The Race MotoGP Podcast

MotoGP’s 2027 rules reset has become even more seismic with the news the substantial technical regulation changes will coincide with Pirelli ousting Michelin as the series’ tyre supplier. Simon Patterson joins Matt Beer to explain all the implications for the championship, teams and riders, and to answer The Race Members’ Club’s questions about the potential consequences. We discuss what Pirelli’s work (and controversies) on the MotoGP ladder, in World Superbikes and even Formula 1 tells us about how its tyres might impact the quality and style of racing in MotoGP. Is the tyre change a guarantee of a wide open and competitive 2027 season? Simon reckons so - find out why on the pod. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace for 90% of your first month! Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It wasn’t just Marc Marquez dominating the 2025 MotoGP season-opener - it was the Marquez family, as his brother Alex not only backed him up in qualifying and both races but was also allowed to lead much of the grand prix to ensure Marc dodged a likely penalty. Has that set the tone for the whole season to come? In the Thai Grand Prix episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast, Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer look at everything that led to the Marquez domination including Pecco Bagnaia’s inability to challenge his team-mate all weekend. The quirk of his team switch that led to Marquez being at risk of a tyre penalty is explained too, along with the effect of the ferociously hot temperatures on a weekend that left many riders literally burned by their bikes. Star rookie Ai Ogura and what his performance means for Aprilia features too, and we pass judgements on weekends of both highs and lows for Honda and Yamaha, but mostly lows for KTM. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace for 90% of your first month! Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Race MotoGP Podcast (part-)convenes for an emergency episode in the lead-up to the 2025 season opener in Thailand. Valentin Khorounzhiy and Simon Patterson discuss Jorge Martin's second pre-season injury, sustained in motocross training that was part of his rehab from the first injury, and the reports that it could write off nearly a quarter of his first season with Aprilia. They also talk about KTM having its restructuring plan greenlit by creditors in Austria - preserving the company in its current state the day after BMW had been credited with a reported interest in buying it outright. The mention of BMW briefly takes us into World Superbike land, where its MotoGP-linked star rider Toprak Razgatlioglu was notably unhappy after the season opener - and dropped a heavy-handed exit hint. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace for 90% of your first month! Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the massive grid shake-up and a wild winter of injuries and financial catastrophes, MotoGP enters its 2025 season this weekend with a lot of unknowns. So it’s with some trepidation that The Race MotoGP Podcast’s Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy, Megan White, Matt Beer and Ollie Card attempt to predict the 2025 final top 10 championship order. How much will KTM’s crisis affect Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder on track this year? What will missing basically all of pre-season do for champion Jorge Martin’s Aprilia acclimatisation? Is the Marco Bezzecchi resurgence real? Who’s right out of our Yamaha sceptics and Yamaha optimists? And, of course, who’ll win that Marc Marquez vs Pecco Bagnaia Ducati duel? Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace for 90% of your first month! Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ducati ended the 2025 MotoGP pre-season by going back to its 2024 engine and chassis - permanently in one case, probably temporarily in the other. But it still looks like it’ll dominate the season even after that change of plan, as Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer explain on a slightly delirious end of pre-season testing episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast. We assess where the Marc Marquez vs Pecco Bagnaia power balance stands, and how the works team’s switch back to largely 2024 kit affects those who thought they might have an early advantage from running older Ducatis - particularly Marc’s brother Alex. Our star of pre-season isn’t actually a Ducati rider: it’s Aprilia signing Marco Bezzecchi. We explain why, and give our take on what Bezzecchi’s strong test in injured champion Jorge Martin’s absence means for Aprilia’s season. Plus what to make of Yamaha, Honda and KTM’s test form. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yamaha was the big winner of the first full MotoGP test of 2025, with genuine evidence of a breakthrough over the winter and Fabio Quartararo looking the most likely rider in the field to take the fight to Ducati at the front right now. Simon Patterson and Val Khorounzhiy join Matt Beer on The Race MotoGP Podcast to look at Yamaha’s progress, the reasons for it and whether that makes it a little race winner or even title challenger or just a firm second best to Ducati. Which Ducati is even fastest right now, though? We also discuss the dilemma facing factory team-mates Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez, and the opportunity for the three riders on the very well sorted 2024 Ducati to make a spectacular start to the season. Honda’s perplexing test, how Aprilia fared in Jorge Martin’s absence and the many question marks around KTM are also assessed. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three riders are out injured after only one day of MotoGP 2025 pre-season testing proper, headlined by world champion Jorge Martin. Simon Patterson joins Matt Beer on The Race MotoGP Podcast for an additional episode digging into what we know about the cause of Martin’s horrible crash on his first run with the 2025 Aprilia, what the prognosis is for his recovery and what it means for his and Aprilia’s season. For the other two injured riders, a heavily compromised pre-season might be even more of a blow. It’s the third time in his four MotoGP pre-seasons (and second in a row) when Raul Fernandez has been injured in a testing crash, while for Fabio Di Giannantonio it’s a fresh injury on his first day following major shoulder reconstruction surgery. And it seems the circumstances of the crash were pretty embarrassing too… Injuries aside, there’s also a look at what we could learn from the times, upgrades and riders’ moods on day one. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MotoGP’s fallen/recovering giants Yamaha and Honda held back to back 2025 season launch events in the final days before pre-season testing begins in earnest, and Simon Patterson has returned from them with very different impressions of the two once-great teams. He joins Matt Beer on The Race MotoGP Podcast to explain why Yamaha looks so much more convincing going into 2025 - and it goes far deeper than just a better executed (and better timed and located) launch event. What both teams have changed behind the scenes and how their riders feel about those efforts, whether Honda’s big signing will be allowed to do his best work and whether Yamaha is definitely as set on a V4 engine switch as everyone expects as among the other topics discussed. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At a time when you might’ve thought it would want to avoid too much questioning given its parent company’s financial crisis, KTM boldly made its entire MotoGP rider and management line-up available for the media as it launched its 2025 programme on Thursday. Fresh from quizzing them all, Val Khorounzhiy joins Matt Beer for an extra episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast to discuss what KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer revealed about the firm’s future, 2025 preparations and even hopes of still being on the grid for the 2027 rule changes. We also discuss how the riders are handling the unusual situation, and ask whether new factory team boss Aki Ajo’s assessment of what KTM still lacks might be a touch optimistic. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for that episode, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As KTM prepares to launch its 2025 MotoGP campaign under the cloud of insolvency, is a series legend trying to lure away the Austrian firm’s greatest asset? Valentin Khorounzhiy and Simon Patterson discuss reports that Valentino Rossi has sounded out Pedro Acosta over a MotoGP future together during the latter’s appearance at the Ranch. Is it even possible that Acosta would leave KTM early - and are things actually looking up for its MotoGP project following the latest news from its insolvency process and its recent CEO change announcement? Plus, with Franco Morbidelli officially ‘debuting’ as a VR46 rider during its own season launch, is it really possible that Rossi would willingly sideline Morbidelli? Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for that episode, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re winding the clock back to the epic and hugely contentious 2015 MotoGP season in a series of mini-podcasts exclusively for The Race Members’ Club on Patreon this year. As voted for by the members, Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy, Megan White and Matt Beer are reliving 2015’s unforgettable Valentino Rossi vs Marc Marquez vs Jorge Lorenzo three-way title fight round by round, with a few bonus detours along the way. To give you a free taste of what it’s all about, here’s a segment from MotoGP 2015 Revisited’s first episode on the Qatar Grand Prix, which is available in full through The Race Members’ Club on Patreon now. MotoGP now expects Ducati to dominate, but back at the start of 2015 it hadn’t won in half a decade and was only just finding its feet again - with a little help from Dorna’s rule concessions but also as its new technical chief Gigi Dall’Igna began to work his magic. But Ducati still had to take on Yamaha’s legendary Rossi + Lorenzo line-up, and even they weren’t really expected to beat Honda rider Marquez to the championship given how he’d crushed the field in 2014 and followed up his astonishing 2013 title win as a rookie with an even more impressive campaign. His 2015 campaign didn’t exactly begin well, though… here’s what Simon, Val, Megan and Matt made of it all. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for that episode, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Simon Patterson reports from a pause in the four days of festivities, multiple unveilings and ski races that kicks off Ducati’s 2025 MotoGP season to join Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer on The Race MotoGP Podcast. They discuss how Marc Marquez, Pecco Bagnaia and Ducati bosses tackled the potential pitfalls of the new superteam all-champion line-up. With all the talk at the launch extremely measured and polite, is this just the calm before an on-track storm or a sign of how Marquez and Bagnaia will actually get on during a title fight? Or are we past the ‘age of the bastard’ these days? All that, their difference in racing ethics, whether Ducati will be more or less dominant in 2025 and everything both Marquez and Ducati have given up in order to get together is discussed too, as well as how Marc’s old team Gresini kicked off its campaign at Imola a few days earlier. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for that episode, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Race MotoGP Podcast's coverage of the 2025 launch season begins with a two-for-one special, covering the presentations of Aprilia and its satellite team Trackhouse. Val Khorounzhiy is joined by Simon Patterson on-site at Aprilia's event to discuss champion Jorge Martin's first public appearance as a fully-fledged Aprilia rider - which featured the confirmation that he will run the champion's #1 this year. Will Aprilia be enough for Martin, what does it need to take the next step, and how are the two parties looking as a combination? And is there already confidence that Marco Bezzecchi, another new Aprilia hire, will overcome the problems that wrote off his 2024? Plus, Simon explains why he found the Trackhouse launch alarming - while Val quizzes Davide Brivio on Trackhouse's faith in extracting Raul Fernandez's potential. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for that episode, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Race MotoGP Podcast has a reputation for making bold predictions, and a record that varies between getting them spookily spot on and wildly way off the mark and not a lot in between. So how will Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy, Megan White and Matt Beer's 2025 MotoGP predictions age? They answer questions suggested by the MotoGP Podcast community in The Race Members' Club on Patreon, and it's as much about how new team/rider relationships and cross-garage pairings will play out as it is about the final results on track. