+34
‘Immediately ripping the jokes’: Aussie on working for F1 cult figure, and first MotoGP taste
‘Drive to Survive’ series as a sports fan and enjoyed the forthright, unfiltered personality of Guenther Steiner.since he officially became a MotoGP rider for the 2027 grid in mid-September – an uptick in his media commitments, a first test of a MotoGP bike and being looked at in a completely different light by his peers as he strolls the world championship paddock – having Steiner at the helm of the Tech3 KTM team he’ll be riding with next year still requires some getting used to.
“I knew the name Guenther Steiner for a long time, but watching him on ‘Drive to Survive’ for years, I was genuinely loving the series well before I ever met him because of his character,” Agius laughs in an exclusive interview withSteiner will be Agius’ first MotoGP boss when he debuts for the Tech3 KTM team in 2027. “You could see that everybody loved it.
It was pretty funny to tell him after we met that me and my dad had a great time watching that series, like anyone else. He’s a massive character, and I can definitely confirm now that what you see on TV is what you get in real life.
“He’s just super direct, super witty, super funny. I think he understands that he can be himself with me, maybe because of my character. He was immediately just ripping the jokes and being the character that you see on TV, a little bit raw, full of emotion and not scared to be direct, or harsh if he needs to be. I’ll always prefer that because it’s always good to know what he thinks.
“With me being an Aussie maybe, not European … whatever it is, we get along great. He senses I can take a joke and also crack one. So far I find him really cool to work with.
”PODCAST: Michael and Matt review a dominant weekend for George Russell at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, catch up with 2025 Bathurst 1000 winner Matt Payne, and assess the MotoGP championship picture with seven rounds remaining | Agius, along with 2027 Tech3 teammate and current Honda factory rider Luca Marini, are part of a completely reset deck for next year at the Austrian manufacturer, with the factory KTM team replacing Ducati factory signing Pedro Acosta and World Superbikes-bound Brad Binder with current Ducati duo Fabio Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez.
KTM are the only one of MotoGP’s five manufacturers to completely clean house for the first season of the 2027 850cc regulation change for next year, one where Agius will be one of five rookies – along with Yamaha’s Izan Guevara, Honda’s David Alonso, and Ducati pair Dani Holgado and recently-crowned World Superbikes champion Nicolo Bulega – to make their premier-class debuts. Proper pre-season testing begins in December two days after the 2025 season ends in Valencia on November 29.
For Agius, the memories of his first test of a MotoGP bike in the past fortnight might just have faded by then, so impactful was that maiden outing. Senna Agius with Tech3 KTM team manager Nicolas Goyon on the confirmation of the Australian rider to the 2027 MotoGP grid Agius threw his leg over a MotoGP bike for the first time on the Monday after the most recent Grand Prix in Austria, as part of a one-day Pirelli tyre test ahead of the Italian brand replacing Michelin as the sport’s sole tyre supplier after 10 years in 2027.
It was also a chance for KTM, along with Ducati, Honda, Yamaha and Aprilia, to put their 850cc machines through their paces with their riders who are staying on next year and test riders; it was a closed-door test with no journalists or photographers present, and one the transponders that record lap times were taken out of the bikes. Agius, by all accounts, adjusted fast.
Unofficial times circulating after the test had the Australian, on a 2026-spec 1000cc machine, in the same lap time ballpark as Marc Marquez on an 850cc Ducati, with the caveats that nobody could tell who was really pushing, what fuel loads and tyres each bike was running, and if leaks of times from multiple sources within the paddock could be believed with any confidence. On Thursday in the Motegi paddock, the smile on Agius’ face when asked about his first taste of a MotoGP bike revealed more than any stopwatch could.
“I actually really gelled well, and I felt like I fit on the bike and I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel too much, it came naturally,” he said. “The power was the thing you notice straight away, of course. But just how refined the engine was … the seamless gearbox has no rev drop when you’re shifting gears, which was amazing.
I’ve ridden motorcycles all my life when you lose revs before you gain revs, but there’s no hesitation from the bike. It feels like the clutch is slipping, but you’re still pulling in sixth gear.
“The change from first to second gear in any combustion engine, that’s what a MotoGP bike feels like between fifth and sixth. These things gain power at the end, which is scary. ”As fast as a MotoGP bike felt compared to his regular Moto2 mount, the speed at which is stopped might have been more impressive.
“With the carbon brakes, on the out lap you have no brakes at all, it feels like brake failure, because of how cold they are,” Agius said. “Then, all of a sudden once they get to temperature, they just bite. It was so impressive, not just the stopping power, but because the amount of power from your hand that goes into the front tyre, and that creates the front feeling.
“It took me a while to realise just how much force is on the tyre, it’s a lot of force without much lever pressure. I was comfortably braking in Austria with one finger, on a bike that feels like it’s going double the speed of a Moto2 bike. It’s just a different world. ” Also different?
Feeling like a proper MotoGP rider, more so than any press release announcing the news he’d been holding in for weeks finally became public, and an impromptu gesture from KTM’s brass that meant plenty. On his Austria test day, after his first batch of laps on a MotoGP machine, Agius returned to the pits and found KTM motorsport director Pit Beirer and Steiner waiting for him as he climbed off the bike, wanting to see his unedited reaction.
A raised helmet visor revealed wide eyes and an appreciation of the start of something big.
“I was obviously sleeping on the news before it was public which was intense, but after it was announced it was great. It still is. I’m obviously super excited for all of it. ”
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Aussie make call on skipper as star-studded squad named for first post-WC assignmentAussie make call on skipper as star-studded squad named for first post-WC assignment
Read more »
UFC 2026: Robert Whittaker eyes Jan Blachowicz at UFC Sydney Fight Night 2027‘He’s the one’: Aussie UFC star calls out former world champ for blockbuster Sydney return
Read more »
Ex-Aussie boss’ future in doubt as ‘unfair’ rule triggers crisis meeting despite hero statusEx-Aussie boss’ future in doubt as ‘unfair’ rule triggers crisis meeting despite hero status
Read more »
‘Water under the bridge’: Ashes villain ready to bury Aussie hatchet after signing $400k BBL deal‘Water under the bridge’: Ashes villain ready to bury Aussie hatchet after signing BBL deal
Read more »