The Race MotoGP Podcast

Alex Marquez and Ducati shine at Sepang - but has Bagnaia accepted 2027 exit?

The Race MotoGP Podcast

Show Notes

MotoGP 2026 roared into life with the three-day pre-season test at Sepang, set against the backdrop of more and more dramatics on the rider market.

The Race MotoGP Podcast panel of Matt Beer, Simon Patterson and Val Khorounzhiy delve into the testing action, with analysis of long run pace and peak laptimes and the feedback from teams and riders.

Has Ducati successfully safeguarded its MotoGP dominance? Are Aprilia and Marco Bezzecchi the only credible threat? And how much can be read into Pecco Bagnaia and particularly Alex Marquez having the initial upper hand over champion Marc Marquez?

Plus, what's the latest on Bagnaia's future - with him sounding increasingly resigned to a Ducati exit for 2027?

We also check in on Yamaha, with its mid-test 'hiatus' eventually resolved and a performance picture starting to form, including for somewhat frustrated rookie Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Enjoy a 7-day free trial to The Race Members' Club: Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more.

Follow the Race Moto channel on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠ Check out our latest videos on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from The Race MotoGP Podcast

Oct 20, 2026

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

Oct 12, 2026

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.

Oct 4, 2026

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.

Sep 29, 2026

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.

Sep 20, 2026

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

See all episodes →