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Got big plans for the weekend? Of course you don’t, you’re stuck inside like the rest of us. But, we can help with that and ease your motorcycle cravings at the same time.

On Saturday, April 25th at 11am PST / 8pm CEST, Asphalt & Rubber will be sitting down with MV Agusta CEO Timur Sardarov for a live chat on YouTube, and you can join us.

I have some questions of my own for Timur, but we want to make the show interactive, so we will be taking questions from the audience as well.

If you are reading this, it should be fairly obvious that Asphalt & Rubber has undergone a bit of an upgrade.

This redesign has been a long time coming, but we finally gave the old girl a sprucing up, just in time for her 10th birthday, which will be in October this year.

I won’t bore you with the technical and editorial advantages that A&R 2.0 brings us, though there are many, but from a reader’s standpoint there are a few things we want to highlight:

  • Loads faster
  • More stories on the front page
  • Better category browsing
  • Mobile and tablet friendly
  • Photo galleries actually work (check it out at the end of this post)
  • New storytelling formats
  • Rich media friendly (videos, podcasts, etc)
  • Way more cowbell

The full transition to the new layout and site will take a few more days to complete, so pardon our dust while we work. The basics should all be ready for you at this point though: reading stories, navigating categories, and commenting.

Our A&R Pro readers have been taking the new site for a spin this last month, and we have gotten a great deal of feedback from them and are already making those changes to the site.

Now that it is live for everyone, feel free to kick the tires on the new design and leave us your thoughts on the layout.

We know things like the A&R Pro pages, contact forms, and sidebar need some work. Those should be ready by the end of the Labor Day weekend, if not sooner. 

A quick shout out to a few people who were instrumental at the various stages of this process, I doubt we would have gotten here without their hard work: Ivan Lo, Dustin Gibbs, Louda Peña, and Dan Lloyd. Many thanks to them for dealing with my reptile brain.

And as always, thank you dear readers for coming to Asphalt & Rubber every day. You all make the hard work worthwhile. Let’s all head to the comments section and sing kumbaya.

-JB

Episode 33 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, just in time for your weekend listening. This episode sees David Emmett and Neil Morrison discussing the German GP at the Sachsenring, as well as the first official MotoGP test at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Major points of conversation include Cal Crutchlow’s performance in the wet conditions of Germany, as well as Scott Redding’s string of good results.

David and Neil also talk about the progress made on both the Ducati and Honda racing machines, with of course some obvious attention given to the landslide results that the Ducati riders posted in Austria.

The show finishes up with a look at the Moto2 and Moto3 paddocks, where we are seeing some great racing unfolding, as well as some movements for next year.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on FacebookTwitter 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!

Episode 32 of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees Steve and Neil talking about the MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3 racing at the Dutch TT. The guys talk about the unusual circumstances with the weather, which caused a red flag in the MotoGP race, and had quite the affect on the results.

Steve and Neil also talk a bit about Ducati’s missed opportunities this year in MotoGP, and the real prospects of riders like Alex Rins finding factory seats in the premier class. The show finishes up with a look at the Moto2 Championship, and there is an in-depth briefing on what is going on in Moto3.

Lastly, we get a preview of the World Superbike racing that’s going on at Laguna Seca this week.

The show is a bit later than we would have liked (my fault, and my apologies), but we think you will still find it highly relevant, especially as MotoGP gets ready to go to Sachsenring for the German GP.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on FacebookTwitter 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!

Episode 31 of the Paddock Pass Podcast comes to you from Misano, Italy where David Emmett joins Steve English for the recent World Superbike round. The two talk about the weekend’s racing, and catch us up with the general happenings of the WSBK paddock.

The obvious major topic of discussion is Jonathan Rea’s domination so far this year, as he leads Tom Sykes and Chaz Davies in the Championship standings.

Talk about the other “factory” teams also occurs, mostly looking at the differences of factory support in WSBK. This includes the plight of Nicky Hayden and the Honda Racing outfit, as well as the Pata Yamaha and Milwaukee BMW squads, who don’t have the same budgets and resources as Ducati and Kawasaki.

