Motorsport101

It was a weekend of emotion during MotoGP's penultimate race of the season in Qatar, and none showed that more than Fabio Di Giannantonio, who after finishing 2nd in the Sprint, would beat Francesco Bagnaia straight up in an intense fight for his first Grand Prix victory in the top flight, even after Pecco nearly wrecked himself in retaliation! We also talk about Jorge Martin getting a dud rear tyre at the worst possible time after a 10th-place mark could very well be the end of his title campaign. Is Michelin to blame, Martin, or somewhere in the middle? We also talk about the Aleix Espargaro vs Frankie Morbidelli fight as Aleix laid some hands on Franky after a dispute over dawdling on the racing line. Finally, the Moto3 title decider got ugly as Jaume Masia and teammate Adrian Fernandez staged a coup on the title as Ayumu Sasaki was borderline intentionally taken off the racing line in the middle of the race. Legal? Unsportsmanlike? Or worse? All that with Ryan King sticking around in a loaded Motorspo

What Verstappens In Vegas, Stays In Vegas. And that includes winning apparently! Yes, it's time for the most anticipated rounds in F1 history, its return after a 40-year hiatus to Las Vegas, and its GP down the strip! And we even brought back new Vegas visitor Ryan Erik King to come down and give us his take on the event! And we got off to a rocky start after the weekend had to be held due to Carlos Sainz hitting 1 of 30 loose water valve covers across the track, with the track not checked properly because of the Wednesday night opening ceremony. Fans were sent home as a result of the late running of an FP2 that finished at 4am. Wild. But the race was generally really good, with Charles Leclerc on a one-man mission to try and beat not one but two competitive Red Bulls as Max Verstappen eventually overwhelmed him for the Dutchman to take his eighteen win of 2023, but how we got there was fun! And let's not forget the brilliant efforts of Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll too, coming from Q1 eliminations to fini

Oh boy. We'd be lying to you if we called this one a classic. It wasn't. Sepang brought out the worst of the current era of MotoGP. While we were delighted for Enea Bastianini to take his first win for the factory Ducati team, the distance between the Top 4 was exacerbated by a heavy amount of dirty air. The tyre pressure issue reared its ugly head again as well as five riders break the rule on the limits and Bagnaia loses his practical "joker" after Martin's "illegal" win in Thailand. Is there anything that can be done to fix the problem? And we also talk more about the incoming mess at Repsol Honda. Red Bull will be walking away from the team as a key sponsor at the end of the year, and Luca Marini has now become the favourite for the Marquez replacement seat in 2024. But with Valencia's test now just 13 days away, is it a good look for the most decorated team in the business to have no confirmed lineup and 50 crashes on the season? It's a headache inducing M101 and it starts now!

Apologies for those who have waited patiently, the bikes are back on Motorsport101. Sincerely, sorry for having to wait so long, Cam's not been in the best of knick health-wise lately and we wanted to wait and do it justice by waiting until he was well enough to come back. So here we are! In this episode, we catch up by reviewing both the Philip Island and Buriram MotoGP rounds. In Philip Island, we had weather-related chaos as the threat of heavy winds led to a Saturday Grand Prix for the first time in eight years, and a cancelled Sprint as the sport tried to beat an oncoming storm. We break down Johann Zarco finally getting his first premier-class win in his 120th attempt. 20 podiums, 91 laps led in his career and finally, he led the one that mattered most, just before his window for it likely will slam shut. And Cam asks an important question on the strategy call of Jorge Martin: "Why are you the way that you are?" We break down the thin line between genius and crazy. We also talk about an ongoing hea

How does a boring GP weekend produce so much news? The boys are back together as a threesome to talk about a hectic Brazilian GP weekend, as Max Verstappen took his 17th victory of 2023, but Lando Norris clearly established himself as the leader of the chasing pack with a valiant second place. We talk about Max's dominance, as well as McLaren's incredible turnaround. We also talk about the awful days from Mercedes and Ferrari, as Charles Leclerc couldn't even take the grid after an electronics failure in his car left him in the wall. On the formation lap. As you. A golden opportunity missed given Lewis Hamilton could only manage eighth after a combination of tyres being butchered, a car draggy as hell due to the rear wing being so big, and still lacking downforce. Besides that, it was great! And of course, we have to talk about the epic Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez battle for the podium, with Spain winning the fight with an incredible final lap, one of the season highlights of 2023! All that and more

