Paddock Pass Podcast

It's a World Superbike extravaganza in this episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast. Steve English, Gordon Ritchie, and Ivo Schützbach gather in the Phillip Island media centre to preview the season ahead. As they talk, a parade of top WorldSBK talent joins them for a quick chat, including Toprak Razgatlioglu, Jonathan Rea, Andrea Locatelli, and more.

MotoGP testing is done, and so it's time to start leaping to massively premature conclusions. Fresh off the plane from Qatar, Adam sifts through the tea leaves of the test to try to discern the future. Is Pecco Bagnaia an unstoppable force on the Ducati? Is Aprilia's progress real, or will they find a way to fail once again? Who or what will be the biggest surprise of 2024? Can KTM challenge the supremacy of the Ducatis? And who will be the best rider on a Japanese bike?

Adam also interviews Chris Hillard of Alpinestars, who gives a long and detail explanation of airbags, their history, and answers our questions on the subject.

Two more launches are in the books, and they couldn't be more different. The Red Bull KTM launch saw a bike that was virtually unchanged, while the Repsol Honda launch unveiled a radically different looking RC213V. Adam, Neil, and David chew over the launches, and take questions from Patreon backers. Should we try to lure Taylor Swift into dating a MotoGP rider? Do MotoGP engineers have non-compete clauses? Was Marc Marquez sandbagging?

We also have exclusive interviews with Brad Binder, on the 2024 season, and KTM Technical Director Sebastian Risse, on how renewable fuels change MotoGP.

With the Sepang MotoGP Test in the books, Adam, David, and Neil gather to discuss what we learned. We break the test down into five questions.

Will Marc Marquez take longer to adapt than everyone expected?

Will we see a rematch of Jorge Martin versus Pecco Bagnaia?

Will Pedro Acosta get on the podium in his rookie season?

Are the Japanese manufacturers in as much trouble as they were last year?

Will it be KTM or Aprilia challenging Ducati’s dominance in MotoGP?

While WorldSBK has been testing, MotoGP is still in the middle of launch season. Adam Wheeler headed over to Los Angeles to attend the Trackhouse Racing MotoGP launch (and to catch a round of Supercross while he was at it), and told Neil Morrison and David Emmett all about it afterward. While he was out there, he grabbed 15 minutes with team manager Wilco Zeelenberg, as well as a few words with Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez.

Adam, Neil, and David chew over what Adam learned in LA and discuss the challenge facing Trackhouse. They also talked about the GASGAS Tech3 launch, now in Red Bull colors, and the prospects for Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez. And they take a quick look ahead to the MotoGP shakedown test in Sepang.

Testing for the 2024 WorldSBK season is well underway, so at the two-day Portimão test, Steve English and Gordon Ritchie sat down to assess how testing has gone so far and look ahead to 2024. While they were there, Steve also had a chance to grab interviews with some of the main players in the coming season. He spoke to reigning world champion Alvaro Bautista, BMW's newest rider Toprak Razgatlioglu, Yamaha new boy Jonathan Rea, and WorldSBK rookie Sam Lowes.

Launch season has officially started, and Neil, Adam, and David sat down after the Ducati launch to chew over what we learned from both the Gresini Ducati launch and the factory Lenovo Ducati launch. We talk Ducati's new, more powerful GP24, why they spend so much money on the launch, what we think of Pecco Bagnaia's chance of defending the title, whether Enea Bastianini will be in the factory team next year, and what we thought of Ducati's new Desmo 450MX motocross bike.

In this week's episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast, Neil, Adam and David are joined by Michael Laverty, scion of the famous racing family, ex-MotoGP/BSB/AMA/World Supersport racer, team manager and TNT Sports commentator. Michael talks us through the challenges of owning a Moto3 team, the state of Honda's Moto3 machine, and how the arrival of Pirelli might change the class. 

He also gives his perspective on the state of MotoGP, as someone with a deep understanding of the sport. And the crew run through one or two bits of news, and look ahead to the team launches coming up. 

As on-track action draws nearer and nearer for the WorldSBK class, Steve English and Gordon Ritchie get together to look ahead to the tests for the World Superbike classes at Jerez and Portimão which start next week. There is much to talk about, and many questions to be answered. How will Toprak Razgatlioglu fare on the BMW, and will he drive development in the wrong direction for the other BMW riders? Will he extra revs Ducati are getting back cancel out the additional weight Alvaro Bautista will have to carry? What can Jonathan Rea do on the Yamaha? Will Alex Lowes be able to fill the gap left by Rea at Kawasaki? And what effect will all of the behind-the-scenes changes have on the series?