Paddock Pass Podcast

The latest episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees TV producer Charlie Hiscott join Steve English and Gordon Ritchie once again to take a look at the state of WorldSBK, and especially where the rider market stands. The trio kick off the show with a discussion of whether Danilo Petrucci will join Alvaro Bautista in the Aruba.it Ducati WorldSBK team, or whether they will stick with Michael Ruben Rinaldi. They then move on to ask where Rinaldi goes if he doesn't stay at Ducati, and how the exploded MotoGP rider market will affect WorldSBK.

With 11 races in the books after just 17 weeks, MotoGP is heading into the summer break, with a thriller at the Cathedral to end the first half of the season. Neil Morrison, David Emmett, and Steve English discuss the highlights of a fascinating race at Assen. There was plenty to talk about.

In the latest episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast, Adam Wheeler, David Emmett, and from a hotel room in Amsterdam, Neil Morrison discuss what happened at a scorching Sachsenring. Fabio Quartararo's victory raised a lot of questions after the German Grand Prix. Not least, whether Yamaha's approach, of putting all their eggs in one basket, is better than Ducati's, which involves making a bike which lots of riders can ride, and hoping you have a rider which can bring it home.

That leads to a wide-ranging discussion of what is going wrong with Ducati's approach, and with Quartararo's rivals. Why do they keep making mistakes, where he doesn't? Is there something wrong with Ducati's rider choice? And which of their riders could mount a serious challenge from the start of the season to the end.

The latest episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees Steve English take the chair to lead a discussion of the state of MotoGP with Adam Wheeler, Neil Morrison, and David Emmett. We kick off with the news that Jack Miller is to move to the factory KTM team, to partner Brad Binder. We ponder why he had to move, and what it means for KTM. We also ask what it means for Miguel Oliveira, and where he might end up, and take a wider look at Silly Season and the rest of the rider market.

After an eventful, in every possible meaning of that word, weekend at Montmelo, Adam Wheeler and David Emmett sit around Neil Morrison's dinner table in his apartment in Barcelona to look back at a race which was full of surprises. There was plenty to talk about. We discuss Fabio Quartararo's win, and how he seems to be unbeatable at the moment, even when his rivals aren't taken out. We discuss Aleix Espargaro's mistake, thinking the race was over a lap earlier than it actually was, and Neil gives us a history lesson on the many times it has happened before. And we ask the question, how do riders even know when the race is over?

Mugello proved to be as spectacular as ever, despite the relative lack of crowds turning up. On Tuesday morning, Neil Morrison, David Emmett, and Adam Wheeler gathered to discuss the events of what turned out to be a surprising weekend. We talk about the crowds, why they might have stayed away and what they missed, and the difference between MotoGP and F1 in terms of support. We talk about Fabio Quartararo's phenomenal ride to second on a track where top speed records get broken, and ask why the other Yamahas were nowhere.

The MotoGP side of the Paddock Pass Podcast gets its own special guest this weekend. Adam Wheeler, Neil Morrison, and David Emmett were joined by Red Bull KTM Racing's Paul Trevathan, crew chief to Miguel Oliveira this week, to discuss just why it has become so difficult to overtake in MotoGP. Trevathan is a fantastic guest, explaining in depth where KTM are at the moment, why you can't just change a front tire in MotoGP, and how the lack of testing time is slowing up development on Michelin's new front.

Before and after we were joined by Paul Trevathan, the crew discuss what makes Mugello so special, why we are not fans of retiring numbers, whether we will see any contracts announced this weekend, and who we expect to do well at Mugello.

A special guest on this week's WorldSBK podcast brings superb insight. Charlie Hiscott, TV producer extraordinaire, has worked in both the WorldSBK and MotoGP paddocks for years, and has been alternating between the two series for the past couple of seasons. So he brings his remarkable knowledge to the already highly informed chat between Steve English and WorldSBK guru Gordon Ritchie, to take a deep dive into the future of Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Charlie adds the view from the MotoGP paddock to the trio's knowledge of where Toprak sits in WorldSBK, to discuss whether the Pata Yamaha rider will make the jump from WorldSBK to MotoGP. They examine the offers he may have, and his reasons for both going to MotoGP and staying in WorldSBK. They also discuss the current state of WorldSBK, the rivalry between Jonathan Rea and Razgatlioglu, what Alvaro Bautista brings to Ducati, why the second seat at Kawasaki is not performing as well as Rea's side of the garage, and what is happening with Honda.

After an intriguing French Grand Prix at Le Mans, the Paddock Pass Podcast crew take a look at how Fabio Quartararo's home race shook out, and why we didn't see a famous French victory at the track. There was plenty for Neil Morrison, Adam Wheeler, and David Emmett to talk about, however, and they start off with what Enea Bastianini's win means for Ducati. Then we discuss which team might replace Suzuki, and if that slot might be left empty, which then leads to a discussion of who from Moto2 could move up to MotoGP.

After that, we talk overtaking, and why passing is becoming something of a lost art in MotoGP. How will that affect the sport just as it loses its biggest star? We also explain how that affected Fabio Quartararo, and how he ended up in a modest fourth place at home, and why Aleix Espargaro is now a serious threat for the title. And of course as always, we end up with our winners and losers.

After waiting for a long time for official word from Suzuki, we could wait no more. So on Wednesday, we finally recorded our episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast taking an in depth look at Suzuki's shock decision to pull out of MotoGP at the end of the season. To help guide us, and make it more than worth the wait, top Japanese MotoGP journalist Akira Nishimura joins Adam Wheeler, David Emmett, and Neil Morrison to give us a Japanese perspective on the decision.