The Race MotoGP Podcast

We now know all the details of MotoGP’s 2027 weekend format changes, and they’ve certainly divided opinion.

Simon Patterson and Megan White join Matt Beer on The Race MotoGP Podcast to air their concerns and frustrations over how things are being shaken up in order to add a Friday qualifying session and a different grid for the sprint. They explain why they’re not against those outcomes, but have real problems with how they’re being achieved.

Plenty of riders clearly have misgivings too, and are the stars of the championship really as powerless in all this as they seem to think they are?

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MotoGP’s Indonesian Grand Prix weekend ended with an Aprilia 1-2-3-4 but that probably could have been the formation in every session and race had things not gone crazy in multiple ways.

Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer analyse everything from the tyre pressure headaches that cost Jorge Martin a sprint win and led to Simon declaring the grand prix the “worst race” he’d seen in ages, to exactly what made Raul Fernandez so furious at Marco Bezzecchi on Saturday.

Plus where it all leaves a title fight after a weekend in which lots and lots happened but the points picture barely changed - and whether Aprilia needs to deploy proper team orders now.

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MotoGP 2026 is distilling into an ever-closer Marc Marquez vs Jorge Martin title showdown after the events of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend at Motegi.

But their battle for victory was heavily influenced by the bizarre scenario of riders switching to a back-up tyre specification that they'd all expected to be terrible - but that was actually fantastic! All of which left some of the grid's deeper thinkers admitting to feeling pretty daft.

Val Khorounzhiy, Simon Patterson and Eden Hannigan explain it all, give their thoughts on the direction of the title battle and hail great weekends for Enea Bastianini and Somkiat Chantra.

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MotoGP's planning a big shake-up to its race weekend format in 2027 with a new way of forming sprint grids on the agenda. Does it actually need to? And if it does, what should it do? That's what Val Khorounzhiy, Jordan Moreland and Matt Beer debate in The Race MotoGP Podcast.

Plus what we make of soon-to-be MotoGP rider Nicolo Bulega's World Superbike coronation, how the world might react to a second Jorge Martin title and Pedro Acosta's chances of kicking on with a winning streak.

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Pedro Acosta is FINALLY a MotoGP grand prix winner - though only after putting KTM through the agony of his sprint blunder first.

Simon and Val report from the Austrian Grand Prix on that error, that breakthrough win yet another title fight twist, as problems for Marc Marquez and a mysterious lack of Ducati pace coincided with perhaps Jorge Martin's strongest Aprilia weekend yet.

Plus we answer The Race Members' Club's questions on everything from Taka Nakagami to Brad Binder and a particularly woeful Yamaha weekend.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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