The Race MotoGP Podcast

Is the increasing likelihood of a Marc Marquez/Honda MotoGP split a sign that Honda didn't learn from the breakdown of its relationship with Valentino Rossi? That's just one of the many, many listener questions Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer tackle in the latest episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast. Whether Fabio Quartararo should share the blame for Yamaha getting lost, what Mi...

On the latest edition of Toby Talks To , Toby Moody sits down for an in-depth chat with Simone Battistella, long-time rider manager to the likes of MotoGP legend Andrea Dovizioso and Superbike World Champion Alvaro Bautista. They discuss how Simone got into rider management before diving into some of the specifics of the job: How a contract is negotiated, how bonuses are structured, the setting up...

With Honda admitting it won't make Marc Marquez see out his 2024 contract if he wants to leave, The Race MotoGP Podcast delves into a weekend of rider market bombshells and looks at what might happen next. Marquez didn't even race (again) in the Dutch Grand Prix, yet his weekend of clumsy crashes, forlorn midfield performance and seismic media sessions is top of Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzh...

Before last weekend, Marc Marquez had never lost a MotoGP race he'd started at the Sachsenring. What a contrast the 2023 German Grand Prix was: five crashes (three of them within 20 minutes in a single qualifying session), a trundle backwards to a finish outside the points in the sprint and then a non-start in the GP after a final crash in the warm-up. So is it game over for the Marquez/Honda rela...

Pecco Bagnaia dominated on the track during MotoGP's Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, but Marc Marquez generated most of the headlines off it. From getting under Bagnaia's skin with his qualifying antics to raising the biggest questions yet over his Honda future with the remarks he made when questioned about the spate of crashes and injuries for its riders, Marquez gave Simon Patterson, Valentin Kho...

On this week’s podcast, Toby Moody returns for an extended chat with Chaz Davies, World Supersport champion, a race winner 32 times in World Superbikes, and a regular for many years in Grand Prix racing.  The popular Welsh rider discusses why he was always likely to get into motorcycle racing, cutting his teeth alongside the likes of Casey Stoner and Cal Crutchlow as a teenager, racing under Alber...

Pecco Bagnaia is leading the MotoGP world championship. Apart from that, very little has gone as predicted in the 2023 season so far - including the fact that Bagnaia's lead is just one point. While MotoGP takes its spring break, The Race MotoGP Podcast picks the biggest shocks of what we've seen so far in this fraught season. The abysmal form of two marques (and some riders) who really should be...

The latest episode in our 'Toby talks' interview series sees Toby Moody sit down for a chat with old friend Sylvain Guintoli, a world champion in two different categories (World Superbike and Endurance World Championship) and a man who has raced and tested MotoGP bikes extensively. In typical jovial style, the Frenchman discusses the highs and lows of his career; his start in 250s, his move into M...

MotoGP 2023 continued to be a story of collisions, penalties and stewarding controversies - but also epic racing and title battle twists - at the French Grand Prix. Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer dive into the incidents in The Race MotoGP Podcast, from championship leader Pecco Bagnaia's clash with Maverick Vinales to the not-actually-a-collision that's earned Alex Marquez a g...

In the latest episode of our series of in-depth conversations with paddock people, host Toby Moody sits down for a wide-ranging chat with former Suzuki MotoGP team principal (and current team principal of the Yamaha factory World Superbike squad) Paul Denning.  They discuss the differences between managing teams in MotoGP and World Superbikes, as well as the subtle cultural differences between the...

With red flags for scary pile-ups in both races, another rider injured and others lucky not to be, the MotoGP field had another bruising weekend at Jerez. Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer try to untangle why the 2023 season's injury list is so high and what's leading to this spate of crashes in The Race MotoGP Podcast. They also debate race direction's responses to it, after a w...

In the second episode of our series of in-depth conversations with paddock people, renowned MotoGP engineer Tom Jojic returns to the podcast for a wide-ranging discussion with host Toby Moody on a variety of topics affecting the grid in 2023.  Toby and Tom discuss the latest aero trends in MotoGP and what 2023's race weekend format changes mean for engineers, before diving into how both have poten...

