The Paddock Pass Podcast is back, reporting direct from Sepang with a new guest. On Tuesday evening after the test, David Emmett sat down with respected French journalist Thomas Baujard, who works for the French magazine Moto Journal, to discuss what happened in the test.

Tom and David go through the factories one by one, and assess where they stand after the first test of the year. They start off talking about the Sepang track, and how the new surface is ageing, and finally starting to dry more quickly. Then they get on to discuss Ducati, and how the Gigi Dall'Igna's engineers have managed to solve at least part of the turning problem for the GP18, and how that has helped make both Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo extremely competitive.

They then move on to talk about Honda, and debate whether HRC is in a good place or not with the new RC213V engine. The may be close with the electronics, but is the engine still too aggressive? From Honda to Yamaha, Tom and David discuss whether the 2018 Yamaha M1 is an improvement or not. Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales topped the second day, but struggled on the final day. Naturally, we discuss Johann Zarco's decision to switch back to the 2016 chassis, and what that means for both the Frenchman and for Yamaha.

We also spend some time talking about Suzuki, where Alex Rins is coming good after a difficult rookie season. We discuss Aprilia, where Aleix Espargaro got the chassis he wanted, but is being forced to wait for the engine. And we take a look at the situation KTM finds itself in: having made so much progress in 2017, KTM face the reality that the last second is ten times more difficult to find than the first two seconds.

Enjoy the show!

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