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Laurence Edmondson
Earlier this year, MotoGP invited ESPN to capture behind-the-scenes photographs at one of its grands prix. Austria’s stunning Red Bull Ring provided the most scenic of backdrops, while the sport’s 11 teams offered unprecedented access to the inner sanctums of their race weekends.
What we found was a racing series that has retained its intoxicating rawness while delivering the pinnacle of two-wheel racing to millions of fans around the world. The on-track action blends exceptional talent with astonishing bravery, while tight-knit and dedicated teams ensure the show goes on week after week.
The whole sport runs rich on a heady mix of skill and sacrifice, and as we uncovered, it has the scars to prove it.
Media day
The Austrian Grand Prix is the first race back after MotoGP’s summer break, and a lot of Thursday’s media day is spent sharing stories of vacations and beach holidays. Championship leader Marc Márquez is one of the last riders to arrive in the broadcasters’ truck — a perfectly lit portable studio filled with TV crews — and instantly wins over reporters with a beaming smile.
Teams also make use of the more relaxed atmosphere before the track action starts to produce social media content with riders. Trackhouse teammates Ai Ogura and Raúl Fernández happily play along with the request of their team, and are surprisingly adept at using a marker attached to a pair of glasses to draw random objects for each other to identify.
Moped GP
Ahead of the race weekend, circuit owner Red Bull puts out an open invitation to owners of 50cc mopeds to gather and complete a few laps of the track. Joined by the six Red Bull-affiliated riders on the grid — including reigning champion Jorge Martín — hundreds of high-revving mopeds left the starting grid in a cloud of exhaust fumes to take part in the “Moped GP.”
Although not strictly a competitive race, the MotoGP talent took the opportunity to show off, with Pedro Acosta taking the prize for the highest wheelie on his return to the pits.
The quiet before FP1
“This is one of my favorite moments of the weekend,” a member of the Ducati Lenovo team confides as he walks into the Italian team’s box ahead of first practice, “the moments just before the action gets underway.”
The doors to the pit lane are still closed but everything is in its right place, including four immaculately prepared GP25 bikes (two for Márquez and two for two-time MotoGP champion Pecco Bagnaia). Relaxed and sharing jokes with crew chief Marco Rigamonti, Márquez watches on from the back of the garage as mechanics polish the two No. 93 bikes and put finishing touches in place.
The on-track action begins
Bikes are warmed up on the pit apron ahead of each session and then held in place ready for the rider to mount the seat and hit the track. Each rider has a different routine — Martín, for example, kneels and makes the sign of the cross before leaving the Aprilia box for each run — but when the visor snaps down, the rider is completely alone with no team radio. Traditional pit boards are used to signal to the riders and tell them to return to the box at the end of each run.
Working on the bikes
Between sessions, mechanics disassemble, fine tune and reassemble the bikes. No photos are allowed when the fairings are off, but the speed and precision of work up and down the pit lane is phenomenal to witness. Tire changes are among the most common operations conducted by mechanics, but even that requires rapid dexterity as the two front brake discs — each the size of a large dinner plate — are removed and reattached each time.
Debriefing with a legend
Engineering debriefs get underway immediately after each track session, with the rider still sweating in their leathers as engineers crowd around. At VR46 Ducati, Fabio Di Giannantonio is joined by team owner and seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi to bounce ideas off of and improve the handling of his GP25.
Rossi, still the paddock’s most iconic figure four years on from his final grand prix, is reliving his experience at the Red Bull Ring through the feedback of “Diggia.” Cross referencing his rider’s comments with a sheet of data, he mimes the movement of the bike and its lean angle in each corner to help the engineers make the right changes for the next session.
The physicality and the sacrifice
To recover from the physical demands of Friday practice, Di Giannantonio undergoes an hour-long physiotherapy session at the end of the day. The Italian is remarkably relaxed about having a photographer in the room during what is usually a private moment, so it seems as good an opportunity as any to discuss the physical side of the sport.
It’s almost impossible to ignore the long scars on both his forearms, which are the results of surgeries to relieve chronic exertional compartment syndrome — more commonly known as “arm pump.” The condition is triggered by increased blood flow to the forearm muscles while riding, which causes the muscle to expand within the surrounding connective tissue (fascia), compressing nerves and limiting blood flow. Symptoms of “arm pump” include intense pain in the forearms and sudden weakness in the hands — far from ideal while riding a 300-horsepower motorcycle at 200 mph. As a result, riders undergo fasciotomies — a surgery completed under a general anesthetic that opens up the arm in order to slit the fascia and create more freedom for the muscle to expand.
“Diggia” proudly explains the process, along with scars for a separate surgery he had over the winter after breaking his collarbone. “If you don’t have these scars, you are not a MotoGP rider,” he says with a smile.
Caffeine to keep up
Each MotoGP team has a hospitality unit in the paddock to cater for staff and guests over the weekend. Chefs travel with the teams to provide restaurant-quality food, while espresso machines are in near-constant use throughout the mornings to provide hundreds of cups of coffee to hard-working team members. LCR Honda, a Monaco-based team, prides itself on making the best espresso in the paddock.
Sprint to the finish
MotoGP runs a sprint race on Saturdays at every round of the season. The sprint is half the length of Sunday’s grand prix and offers points down to ninth place.
LCR Honda rider Johann Zarco starts the race in Austria from 12th on the grid, and his team continues to monitor data from the bike and receive feedback from the rider up until lights out. During the race, Zarco progresses up the field to ninth to take the final point on offer. As soon as he jumps off the bike, he returns to the back of the garage to debrief information that may prove pivotal to unlocking more performance for Sunday’s race.
Fast food
Each MotoGP bike is plastered with sponsors, who not only benefit from global exposure by having their name on the bike, but also join the team in the paddock on race weekends. The market for sponsors is competitive and retaining them is key to a team’s budget and future success.
To offer something extra to its most valued partners, Italian team Gresini Ducati not only ensures an exquisite culinary experience, but also an exclusive dining table in its box on Saturday night. To top off the experience, Gresini rider Fermín Aldeguer dons a chef’s hat to deliver the starter.
Countdown to showtime
The grid for Sunday’s race is packed, with teams cordoning off a small area around their bikes to allow mechanics to make last-minute changes and riders to prepare. Starting from the second row of the grid, Márquez is in the middle of the melee, but looks remarkably calm as he shuts out the madness behind a pair of wraparound sunglasses. Team manager Davide Tardozzi is the last member of the Ducati Lenovo team to speak to the championship leader before the helmet goes on, and the pair share a few brief words and a smile as the grid begins to clear ahead of the start.
The race
Watching the field of bikes filter through the first corner within inches of each other is breathtaking. It’s a remarkable showcase of talent and bravery as each rider picks the moment to brake and tip the bike into the corner at a physics-defying lean angle.
In the opening two laps, Márquez makes his way up to second place and chases down the Aprilia of Marco Bezzecchi. Shadowing the Italian for more than half the race, Márquez finally pulled the trigger on lap 20 of 28 and made a pass stick for the lead. It was the Spaniard’s ninth victory of the 2025 season but the first of his career at the Red Bull Ring. He went on to win the title four rounds later in Japan, securing his seventh MotoGP crown and his first with Ducati.
