Paddock Pass Podcast Episode 280: Mugello Preview, And KTM Crew Chief Paul Trevathan Explains The Overtaking Issue

Submitted by David Emmett on

The MotoGP side of the Paddock Pass Podcast gets its own special guest this weekend. Adam Wheeler, Neil Morrison, and David Emmett were joined by Red Bull KTM Racing's Paul Trevathan, crew chief to Miguel Oliveira this week, to discuss just why it has become so difficult to overtake in MotoGP. Trevathan is a fantastic guest, explaining in depth where KTM are at the moment, why you can't just change a front tire in MotoGP, and how the lack of testing time is slowing up development on Michelin's new front.

Before and after we were joined by Paul Trevathan, the crew discuss what makes Mugello so special, why we are not fans of retiring numbers, whether we will see any contracts announced this weekend, and who we expect to do well at Mugello.

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Paddock Pass Podcast Episode 279: Estoril WorldSBK Review - Will Toprak Razgatlioglu Go To MotoGP Or Stay In WorldSBK?

Submitted by David Emmett on

A special guest on this week's WorldSBK podcast brings superb insight. Charlie Hiscott, TV producer extraordinaire, has worked in both the WorldSBK and MotoGP paddocks for years, and has been alternating between the two series for the past couple of seasons. So he brings his remarkable knowledge to the already highly informed chat between Steve English and WorldSBK guru Gordon Ritchie, to take a deep dive into the future of Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Charlie adds the view from the MotoGP paddock to the trio's knowledge of where Toprak sits in WorldSBK, to discuss whether the Pata Yamaha rider will make the jump from WorldSBK to MotoGP. They examine the offers he may have, and his reasons for both going to MotoGP and staying in WorldSBK. They also discuss the current state of WorldSBK, the rivalry between Jonathan Rea and Razgatlioglu, what Alvaro Bautista brings to Ducati, why the second seat at Kawasaki is not performing as well as Rea's side of the garage, and what is happening with Honda.

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Finland MotoGP Race Postponed To 2023 - 2022 MotoGP Calendar Cut To 20 Races

Submitted by David Emmett on

The long-running saga of the Finnish GP at the Kymiring is to have another chapter added to it. Today, the FIM announced that the Grand Prix of Finland, due to be held on July 8th, has been canceled. In a press release, the FIM gave the reason for the cancellation as "homologation works" and the "ongoing political situation in the region".

There have long been doubts that the circuit would host a MotoGP race this year. Reports from sources in Finland paint a picture of a circuit which still needs a lot of work doing to it. Though the surface is finished, the rest of the facilities are still not up to the standard necessary to host a MotoGP round.

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Why There Are No Quick Fixes To MotoGP's Dearth Of Overtaking

Submitted by David Emmett on

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past month or so, you will have heard the criticism of MotoGP. Though the field is close, it has become harder and harder to overtake the riders in front. The Le Mans race was a case in point: the 27-lap race featured only a handful of overtakes, most of which were made possible only by a mistake by the rider ahead.

The problem was brought into stark relief by last weekend's WorldSBK races at Estoril. Alvaro Bautista, Jonathan Rea, and Toprak Razgatlioglu put on a dazzling display of passing in all three races on Saturday and Sunday, finding ways to jam their bikes ahead of each other into the first corner, the fourth corner, the Parabolica Interior, and the tight, awkward uphill chicane. They produced three glorious races.

The spectacle of Rea, Razgatlioglu, and Bautista knocking spots off one another reinforced that the problem is indeed down to the technological point at which MotoGP finds itself. With limited aerodynamics and no ride-height devices, the WorldSBK trio found no problem diving out of the slipstream and outbraking each other.

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2022 Estoril World Superbike Race Two Result: World Superbike Delivers

Submitted by Jared Earle on

The World Superbike race two grid avoided the threat of rain that has been looming all morning, but the sky remained grey, like the sky you'd see out of the window in a 70s episode of Pipkins. Jonathan Rea's team made a big show of running a new tyre to the grid, fitting an SC-X tyre with time to spare before the start. Twenty one riders lined up, the weekend's toll increasing with Lucas Mahias's absence.

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2022 Estoril World Superbike Superpole Result: Crash, Crash, No Crash

Submitted by Jared Earle on

World Superbike's Sunday Superpole race was a ten lap sprint race, with a drying track after the morning's rain. The front riders lined up on slicks, adding to the excitement around this short track. Iker Lecuona and Michael Ruben Rinaldi and a couple of fitted an intermediate front tyre.

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