Tank Slappers - A Motorsport Network MotoGP Podcast

Dre Harrison is back to host another episode of Tank Slappers after a newsworthy Grand Prix of Qatar, joined by Autosport and Motorsport.com writers Uri Puigdemont and Richard Asher. 

Once again it was Marc Marquez who dominated from the front to take his third double victory of the season in the Sprint and the Grand Prix. The trio talk about Marquez’s brilliance despite the early clash with his brother Alex, and the worry for teammate Francesco Bagnaia, who was expected to win on a track he’s won at multiple times before.

There’s also the latest news on the condition of World Champion Jorge Martin, who suffered a horrendous crash after being struck by Fabio DiGiannantonio, and is set to miss three months of racing after having his lung collapse and breaking 11 of his ribs. 

Maverick Vinales shocked everyone in the sport by giving Marquez a run for his money by finishing second on the road, only to drop to 14th after the race finished due to a breach of the tyre pressure regulations. Dre and Richard discuss whether the rule needs changing after Vinales spent multiple laps leading to bring his tyre pressures down. 

There’s also the polarising performances coming from the Japanese manufactures, as Honda’s Johann Zarco continues to impress with a fourth-placed finish, while Fabio Quartararo falls down the order after claiming his first front-row start in nearly three years. 

In an exclusive interview, Uri Puigdemont sits down with eight-time World Champion and newest Ducati MotoGP rider, Marc Marquez.

In it, Marc talks about his career-defining switch from Honda to Ducati in 2023, the relationship between himself and brother Alex as they both compete for the sport’s greatest prize, how his family are dealing with the fights on-track, and how he’s getting along with new teammate Francesco Bagnaia.

There’s also a deep dive into Marquez’s mentality, from the recent chaos of that aborted start in Austin, the crash that ended his perfect start to 2025, and what Marc would tell his 18-year-old self, nearly 15 years after his first World Championship in the 125cc class.

Given MotoGP came out of Austin, Texas this weekend, it’s safe to say we got The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Marc Marquez, who’s controversial last-minute bike switch caused chaos just minutes before the start of the Grand Prix of the Americas.

Dre Harrison and Uri Puigdemont break down all the angles from the incident, including the dialogue that led up to Marquez’s last-minute switch. This includes why the conditions made that decision so difficult in the first place, why Race Director Mike Webb threw the Red Flag to abandon the start, and why Marquez avoided the ride-through penalty he should have gotten as per the regulations.

The race itself also had a dramatic flashpoint with Marc Marquez crashing from the lead of the race, handing a comfortable victory to Francesco Bagnaia, his first of the year. With it, Alex Marquez now leads the Championship, and Bagnaia sits just 11 points behind. 

The show also features a sit-down interview with Suzuki legend and 1993 MotoGP World Champion Kevin Schwantz, who discusses the dynamics between Ducati teammates Bagnaia and Marquez, where brother Alex fits into the title fight. There’s also Kevin’s opinion on the state of developing talent in the United States via MotoAmerica, and what MotoGP can learn from F1’s Drive to Survive as the sport tries to extend its reach in the US. 

Welcome back to Tank Slappers. On this week's episode, host Dre Harrison is joined by Motorsport.com writers Oriol Puigdemont and Federico Faturos to report on all the action and news coming out of the 2025 Grand Prix of Argentina.

At the front, it was almost a case of Deja Vu as Marc Marquez defeated his brother Alex in a one-on-one fight. But the trio ponders on whether Marc was at 100% of his speed in an attempt to win, or whether there could be even more potential in the tank for the Spaniard as he took his 90th Grand Win, tying him with the great Angel Nieto for third all-time in GP history.

There's a chat about Francesco Bagnaia's side of the garage. The Double World Champion could only finish fourth in the race, with the rider himself admitting they're "missing something" from the feeling of the latest Ducati GP25. With the Italian 31 points behind Marquez in the standings, how concerned should be?

There's also a deep dive on Ai Ogura's technical disqualification as Aprilia could only manage one bike finishing in 15th place across their weekend, and whether reigning Champion Jorge Martin may get a test before returning from his injuries, with his recovery time extended through the United States GP in a week and a half's time.

Finally, there's talk about Pirelli becoming the sport's official tyre supplier from 2027 and why it may be adding to the "Monopoly" arguments in the midst of Liberty Media's attempted purchase, and whether Argentina has a future on the calendar with the sport confirming a race in neighbouring Brazil in 2026. 

Tank Slappers is back for the 2025 Season! Taking over the reins is Dre Harrison, alongside Autosport’s Chief Motorsport Writer Ben Hunt, and Motorsport.com MotoGP reporter Oriol Puigdemont.

The trio sit down to review the opening round of the 2025 MotoGP season in Buriram, Thailand at the Chang International Circuit. It was a dream debut for Marc Marquez in the Ducati red, dominating the proceedings to finishing in a 1-2 in both the Sprint and Grand Prix with his brother Alex. How impressive was Marc’s performance? How concerned should Francesco Bagnaia be after only managing a pair of third places? 

There’s also the fact that Marquez had to concede an early second-and-a-half advantage to comply with MotoGP’s tyre regulation rule. A necessary evil, or bad for the show?

