Ducati’s 100% win rate in the 2025 MotoGP world championship masks the fact it’s not actually ever managed to race its full 2025 bike spec, its superstar new signing has crashed in confusing circumstances in two of the last three grands prix and its double champion is a tentative and puzzled shadow of his best form right now because he’s not ever quite sure what to expect from his bike’s handling.
So what’s Ducati been working on to solve Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia’s problems? A hungry and tired Simon Patterson in a very dark Spanish hotel room joins Matt Beer on The Race MotoGP Podcast to discuss everything that happened in Monday’s test and what it means for the rest of the season.
As well as Ducati’s issues and Marquez and Bagnaia’s contrasting handling of them, we also get into potentially significant development steps for Yamaha and Honda, and the realisation that Aprilia might have bigger problems than Jorge Martin’s long-term absence.
We also debate the big question of the Jerez race weekend: what’s going on at KTM that’s resulted in Maverick Vinales suddenly becoming its standout rider and Pedro Acosta suddenly looking overhyped?
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58:10
Could Marc Marquez blow the MotoGP title?
Marc Marquez has won three of the 2025 MotoGP season’s grands prix so far but crashed out of the other two - and that means he’s once again lost the championship lead after the Spanish Grand Prix.
Simon Patterson and Matt Beer convene for a quick mini-episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast to try to figure out what’s going on with Marc’s errors, how Fabio Quartararo and Yamaha came so close to winning a race and what Alex Marquez finally getting that elusive grand prix victory (and retaking the points lead) means for the season.
And The Race Members’ Club had plenty of opinions on all three topics for us to factor in too.
We’ll be back for a full podcast after Monday’s post-race test at Jerez to go deeper into the weekend’s many storylines.
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39:40
The biggest question facing every MotoGP manufacturer right now
Ahead of the European leg of the 2025 MotoGP season kicking off at Jerez, what is the biggest question facing every manufacturer?
Megan White and Valentin Khorounzhiy try to answer that question for each of Aprilia, Honda, Yamaha, KTM and Ducati.
What does Aprilia do now that Jorge Martin - on whom there is another injury update - is facing a further spell on the sidelines? How should Honda play the expiring contracts of Johann Zarco and Luca Marini?
How good does the Yamaha V4 engine - now being extensively track-tested - need to be before it is brought to races? And what can KTM learn from Maverick Vinales' formbook-breaking Qatar GP run?
Finally, what approach should Ducati take to its longer-term rider roster?
Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace
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1:03:36
BONUS: Qatar GP rider rankings Q&A special
There's no MotoGP race this weekend, so as a bonus we thought we'd share Val's Qatar GP rider rankings Q&A, which is usually members-only content.
Regular listeners will know that Val's rider rankings are posted to The Race website after each race. We then invite The Race Members' Club to send in follow-up questions, which Val then answers in an exclusive video posted to Patreon.
For example, in this one he muses on where Fabio di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez would have placed had they not crashed into other riders.
If you enjoy this episode and would like to get every subsequent one, plus ad-free episodes and our exclusive MotoGP Revisited series on the 2015 season, why not join The Race Members' Club today?
And don't worry if you're only interested in MotoGP and none of The Race's four-wheeled coverage - we have a riders-only tier!
Head to Patreon.com/therace today to sign up.
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26:39
Vinales and KTM's Qatar GP dream dashed while Martin gets hurt again
A frenzied Qatar Grand Prix weekend is discussed on the latest edition of The Race MotoGP Podcast, with Maverick Vinales stealing the spotlight away from the Marc Marquez-Alex Marquez-Pecco Bagnaia title fight.
Simon Patterson and Valentin Khorounzhiy discuss the Vinales performance - and the fact it has been effectively stricken from the record books by a tyre pressure penalty.
But why was Vinales so quick, how encouraged should KTM be and what does the weekend say about Pedro Acosta?
In terms of the title fight, should Bagnaia be worried about another heavy defeat versus Marquez - or can he simply view it as a consequence of his qualifying error?
There's also a discussion of Jorge Martin's latest bad injury and of the collision between Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio that left the former apologetic and the latter deeply incensed.
Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace
Follow the Race Moto channel on Instagram and Twitter
Check out our latest videos on YouTube
Download our app on iOS or Android
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Everything you need to know from the fascinating world of MotoGP racing, with host Matt Beer, The-Race.com's MotoGP correspondent Simon Patterson and MotoGP editor Valentin Khorounzhiy, plus special guests. We'll be talking about all the races, the big storylines, and taking the occasional trip back into the sport's rich history as well. Join us for the ride!
Österreich