Episode 177 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one is a WorldSBK show, which means that this one sees Steve English and Gordon Ritchie on the mics.
Joining our dynamic WorldSBK duo is Ducati Corse rider Scott Redding, who sat down with Steve for a one-on-one about his time in the World Superbike paddock, and what he’s looking for from the 2021 season.
There are some tracks MotoGP goes to where you can pretty sure of what to expect. Jerez will be sunny and warm, though some years are warmer than others. Motegi will be cold, with a good chance of rain.
The heat in Thailand and Sepang will be brutal, with a 4pm downpour in Sepang pretty much guaranteed.
There are other tracks where you are pretty much guaranteed a bit of everything. Sachsenring will invariably have one cold morning and one wet morning, and a sweltering afternoon.
Episode 204 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this show previews the upcoming French GP at Le Mans.
On the mics, we have Steve English, David Emmett, Neil Morrison, and Adam Wheeler, as they get us ready for the on-track action coming this weekend.
Normality returns, at last. MotoGP is finally back at a track where the schedule follows the same pattern as the rest of the year, at a circuit which everyone in MotoGP – riders, teams, manufacturers, tire makers, equipment manufacturers – knows like the back of their hands, and at its normal slot in the calendar, late April and early May.
After Qatar and Portimão, two tracks which held so many unknowns, we are very firmly back in known territory.
It is hard to overstate just how well everyone knows the circuit. From CEV to Red Bull Rookies to Grand Prix to WorldSBK, and even BSB and CIV, the Circuito de Jerez Angel Nieto is used to race, to test, on track days and practice days.
Riders have hundreds of laps at the circuit under their belts before they even reach the Grand Prix paddock.
After a month in the desert, MotoGP returns to something more resembling normality. The Grand Prix paddock has left Qatar behind to fly to Europe, gathering at the Circuito do Algarve in Portimão, Portugal.
The change is all-encompassing: from the wild temperature swings from day to night of Qatar to the temperate climes of Portugal’s Algarve coast in balmy springtime; from dust and wind to mist and sunshine. From the bright artificial spotlights to being bathed in natural sunlight.
Above all, though, the change is from having a narrow window where everything resembled race conditions, that golden hour from 7pm to 8pm, to having usable conditions both morning and afternoon.
From a track where Michelin couldn’t bring a selection of tires which would allow a choice for the race at night, to a track where the teams should be able to find a tire that works for their bike, instead of having to bend their bikes to suit the only tire that will withstand the the weird conditions that prevail in the Qatari night.
Not that tires won’t be an issue at Portimão. Last year’s allocation has been tweaked, based on data collected at the track when MotoGP visited for the first time.
And because we go there now in mid-April, rather than late November, when the sun is higher in the sky and radiating more heat into the ribbon of asphalt the riders have to traverse.
One week later, MotoGP is back at the same race track, with the same riders, and likely racing in pretty much the same conditions. Does this mean we are going to see exactly the same result in the Doha Grand Prix as we did for the Qatar Grand Prix?
That will depend. And it will perhaps depend on how well the MotoGP riders learn the lessons of last week, as well as the lessons of the past. If Maverick Viñales maintains the form he showed last Sunday, he will be very difficult to beat.
Can the 2021 MotoGP season match the weirdness and wildness of 2020? The circumstances are different, but the path that led to Qatar 2021 has laid the groundwork for another fascinating year.
2021 sees two trends colliding to create (we hope) a perfect storm. There is the long-term strategy set out after the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 by Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, with support and backing from the many bright minds in Dorna and IRTA.
Episode 195 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this show is the third of three season-preview shows that we will be releasing this week. This must mean that we are talking about the start of the Moto3 Championship.
On the mics, we have Steve English, David Emmett, Neil Morrison, and Adam Wheeler, and they are joined with an interview with Moto3 Darryn Binder. Just as in the other previews, the show runs through the expectations for the year.
The preseason is over. Preparations have been made, new parts tested, bikes, bodies, and brains readied, though not necessarily in that order. MotoGP is on the verge of starting another brand new season.
There was less to develop, test, and prepare this year, the aftermath of rules imposed during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic introducing freezes on engine development and limiting aerodynamic updates.
The four factories who did not have concessions in 2020 – Ducati, Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha – will all be forced to use the engines they homologated for their riders last year for the 2021 season.
KTM, who lost concessions thanks to a phenomenally successful season which included three victories, has been allowed to design a new engine for 2021, but must freeze it at the first race in Qatar.
Aprilia, the only remaining factory with full concessions, will be allowed to continue to develop their engine throughout 2021, and will have nine engines to last the season, instead of the seven the other factories have to try to make last the year.
In terms of aerodynamics, things are a little simpler: the riders can either use their 2020 aero package, or they can introduce one upgrade aero package at any time during the season (including at the first race).
And of course, aerodynamics packages are applied per rider, rather than per manufacturer.
Episode 193 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one is one of three season-preview shows that we will be releasing this week. Of course, we are starting with the MotoGP Championship
On the mics, we have Steve English, David Emmett, and Adam Wheeler, and they are joined by MotoGP pitlane reporter and ex-grand prix racer Simon Crafar.
Simon brings with him a host of information and knowledge from a life in the paddock, and it was a genuine pleasure and privilege to have him on the show.
A special treat for our Paddock Pass Podcast listeners this week, in addition to our regularly planned show that will come out Wednesday, today we are sharing with you one of our shows made just for the Paddock Pass Podcast Patreon supporters (say that three times fast).
In this one, we have Steve English and David Emmett on the mics and they discuss what to expect from the MotoGP teams as we head into the opening round at Qatar, with a preview of what we’ll see at the test (which happened this past weekend).