There's no MotoGP race this weekend, so as a bonus we thought we'd share Val's Qatar GP rider rankings Q&A, which is usually members-only content.

Regular listeners will know that Val's rider rankings are posted to The Race website after each race. We then invite The Race Members' Club to send in follow-up questions, which Val then answers in an exclusive video posted to Patreon.

For example, in this one he muses on where Fabio di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez would have placed had they not crashed into other riders.

If you enjoy this episode and would like to get every subsequent one, plus ad-free episodes and our exclusive MotoGP Revisited series on the 2015 season, why not join The Race Members' Club today?

And don't worry if you're only interested in MotoGP and none of The Race's four-wheeled coverage - we have a riders-only tier!

Head to Patreon.com/therace today to sign up.

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A frenzied Qatar Grand Prix weekend is discussed on the latest edition of The Race MotoGP Podcast, with Maverick Vinales stealing the spotlight away from the Marc Marquez-Alex Marquez-Pecco Bagnaia title fight.

Simon Patterson and Valentin Khorounzhiy discuss the Vinales performance - and the fact it has been effectively stricken from the record books by a tyre pressure penalty.

But why was Vinales so quick, how encouraged should KTM be and what does the weekend say about Pedro Acosta?

In terms of the title fight, should Bagnaia be worried about another heavy defeat versus Marquez - or can he simply view it as a consequence of his qualifying error?

There's also a discussion of Jorge Martin's latest bad injury and of the collision between Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio that left the former apologetic and the latter deeply incensed.

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World Superbike Championship superstar Toprak Razgatlioglu is being linked to MotoGP yet again - but this time with a twist.

Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer gather on The Race MotoGP Podcast to assess whether the mooted plan for Razgatlioglu to be part of Honda’s factory 2027 MotoGP line-up is realistic and how he might fare.

With Jorge Martin expected to finally start his double-injury-delayed title defence at this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, we discuss what to expect from him and what an earth is going on at Aprilia in his absence.

And there’s a little teaser of our Patreon exclusive Jack Miller Q&A - when the Pramac Yamaha star very much enjoyed answering The Race Members’ Club’s questions about his life, career and Cal Crutchlow.

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Marc Marquez’s 2025 MotoGP winning streak ended with a crash from the lead at Austin, but that wasn’t actually the most attention-grabbing part of his weekend.

His audacious premeditated gamble that he could get the start aborted so he could switch to the right tyres for the drying conditions without getting a penalty paid off, but raised big questions over the robustness and interpretation of the rules around such situation.

Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer explain what happened and why it was so contentious, as well as delving into Marc’s subsequent crash and how much he should be castigated for it.

Plus our takes on Pecco Bagnaia’s sudden title bid revival, Alex Marquez’s appearance as world championship leader, Joan Mir and Pedro Acosta’s shunts, and a reminder of just how good Jack Miller can be.

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Two rounds into the 2025 MotoGP season and it’s a great year to be a Marquez. Almost everyone else has work to do.

But who’s in most trouble?

That’s the question Matt Beer posed to Simon Patterson and Val Khorounzhiy in the latest episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast. They didn’t disagree too much in their answers as they highlighted two manufacturers and one rider in particular who are disappointing, but Matt felt they were missing someone…

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Marc Marquez declared his brother Alex to be his main 2025 MotoGP title rival after their battle for victory in the Argentine Grand Prix.

Was he getting carried away with sibling affection or is Alex really capable of denying his big brother a first championship in six years?

Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer debate that in the Termas de Rio Hondo episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast.

Even if Alex’s title challenge can’t be sustained, right now he’s in a better form and championship situation than Marc’s works Ducati team-mate Pecco Bagnaia. We hear Bagnaia’s explanation for his current lack of pace, and give our take on where he’s lacking.

Plus Ai Ogura’s bizarre disqualification explained, Honda’s progress debated after Johann Zarco’s amazing weekend, fondness for the resurgent Franco Morbidelli and The Race Members’ Club reminds Simon that he predicted first-lap crasher/otherwise anonymous performer Marco Bezzecchi was going to win this race (which prompts a small argument about penalties).

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MotoGP’s 2027 rules reset has become even more seismic with the news the substantial technical regulation changes will coincide with Pirelli ousting Michelin as the series’ tyre supplier.

Simon Patterson joins Matt Beer to explain all the implications for the championship, teams and riders, and to answer The Race Members’ Club’s questions about the potential consequences.

We discuss what Pirelli’s work (and controversies) on the MotoGP ladder, in World Superbikes and even Formula 1 tells us about how its tyres might impact the quality and style of racing in MotoGP.

Is the tyre change a guarantee of a wide open and competitive 2027 season? Simon reckons so - find out why on the pod.

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It wasn’t just Marc Marquez dominating the 2025 MotoGP season-opener - it was the Marquez family, as his brother Alex not only backed him up in qualifying and both races but was also allowed to lead much of the grand prix to ensure Marc dodged a likely penalty.

Has that set the tone for the whole season to come? In the Thai Grand Prix episode of The Race MotoGP Podcast, Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy and Matt Beer look at everything that led to the Marquez domination including Pecco Bagnaia’s inability to challenge his team-mate all weekend.

The quirk of his team switch that led to Marquez being at risk of a tyre penalty is explained too, along with the effect of the ferociously hot temperatures on a weekend that left many riders literally burned by their bikes.

Star rookie Ai Ogura and what his performance means for Aprilia features too, and we pass judgements on weekends of both highs and lows for Honda and Yamaha, but mostly lows for KTM. 

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The Race MotoGP Podcast (part-)convenes for an emergency episode in the lead-up to the 2025 season opener in Thailand.

Valentin Khorounzhiy and Simon Patterson discuss Jorge Martin's second pre-season injury, sustained in motocross training that was part of his rehab from the first injury, and the reports that it could write off nearly a quarter of his first season with Aprilia.

They also talk about KTM having its restructuring plan greenlit by creditors in Austria - preserving the company in its current state the day after BMW had been credited with a reported interest in buying it outright.

The mention of BMW briefly takes us into World Superbike land, where its MotoGP-linked star rider Toprak Razgatlioglu was notably unhappy after the season opener - and dropped a heavy-handed exit hint.

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After the massive grid shake-up and a wild winter of injuries and financial catastrophes, MotoGP enters its 2025 season this weekend with a lot of unknowns.

So it’s with some trepidation that The Race MotoGP Podcast’s Simon Patterson, Val Khorounzhiy, Megan White, Matt Beer and Ollie Card attempt to predict the 2025 final top 10 championship order.

How much will KTM’s crisis affect Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder on track this year? What will missing basically all of pre-season do for champion Jorge Martin’s Aprilia acclimatisation?

Is the Marco Bezzecchi resurgence real? Who’s right out of our Yamaha sceptics and Yamaha optimists?

And, of course, who’ll win that Marc Marquez vs Pecco Bagnaia Ducati duel?

Want more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more. Head to Patreon.com/therace for 90% of your first month!

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