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for that episode, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MotoGP starts 2025 with huge uncertainty surrounding how long one of its most important manufacturers will be on its grid at all, as more details of KTM’s financial crisis repercussions emerged over the Christmas period. Val Khorounzhiy, Simon Patterson and Matt Beer explain the latest developments on The Race MotoGP Podcast, from the short-term picture with pre-season testing looming to why talk of a Lewis Hamilton rescue mission might be wildly off the mark, and the potential for a ‘delay the inevitable until it’s no longer inevitable’ strategy. Where Pedro Acosta, Brad Binder, Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales will go if there are no longer KTMs on the grid for them to ride or what KTM has become is untenable for them, how Dorna can avoid losing four bikes and exactly what it means for the MotoGP talent pipeline that KTM has been so integral to are all discussed too. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for that episode, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Race MotoGP Podcast is always fond of a predictions episode and in 2024 we did quite a few. But this year we're holding ourselves to account and revisiting our predictions to see how often we nailed the prophecies and how often we were miles off the mark. Special guest Lewis Duncan from Crash.net joins Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer to look back at everything from our 2025 rider market predictions to how we thought the championship would pan out. We did better on the rider market front than the results front... Across both the predictions we thought were lairy at the time but turned out to be correct and suggestions that seemed logical but proved nonsense, our assessment of our past selves' opinions shows how much the MotoGP world has changed during the epic 2024 season. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for that episode, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Honda and Yamaha used to monopolise the MotoGP title fights. Now they’re mocked as having their own ‘Japanese Cup’ at the back of the field, as even getting into Q2 feels like a victory given how far they’ve fallen. All of which must make it tough to be a rider at one of those brands. But when Simon Patterson sat down for exclusive one-on-one interviews with all six Honda and Yamaha riders for The Race MotoGP Podcast, their differing views on their situations shone through. We hear Fabio Quartararo’s take on why he stayed at Yamaha even though he often seems to hate its bike, a brutally open Joan Mir on what he’s desperate to happen at Honda and Johann Zarco and Luca Marini explaining what they’ve got out of being part of struggling Honda this year after stepping off frontrunning Ducatis. Plus Alex Rins’ take on his fitness battle and Taka Nakagami’s reflections on Honda’s situation as his full-time racing career ends. Simon, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer share their thoughts on what the sextet had to say, and what the future might hold for all of them. And if you want to hear all six interviews in full and uncut, they’re going to be available exclusively to The Race Members’ Club. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for that episode, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the winter The Race MotoGP Podcast is bringing you a host of exclusive interviews with key riders across the main show and MotoGP Extra in The Race Members’ Club, and we’re starting with two of our favourites. Alex Marquez had a lot of fun as he shared tales of life at Gresini Ducati and alongside big brother Marc with Simon Patterson, covering their exploits on and off track in their second stint as team-mates as well as looking back to their aborted first time sharing a garage at Honda in 2020. Is Alex Marquez underrated by MotoGP because there’s so much focus on his brother? Simon, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer debate that and his 2025 prospects. And as Aleix Espargaro steps away from full-time MotoGP racing, he packed a huge amount of reflection on his entire career, ability level and character into his one-on-one chat with Simon, which also gives our panel plenty to talk about afterwards. You’ll also be able to hear both those interviews and another 10 with 2024 MotoGP riders in full exclusively via The Race Members’ Club in two special episodes of MotoGP Extra in the coming weeks. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for that episode, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can KTM's MotoGP programme continue when its parent company is in a financial crisis headlined by €3billion of debts? Special guest Markus Zoerweg from Motorsport-Magazin.com joins Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer as The Race MotoGP Podcast delves into KTM's problems and their implications. We explain how KTM ended up in so much trouble so quickly and how big an effect it could have on the region where it's based, as the repercussions go far beyond its motorsport efforts. The consequences for KTM's 2025 season are explored too, but its inability to commit yet to the major regulation change of 2027 is likely to be the bigger problem. How its superstar young rider Pedro Acosta and KTM stalwart Brad Binder will react plus how major new signings Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales will feel as they arrive in the middle of it, and what it all means for the huge young talent programme KTM has in place are all discussed too. Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for that episode, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ranking the top 10 riders of the wild 2024 MotoGP season was not easy - and there's plenty of disagreement about it on The Race MotoGP Podcast. It's a case of 'vibes' (Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer) vs 'reason' (Simon Patterson and Megan White) in our debate, with interjections from the wider The Race family too as we create a ranking with some very surprising scores along the way. Should we prioritise actual championship position achievements above overachievement on lesser machinery? Who was guilty of recency bias (and who vehemently denied it)? Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for that episode, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter Check out our latest videos on YouTube Download our app on iOS or Android Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices