Oxley Bom MotoGP podcast

Quick question before we continue: Are you now, are were you at any point in the last year, a MotoGP-rider? If so, you probably shouldn’t be listening to this. In fact, I think we can all agree that you should probably just turn off this device and come back next week. Don’t worry, there’s fun Patreon-episodes that you can listen to. I’d offer them for free, but you’re riding bikes around the worl...

Remember the Cybermen, from Doctor Who? Scary races of machine-men and living computers who share all their experiences in a massive network. And that makes them really daunting, because any trick you might use in a fight against them only works once. Fool one once, and all of them learn and adapt. Your victories only help them slowly iterate towards perfection, all through data, data and more dat...

Welcome to Sachsenring, where riders face an education in teutonic terror in every turn. Eighteen riders on the grid, and ten make it to the final finish. It's crash central down here! But what would motorsport be without a little danger? That's what Mat and Peter wonder as they take a look at Sunday's race. Are the Marquez brothers holding back in their fights on the tarmac, or is...

 It's happened: MotoGP is now the property of Liberty Media, owner of Formula 1. So, what now?  Well, things are definitely going to change and that might not be a bad thing. Change is life, right? The only question is which changes are necessary, which are wanted and which are inevitable.  To find an answer to this, Mat and Peter turn to the one and only Dennis Noyes. Dennis was a racer, he&...

"I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat." -John Milton, London, 1644 "I'm going to ride my fast machine!" -Franco Morbidelli, Assen, 2025 It's always awesome to be in Assen, and this ye...

Well, that was an extremely exciting and unpredictable race...until Marc Márquez woke up and showed everyone how it's done, again. Yes, nr. 93 achieved his 93th victory in his archrival's backyard, while his brother Alex fights off Bagnaia and a surprisingly competitive Di Giannantonio.  So what else is there to talk about? Well, we've got a bunch of knobheads booing, a 'dead b...

A new rider has appeared in MotoGP! Well, he's only new if you haven't watched the WorldSBK in years and he's not really appearing yet – he’s only coming over next year. Nonetheless, long-running rumours about Toprak Razgatlioglu making the step to MotoGP have finally been confirmed this week as the Turkish Tornado signs a contract with Pramac Yamaha.  That means there's lots t...

 Ah, Aragon! They used to shoot westerns here, you know. The wide empty desert was the perfect backdrop for spaghetti western action. Cowboy versus cowboy, gunslingers living dying by the grace of their hair-trigger fingers and lightning-quick reflexes.  And maybe the spirit of those films never really went away, because now we’ve got some old-fashioned drama like rival brothers and the return of...

Answers, answers! Going cheap, barely used, fresh off the press! Good answers to tricky MotoGP questions! Come get them while they're hot! Earlier this week, we asked our Patrons to send us their questions. This time, we thought, maybe we'll succeed in answering all of them? I mean, how many questions could you all possibly have for us?  Turns out that the answer is: A whole lot! Sixty s...

At the time of writing, it is 02.00 AM in Kyoto and the only thing keeping me awake is leftover adrenaline from watching pure madness on the tarmac. Silverstone is an outlier, this we know. But this time? This time, nobody ended up where they thought they'd be when the lights first turn green. Red flags, infernal ride height devices and an incredibly competitive Honda are just some of the une...

It has four cylinders. It won ten world championships, claimed first in over a hundred races and still holds the world record for longest uninterrupted streak with twenty-two wins in a row. It's the Honda NSR500, and it might be the meanest, fastest two-wheeling machine of the 20th century.  But it really didn't start out like that. Turn back the clock to those first few years, and this...

Sometimes, MotoGP is all about the numbers. Like the number 23 - the amount of races Ducati would have had to win in order to set a new world record. Or the number 1 - the amount they came up short. That bit was courtesy of Number 5, a.k.a. Johann Zarco, the man driving the home crowd wild through a spectacular performance. And going wild they should, as it's been 73 years since a Frenchman c...