Is MotoGP world champion Pecco Bagnaia crashing out of grands prix because the 2023 Ducati is just too stable? That's Bagnaia's own self-confessed "crazy" theory for the errors that are already the only thing standing between him and a huge championship lead. Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer give their takes on it - and the implications of Bagnaia's errors for the 2023 season -...

This week's podcast sees Toby Moody return for the first in a special series of extended interviews with legendary characters from Grand Prix racing, and who better to start with than Jeremy McWilliams? The Belfast-born rider developed a reputation as a fierce competitor in 250s, 500s and MotoGP, and still has an enormous appetite for racing today - as evidenced by the fact he's still competing ag...

Valentino Rossi is a MotoGP race-winner again - but this time as a team boss. After Marco Bezzecchi's dominant victory for VR46 in the Argentine Grand Prix - which put him into the championship lead - The Race MotoGP Podcast looks at what the first Rossi protege to win in MotoGP for The Doctor's own team might be capable of over the rest of 2023, and beyond. And Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzh...

The MotoGP drama hasn't stopped in the days since the bruising Portuguese Grand Prix season-opener, so we've reconvened The Race MotoGP Podcast panel for a special extra episode. Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer give their take on the bizarre controversies that have erupted over Marc Marquez's penalty for crashing into Jorge Martin and Miguel Oliveira at Portimao. That penalty i...

The 2023 MotoGP season got off to a fraught start as the sprint race format made its debut at the Portuguese Grand Prix. Though the racing in the sprint was superb, The Race MotoGP Podcast panel Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer also found it pretty unnerving. Across the weekend five MotoGP riders needed medical attention and three may now miss races as a result of Portimao injur...

A revolutionary MotoGP season - and its longest-ever - begins this weekend, with the Portuguese Grand Prix not only beginning the 2023 world championship but also launching the new sprint race format. MotoGP broadcaster Amy Reynolds makes a special guest appearance on The Race MotoGP Podcast alongside regulars Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer as we preview the 2023 season and ma...

MotoGP pre-season testing ended with Ducati looking dominant, Aprilia looking strong and Yamaha having rescued its winter at the last moment. But the biggest talking point from Portimao concerned some parts that might not even appear in the grands prix for a while. Aprilia and Yamaha took MotoGP's aero development war up a notch with the latest wings they added to their bikes at the weekend, showi...

Ahead of the final winter test this weekend, The Race MotoGP Podcast answers listeners' questions about the 2023 season's prospects - and much more. Yamaha's potential this year and beyond, and whether it risks a downward spiral with dire consequences, a particular Ducati satellite rider who might be of interest to other teams (and no, it's not Jorge Martin) and MotoGP's approach to TV deals and i...

There's just one rookie on the 2023 MotoGP grid - Augusto Fernandez. But the number of spectacular talents in the ladder system bodes well for the years ahead. Which of those rising stars will make the cut, though? The Race MotoGP Podcast asked listeners for their predictions of the newcomers who'll make it onto the grid before 2030 - and Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer give th...

As Amazon Prime releases its new Marc Marquez documentary series, The Race MotoGP Podcast looks at what it reveals about the six-time champion and what Marquez's future might hold. Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer assess whether Marc Marquez: All In can make up for the damage done by the botched release of MotoGP Unlimited - which should've been the series' equivalent of Formula...

From a major breakthough followed by a worrying surprise for Yamaha to bizarre wing-less experiments at Honda, the first test of MotoGP's compacted 2023 pre-season offered plenty of talking points. Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer tackle all of them in The Race MotoGP Podcast. Yamaha began the Sepang event looking like it had finally tackled its long-running big weakness, yet en...

MotoGP 2023 pre-season testing is underway - with the secretive shakedown test now completed and the main action with the race riders commencing at Sepang on Friday. Ahead of that, Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer assess what each manufacturer needs to achieve from this week's running in Malaysia. Reigning champion Ducati actually needs to keep its jobs list short, having overco...

MotoGP's 2023 season has begun, with three of the five factory teams plus two satellite having held their launch events and testing now just a week away. Though team launches rarely live up to their own hype, there's been a lot to glean from the events Yamaha, Ducati and KTM have held so far - as Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer discuss on The Race MotoGP Podcast. Ducati ultimat...