The Race MotoGP Podcast

MotoGP 2026 is distilling into an ever-closer Marc Marquez vs Jorge Martin title showdown after the events of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend at Motegi.

But their battle for victory was heavily influenced by the bizarre scenario of riders switching to a back-up tyre specification that they'd all expected to be terrible - but that was actually fantastic! All of which left some of the grid's deeper thinkers admitting to feeling pretty daft.

Val Khorounzhiy, Simon Patterson and Eden Hannigan explain it all, give their thoughts on the direction of the title battle and hail great weekends for Enea Bastianini and Somkiat Chantra.

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MotoGP's planning a big shake-up to its race weekend format in 2027 with a new way of forming sprint grids on the agenda. Does it actually need to? And if it does, what should it do? That's what Val Khorounzhiy, Jordan Moreland and Matt Beer debate in The Race MotoGP Podcast.

Plus what we make of soon-to-be MotoGP rider Nicolo Bulega's World Superbike coronation, how the world might react to a second Jorge Martin title and Pedro Acosta's chances of kicking on with a winning streak.

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Pedro Acosta is FINALLY a MotoGP grand prix winner - though only after putting KTM through the agony of his sprint blunder first.

Simon and Val report from the Austrian Grand Prix on that error, that breakthrough win yet another title fight twist, as problems for Marc Marquez and a mysterious lack of Ducati pace coincided with perhaps Jorge Martin's strongest Aprilia weekend yet.

Plus we answer The Race Members' Club's questions on everything from Taka Nakagami to Brad Binder and a particularly woeful Yamaha weekend.

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Marc Marquez leads the MotoGP riders’ standings for the first time in 2026 after his Misano double win coincided with a weekend of pain for Aprilia.

Given how many races Marquez has missed, his injury struggles, and Aprilia often having the better bike, is Marquez on course for his greatest MotoGP championship win so far?

That’s one of the questions Val Khorounzhiy, Simon Patterson and Eden Hannigan debate on the San Marino Grand Prix episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast.

Plus whether Marco Bezzecchi is psychologically strong enough for the pressures of a title fight and whether Jorge Martin is just not quite as fast as he used to be - regardless of Sunday’s arm pump issues.

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Development work and access to Pirelli tyres are at the centre of a genuine row between Yamaha and its Honda-bound MotoGP factory rider Fabio Quartararo.

But does Quartararo have a point, or is he simply being petulant?

The Race MotoGP Podcast crew of Matt Beer, Val Khorounzhiy and Simon Patterson discuss the merits of Quartararo's gripe - and talk about other seasons by riders on their way out, like Brad Binder, Jack Miller and Pecco Bagnaia.

Then they give a preview of the championship run-in.

Join The Race Members' Club: Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more!
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