For the first time, we’re going back for seconds! That’s right, it’s time for a sequel as we go back to our history of Ducati’s Desmosedici and take care of our unfinished business. Haven’t heard the first part yet? Then quickly go here to change that!  So, last time we saw how the incredibly talent of Casey Stoner brought victory to the Italian manufacturer. But nothing last forever, and now we’r...

Ah Jerez, we’ve missed you! The Spanish track never fails to be a season highlight, and this year was no exception. Also no surprise is that the winner is, of course, Marquez. Except it’s not the one you might have thought, because he might have to give his head a wobble.  Yes, it’s that kind of race where an ugly surprise for the champion results in every other competitor displaying their raw tal...

If you want to know the secret to Ducati's success, it's these four words: desmodromic distribution, sixteen valves.  Or, if we call it by its more common Italian shorthand:  Desmosedici , the name of Ducati's killer MotoGP-bikes that have been absolutely dominating these last few years.  But it wasn't always like that. There was a time when Ducati was not the reigning champion...

We've got a scoop! Curious? We'll give you a hint: this episode contains exclusive news! But what is it all about? Well, that's the question! Maybe it's about Honda - have they found themselves a new rider for a new era? Or perhaps this is about a new contender coming through from World Superbike, as told to us from a live witness? Or perhaps none? Perhaps both?  Only one way t...

Dearly beloved, It is with heavy heart that we gather to say our final goodbyes to a legend: the Yamaha YZR-M1. Its life seemed short to us, but way too long to others.  After a long struggle with a clinical lack of competitive edge and a distinct lack of aero, its family at Yamaha has decided to pull the plug and let its beloved inline-engined legend pass with dignity. The YZR-M1 is survived and...

Apologies! Something went horribly wrong last night with the recording, and it took as a long time to fix it. Mat's in Austin, Peter's in  Portimão and we completely forgot to sacrifice a chicken to the wifi-gods...the end result was a slight catastrophe where we ended up recording at least one of your host over the phone. Just imagine Peter sitting in the corner of a dark hotel room wit...

You know how we sometimes promise we won't talk so much about tires? Well, we lie! You might have heard about Pirelli moving in and replacing Michelin as the official tire of MotoGP in 2027. And maybe you wonder how much influence a single change like this could possibly have. After all, they're just pieces of rubber - shouldn't we have basically perfected the art of the tire by now...

 Britpop has the Gallagher brothers.   Tennis has the Williams sisters.  Video games have the Super Mario Bros.  And MotoGP? It's the second race of the season and nobody is getting close to the Marquez brothers, bringing Ducati to dominate the track. Which begs the question: is MotoGP boring now?  It's a tricky problem, that's for sure. What fun is a game when the winner is already...

Oh, you knew it was coming! Just admit it. First it was December and we got you Kevin Schwantz . Did you really think we could do that, and then  not invite Wayne Rainey?   Come on, be real!  Yes, we've got Wayne with us this week so you just know this is going to be fireworks. But it's not all about legendary rivalries and racing so hard you can feel your teeth chatter - it's also...

It feels good to be back!  The first race of a brand new season is in the pocket and it promises to be a very interesting season, indeed. We've got the Márquez brothers, both on Ducati's and both in front. Maybe not a surprise if you're Marc, but definitely a promising feat if you're Alex. Have we been underestimating the younger Márquez?  And then there's Ai Ogura, the ro...

You've got questions. We've got answers. Let's make a podcast! Yes, this week we're once again opening up a big bag of mail to do some listener questions! Which listeners, you might ask? Our Patreons, of course, because they're awesome and you should really consider joining them. Then you, too, might ask questions like:  Who takes the blame when a slow rider has a fast tea...

Ready for racing? So is everyone, but there’s one more test we need to talk about first – and it’s an event that shows some very interesting changes...  Welcome to Buriram, Thailand. It’s the last chance to get everything in order before the big circus starts. If you’re a competitor, this is the moment you most want your tech to be not just cutting edge, but also on the exact right side of familia...

We're back, we're back, we're finally back at the track! It might be a few weeks until the next season officially kicks off, but Mat and Peter need their fix yesterday.  The solution? Send them to Sepang, where every team is getting their last tests in before the championship starts. It's hot, it's humid and when the rider kicks their machine into high gear, the power and...