Dearly beloved,

It is with heavy heart that we gather to say our final goodbyes to a legend: the Yamaha YZR-M1. Its life seemed short to us, but way too long to others. 
After a long struggle with a clinical lack of competitive edge and a distinct lack of aero, its family at Yamaha has decided to pull the plug and let its beloved inline-engined legend pass with dignity. The YZR-M1 is survived and will be missed by its V4 successors. 

You are hereby cordially invited to attend the wake of the Yamaha YZR-M1. The ceremony will be held by your hosts, Mat Oxley and Peter Bom, and all attendees are asked to bring along at least one beverage of their choice. 

Want more? Visit our website or support us on Patreon. With big thanks as always to Brad Baloo from The Next Men and Gentleman's Dub Club for writing our theme song. Check out The Nextmen for more great music!  Additional music in this episode: "Funeral March for Queen Mary", written by Henry Purcell, performed by Bablung Music.

Apologies! Something went horribly wrong last night with the recording, and it took as a long time to fix it. Mat's in Austin, Peter's in  Portimão and we completely forgot to sacrifice a chicken to the wifi-gods...the end result was a slight catastrophe where we ended up recording at least one of your host over the phone. Just imagine Peter sitting in the corner of a dark hotel room with a telephone in one fist and an old fashioned recorder in the other, and now you're getting it. 

So, what did they call about? Oh, it's a lot! There's the race, of course, and a risky wheelie - but we're also getting reports of some very, very interesting riders in Moto2, and some sources are claiming that BMW is more than serious about being on the grid sooner rather than later. 

If you're still reading this, you have my thanks - but you should probably hit play now! Enjoy, and cheers!

Want more? Visit our website or support us on Patreon. With big thanks as always to Brad Baloo from The Next Men and Gentleman's Dub Club for writing our theme song. Check out The Nextmen for more great music! 

You know how we sometimes promise we won't talk so much about tires? Well, we lie! You might have heard about Pirelli moving in and replacing Michelin as the official tire of MotoGP in 2027. And maybe you wonder how much influence a single change like this could possibly have. After all, they're just pieces of rubber - shouldn't we have basically perfected the art of the tire by now? 

Well, imagine it like this. Here you have a MotoGP bike, pure metal and technology that just wants to go fast.  It's powerful. It's very, very powerful. And underneath it is the hard and unforgiving tarmac. The only thing inbetween the two, and the only thing that translates that raw movement into something workeable, is this little bit of rubber called the tire. 

And it really has a mind of its own, sometimes. 

So join us this week as Mat and Peter discuss the impact of this change. Not just on the technology, but also on the riders and their strategies. It's fun! It's educational! It's hot and sticky! It's all yours! 

Cheers!

Want more? Visit our website or support us on Patreon. With big thanks as always to Brad Baloo from The Next Men and Gentleman's Dub Club for writing our theme song. Check out The Nextmen for more great music! 

 Britpop has the Gallagher brothers.  

Tennis has the Williams sisters. 

Video games have the Super Mario Bros. 

And MotoGP? It's the second race of the season and nobody is getting close to the Marquez brothers, bringing Ducati to dominate the track. Which begs the question: is MotoGP boring now? 

It's a tricky problem, that's for sure. What fun is a game when the winner is already basically determined before the match even starts? Or are we selling the sport short when we act as if winning is the only thing that matters? 

Case in point is everything happening in the brothers' dust. Peter is deeply fascinated by development behind the scenes and it's effects on rider psychology. Case in point: Honda is making a very speedy technical comeback, while KTM finds itself in hot water that's quickly heating up further. What does that mean for Acosta and Binder? Who do we expect to fight and ride harder: a man who's jockeying for position in the top three, with no chance of winning? Or his teammate, who's incredibly competitive but fighting for scraps at the end of the line? 

And Mat, meanwhile, doesn't mind a predictable outcome if it means that he gets to see genius at work. And the best rider in the world, riding the best bike in existence? How can you love MotoGP and not want to see that? 

Well, looks like we have plenty to talk about this week - so get ready, pour out a cold one and let's talk Argentina! 

Want more? Visit our website or support us on Patreon. With big thanks as always to Brad Baloo from The Next Men and Gentleman's Dub Club for writing our theme song. Check out The Nextmen for more great music! 

Oh, you knew it was coming! Just admit it. First it was December and we got you Kevin Schwantz. Did you really think we could do that, and then not invite Wayne Rainey? 

Come on, be real! 

Yes, we've got Wayne with us this week so you just know this is going to be fireworks. But it's not all about legendary rivalries and racing so hard you can feel your teeth chatter - it's also about being really clever and technical in ways that the rest of the world sometimes doesn't understand yet. Case in point: there's a good argument to be made that Rainey was the first to use datalogging on the bike. Think Peter has a few questions about that? 