In addition to that, we think you will enjoy the conversation about Leon Camier and MV Agusta, both of who had great outings at the Misano round. MV Agusta is slowly making progress with its program, but the company’s financial difficulties put clouds over the Italian outfit’s future.

To finish things up, the guys also have a frank conversation about the difficulties riders have moving from WSBK into the MotoGP paddock.

Whether you are a regular follower of World Superbike racing, or just a casual observer, we think you will find this episode both highly insightful and entertaining.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on FacebookTwitter 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!

A very special installment of the Paddock Pass Podcast, episode 30 takes us to the Isle of Man TT, where Steve and Tony have been for the past two weeks, covering this iconic road race. They are joined on the show by yours truly, where we have a detailed conversation about the fortnight’s activities, as well as the future of the TT.

The show also includes a lengthy interview with John McGuinness, who discusses what it’s like behind the scenes as a racer at the Isle of Man TT, and how he’s seen the TT change over his 20-year career at the Isle of Man. It’s a pretty frank and honest report from McPint, and surely worth a listen in its own regard.

The show is fairly long, even by PPP standards, but we think you will find it immensely enjoyable. Be warned though, if you haven’t been to the Isle of Man before, we are not responsible if this episode makes you book your ticket for next year’s TT.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on FacebookTwitter 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!

Episode 29 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and it has David Emmett and Neil Morrison covering the recent GP races at the Catalan GP in Barcelona, Spain – as well as the post-race test that was held in Catalunya, the Monday after the race.

The show starts with a discussion about the tragic loss of Luis Salom on Friday, with the guys talking about Luis’ life, both on and off the track. That somber conversation eventually turns to the racing action in Catalunya, as three well-fought races took place in Spain.

The bulk of the MotoGP conversation is about Rossi’s battle with Marcquez, again a conversation that spans from the on-track action, to off-track as well, as Rossi and Marquez seem to be finding some common ground to begin tolerating each other.

The boys then discuss the happenings in Moto3 and Moto2, followed by a discussion of Monday’s MotoGP testing. New tires, new parts, and some insight into how the 2016 MotoGP season might end were topics of major concern. We think you’ll find it highly informative, as always.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on FacebookTwitter 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!

Episode 28 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is is another special edition show, and again are we taking a break from our usual routine to find out more about life from a less-talked-about part of the MotoGP paddock.

As such, David Emmett sits down with photographers Tony Goldsmith and Scott Jones to find out what it is like to photograph professional motorcycle racing, especially in the MotoGP Championship.

The guys cover everything from what gear they carry, to what tracks they prefer, and they give an honest account of to what life inside the paddock is truly like – when you’re not a professional motorcycle racer, that is. It’s another insightful show that you won’t want to miss.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on FacebookTwitter 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!

Episode 27 of the Paddock Pass Podcast sees Steve English and Neil Morrison catching up mostly on the MotoGP happenings at the Italian GP in Mugello.

Wrapping up what has been an eventful week with the riders’ contracts for the 2017 season, the show then focuses on the racing action in Italy, with mentions about the Moto2 and Mot3 races, which were equally enjoyable to watch.

The guys also give some attention to the World Superbike paddock, talking about the series’ recent racing in Sepang, and looking ahead on the calendar for WSBK at Donington Park.

With the Isle of Man TT starting this weekend as well, there is plenty of racing action to fuel the Paddock Pass Podcast, so keep your ears tuned for more shows.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on FacebookTwitter 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!

Episode 26 of the Paddock Pass Podcast provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the life of a MotoGP racer, as Pippa Laverty (wife to racer Eugene Laverty) recently sat down with David Emmett (MotoMatters) to discuss life from inside the paddock.

Pippa provides an interesting perspective into an often overlooked part of the MotoGP racing lifestyle, especially what it’s like being married to an international motorcycle racer, and what that demands from the people around him.

We think you will find her perspective intriguing and her comments insightful, especially in answering the listener-submitted questions from Twitter. Many thanks to Pippa for taking the time out of her schedule to talk to the Paddock Pass Podcast.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on FacebookTwitter 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!