Opening Note

One hundred and two points. That was the deficit Marc Márquez carried into the second half of this season, a number large enough that neutral observers were already composing their eulogies for his title chances. He did not appear to have read them. Sunday at Misano produced the finest single-round points swing of the 2026 season, and what was once an insurmountable gap is now, quite precisely, zero. Meanwhile, RawHyde is taking the Mojave Desert and doing something inadvisable with it, and Honda has quietly made the Transalp significantly more interesting.

MotoGP · San Marino Grand Prix · Misano World Circuit · Round 14 of 22 · Race

The opening lap did most of the work. Marco Bezzecchi, who had qualified on pole at his home circuit in front of Valentino Rossi and approximately every person he has ever met, led into Turn 1 and then promptly disappeared into the gravel on lap one. The precise mechanism of the crash will be analysed in considerable detail over the coming fortnight; the effect of it was to hand Marc Márquez a race lead and a championship lead simultaneously, which is not an outcome Misano had been widely expected to produce.

Márquez did not squander it. Jorge Martín briefly moved ahead — arm pump, as it turned out, was restricting his right forearm in the closing stages, and he faded to fifth. Álex Márquez followed his brother home in second, producing the first Márquez one-two in MotoGP history. Pedro Acosta completed the podium in third, which continues the pattern of the younger Spaniards performing precisely when the senior manufacturers are looking closely at contract situations. Bagnaia, for the record, crashed in the Sprint on Saturday and described that performance as humiliating. He is not wrong.

Result

The championship now sits at the Red Bull Ring for Austria, with eight rounds remaining and three riders — Márquez, Martín, and a Bezzecchi now 33 points back — all mathematically capable of winning it. Ducati has also overtaken Aprilia in the constructors' standings by two points, which adds a layer of institutional anxiety to what is already a sufficiently nerve-shredding run-in. One does not envy the pit walls.

RawHyde Wild Card Rally at ZAKAR · October 16–18 · Mojave Desert, CA

RawHyde Adventures have taken their hundred-acre Mojave Desert facility — named ZAKAR, which stands for Zombie Apocalypse Kompound At RawHyde, a detail one simply must accept and move on from — and converted it into the venue for a three-day event that resists easy categorisation. The Wild Card Rally is, by their own description, part rally, part riding weekend, part training clinic, part desert party, and part casino night. One of those elements does not obviously belong with the others, and yet here we are.

The riding itself is built around GPS-guided routes through Jawbone Canyon OHV and the surrounding Mojave terrain — sandy washes, desert two-track, rocky sections, open desert roads. Route options cover both big-bike-friendly adventure loops and more technically demanding lines for those who feel the standard offering lacks consequences. RawHyde's instructors will be running optional half-day clinics throughout the weekend for riders who wish to improve their technique in real conditions, which is a considerably more useful arrangement than the typical flat-parking-lot format. Open to all brands and vehicle types, including dual sports, UTVs, and 4x4s, though we will note that showing up in a UTV is the sort of decision that invites a particular kind of social scrutiny.

Evening programming includes live music Friday, chef-prepared meals, a full bar, and the Saturday night casino, at which guests will be playing for chips rather than currency — a distinction that presumably matters to some of the participants. Early-bird registration is $395, standard pricing $450. Camping and dry RV spots are available on-site. The Mojave in mid-October is, for the record, rather pleasant riding weather. This one is worth the drive.

Honda Transalp E-Clutch · Bultaco returns · Ducati previews the Desmo450 SM

Honda has announced that the 2026 Transalp will ship with E-Clutch as standard equipment — no longer an optional extra, simply the way it comes. For the uninitiated: Honda's E-Clutch system automates the clutch lever without removing it, allowing the rider to use it conventionally or allow the system to handle engagement and disengagement automatically. The practical effect in ADV riding is that technical slow-speed terrain becomes notably more manageable, particularly for riders who have not yet made their peace with feathering a clutch on loose ground with a loaded bike. Honda has also fitted an aluminium skid plate and revised the suspension for 2026. The Transalp was already an uncommonly sensible choice in the middleweight ADV segment; it has just become more so.

In news that will please those who measure relevance by longevity: Bultaco is back. The Spanish brand, which produced some of the most significant off-road motorcycles of the 1960s and 70s before going quiet for several decades, has announced a return with a budget-friendly 300cc adventure bike. Pricing and full specifications have not yet been confirmed, though ADV Pulse is reporting that the machine is positioned at the entry end of the market — which would place it in direct competition with the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 and CFMoto's 450 offerings. Bultaco's return is either a genuine revival or an exercise in brand nostalgia, and it may well be both simultaneously. Mads reserves judgement until there is something to actually ride.

Finally, and briefly: Ducati has previewed the 2027 Desmo450 SM at World Ducati Week, a supermoto variant of the Desmo450 MX platform set to launch this September. The Desmo450 MX already drew considerable attention when it arrived as Ducati's first purpose-built off-road machine. The SM conversion — 17-inch wheels, road-legal configuration, the general aesthetic of something designed to be ridden aggressively through roundabouts — will interest a different subset of the market entirely. No pricing yet. Ducati has timed the announcement to be discussed before the machine can be tested, which is, one notes, their preferred method of operation.