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Paddock Pass Podcast #54 – Italian & Catalan GP

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Episode 54 of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees David Emmett and Neil Morrison doing double duty, as they cover the last two rounds for the MotoGP Championship’s – the Italian GP and the Catalan GP.

The show’s focal point is obviously the double-win for Ducati Corse and Andrea Dovizioso, as the Italians are clearly finding their stride this year with the GP17. Dovizioso’s double also means a shake-up in the MotoGP Championship standing, which David and Neil discuss at length.

The brings up a conversation about what is happening inside the Honda and Yamaha garages, as both factories seem to be struggling this season, though at different times, at different tracks, and under different conditions.

The show also covers the events of Monday’s MotoGP test at Barcelona, which sees some talk of Yamaha’s different chassis, and what tires Marc Marquez prefers from Michelin.

The conversation then turns to the Moto2 and Moto3 championships, before the guys talk about their winners and losers of the two weekends.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to the show on iTunes and SoundCloud – we even have an RSS feed for you. If you like the show, we would really appreciate you giving it a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast #53 – French GP

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Episode 53 of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees David Emmett and Neil Morrison covering the MotoGP Championship’s recent stop in Le Mans, France – for a very exciting French GP.

With lots of crashes happening over the weekend, there was much to discuss in regards to what is happening with the riders, as well as the teams and manufacturers. 

As such, there is some talk about the weather at Le Mans, Jack Miller’s crash at Turn 3 (and him remarkably coming away from that unscathed), and then the heated battle between the two Movistar Yamaha riders, which left a Mr. Valentino Rossi in the gravel trap.

The boys also talk about the phenom that is Johann Zarco, on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 bike, the troubles the seem to follow Ducati Corse, and Dani Pedrosa’s surprise (or non-surprise) podium finish.

Once the MotoGP talk is done, David and Neil discuss Moto2 and Moto3, before giving their winners and losers for the weekend. Overall, another not-to-miss-show from the Paddock Pass Podcast crew.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to the show on iTunes and SoundCloud – we even have an RSS feed for you. If you like the show, we would really appreciate you giving it a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

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MotoGP

MotoGP Preview of the French GP

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There are few circuits on the calendar whose names ring so loudly through the annals of history as that of Le Mans. Only Assen, the Isle of Man, and Indianapolis are as inextricably associated with motor sports as Le Mans is.

Like Indy, though, Le Mans is more associated with four wheels than with two. The 24h Du Mans endurance race is truly one of the landmark events of the motor sports year.

The glamor of that event rubs off on the 24-hour motorcycle race as well. That race is arguably the biggest race on the FIM EWC endurance calendar, and victory there adds extra shine to any rider’s record.

It is a highlight not just of the endurance racing year, but on the motorcycle racing calendar, marking the rhythm of the racing season as loudly as Jerez, Assen, the Isle of Man TT, Mugello, Phillip Island. It sets a high bar for the French Grand Prix at Le Mans to live up to.

Despite the deep and entrenched love of endurance racing in France, and especially at Le Mans (they have a 24-hour event for everything there, a taxi driver once told me: 24-hour car, bike, truck, and mountain bike race, 24-hour literary festival, even a 24-hour tiddlywinks competition), more spectators flock to the Le Mans circuit for MotoGP than for the 24-hour race. Last year, over 99,000 attended.

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Podcast

Paddock Pass Podcast #52 – WorldSBK Imola

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Episode 52 of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees David Emmett  and Steve English covering the World Superbike Championship’s stop in Imola, Italy.

The boys get us caught up on what is happening in the WorldSBK paddock, which includes some silly season speculation, as well as a discussion about the possibility of WorldSBK seeing a spec-ECU or rule concessions to balance the team entries.

There is a great deal of discussion about the rivalry brewing between Jonathan Rea and Chaz Davies, as well as the future involvement of factory teams, as manufacturers tease new motorcycles and look to improve their WorldSBK results.

Before the show ends, the guys also give a quick briefing on the World Supersport and Supersport 300 classes.

We should preface that this episode was recorded before we heard the news about Nicky Hayden’s cycling accident in Italy, and the entire Paddock Pass Podcast teams is hoping for Nicky’s full and speedy recovering. He and his family are in our thoughts, and we hope to see him back in the racing paddock very soon.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to the show on iTunes and SoundCloud – we even have an RSS feed for you. If you like the show, we would really appreciate you giving it a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast #51 – Spanish GP

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Episode 51 of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees Neil Morrison and David Emmett covering the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

The MotoGP Championship’s first round on European soil proved that you can’t predict the results for 2017, with a few surprising results occurring. The boys discuss all the implications from the Jerez round for the MotoGP paddock, with some discussion about Moto2 and Moto3 as well.

The show ends with a new segment, with the hosts picking their “winners” and “losers” from the race weekend. A short but in-depth episode, we think you will enjoy this week’s show.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to the show on iTunes and SoundCloud – we even have an RSS feed for you. If you like the show, we would really appreciate you giving it a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

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News

McGuinness Crashes at NW200, Suspected Broken Leg

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Big news today out of the North West 200, as John McGuinness suffered a crash at the Primrose corner, during the Superbike practice session. He was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, with a suspected broken right leg.

