Episode 146 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one was recorded right after the news that Jack Miller would be making the jump up to the factory Ducati Corse MotoGP team.
As such, this show sees David Emmett, Steve English, and Neil Morrison on the microphones talking about the current state of the rider markets in the MotoGP and WorldSBK Championships, in this time of COVID-19.
The German round of WorldSBK at Oschersleben has now officially been canceled.
With Germany still imposing restrictions due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and large-scale events being banned in the country until August 31st, it was clear that the race would have to be postponed at the very least.
When postponement proved not to be possible, cancellation was the only option which remained. In its place, Dorna is planning to hold a round of WorldSBK in Jerez.
The return of World Championship racing took a big step towards reality on Thursday morning.
At a teleconference, Dorna, the regional government of Andalusia, and the city council of Jerez agreed on conditions to hold two MotoGP races and a WorldSBK round at the Jerez circuit.
The conditions would include a vastly reduced paddock, and holding the races behind closed doors, with no fans present. Those conditions have been turned into a proposal and submitted to the Spanish government for consideration.
On the day that practice was supposed to get underway for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, we are still a very long way from any racing happening.
Instead of riders warming up for the fifth race of the season, they are preparing for the third eSports race of 2020, to be played on the brand new MotoGP 20 computer game. It is also the first Virtual Grand Prix, featuring riders from all three classes, instead of just MotoGP.
It’s something, for many fans, but it’s not the same. Seeing bikes battle it out for an hour so in a computer game, and enjoying the banter between the riders, is entertaining, but it misses the visceral pleasure of real racing. Three days of practice, the roar of engines, the squeal of rubber, the scraping of kneepads over asphalt, the smell of hot oil.
Got big plans for the coming weekend? Of course you don’t, you’re probably stuck inside like the rest of us. But, we can help with that and ease your motorcycle cravings at the same time.
On Saturday, May 2nd at 8am PDT / 5pm CEST, Asphalt & Rubber will be sitting down with former WorldSBK champion and current MotoGP test rider Sylvain Guintoli, for a live chat on YouTube.
We will be talking a bit about Sylvain’s racing career, as well as his new efforts on YouTube, which have seen him making great videos that provide motorcycle riding advice to the masses.
Episode 141 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one takes down a trip on memory lane in the WorldSBK paddock, as Steve English, Gordon Ritchie, and Jensen Beeler talk about the 2002 World Superbike Championship.
One of the most memorable WorldSBK seasons, 2002 saw a battle for the championship between Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss, which went down to the very last race of the season: the Showdown at Imola.
An iconic battle, the final race at Imola is considered by many to be the best motorcycle race of modern times, and it is certainly worth a discussion while we are all stuck at home because of the coronavirus.
The 2020 world championship motorcycle racing calendars continue to slide due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday evening, it became apparent that there will be no racing in either MotoGP or WorldSBK before the end of June.
After last Wednesday’s announcement by German Chancellor Angela Merkel that large-scale events would be banned in Germany through August 31st, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte extended the ban on large-scale events in The Netherlands to September 1st.
These two announcements have a direct bearing on the WorldSBK and MotoGP calendars.
The next wave of rolling race postponements due to the current COVID-19 pandemic has hit. Today, the FIM announced that the next three rounds of WorldSBK, at Imola, Aragon, and Misano, have been either moved or canceled.
The WorldSBK grid is now due to assemble again at the UK round of WorldSBK, at Donington Park, from July 3rd to 5th.
There are many tragedies to the disruptions coming from the worldwide coronavirus outbreak, the loss of motorcycle being one of them (though certainly at a much lesser scale of importance to many of the losses we are suffering right now).
But for the purposes of being a daily motorcycle publication, not being able to see the new Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP on the WorldSBK stage is certainly a disappointment for us though.
This is because theHonda CBR1000RR-R represents HRC’s great inline-four hope for a production-class world championship title, most notably because the Japanese racing outfit has finally built an all-new racing platform for the superbike market.
Episode 139 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one is a departure from our usual broadcast, as we take you behind the microphones to meet the podcasting team that brings you your weekly motorcycle racing fix.
As such, this show includes David Emmett, Steve English, Neil Morrison, and Jensen Beeler on the microphones talking about how they got involved in racing and with each other on this podcasting endeavor.
We admit, it has been a bit rude of us to go so long without introducing ourselves, but hopefully this episode gives our listeners a little insight into who we are, why we are so crazy for motorcycle racing, and how the media landscape in the paddock has changed over time. We hope you enjoy this special episode.
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Source: SoundCloud
There is a desire for certainty in these uncertain times. Everyone involved in motorcycle racing is wondering what happens next, and when we will be able to start racing again. News websites are filled with countless interviews, news articles, and opinion pieces full of theories as to what the next race may be.
If there is one person in a position what the race might be, it is Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna, and the man who heads the organization which runs both the MotoGP and WorldSBK championships. Spanish sports daily AS.com spoke to Ezpeleta to find out where motorcycle racing stands in 2020.