The Race MotoGP Podcast

How many riders are actually in MotoGP title contention and who’s now the favourite? Have the factory Aprilia riders let Marc Marquez get too close? Is Ai Ogura now a realistic contender? Don’t forget Fabio Di Giannantonio is top Ducati and a very close third in the points! Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy, Eden Hannigan and Matt Beer assess the championship chances of the current top eight in the...

Ai Ogura’s been on the cusp of a MotoGP win for months now, and he achieved it in style at Assen - putting himself into genuine championship contention in the process. That was in large part because the works Aprilia racers failed to capitalise on the RS-GP’s dominant pace in the Netherlands. Simon Patterson joins Matt Beer on The Race MotoGP Podcast to discuss why Trackhouse overshadowed the fact...

Marc Marquez’s (sooner-than-expected) return to MotoGP’s title fight was confirmed with his second successive victory at the Czech Grand Prix and another wild weekend for Aprilia’s title chasers. From Brno, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Simon Patterson unpack a weekend filled with drama on and off the track. They explain what’s let Marquez back into the title fight, Ai Ogura’s best weekend yet, Jorge M...

Raul Fernandez is in his best ever MotoGP form - yet seems pretty sceptical about whether he’ll keep his Trackhouse Aprilia seat for 2027. KTM might be heading for a complete fresh of its whole four-rider line-up, and while two of them have 2027 destinations set, are the other two set to fall off the grid? And is there any hope for the three race-winning riders who just don’t seem to have any seat...

Jordan Moreland, Megan White and Simon Patterson recap the 2026 Isle of Man TT races, which saw bad weather impact race week, but two riders take all the spoils in the racing that did happen. Michael Dunlop added three more wins to his ever growing tally at the TT, which now stands at 36, while Dean Harrison won both big bike races - including the Senior TT, which was red-flagged after just one la...

The Balaton MotoGP weekend could barely have gone worse for Aprilia: its title challenging factory pair wiped out by another Jorge Martin first-corner blunder, while Marc Marquez took a perfect score including his first grand prix win since 2025. How did Aprilia react to the disaster, and was it as straightforward a Martin error as it seemed in the moment? And is a Marquez title bid now fully on?...

An Italian rider wins MotoGP’s Italian Grand Prix for an Italian team - that used to be Ducati’s story, but this time it was Aprilia and Marco Bezzecchi who ruled Mugello. It wasn’t a flawless weekend for Bezzecchi though, and there were complications elsewhere at Aprilia - for instance Raul Fernandez’s dark mood after his sprint win. Val Khorounzhiy joins Matt Beer on The Race MotoGP Podcast to r...

Marc Marquez is back in the MotoGP field for the Italian Grand Prix after his latest surgery, and in his absence his championship situation hasn't actually got that much worse. In a special edition of The Race MotoGP Podcast, Val joins Matt from the Mugello paddock to assess Marquez's mood and title chances as he returns. And they assess what might result from another MotoGP comeback from someone...

The outcomes of MotoGP’s twice red-flagged 2026 Catalan Grand Prix could have been so much worse, with Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco beginning their recoveries from the injuries they sustained in their terrifying pair of crashes. Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer try to make some sense of it all in The Race MotoGP Podcast at the end of a weekend that felt on the edge right from practi...

An Aprilia riders' title looks almost inevitable after a French Grand Prix weekend in which it locked out the podium - and Marc Marquez went out injured. Valentin Khorounzhiy is joined by Simon Patterson and Jordan Moreland to discuss Marquez's latest, likely-insurmountable 2026 title setback, and the crucial information he himself had received about his shoulder injury. Plus, who is in better sha...

MotoGP is banning wildcards for the advent of its new rules in 2027 - but why, and how much will they be missed? Val Khorounzhiy is joined by Simon Patterson and 'wildcard' Jordan Moreland on this latest edition of The Race MotoGP Podcast, as the crew delve into the modern realities of the MotoGP wildcard and debate your takes (and your picks for the most memorable wildcards in MotoGP). They also...

Marc Marquez claimed one of his unlikeliest wins ever during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend - yet his title hopes look more troubled than ever four rounds into the season. Matt Beer, Simon Patterson and Val Khorounzhiy discuss Marquez's situation, how much longer he'll be racing for and whether Jerez showed the Ducati is actually a match for the Aprilia. They also talk through Marquez's sprint-win...

