Paddock Pass Podcast

On the day after the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas, the Paddock Pass Podcast crew gathered in the front room of their Airbnb to talk over the events of an exciting weekend. Jensen Beeler, Neil Morrison, and David Emmett debate Suzuki's first win, the problems at Honda, the future of the US round of MotoGP, and much more.

We kick off the podcast singing the praises of Alex Rins and Suzuki, after the Spaniard took Suzuki's first win in MotoGP since 2016. We talk both about how highly rated Rins is by his fellow riders, and how he is regarded as a genuine title threat, but also about how the Suzuki improved to become competitive.

We then move on to ponder the situation Honda found itself in at Austin, with Marc Marquez and Cal Crutchlow crashing out, while Jorge Lorenzo suffered another mechanical issue. We also discuss the outstanding performances of both Valentino Rossi and Jack Miller, asking whether Valentino Rossi could finally win a tenth MotoGP title, and if Miller can take the second factory Ducati seat alongside Andrea Dovizioso next year.

It's a busy time for the Paddock Pass Podcast crew. Hot on the heels of the Aragon WorldSBK edition comes a look back at the MotoGP round in Argentina, and a look ahead to Austin. Jensen Beeler leads a discussion with Neil Morrison and David Emmett of the fallout from the Argentina round.

We kick off with a look at Marc Marquez' domination of the race, and the battle for second behind the Repsol Honda rider. We ponder just how close MotoGP is at the moment, and how the level of equipment and and riders is very equal. We talk about the battle between Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi, and the tactics the two used to approach the race.

It's a busy time for racing, with WorldSBK back in Europe and MotoGP in the Americas. In this episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast, Steve English and Gordon Ritchie get together to discuss the Aragon round of WorldSBK.

They start off with a discussion of how close the race for second has become, given that Alvaro Bautista is, for the moment at least, uncatchable. Steve and Gordo talk about the progress BMW have made with the new bike, and the updates being brought to Aragon, and how BMW are using the WorldSBK series as a development platform for the S1000RR.

After the MotoGP Court of Appeal announced their decision on the legality of Ducati's swing arm spoiler, and ahead of this weekend's Argentinian round of MotoGP, Steve English and David Emmett get together to chew the whole thing over for another episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast.

Naturally, the decision on Ducati's spoiler is at the center of the episode. We take a deep dive into the whole subject, going through the process of what happened, and how the appeal ended up in Switzerland at the MotoGP Court of Appeal. We discuss how the rules are made in MotoGP, and what the whole thing means for the future of rule making in the series. We talk about why Ducati's spoiler was ruled legal, and why Aprilia's was not. And we debate how much of a factor Aprilia's Massimo Rivola, who joined from F1, had in the dispute ending up in the Court. Is this an F1 habit, or was this just an argument waiting to happen whoever was in charge?

With the latest round of WorldSBK behind us, it's time for another review of the Superbike series with WorldSBK commentator Steve English and the world's leading superbike guru Gordon Ritchie.

Steve and Gordo sat down on Sunday morning before the sprint race in Thailand to discuss the events of Saturday, and look ahead to the races on Sunday. It was, as ever, an enlightening conversation, covering a vast range of subjects around the WorldSBK paddock.

In latest episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast, Neil Morrison and David Emmett get together to discuss the opening MotoGP round at Qatar, and the controversy which engulfed the race, despite it being a thoroughly thrilling episode.

We naturally have to kick off with the dispute which erupted after the race over Ducati's aerodynamic parts. We take a deep dive into how the controversy developed, tracing it back from the first complaints, through the Qatar test, and on to the Qatar race. We discuss what the rules say, whether Ducati's parts are legal or not, and where the appeal submitted by four rival factories goes from here.

It's been a busy week at Chateau Paddock Pass Podcast, with two shows in a week. After previewing the 2019 WorldSBK season, Neil Morrison traveled to Jerez to cover the Moto2 test at the track, where he joined David Emmett to talk about the MotoGP test at Sepang.

There was plenty to talk about, as the Sepang test had a raft of fascinating narratives. Neil and David go through each factory, and evaluate what they were testing and how it turned out. We discuss how much effect the fact that Honda had to test with the walking wounded had, and whether the Honda RC213V is more competitive than the timesheet shows.

What can we expect from the 2019 WorldSBK season? In this episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast, Steve English and Neil Morrison review WorldSBK testing and go factory by factory to discuss how they expect each one to fare.

There's plenty of talk about Ducati's new V4R, of course, but first they have to beat Jonathan Rea. Can Leon Haslam keep up with his Kawasaki teammate? Can Tom Sykes reinvent himself at BMW? Will Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark be able to keep up the progress they made in 2018? And how will the arrival of Marco Melandri and Sandro Cortese affect Yamaha's chances?

As the off season is a time for thinking over what has been and what is to come, and so Steve English, Neil Morrison, and David Emmett get together to look back at 2018 and forward to 2019. Steve, Neil, and David all pick one thing which struck them about 2018, and what they are most looking forward to in 2019.

In the latest episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast, Jensen Beeler, Steve English, and David Emmett take a deep dive into the WorldSBK championship. We take a look back at last season, and use that, and the results of the Jerez WorldSBK test, to preview the 2019 season, leading to a debate on what WorldSBK should be, and the difficulties of managing a racing series for motorcycles which are primarily to be sold for use on the road.

We start off with a long look at Kawasaki, and how Jonathan Rea has come to define the Kawasaki era. We analyze the reasons Rea has become such a dominant factor in the series. But we also discuss Tom Sykes, his situation, and how Sykes has handled Rea coming into the team.