There’s also a discussion on Ai Ogura and the best debut performance in the sport since 2013 after finishing 5th in his first race with Trackhouse, the latest on Jorge Martin’s broken hands, and asking if Honda and Yamaha are finally closing the gap to Ducati and Aprilia. 

The 2025 MotoGP rider market exploded on Monday after Autosport revealed that Ducati had changed its mind and decided to promote Marc Marquez over Jorge Martin to its factory team.

Ahead of last week's Italian Grand Prix, it looked as if championship leader Martin was set to get the nod for the factory Ducati team.

Then it all unravelled as Ducati's hopes of placing Marquez on a factory bike at Pramac faded when the eight-time world champion said the team was "not an option".

Ducati faced a crossroads and the possibility of having to lose Marquez or Martin to a rival factory in 2025. On Sunday, it decided it would have to lose Martin to keep Marquez.

Martin duly went to Aprilia and a deal was put together on Sunday night and signed on the Monday.

In the latest Tank Slappers podcast, Autosport's Lewis Duncan and Motorsport.com's Oriol Puigdemont discuss the Martin/Marquez situation, how it came to pass and what it means next for MotoGP.

They also look at the other dominoes that will no fall into place in the wake of this.

The 2024 MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix offered up a raft of talking points as Francesco Bagnaia bounced back from a sprint crash with victory on Sunday.

The reigning world champion crashed out of the lead on the final lap of the Catalan GP sprint to end a Saturday win drought dating back to the Austrian GP last year.

It softened the blow of a difficult sprint for championship leader Jorge Martin, who was able to extend his points lead over Bagnaia. The factory Ducati rider bounced back brilliantly in the grand prix, however, to beat Martin for his third GP win of the season.

Martin extends his championship lead to 39 points, while Marc Marquez rose from 14th on the grid to seal podiums in both races at Barcelona.

Prior to the weekend, Aleix Espargaro announced he will retire from MotoGP at the end of the 2024 season. But he proved he is going out on a high with pole and victory in the sprint.

In the latest Tank Slappers podcast, Autosport's Lewis Duncan and Motorsport.com's Oriol Puigdemont discuss Espargaro's career and the on-track action at Barcelona.

They also look at the looming decision Ducati must make about its factory line-up for 2025 and why it's not as easy as it may seem.

A thrilling French Grand Prix at the fifth round of the 2024 MotoGP season looks to have drawn the battle lines for a three-way title fight.

Pramac Ducati rider Jorge Martin put in a perfect weekend to claim pole, sprint and grand prix wins, the latter coming after absorbing immense late pressure from Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia.

Martin is now 38 points clear in the standings and put in the best weekend of his career at a point in which Ducati is nearing a final decision on its second factory team rider for 2025.

He is facing stiff competition from Marc Marquez, though, who came from 13th on the grid to finish second in both the sprint and the grand prix to move to within 40 points of the championship lead.

Having scored his first grand prix podium of the year at Jerez, Marquez is now proving consistent on the year-old Ducati and has set his sights firmly on a factory bike for next year.

On the latest Tank Slappers podcast, Autosport's Lewis Duncan and Motorsport.com's Oriol Puigdemont discuss Martin and Marquez's races and what they mean for Ducati's 2025 decision.

They also look at the ongoing troubles for Honda after another dismal weekend, while ponder what the 2027 regulations will do for MotoGP.

MotoGP returned home this past weekend with the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix from Jerez, and the fans were treated to an all-time classic between two of the very best riders in the world.

Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia had an intense battle for the win, taking advantage of a Jorge Martin crash from the lead in the middle period of the race, and Bagnaia ultimately triumphed with his third straight Jerez victory by just four tenths of a second.

On this week's edition of Tank Slappers, Autosport's Lewis Duncan and Motorsport.com's Oriol Puigdemont discuss the intoxicating fight, as well as Martin's role in the action, and where all three of the riders title campaigns could he heading with Le Mans next up in a fortnights time. 

Also discussed on the show this week, more struggles for Honda as Luca Marini was the last rider over the line, Johann Zarco getting kicked out of Race Direction after a crash with Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro, and whether Jerez can be a "blue ribbon" race for the sport, like Monaco could be for Formula 1, now both sports are under the Liberty Media umbrella. 

Last weekend's Americas Grand Prix produced numerous talking points as the 2024 MotoGP season continues to thrill, with Maverick Vinales stealing the headlines for Aprilia.

Thrown a career lifeline by Aprilia after his acrimonious split with Yamaha midway through 2021, Vinales had so far failed to deliver the kind of results expected of him.

But in America, having taken a breakthrough sprint win in Portugal, Vinales put together a perfect weekend where he took pole, sprint victory and registered his first grand prix win since Qatar 2021.

It made him history too, as he became (officially) the first rider in the modern MotoGP era to win races on three different brands of motorcycle.

On this week's Tank Slappers podcast, Autosport's Lewis Duncan and Motorsport.com's Oriol Puigdemont discuss Vinales' resurgence and how Aprilia has been able to coax out the best version of the Spaniard.

They also discuss Ducati's ongoing chatter woes, why Marc Marquez's Americas GP weekend wasn't as bad as his DNF suggested, and the continuing rise of rookie superstar Pedro Acosta.

With Honda enduring a miserable weekend, our hosts give their honest opinion of the Japanese manufacturer and why it is so far from being competitive again.