It was KTM's turn to rock the MotoGP rider market this week as it announced current Ducati and Aprilia factory riders Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales would join its satellite team Tech3 Gas Gas for 2025. With Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder already set for the works squad, that gives KTM an extremely strong line-up to take on Ducati with next year. Or does it? Simon Patterson and Valentin Khorounzhiy have very different views on how Vinales in particular will fare at KTM as they join Matt...

Just when it seemed Ducati's 2025 MotoGP factory line-up plan was set, it was abruptly turned inside out. Now Marc Marquez is heading for a works seat and championship leader Jorge Martin is heading into the arms of Aprilia. Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer gather for an emergency extra episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast to explain what changed and why it happened so quickly, with Simon reliving how the news spread through the paddock at Mugello testing and just how fast...

Pecco Bagnaia's double win at Mugello was a huge boost to his 2024 MotoGP championship bid. And as Simon Patterson reports from the scene as he joins Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer for The Race MotoGP Podcast, it was greeted by a more passionate crowd than the Italian Grand Prix has enjoyed in Mugello's barren years since home idol Valentino Rossi retired. So as well as discussing the impact of Bagnaia's win on his title bid, we also delve into what it all means for Italy, MotoGP and...

Pecco Bagnaia went from a bizarre final lap crash while leading MotoGP's Catalan Grand Prix sprint to pulling off a very intelligent Sunday race win that keeps things poised in the title fight. But he was just one of three riders to crash from the sprint lead - all for different reasons. And with Bagnaia, championship leader Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez finding ways to all take nearly identical points hauls from Barcelona despite having wildly contrasting weekends, this strange event gives...

We debate YOUR suggestions for what to change about MotoGP in the latest episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast. And we've never had such a huge influx of listener input when we've done a callout for questions or suggestions. With the 2027 rules freshly announced and plenty in the paddock making suggestions for what they think could be better about MotoGP regulations, organisation, officiating or promotion, your ideas covered everything from rules preventing riders remounting after crashes to...

MotoGP 2024's 'big three' Jorge Martin, Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez produced an absolutely epic French Grand Prix weekend at Le Mans between them. But which of them looks most like the 2024 champion, and are two of them set to be 2025 team-mates? Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer delve into both elements of that situation in The Race MotoGP Podcast, assessing what Le Mans told us about the trio's various strengths in the title fight and the varied scenarios around who...

MotoGP has unveiled its new rules for 2027, with some of the current bikes' most controversial elements outlawed and others pegged back. But has it all gone far enough and are these the right moves for the world championship? Simon Patterson gives his initial take on the changes to engine capacity, aero allowance and concessions, plus the ban on ride-height devices, in a bumper episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast. Plus Matt Beer invites Simon and Valentin Khorounzhiy to suggest the changes...

Ever since Marc Marquez get himself a Ducati, the MotoGP world has been waiting eagerly to see a head-to-head victory fight between him and reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia. That's exactly what the Spanish Grand Prix became - and it was absolutely worth all the anticipation. Does Bagnaia's defeat of Marquez show Ducati's current number one has his famous new stablemate covered? Or does the fact Marquez is so quick on a Ducati (and an old-spec one at that) already show Bagnaia will need to...

MotoGP begins the European leg of its 2024 season at Jerez this weekend, and that's often when the championship takes on its defining shape. But several riders arrive in Spain fighting for their future and several teams fighting to salvage their season already. On this week's episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast, Matt Beer invites Simon Patterson and Valentin Khorounzhiy to nominate the riders or teams they think are in most trouble after the opening three rounds - and to assess the extent of...

Have we been wrong about Maverick Vinales all along? The man with the reputation for going backwards in MotoGP races won from 11th place at Austin with a supreme performance in an absolutely epic race. Regular Vinales defender Valentin Khorounzhiy and regular Vinales sceptics Simon Patterson and Matt Beer therefore have plenty to debate in The Race MotoGP Podcast as they assess what Vinales achieved in the Grand Prix of the Americas, why it hasn't happened more often and whether it can keep...

Has Fabio Quartararo made the right decision by keeping faith with Yamaha for his MotoGP future despite all the frustrations he's endured? Is this just a case of the money being too good to turn down or is Yamaha definitely a better prospect than Aprilia for the next phase of the 2021 world champion's career? That's what Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer debate in part one of the latest episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast. But that's only half the episode, as we also have an...

Davide Brivio - architect of Yamaha's Valentino Rossi glory years and Suzuki' shock 2020 title - is back in MotoGP after his truncated Formula 1 detour, but he's not in the part of the field you might expect. In an exclusive chat with The Race MotoGP Podcast, Brivio explains why he picked newcomer Trackhouse Racing for his return to the motorcycle racing world, and what he hopes this NASCAR-to-MotoGP wildcard can achieve in both 2024 and beyond. And he also opens up for the first time on...

