehicle would definitely gotta be the [Yamaha] R1 for road use & for racing use – it’s just so versatile and its strengths are so strong.

For me overall, this is probably one of the best bikes out there that I’ve ridden anyway – definitely my favourite. And in terms of recovery, I just try and do a lot of stretching and eat the right foods and when I am resting, I just rest – not keep up and keep doing stuff. So just rest and let the body heal by coming out the next day to try and be better.

SB: Better than taking part in a five-set Tennis match?

MS: Yeah, for sure.

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Despite Chrysler giving us an update last week with their planned model line-up over the next few years coinciding with their all-EV ambitions through the end of this decade, it seems that the development of their brand new crossover vehicle has been suspended for now. 

Yes, it might take a while; Although there’s a possibility the production works would resume soon ahead of schedule next year.

This comes off the back of the EV customer demand being slow last year amongst other car makers while they prefer to own hybrids right now which is probably the reason why Stellantis is currently re-evaluating their EV masterplan for Chrysler. If so, they may as well have an hybrid at first with a plug-in option as no need of an ICE and then release a fully-electric model but maybe when the time is right for customers willing to buy one so they can recoup with their investment.

It could’ve been any better if they released the Airlow production made concept vehicle by now (don’t have to put anything regarding ICEs as an all-hybrid model would do it) had Stellantis been realistic with their EV goals. However, we do understand they decided to go back to square one with their top-secret production crossover by making it more modern from like the Halcyon four-door prototype last year as their design language. That way, they can translate it beautifully when the production made sedan comes out at some point alongside the next-generation Pacifica minivan (also planned to be an EV).

For now, looks like Chrysler is sticking with the Pacifica minivans as their one & only flagship model, with the second one (crossover based on the Airflow but much better) & potentially a production-made Halcyon 4-door model (an ideal 300 replacement) still a long way away.

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