On the Monday after the opening round of the World Superbike season, Steve English and Gordon Ritchie sat down at Barcelona airport to record an episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast while they waited for their flight to Portugal for the Estoril round, which takes place this weekend. Together, Steve and Gordo review the events of the first WorldSBK round of the 2021 season, getting off to a late start.

That is the first topic Steve and Gordo get in to. Normally, WorldSBK kicks off in Phillip Island in February, but instead it started in Aragon in May. What effect did that have? They talk about the excellent racing that Aragon produced, at a track which has been less conducive to good racing in the past. They discuss why that happened, and what to expect going forward.

They spend a good deal of time discussing how the weather affected the racing, and how tire choice proved to be decisive. They discuss the role intermediates played in the difficult conditions, and how Scott Redding gambled on slicks to pull off a remarkable win in Race 2. Steve also interviews Pirelli boss Giorgio Barbieri, who explains how tires are chosen, and the relative merits of the SC0 and SCX tires in the dry.

Steve and Gordo review the relative strength of the WorldSBK grid after the first race, whether Jonathan Rea is still invincible, how strong the Kawasaki really is, the improvements by Yamaha and BMW, and more. They also give a quick update on what happened in World Supersport, and in the WorldSSP300 class.

The podcast appears below as an audio track, but the show is also on YouTube, Steve having set up a camera to record the show. If video is your thing, you can watch the Youtube show below, rather than just listen to the audio.

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