The Paddock Pass Podcast has a very special guest this episode. The father of MotoGP statistics, Dr Martin Raines joins Adam Wheeler, David Emmett, and Steve English to talk about the history of grand prix motorcycle racing, crunching the numbers, and much more. He talks about how he started collecting race statistics, the challenges of digging up historical records of past races, and his own history in the sport.

Mart's historical knowledge of the sport gives us an opportunity to contrast racing in the past with where it is now. We talk about the Transatlantic Trophy, and the role of such races in establishing new names in the sport, and discuss why putting on similar events is so difficult now. We talk about the safety improvements over the years, and how racing has changed.

Finally, we finish up with a look ahead to the Mandalika Grand Prix in Indonesia, discuss the results from testing, and what we expect to see after the upsets and surprises of Qatar.

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Thanks to Fly Racing and Renthal Street for their support for the show.

We also have a Patreon. Paddock Pass Podcast Patreon supporters get exclusive content, including the Paddock Notes show, where we discuss what happened at the end of every day of a MotoGP weekend, and interviews with riders, team managers, and important figures in the sport. Enjoy the show!