Now included: A Bonus segment on the Romain Grosjean to Juncos move and Callum Illot's departure is covered in here too! But Dre and RJ go in-depth on the 2023 Mexican Grand Prix, and for Checo, a lot of genuine hope was extinguished in just 15 seconds after a nasty accident at Turn 1 when trying to send it for the lead of the race! And with AlphaTauri's Daniel Ricciardo having his best F1 weekend since his McLaren win, is there even more pressure on the Mexican to win after his hometown failure? We also talk about Aston Martin's struggles too, with their worst weekend of the year cementing a tough post-Zandvoort stretch of just 17 points in their last 4 weekends. And with rumours spinning around in the air regarding their future, do questions need to be asked about the Silverstone team? Is Fernando walking away? Surely not again... ...All that and more on another Motorsport101!

Safe to say this wasn't your standard weekend. F1 returned to the United States this weekend for its first Sprint Weekend and it indirectly led to some madness after the race. On the track, Max Verstappen tied his own record with his 15th win of 2023, but was pushed to the limit when nursing a braking problem as Lewis Hamilton was chasing him down at the end. All this off the back of a Mercedes team that botched their strategy after not being sure about whether they wanted to run a 1-or-2 stop strategy and it may have cost them their first win... ...Only for them to be disqulaified, alongside Ferrari's Charles Leclerc for having their floors too low tot nhe ground and losing too much wear from their skid block. This led to a big debate about the FIA's scrutineering process and whether it's fair or not that only four cars (Verstappen and Norris' being the other) got their skid block spot checked. Is this okay? Or does it expose a flaw in the system? Some of the more under the radar drives like Yuki Tsunoda'

And here's Part 2 of our little catch-up as the MotoGP travelling circus headed to Indonesia for its second GP at Mandalika Bay! And with it, another shocking twist in the title fight! Jorge Martin dominates the Sprint and was leading the GP by three seconds when going offline at Turn 10 led to him to the ol; Ducati: Death, Taxes, Tuck The Front moment. Ouch. It led to Francesco Bagnaia becoming the first man in 17 years to win a MotoGP race from the 5th row of the grid after qualifying struggles. Does anyone want to win this title? We also had the rumours out of the Honda camp that Miguel Oliveira may end up at Repsol Honda over Johann Zarco and the ramifications that come with a Honda camp now in full rebuild. And we also talk about an excellent written piece and the rumour that Dorna Sports may be sold by their parent company in the near future. Does the sport have a marketing problem? (Yes.) All that and more on another Motorsport101!

Okay, some cleanup to take care of here first! Firstly, massive thanks to Lyla Oakes who let us use her Marc Marquez x Gresini Concept Art, she’s the best and we love her! Also, sincere apologies for the delay on this episode, we had some technical problems cleaning up the audio on the backend, so forgive us - If you’re a MotoGP fan, you’ll be getting a lot of content in the coming days! In this episode, Dre and Cam make sense of one of the biggest MotoGP rider moves ever as Marc Marquez announced he’d be leaving Honda to head to Gresini and Ducati for 2024. We try to make sense of it from all the possible angles. What does it mean for Marc Marquez after 4 years of hell at Repsol Honda? What about Ducati, do they actually want him long-term or do they still see him as a threat? What about Honda, can they now finally have a rebuild with the lack of pressure behind them? And what about the sport as a whole? We also talk about Japan, and a race that was shortened by torrential rain. Jorge Martin doubled up an

Qatar, one of the maddest weekends in F1 history for all the wrong reasons. We had Pirelli discovering that the FIA's new Pyramid Kerb was harming the construction of the tyre, leading to a gamechanger as the track was reduced in width on the fast Turn 12/13 complex by almost three feet, leading to an insane rise in track limits violations, and a race that was a 3-stop mandated sprint with an 18-lap limit on tyre life, regardless as to if they were used or new. It led to another Max Verstappen win, his 14th of the season, but a close fight with McLaren became the story, despite track limit violations out the ass. But the race went without a tyre issue, it was another problem that reared its ugly head - Extreme heat. The race was run at 33-degree heat with 77% humidity and it led to health issues everywhere. Stroll and Russell admitted to nearly passing out behind the wheel. Logan Sargeant had to retire due to a mix of dehydration and flu symptoms. Albon had acute heat exposure. Bottas called it torture. Dre

