Are Ducati and Marc Marquez in trouble in their MotoGP 2026 title defence?

MotoGP’s 2027 rider market moved VERY early… and then the season-opener might’ve come as a shock to some teams banking on their new signings having put old problems behind them.Messy at best, abject at worst starts to 2026 for Pecco Bagnaia, Alex Marquez and Maverick Vinales in particular left many in The Race Members’ Club asking whether teams had jumped too soon to nail down next year’s line-ups.Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer give their take on The Race MotoGP Podcast - both on the riders with probably-secure 2027 futures who’ve started 2026 badly, and the riders with uncertain futures who’ve begun this year very well.Enjoy 90% off your first month with The Race Members' Club: Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more.Follow the Race Moto channel on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠Check out our latest videos on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aprilia beat the brakes off MotoGP's usual dominant force Ducati in a fascinating 2026 season opener - so how worried should Ducati and star rider Marc Marquez be after a dispiriting Thai Grand Prix?Simon Patterson and Val Khorounzhiy discuss the chief storylines from Buriram, including the last-second deflation of a weekend Marquez looked to have salvaged, the source of Aprilia's dominance and a potential career-best weekend from new championship leader Pedro Acosta.Plus, why did Yamaha keep its riders from the media on Sunday - and how bad was its 2026 bike's competitive debut? And what of rookies Diogo Moreira and Toprak Razgatlioglu?Enjoy 90% off your first month with The Race Members' Club: Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more.Follow the Race Moto channel on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠Check out our latest videos on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This might not be the most unpredictable season MotoGP has ever gone into, but there is very good reason to expect a much more open and intriguing 2026 campaign compared to 2025 - as Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer explain on The Race MotoGP Podcast.Why some form of title fight is potentially on and who’ll be giving Marc Marquez the most headaches is our main topic, and we also make our predictions for who’ll make the biggest improvement over 2025 and who’ll go in the other direction.Plus Matt has a few ‘one-line-only answers’ curveball prediction questions for Simon and Val too.Enjoy 90% off your first month with The Race Members' Club: Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more.Follow the Race Moto channel on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠Check out our latest videos on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MotoGP’s 2026 pre-season is over, so with the shakedown and two main tests complete and the season-opening Thai Grand Prix looming next weekend, who’s got most (and least) to smile about?Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer debate that as The Race MotoGP Podcast delves into both the data and the vibes from the final days of winter running.Enjoy a 7-day free trial to The Race Members' Club: Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more.Follow the Race Moto channel on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠Check out our latest videos on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MotoGP is dropping one of its most iconic and beloved tracks as Phillip Island loses the Australian Grand Prix to the Adelaide street track. But is it really feasible to make Adelaide MotoGP-safe, and is the long game actually to take the race somewhere else entirely? Simon has some very strong views on it all.And as well as a circuit dropping out of MotoGP, we're also looking at which riders might be squeezed out (and who'll replace them) as we tackle the latest batch of The Race Members' Club's questions about the big 2027 moves and machinations.Enjoy a 7-day free trial to The Race Members' Club: Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more.Follow the Race Moto channel on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠Check out our latest videos on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Ducati taking a huge risk in potentially putting Pedro Acosta alongside Marc Marquez for 2027, especially when it still has Fermin Aldeguer on its books too?Why has Ducati never seemed interested in Fabio Quartararo? Would Pecco Bagnaia be making a huge mistake if he picked Yamaha over Aprilia?Those are just some of the many, many questions from The Race Members’ Club that Val Khorounzhiy, Simon Patterson and Matt Beer tackle as The Race MotoGP Podcast answers your queries and points about the headlines of the wild 2027 rider market so far.And we delve into the philosophy of the paddock deals and how they’re communicated too, exploring everything from how and why leaks to the media happen, what salaries different teams might offer and why riders and teams seem so determined to commit to long term contracts way earlier than appears sensible.Enjoy a 7-day free trial to The Race Members' Club: Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more.Follow the Race Moto channel on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠Check out our latest videos on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MotoGP 2026 roared into life with the three-day pre-season test at Sepang, set against the backdrop of more and more dramatics on the rider market.The Race MotoGP Podcast panel of Matt Beer, Simon Patterson and Val Khorounzhiy delve into the testing action, with analysis of long run pace and peak laptimes and the feedback from teams and riders.Has Ducati successfully safeguarded its MotoGP dominance? Are Aprilia and Marco Bezzecchi the only credible threat? And how much can be read into Pecco Bagnaia and particularly Alex Marquez having the initial upper hand over champion Marc Marquez?Plus, what's the latest on Bagnaia's future - with him sounding increasingly resigned to a Ducati exit for 2027?We also check in on Yamaha, with its mid-test 'hiatus' eventually resolved and a performance picture starting to form, including for somewhat frustrated rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu.Enjoy a 7-day free trial to The Race Members' Club: Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more.Follow the Race Moto channel on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠Check out our latest videos on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first days of 2026 MotoGP testing have been dominated by talk of who's going where for 2027. There's a LOT for Val Khorounzhiy, Simon Patterson and Matt Beer to unpack as The Race MotoGP Podcast dives into Fabio Quartararo, Jorge Martin, Pedro Acosta and Alex Marquez's big likely moves plus how Marc Marquez could blow it all apart and why Marco Bezzecchi just got married to a motorbike.Enjoy a 7-day free trial to The Race Members' Club: Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more.Follow the Race Moto channel on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠Check out our latest videos on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A pleasing but not-that-different MotoGP 2026 livery took centre stage in Ducati’s launch event ahead of its latest title defence - but there was a lot more to dig into from behind-the-scenes at its presentation.Senior figures shed some light on the hotly-anticipated GP26 and its main areas of design focus, while Marc Marquez offered a fresh update on his ongoing recovery from the shoulder injury that forced him out of the final races of 2025 and the post-season test.The big news, however, is that Ducati and Marquez are making no secret of the fact they’re moving fast on a new MotoGP contract - while the factory future of team-mate Pecco Bagnaia looks as open as ever.Enjoy a 7-day free trial to The Race Members' Club: Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more.Follow the Race Moto channel on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠Check out our latest videos on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MotoGP is another step closer to the start of its 2026 campaign with the start of the ‘launch season’, with team presentation events held by Yamaha satellite team Pramac, Ducati satellite team VR46 and the works Aprilia team.Simon Patterson was on-site for all three across three days, and joins Valentin Khorounzhiy for a special edition of The Race MotoGP Podcast to discuss the teams’ presentations and outlooks for 2026.From Aprilia’s ongoing quest to find a title sponsor and admission that rival firms are chasing its riders with big-money offers, to Toprak Razgatlioglu’s debut in Pramac colours and VR46’s tweaked look, Simon and Val discuss the first MotoGP storylines of the year.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.Follow the Race Moto channel on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠Check out our latest videos on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.