Should motorcycle racing fans be delighted or worried that a deal's in place for Formula 1 owner Liberty Media to buy MotoGP promoter Dorna? In an extra episode, the Race MotoGP Podcast delves into what the Liberty news mean for MotoGP, as Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer look at what it's likely to mean in terms of practical reality, and address some of the concerns motorcycle fans might have based on some the F1 world's least positive impressions of Liberty. They also...

The first big flashpoint of Marc Marquez's Ducati career came in just his second MotoGP race weekend with his new employer, as he and reigning champion stablemate Pecco Bagnaia collided in the Portuguese Grand Prix. Who was most at fault? And what does it mean for the title fight and Ducati internal relations? Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer debate that in The Race MotoGP Podcast. We also get into Pedro Acosta's incredible podium in only his second MotoGP race weekend. Are...

We're answering your questions on The Race MotoGP Podcast this week, including on the prospect of mid-season rider changes at two teams in particular. Might KTM want Pedro Acosta in its factory line-up sooner rather than later, and if his Tech3 team-mate Augusto Fernandez's struggles continue is there a danger of him not seeing out the season? Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer tackle those plus questions on whether a rotation system could be used to trim the calendar, how...

Pecco Bagnaia showed exactly what he's a double MotoGP world champion by controlling the Qatar Grand Prix despite a slightly shaky qualifying and sprint. But will this race really be remembered for the debut of another champion? Though it only resulted in ninth place in the end, Pedro Acosta's swashbuckling style on and off the track made a huge impression on The Race MotoGP Podcast panel Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer - who debate how long it'll take Acosta to win races,...

Marc Marquez's move to Gresini Ducati is a huge curveball for the 2024 MotoGP season, but will he actually be a title contender? Or will this be a repeat of last year's epic Pecco Bagnaia versus Jorge Martin battle? And either way, who'll come out on top? The Race MotoGP Podcast gathers Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer to predict the 2024 championship order - and argue over each other's choices. As well as plenty of debate about Marquez, Bagnaia and Martin, we also discuss...

With 18 of the 22 riders on the grid out of contract at the end of the year, multiple past champions either unhappy with their current machinery or clearly in stopgap mode with their 2024 teams, and uncertainty over which brand some satellite teams will actually be with next season and what that'll mean for their line-ups, the 2025 MotoGP rider market is set to be a wild one. But can The Race MotoGP Podcast accurately predict how it will turn out. Simon Patterson and Val Khorounzhiy pitch...

Reigning double MotoGP world champion Pecco Bagnaia ended 2024 pre-season testing with a ferocious burst of pace in Qatar that makes him an instant strong favourite for the opening round there next month and the title itself. But while Bagnaia has the edge and bags of confidence right now, he's far from the only rider looking strong at the end of the winter, as Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer discuss on the Qatar test episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast. We look at the...

Six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez joins The Race MotoGP Podcast for an exclusive interview less than three weeks before his competitive debut on the Ducati. In a candid chat with MotoGP writer Simon Patterson, Marquez discusses the short-term ambitions of his Gresini Ducati move and how everything about it is being influenced by his keen awareness of the inexorable march of time. He sets out his targets for 2024 and emphasises the impact of his injuries on the competitive picture, while...

With one MotoGP pre-season test down and one to go, several riders go into next week's final two days of running in Qatar with significant problems to solve. And those problems have implications beyond the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix and even the 2024 campaign too, given how wild this year's rider market is set to be. Simon Patterson, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer look at who's under pressure and how that pressure is multiplied by the moves teams will already be making towards their...

Between Marc Marquez beginning life at Gresini Ducati properly, the massive changes many manufacturers were planning over the winter and the hints of something from Ducati that would change the aero game, the first 2024 pre-season MotoGP test was very eagerly awaited. Simon Patterson joins Valentin Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer on The Race MotoGP Podcast from Kuala Lumpur airport for an urgent dissection of everything we learned from three days of lap record smashing running at Sepang. Marquez's...

Marc Marquez's move from Honda to Gresini Ducati means a change of crew chief for the first time in his whole MotoGP career - and we've got his new crew chief Frankie Carchedi with us on The Race MotoGP Podcast for an exclusive chat. Carchedi talks Simon Patterson and Valentin Khorounzhiy through his experience of working with Marquez so far and his feelings about being at the centre of the biggest MotoGP rider move in years. And he also offers plenty of unique insight into MotoGP crew chief...

After making very rapid waves in NASCAR, Trackhouse Racing enters a very different world in 2024 as it joins the MotoGP grid as Aprilia's new satellite team. Trackhouse chief Justin Marks joined The Race MotoGP Podcast for an exclusive chat about the creation of his team's first motorcycle racing project ahead of its launch event in Los Angeles last Friday night, opening up about what drew him to MotoGP and what he expects his team to achieve in its earlier-than-planned debut season. And...