Marquez ramps up pressure on Aprilia as Vinales prepares to leave MotoGP

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.Get our MotoGP insight straight to your inbox - Sign up for our new MotoGP newsletter The Lean Angle here!Join The Race Members' Club: Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our Revisited series, ad-free listening and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marc Marquez made a massive stride forward in the MotoGP title fight by winning both races at Aragon, but his 2027 Ducati team-mate Pedro Acosta gave him a few unexpected headaches along the way.At a track where the other KTMs were miles behind, Acosta’s hassling of Marquez felt a little like a prelude to next season. But was Marquez just playing with him?Val Khorounzhiy, Simon Patterson and Matt Beer debate that on The Race MotoGP Podcast, plus whether Marquez is having to rely too much on his specialist circuits and, if so, whether he has enough of them left to beat the Aprilias to the title.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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who has been the best MotoGP rider of the 2026 season so far? Val Khorounzhiy ranks every rider after each MotoGP race weekend, and he's compiled a worst-to-best ranking by awarding points to each rider for their placement every weekend. He presents the list unedited - so it purely reflects where each rider has placed in his rankings each week (and Matt Beer's for Assen) - so he, Matt and Simon Patterson can discuss it on the latest episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast.Make sure you're signed up to The Race Members' Club to get exclusive MotoGP bonus content, ask questions for the podcast and ask about Val's rider rankings in the second half of 2026.Check it out here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheRace/membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aprilia was everyone's pick to prevail in MotoGP's British Grand Prix, and did so in style - locking out the podium in both races, as Jorge Martin reinforced his championship lead.But is Martin the new title favourite? And was Marc Marquez, who still sounds quite gloomy about his physical condition, further adrift than expected?Megan White and Simon Patterson report from Silverstone, while also touching on Pecco Bagnaia's dreadful weekend, another Joan Mir crash and more.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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MotoGP has a proud history in the UK, but the British Grand Prix has struggled to attract the requisite crowds as of late - despite Silverstone's knack for producing great racing and the roaring success of its F1 events.So what's going on? Host Matt Beer is joined by Simon Patterson, Megan White and Oliver Card to discuss what Silverstone and MotoGP need to do to recharge the British GP experience - and whether there's a risk of this coming with a feared 'F1-ification' of MotoGP.But before all that, a check-in on Maverick Vinales, who has denied a report that KTM is looking to suspend his MotoGP season - which would likely end his MotoGP career even earlier than expected.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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A lot has changed at Honda since the departure of Marc Marquez at the end of the 2023 season. MotoGP’s most successful brand has went through a turbulent period since then, things have improved but maybe not at the rate they'd have hoped for - as this era of MotoGP comes to an end.For 2027, they’ve got the big name signing of Fabio Quartararo from Yamaha, but will the expectation from the Frenchmen match the ambition of Honda as the 850cc era in MotoGP begins.Also, who will be his teammate next season? Will it be current MotoGP rookie Diogo Moreira or Moto2 star David Alonso?Jordan Moreland, Valentin Khorounzhiy and Simon Patterson discuss it all in the latest episode of The Race MotoGP podcast.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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A fresh injury to former points leader Marco Bezzecchi coupled with a perfect weekend from Sachsenring master Marc Marquez means the MotoGP title picture has now flipped completely from a few months back.Is Marquez's eighth crown now inevitable? Which rider in the Aprilia camp stands the best chance at challenging him from here on? And why has the Aprilia factory team collapsed so dramatically - while satellite team Trackhouse is achieving its best-ever results?All this, plus an extensive conversation about Maverick Vinales's likely MotoGP exit and legacy in the championship, in the German Grand Prix episode, featuring Val Khorounzhiy and Simon Patterson on site at the Sachsenring.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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How many riders are actually in MotoGP title contention and who’s now the favourite?Have the factory Aprilia riders let Marc Marquez get too close? Is Ai Ogura now a realistic contender? Don’t forget Fabio Di Giannantonio is top Ducati and a very close third in the points!Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy, Eden Hannigan and Matt Beer assess the championship chances of the current top eight in the very close standings, using some very dubious maths and varying degrees of preparatory homework.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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ai Ogura’s been on the cusp of a MotoGP win for months now, and he achieved it in style at Assen - putting himself into genuine championship contention in the process. That was in large part because the works Aprilia racers failed to capitalise on the RS-GP’s dominant pace in the Netherlands.Simon Patterson joins Matt Beer on The Race MotoGP Podcast to discuss why Trackhouse overshadowed the factory bikes, the latest disaster for Marco Bezzecchi and a muted round for Marc Marquez. Plus the bizarre violence of the Assen crashes and a very, very strange weekend for the KTMs.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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.