Was it really Palou-over if it never really began? Welcome to the 2023 IndyCar Season Review, and in this special 130 minute edition of the show, we break down the best and the worst of IndyCar in 2023! Dre is joined by regular RJ O'Connell and Ryan Erik King to go team by team up and down the paddock. From the struggle buses of AJ Foyt and Meyer Shank's disasterous 2023, to the more intriguing teams too. Was it really a good season for Juncos Hollinger, as well as the hot mess of their season finale. Just what is Ed Carpenter going to do with his race team and a Rinus Veekay being lost in the shuffle? Can Rahal Letterman Lanigan hold onto Christian Lundgaard, who drove like a star last season. How did McLaren go winless on the year? How did Andretti win twice and still feel like a disappointment? Is it the beginning of the end for Will Power? And how did Scott Dixon put together an all-time great season and STILL lose by 78 points? All that and much, much more in our 2023 IndyCar Season Review!

We weren't sure days out from the race itself whether this one was even going to happen. But it did. Dorna's first venture to India for the India GP, and while we joked in the intro about the Miami Dolphins putting 70 on the Broncos head, Marco Bezzecchi was running a similar beating of his own on the MotoGP field, because he DOMINATED at the Buddh International Circuit. Winning by nearly 9 seconds on the field, he's firmly put himself back in contention... ...via Francesco Bagnaia hitting the canvas for the first time in a while. With it, and Jorge Martin finishing 2nd while nearly passing out from heatstroke, it's just a 13 point Championship fight, with Bez back in the running at -44. The Italian looked uncomfortable out there and squirmed under braking even before he crashed. Is Bagania vulnerable? We also talk about the mess that was organising this GP in the first place. VISA's being scrambled at the last minute to fly press, staff, and even riders themselves to the track at the very last minute, a tr

Congratulations to Red Bull Racing for winning F1 Championship Number 74, it is their sixth Superbowl win. It's coronation time at Red Bull after Max Verstappen took his Singapore defeat personally and won the Japanese GP by 20 seconds ahead of a double McLaren podium of Norris and Piastri. But it was marred by Sergio Perez stinking up the joint again, breaking two front wings, passing under a Safety Car and eventually crashing out to Kevin Magnussen. Is HE the secret bottleneck for Red Bull's driver management? We also try to make sense of the evolving fight for second as Mercedes cross paths via some weird George Russell strategy shenangians, Ferrari being undercut (Again), and McLaren scoring their five podium in the last 7 weekends. Big Larry Bird: "So which one of y'all are finishing second?" energy.

I love that Singapore just ended up being a Red Bull-themed episode, even if Carlos Sainz won a classic GP to end Red Bull's 15-race winning streak! But yeah, did we mention Red Bull DIDN'T win! It was a brilliant finale to an intriguing tactical race in Singapore as the unique nature of the track and setup concerns for the energy drink firm opened the door for Carlos Sainz to win from pole and dictate the terms of engagement. We talk how he used 2nd place runner Lando Norris as a "pick" to make sure he could hold off the 2-stopping Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. And that was before Russell hit the wall on the final lap to cost himself another podium. We also talk the confusing situation at AlphaTauri as Liam Lawson continues to make headlines, this time with his first Q3 appearance and P9 finish, Alpha's best of the year. With Daniel Ricciardo still not 100% fit and Yuki Tsunoda controversially seemingly at the front of the queue, who should be in their seats... and why is Sergio Perez off

It wouldn't be an IndyCar season without an absolute mess of a finale! In a 95-lap race at Laguna Seca in Monterrey, we had 35 laps of caution over eight separate incidents, 17 penalties handed out, 8 of which were for avoidable contact, and race winner Scott Dixon won despite having to do a drive-through penalty after less than 10 laps. Make it make sense. Well, the boys will certainly try to do just that as they break down while trying to break down the Laguna Seca race as IndyCar's season finale. Was this a good or bad example of a s***show race? Was the track partially to blame? And is it wild if a pace car has to get refuelled in the middle of a race? We also talk about the Leader's Circle payout system as Agustin Canapino and Juri Vips both earned their team over a million bucks after scraping into the Top 22 and how Devlin, didn't. It's a wild story within a wild race! And finally... should IndyCar have an all-star race? The series is adding a new $1m dollar challenge at The Thermal Club for 2024, a

