Paddock Pass Podcast

The Paddock Pass Podcast Crew continue to count down to the start of the 2021 season, this time with a preview of the Moto2 class. Steve English, Adam Wheeler, and David Emmett are joined by MotoGP.com Moto2 & Moto3 commentator Neil Morrison to look ahead to the intermediate class.

Another day, another episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast on the run up to the 2021 MotoGP season. Today's episode previews the MotoGP class in all its glory for 2021. And the regular crew of Steve English, Adam Wheeler, and David Emmett are joined by a very special guest to add his unique insight and perspective to the podcast: Grand Prix winner and now pit lane reporter for the official MotoGP.com website, Simon Crafar.

Simon starts off by talking a little bit about his career post-racing, his Motovudu track days/instruction school, and books, before diving into the 2021 season. Together with the Steve, Adam, and David, he runs through each of the six factories in MotoGP and what to expect, Simon adding his unique perspective both as a former racer and as one of the few people to have been in pit lane at the Qatar tests.

As the 2021 MotoGP season approaches, the Paddock Pass Pocast crew have hit an extra gear, with a host of extra material coming out this week, including previews of all three Grand Prix classes. But to kick off race week, we have a special bonus episode which previously went out to Paddock Pass Podcast Patreon supporters.

In the Ducati special, Steve English and David Emmett get to speak to factory Ducati Lenovo Team riders Jack Miller and Pecco Bagnaia. Both riders gave some fascinating insights into where they came from and how they got to where they are. Jack Miller talks about the difficulties of coming from Australia, and the things he learned from riding an inferior bike. He talks of the jump from Moto3 to MotoGP, and how he feels he is ready to fight for the championship.

With testing at Qatar done and (quite literally) dusted, the Paddock Pass Podcast crew gathered to assess preseason testing and look ahead to the start of the 2021 MotoGP season.

Naturally, there was a lot to get through, and Steve English, Adam Wheeler, and David Emmett kicked the podcast off with a discussion of why MotoGP is testing in Qatar and whether it was a good place to test a MotoGP machine. Then we talked about Marc Marquez riding at Barcelona, and whether that alters our sense of when he will return to racing.

Paddock Pass Podcast Patreon supporters will have already heard the show, but now, several days later, the interview the Paddock Pass Podcast crew did with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Brad Binder. Steve English, Neil Morrison, and Adam Wheeler grill Binder on his path to MotoGP, his first touch with the KTM in MotoGP, and being in MotoGP as a South African.

As always, Binder is fascinating to listen to. He talks about how poorly he felt his performance was the first time he rode the KTM RC16, and how he adapted to end up winning his third race. He talks about his relationship with his brother Darryn, currently with the Petronas Sprinta Moto3 team, and how he sees Darryn going through the same things he did. And he talks about the huge difficulties faced by riders from outside Europe when trying to break into MotoGP, and the few advantages, when their passports can play to their advantage.

With testing well underway, the Paddock Pass Podcast crew gathered to assess the first two (or three, if you are a rookie) days of testing. Steve English, Adam Wheeler, Neil Morrison, and David Emmett go through the manufacturers one by one to try to understand where the the various factories stand after the first test.

With the launch of the Petronas team spread over the first part of this week, the Paddock Pass Podcast People take a look at one of the most intriguing teams in MotoGP. With Franco Morbidelli on the 2019-spec bike which took him to second place in 2020, and the arrival of Valentino Rossi, what is in store for the satellite Yamaha squad? And how will they fare in Moto2 and Moto3?

Adam Wheeler, Steve English, and David Emmett mull over what the various team members said during the various presentations and debriefs. They talk about the likelihood of Petronas remaining a Yamaha satellite squad, and what the arrival of a VR46 team in MotoGP would mean. They discuss the frictions between Petronas and Yamaha, and whether they have been resolved. They wonder who is the number 1 rider in Petronas, and whether the notion of a number 1 rider even makes any sense.

The latest episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast was recorded shortly after the sad news of Fausto Gresini's death was made public, and so the first thing Steve English, Neil Morrison, Adam Wheeler, and David Emmett do is pay tribute to the former 125 world champion and team manager. We take a brief look at his history in the Grand Prix racing, and what he meant for the sport. If you would like to get a fuller picture of the man, there is also this obituary by Mat Oxley on Motor Sport Magazine.

From there, we turn our attention to the Honda launches which happened this week. The big news was of course the Repsol Honda launch, the first time the media got to speak to Marc Marquez since he was forced to withdraw from the Jerez 2 round back in July 2020. We assess what he told us, how he views injury, and whether he will be a force to reckon within 2021.

We are right in the middle of launch season, so the Paddock Pass Podcast crew gather to discuss what they think of the show so far. And it has been quite the show: with Covid-19 preventing the normal sponsor-focused gatherings, the launches have been very online indeed. And so far, KTM, Yamaha, and Ducati have all had very different approaches to what an online launch should be.

Some of those approaches have been more successful than others. Neil Morrison, Adam Wheeler, Steve English, and David Emmett all try to suppress their cynicism about the launches. And for the most part, they fail miserably. We talk about Yamaha, and their use of a backdrop apparently crafted on a PS2 to showcase the bikes, Ducati's behind-the-scenes faux documentary, and KTM's mercifully short scripted launch.

2020 was a strange year in MotoGP: without Marc Marquez, the championship was suddenly wide open. This prompted a debate among the Paddock Pass Podcast crew: what will MotoGP and WorldSBK look like without the two riders who have dominated the championship over the past few seasons?