Paddock Pass Podcast

Dorna's decision to replace Michelin with Pirelli for the 2027 season and beyond sent shockwaves through the paddock. We caught up with ex-WorldSBK and MotoGP rider Eugene Laverty to get his insight into how the change will affect the series. What are Pirellis like to race, when compared to Michelins?

Thanks to Renthal Street and Pole Position Travel for their support for the show.

The 2025 MotoGP season is go! Racing has started, and the Thai Grand Prix at Buriram is over. And as ever, the start of a new season raises as many questions as it answers. Neil, David, Adam and Steve discuss the highlights and lowlights of the first MotoGP round using questions sent to them by Paddock Pass Podcast Patreon backers. 

We discuss Marc Marquez' ominous win, why he dropped behind his brother Alex Marquez for two thirds of the race, how Pecco Bagnaia comes back from this, whether Aprilia is now the second best manufacturer on the grid, our Patreon supporters' rider of the weekend, and wind up with our Hire, Fire, and Liar rounds.

The opening round of the 2025 WorldSBK season is in the books and Nicolo Bulega dominated the opening weekend. It was a textbook weekend for the Aruba.it Ducati rider but as Steve and Gordo explain it also meant the stories of the weekend were elsewhere.

Most of the stories focused on Toprak Razgatlioglu and his BMW. On Sunday evening the reigning champion dropped a bombshell that he would consider quiting the series if changes weren't made. Was it postering? As Gordo explains the weekend wasn't quite as bad as a 20 point haul would indicate.

Yamaha confirmed that Augusto Fernandez would replace Jonathan Rea for the next round but how was their race weekend? Bimota are back in WorldSBK and left Australia pleased with their opening gambit.

With the 2025 MotoGP season upon us, Adam, David and Neil boldly go where no pundit has been foolish enough to go before, which is to say they put their cards on the table and make a bunch of rash predictions about the season. Who will be the 2025 champion? Who is going to be the disappointment of the year? Who is going to surprise us? Who will finish the season top rookie? Who will be the best rider for each of MotoGP's five factories? Which of the Moto2 riders will be moved up to MotoGP for 2026, and who of the current MotoGP riders should be fearing for their job?

Testing is finished and now it's time for the lights to go out and start the WorldSBK season. On Episode 468 Steve, Gordo and Ivo get you ready for the campaign with updates on the Ducati, a discussion about how things have changed for BMW and Toprak.

With Bimota rejoining the WorldSBK we're joined by Steve Guttridge, Race Planning Manager for Kawasaki Motors Europe, to explain how the project came together. Steve gives us an update on what it means for Provec Racing and Manuel Puccetti's race team.

The WorldSBK season is now just over 24 hours from starting and we're ready to bring all the latest news from inside the paddock in what should be an exciting season.

Adam, David and Neil discuss the events of the second and final MotoGP pre-season test and ponder on the potential first winner of the year, whether Ducati have stagnated, is Marco Bezzecchi ‘back’, the need for more testing (?), are Honda waking up and more bench-racing. Thanks to Renthal.com (get some mods for your streetbike) and Pole Position Travel.

It's all go in the world of MotoGP. We've had a test at Sepang and the official MotoGP launch in Bangkok, and the Buriram test is next. Time Neil, Adam, David and Steve to ask whether the official launch was a good thing or not, and what could have been done better. Then it's time for our Sepang test awards and notes. Is the Yamaha really the second best bike on the grid? Who came out of the Sepang test with the biggest grin? Who was the best rookie of the test? And who messed up worse by crashing, Raul Fernandez, Jorge Martin, or Fabio Di Giannantonio.

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As Steve and Gordo get ready to pack their bags for Round 1 in Phillip Island they made sure to leave the mics until last so that they can get you all the latest news from the WorldSBK paddock.
Whether it's bike launches or regulation changes there's been a lot to talk about since the Jerez and Portimao Tests and with the WorldSBK paddock now en-route to Australia the season is coming at us fast.

Late at night after the first day of the Sepang test, David, Neil, and Adam look back at a disastrous day for Aprilia, with both Jorge Martin and Raul Fernandez injured and back to Spain for surgery. Fabio Di Giannantonio also crashed, breaking a collarbone, and was one of several riders to crash. We break down why the crashes happened, why Jorge Martin crashed, and what the consequences will be for the rest of the preseason. And we break down what we saw from the first day of testing from each factory, and ask whether the rumours of Pirelli taking over from Michelin have any meat to them.