This was a bizarre episode to record, because how often does the race itself take a complete back seat? (No, not Catalunya) But the main event was another Marc Marquez crisis meeting as the rumours really started to fly around that a Gresini Ducati might be on the table. The talk has cooled somewhat, but with Marquez not happy about his first run of the 2024 Honda, he's opened the door for the first time on the record that he may bail early. Is it panic stations for Honda? We also had Jorge Martin take a dominant double win over the weekend with completely insane pace, ahead of a mangled hand thayt belonged to Marco Bezzecchi, and a Francesco Bagania that finished third despite barely being able to walk just 7 days after being run over! And don't forget that Dani Pedrosa was back with a pair of 4th places too! Some impressive performances all round, and a warning ahead of India next week, all on another Motorsport101!

The coronation of IndyCar's returning King. Alex Palou dominated Portland for his 5th win of the 2023 IndyCar series and his second Astor Cup in three years, with Scott Dixon the only man in the same postcode! We break down Portland as a race and talk about the brilliance of Palou's season. We also talk Romain Grosjean, with it all but confirmed the Frenchman will be leaving Andretti at the end of the season. How did it all go so wrong for one of the genuine feel good stories in Motorsport? We also talk the relegation battle. No, not Burnley and Everton - Tjhe fight for the 22nd place of the Leader's Circle, with potentially big ramificaitons for those outside of the guaranteed $1m bucks of funding that comes with it! All that and more on another Motorsport101!

Content Warning: A fatal incident is discussed in this episode. Be careful. Not going to lie folks, this isn't the easiest of listens, as Dre Cam and RJ review the Catalunya GP, with a shocking first lap incident where Francesco Bagnaia miraculously went practically uninjured after being run over at Turn 2 by Brad Binder. There was also a six rider pileup into Turn 1 as Enea Bastianini broke his ankle after tucking his front. This is one of those: "What the hell are we doing here?" kind of episodes where we break down the accident, discuss some of the harrowing broadcast footage and wonder just how lucky we got, as well as the general state of the sport. We also breakdown the aftermath as Aleix Espargaro won in Aprilia's banner day in MotoGP, with Maverick Vinales close behind for a 1-2 finish, and Miguel Oliviera finishing in the Top 5 too. Is there something in the other Italian brand? All that and more on another Motorsport101.

Sometimes you have to give it the ol' college try. And it's hard to argue that Carlos Sainz didn't give it a bloody good go. The 14 laps Carlos led against Max Verstappen at Monza was the most anyone's managed against Red Bull this season. He's now third on the laps led count for the season after just one race. He tried. He failed, but man Ferrari was fun, with Carlos desperately defending himself against Red Bull and his own teammate Charles Leclerc to finish third. But should Ferrari have let them race? We also discuss Max Verstappen's record-breaking 10th consecutive win, and the, rather sassy statements from the Mercedes camp on the matter, with Hamilton taking barbs on Max's teammates, Max saying Lewis is jealous, and Toto Wolff saying winning records are for Wikipedia users. Y'know, the world's 7th most visited website. We also talk Williams. Alex Albon is flying after another points finish, the first time he's gone back-to-back since joining them. But after another sloppy race from Logan Sargeant,

Scott Dixon won an Oval Race by 22 seconds. Why? Because Scott Dixon, that's why. It was a staretgic and fuel saving masterclass from the IndyCar legend as literally no-one else could run his strategy enroute to his second straight win, and the first man to beat Josef Newgarden on an oval in a calendar year. And most importantly, keeps his slim title hopes alive. And yes, we talk Josef Newgarden, who finally lost his oval winning streak and ended his title campaign after getting caught in the marbles and hitting the wall. Is it frustrating that the Indy 500 will go a fourth straight year without an Astor Cup. Weird. We also joke about the upcoming beef between disowned Bus Cousin David Malukas and Scott McLaughlin and Marcus Ericsson completing his move to Andretti Autosport in another IndyCar edition of Motorsport101