Paddock Pass Podcast

The Suzuka 8 Hour race turned into one of the most exciting races we have seen in any series in the past couple of decades, with three teams fighting for the lead for lap after lap for the full 8 hour duration. Or nearly the full 8 hours: the last 10 minutes of the race supplied enough drama to fill an entire bookcase.

The day after the race, as the dust was starting to settle, our man on the ground, Steve English, got on the phone to Jensen Beeler to talk through a momentous race. There was a huge amount to discuss, including those closing minutes, the confusion over the rules, and the chaos and confusion over who would eventually emerge victorious.

With the legendary Suzuka 8 Hour race due to start in a few hours time, there's a chance to get up to speed on the movers and shakers of the event with the Suzuka preview edition of the Paddock Pass Podcast. Steve English and Jensen Beeler sit down to discuss what to expect at the race.

Laguna Seca saw the pendulum swing even further in Jonathan Rea's favor in the World Superbike championship. With Bautista posting three DNFs in all three races at the US circuit, Rea took a commanding, and possibly insurmountable lead in the title chase.

As always, Steve English sat down with Gordon Ritchie to discuss the events at the US round of WorldSBK. What has happened to Alvaro Bautista? How has Jonathan Rea gone from underdog to holding a commanding lead? And has Chaz Davies finally cracked the secrets of the Ducati Panigale V4R? Steve and Gordo discuss all this and more.

The Donington Park WorldSBK round turned out to be something of a turning point. Jonathan Rea took over the lead of the championship from Alvaro Bautista, after the Aruba.it Ducati rider had seemed unbeatable in the first part of the season.

To discuss this momentous point in the championship, WorldSBK experts Steve English and Gordon Ritchie sat down on Saturday at the UK round of WorldSBK at Donington Park. They obviously spend a lot of the podcast talking about where Alvaro Bautista lost out and how Jonathan Rea managed to take over, and how they expect to see this play out in the rest of the season. 

On Monday morning, before heading home and then on to the Sachsenring, Neil Morrison and David Emmett sat down with Adam Wheeler of On-Track Off-Road to talk about the Dutch TT at Assen for an episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast.

There was plenty of stuff to talk about. Naturally, we talked about how the Yamahas were dominant, with Maverick Viñales taking a well-deserved win. We discuss the performance of Fabio Quartararo - two poles and two podiums in two consecutive races - and how arm pump surgery affected the way the Frenchman rode the bike. We discuss the difficulty the Yamahas had getting past the Honda of Marc Marquez, and how the different bikes make their lap time in different ways.

After a controversial end to the first WorldSBK race at Jerez, Steve English and Gordon Ritchie sat down to discuss the events of the Saturday. They kick off with a discussion of the clash between Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes, in which Rea hit Lowes, causing the Yamaha rider to crash. They then have a long discussion of why Alvaro Bautista is so fast on the Ducati Panigale V4R, and how much of that is down to understanding how to use the Pirellis.

The Italian Grand Prix at Mugello turned into a real thriller, which came down to the last lap. That gave the Paddock Pass Podcast crew plenty to chew over. Sitting in the Tuscan sunshine, Neil Morrison and David Emmett were joined by top French journalist, Moto Journal's Thomas Baujard to discuss the race and its implications.

We kick off with a discussion of Danilo Petrucci's stunning win, beating Marc Marquez and factory Ducati teammate Andrea Dovizioso to the line. We examine how Petrucci pulled it off, and what effect it will have both on Petrucci's future, and on the dynamic in the team. We ponder Honda's situation, with Marc Marquez clearly capable of pulling off superb results on the 2019 Honda RC213V which others are struggling to match, and we talk about Jorge Lorenzo's trip to Japan, to speak directly with the HRC engineers about finding a riding position which suits him.

In the second Paddock Pass Podcast in two days, this episode comes to you from a cafe inside the railway station at Le Mans, where Neil Morrison and David Emmett sat down to discuss the French Grand Prix while they waited for their train to Paris and home. There was plenty to talk about.

The big topic of discussion was of course Marc Marquez, and a seemingly dominant third victory from five races at a track he hasn't usually gone well at. Neil and David talk about how Marquez won, how he has adapted his riding style to the 2019 Honda RC213V, and how he has used that to his advantage. But his new riding style is also a chink in his armor, and we talk about how his rivals might try to beat him in future races.

With Jonathan Rea finally beating Alvaro Bautista in the WorldSBK race at Imola, Steve English and Gordon Ritchie had plenty to talk about in episode 102 of the Paddock Pass Podcast. First of all, they dive into the question of why it was that Rea managed to outclass Bautista at Imola, and whether it was the track or the conditions or Bautista's lack of familiarity with the track.

They discuss Chaz Davies' adaptation to the Ducati Panigale V4R, and what the difference was at Imola compared to earlier races. As they recorded the podcast on Sunday morning before the race was canceled, they discuss how difficult Imola is as a circuit, and how tricky it can be in the wet. They touch on Tommy Bridewell filling in for the sadly injured Eugene Laverty, which leads into a further discussion of the V4R, and even presage today's announcement by the FIM that the Endurance World Championship will allow the bike to be raced in the championship, opening up the possibility of racing at the Suzuka 8 Hour race.

The latest episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast features Neil Morrison and David Emmett going over the fascinating events of Jerez. There was so much to talk about after that race, as well as the Monday test.

Neil and David go through the race, and look at Marc Marquez' victory in Spain, and ask what this means for the championship. We of course spend a lot of time on Fabio Quartararo, the disaster he suffered during the race after becoming the youngest ever polesitter, and whether this means the Frenchman is a genuine future star.