The injury has cast some doubt on McGuinness’s participation in this year’s Isle of Man TT, but it has also scuttled Guy Martin’s plans for the Superstock race at the North West 200.

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MotoGP

Monday MotoGP Test Summary at Jerez

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For some race fans, the news that the tire wars are back will be music to their ears. The trouble is, the new tire wars which broke out at Jerez are of a very different kind to the period before the advent of the spec tire, when different manufacturers went head-to-head in pursuit of outright performance.

The Jerez tire wars are a very different beast indeed. These pit rider against rider, rather than manufacturer against manufacturer, with the prize being the future direction of tire development in MotoGP.

The weapon handed to both sides was a front tire from Michelin using a stiffer construction, first used at the Valencia race and test at the end of last year. The two (or perhaps three) sides in the debate are using the outcome of the Jerez test to try to gain an advantage in the remainder of the championship.

If you wanted proof that Jerez was above all a tire test, look no further than Ducati’s decision taken late on Sunday night to stay on for the Monday test.

Originally, they had been scheduled to skip the Jerez test and head to Mugello, where they will have a private test to prepare for what is arguably their most important race of the year.

But when it became apparent just how much stock some riders were putting in the new tire, the factory Ducati team decided to stay and give the tires a whirl.

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WSBK

Hayden: “It’s Clear That There Is A Problem”

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Assen had been earmarked as a key round for Honda in its search for competitiveness in WorldSBK. It passed with more confirmation that the team’s struggles will continue.

Nine points were all that Nicky Hayden had to show for himself at the end of a trying weekend at the TT Circuit of Assen. The Honda rider was able to show some signs of improved competitiveness at times during the weekend, but overall the same flaws of the Honda Fireblade have been exposed once again.

Reliability and inability to bring competitive upgrades to the table cost Hayden dearly at Assen. The week before the Dutch round, the team tested a new engine specification in Portimao and the American came away disappointed with a lack of progress.

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast #50 – Americas GP

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Episode 50 of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees Steve English, David Emmett, and Neil Morrison covering the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

With wins from Marquez, Morbidelli, and Fenati all three classes produced some obvious winners, though the on-track action was far from predictable, which gives some good conversational fodder for the boys to discuss.

Something new for this season, the show ends with a new segment, with the hosts picking their “winners” and “losers” from the race weekend. A short but in-depth episode, we think you will enjoy this week’s show.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to the show on iTunes and SoundCloud – we even have an RSS feed for you. If you like the show, we would really appreciate you giving it a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

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MotoGP

Sunday MotoGP Summary at Austin: Leaders Crashing, And Rossi vs. Zarco

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When riders get off to a blinding start in the first couple of races, it is easy to get carried away and start penciling their name onto the championship trophy. Doing that after just two races is plainly ridiculous.

Doing it after three races is hardly any better. Yet the temptation to do so remains strong: when a narrative presents itself, it is hard to resist following it.

That has been the case so far this year. In Moto3, Joan Mir has looked untouchable winning the first two races from tough fights. In Moto2, Franco Morbidelli had dominated, controlling races from start to finish.

And coming into Austin, Maverick Viñales had won the first two races of the season quite comfortably, nobody anywhere close to being able to match him.

During practice, a new narrative presented itself in MotoGP. Marc Márquez has dominated the racing at the Circuit of The Americas since it first joined the calendar, winning all four races held there before this year.

Maverick Viñales has dominated the opening two races of the year, and came to Austin looking capable of ending Márquez’ winning streak.

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MotoGP

Saturday MotoGP Summary at Austin: Explaining Crashes, And New Rivalries

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There is a move afoot among MotoGP riders to have qualifying changed. Or rather, to have the way the selection is done for Q1 and Q2. A lot of riders have complained about the current system of prequalifying using combined times from FP1 through FP3.

The riders complain that they lose too much time to trying to set a fast lap in each session, just in case conditions change. The current counter proposal from the riders is to use just the FP3 times to select which riders go through to Q2 directly, and allow the teams to spend Friday focusing on setup.

Saturday morning exposed the weakness of such an idea. A combination of cold tires, strong wind, a bumpy track, poor tire selection on Friday night, and the narrow temperature working range of the Michelins saw eight riders crash a total of ten times in FP3.

Alex Rins crashed so heavily he broke both the radius and ulna in his left arm, and put himself out of action for Austin and Jerez, and possibly for Le Mans as well. The rest escaped relatively unscathed, but with many a temper blazing.

Basing passage into Q2 solely on FP3 results was not without risks of its own, Valentino Rossi told the Italian media. “Today, that would have been a stupid idea, because we would have had to take a lot of risks in difficult conditions,” Rossi said.

If there had been a total of ten crashes in a session in which most riders hadn’t pushed to improve their time, how many would have fallen if they had all been pushing to get through to Q2?

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