There's lots more to tell, but I'm not going to bother. In fact, why are you still reading this? We've got Wayne Rainey waiting behind the play button. Go, go, go!

Want more? Visit our website or support us on Patreon. With big thanks as always to Brad Baloo from The Next Men and Gentleman's Dub Club for writing our theme song. Check out The Nextmen for more great music! 

It feels good to be back! 

The first race of a brand new season is in the pocket and it promises to be a very interesting season, indeed. We've got the Márquez brothers, both on Ducati's and both in front. Maybe not a surprise if you're Marc, but definitely a promising feat if you're Alex. Have we been underestimating the younger Márquez? 

And then there's Ai Ogura, the rookie who takes our breath away, and Jack Miller taking his brain out and showing that the right rider really can make the machine. Lot's to talk about, so why not press play and we'll get started! 

Oh, and before we forget...happy birthday to Mat! 

Want more? Visit our website or support us on Patreon. With big thanks as always to Brad Baloo from The Next Men and Gentleman's Dub Club for writing our theme song. Check out The Nextmen for more great music! 

You've got questions. We've got answers. Let's make a podcast!

Yes, this week we're once again opening up a big bag of mail to do some listener questions! Which listeners, you might ask? Our Patreons, of course, because they're awesome and you should really consider joining them. Then you, too, might ask questions like: 

Who takes the blame when a slow rider has a fast teammate? Will the future be electric, or is it running on biofuels? How much can a bikeframe bend if bikes was build to bend? Will we ever see a return of the mighty 2 stroke? And should riders seek out help from sport psychologists, or might that accidentally give a whole new (and very literal!) meaning to the words 'Freudian slip'? 

We've got the answers to these and more, so come get 'em!

Want more? Visit our website or support us on Patreon. With big thanks as always to Brad Baloo from The Next Men and Gentleman's Dub Club for writing our theme song. Check out The Nextmen for more great music! 

Ready for racing? So is everyone, but there’s one more test we need to talk about first – and it’s an event that shows some very interesting changes... 

Welcome to Buriram, Thailand. It’s the last chance to get everything in order before the big circus starts. If you’re a competitor, this is the moment you most want your tech to be not just cutting edge, but also on the exact right side of familiar so you can be in complete control of it. Unless you’re Ducati, and you just decide to go back to last year’s engine. 

Say what?

Yes, it might sound weird, but Mat and Peter believe it’s not that outlandish. In fact, they’ve seen things like this before and have a pretty good idea what might be causing it. The answer involves things like engine breaking and crankshaft inertia, and if you know what those things mean you’re going to love this. And if you don’t know, we’ll just explain it so you do – and then just see the previous sentence. 

We’ve also got some interesting insights into why the Yamaha handles not completely unlike a rally car and get ready to meet the new Aprilla, which looks to be very friendly. Oh, and Peter admits he might have underestimated a rider...but also tells us who he thinks needs a stern talking to! Watch out!

Want more? Visit our website or support us on Patreon. With big thanks as always to Brad Baloo from The Next Men and Gentleman's Dub Club for writing our theme song. Check out The Nextmen for more great music! 

We're back, we're back, we're finally back at the track! It might be a few weeks until the next season officially kicks off, but Mat and Peter need their fix yesterday. 

The solution? Send them to Sepang, where every team is getting their last tests in before the championship starts. It's hot, it's humid and when the rider kicks their machine into high gear, the power and the vibration will shakes your sternum all the way from the pitlane to the cheap seats. Man, it's good to be back!

So this week, come join us in the pitlane as your hosts dodge incoming riders and get in some final observations before we are, quite literally, off to the races...

Want more? Visit our website or support us on Patreon. With big thanks as always to Brad Baloo from The Next Men and Gentleman's Dub Club for writing our theme song. Check out The Nextmen for more great music! 

Beattie. Doohan. Rossi. What do these legends all have in common? Well, they all had their bikes worked on by Alex Briggs, for starters. This week, we're interviewing one of MotoGP's old veteran mechanics. He's the man who saw 26 seasons and multiple championship victories before retiring in 2020, and he's got some great stories for us...

This week, join us as we discover what it was like to work with some of MotoGP's greatest riders and what drove them. Want to know why Doohan needed a different kind of anger to go fast than Rossi? What it was like to work with one of the best bikes of it's era's, before moving on to one of its more infamous? Or how to accidentally go viral on racing Twitter? Well, stick around because we're about to find out!

Want more? Visit our website or support us on Patreon. With big thanks as always to Brad Baloo from The Next Men and Gentleman's Dub Club for writing our theme song. Check out The Nextmen for more great music!