MotoGP 2026 resumes at Jerez this weekend but it’s doing so without Maverick Vinales due to his latest fitness blow - and, as Simon, Val and Matt explain on The Race MotoGP Podcast, that’s particularly terrible timing for his career. They also debate whether riders have too much power over their own fitness decisions, and whether MotoGP needs a totally different approach to stand-in rider provisio...

Much of the MotoGP grid for 2027 and beyond appears to have been sorted behind the scenes, with more of the dominos falling into play as the 'restart' of the season approaches. But while factories and riders maneouvre in secret, who are truly the most valuable MotoGP riders in the short- and medium-term - and who would get the first phone calls if the entire grid was reset? The Race MotoGP Podcast...

With MotoGP on an unscheduled spring break, we figured it was time to revisit the modern-era history of blockbuster rider moves - particularly those that dramatically changed careers, for better or worse. Can anything top Valentino Rossi's Yamaha pivot? And did he stay a Yamaha rider too long? And how should history really judge Ducati's big-money move for Jorge Lorenzo? This and more - much more...

The Circuit of the Americas was supposed to properly kickstart Marc Marquez's MotoGP 2026 title bid - but instead Aprilia only pulled further clear. Matt Beer, Simon Patterson and Val Khorounzhiy dissect a weekend in which usual COTA dominator Marquez never really looked like beating the Aprilias, even without a major error on Saturday. They discuss Marquez's issues with the bike and with his phys...

After a wild pre-season flurry of news about riders agreeing 2027 MotoGP deals and big moves, we’ve had barely any actual announcements of those deals being official. So what’s going on? Why the stalling, and does it mean any of the deals are in jeopardy (one in particular is raising a lot of fans’ eyebrows right now)? Simon, Val and Matt explore the latest news and rumours from the paddock about...

MotoGP's first Brazilian Grand Prix in 22 years was an absolute wild weekend - with a litany of dramas ranging from floods to a sinkhole on the main straight to an abrupt shortening of the race, plus riders picking lumps of churned-up asphalt out of their boots. Simon Patterson recounts all the twists of his week at Goiania to Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer on The Race MotoGP Podcast, and they disc...

MotoGP’s 2027 rider market moved VERY early… and then the season-opener might’ve come as a shock to some teams banking on their new signings having put old problems behind them. Messy at best, abject at worst starts to 2026 for Pecco Bagnaia, Alex Marquez and Maverick Vinales in particular left many in The Race Members’ Club asking whether teams had jumped too soon to nail down next year’s line-up...

Aprilia beat the brakes off MotoGP's usual dominant force Ducati in a fascinating 2026 season opener - so how worried should Ducati and star rider Marc Marquez be after a dispiriting Thai Grand Prix? Simon Patterson and Val Khorounzhiy discuss the chief storylines from Buriram, including the last-second deflation of a weekend Marquez looked to have salvaged, the source of Aprilia's dominance and a...

This might not be the most unpredictable season MotoGP has ever gone into, but there is very good reason to expect a much more open and intriguing 2026 campaign compared to 2025 - as Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer explain on The Race MotoGP Podcast. Why some form of title fight is potentially on and who’ll be giving Marc Marquez the most headaches is our main topic, and we also mak...

MotoGP’s 2026 pre-season is over, so with the shakedown and two main tests complete and the season-opening Thai Grand Prix looming next weekend, who’s got most (and least) to smile about? Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer debate that as The Race MotoGP Podcast delves into both the data and the vibes from the final days of winter running. Enjoy a 7-day free trial to The Race Members' C...

MotoGP is dropping one of its most iconic and beloved tracks as Phillip Island loses the Australian Grand Prix to the Adelaide street track. But is it really feasible to make Adelaide MotoGP-safe, and is the long game actually to take the race somewhere else entirely? Simon has some very strong views on it all. And as well as a circuit dropping out of MotoGP, we're also looking at which riders mig...

Is Ducati taking a huge risk in potentially putting Pedro Acosta alongside Marc Marquez for 2027, especially when it still has Fermin Aldeguer on its books too? Why has Ducati never seemed interested in Fabio Quartararo? Would Pecco Bagnaia be making a huge mistake if he picked Yamaha over Aprilia? Those are just some of the many, many questions from The Race Members’ Club that Val Khorounzhiy, Si...

MotoGP 2026 roared into life with the three-day pre-season test at Sepang, set against the backdrop of more and more dramatics on the rider market. The Race MotoGP Podcast panel of Matt Beer, Simon Patterson and Val Khorounzhiy delve into the testing action, with analysis of long run pace and peak laptimes and the feedback from teams and riders. Has Ducati successfully safeguarded its MotoGP domin...