This Week's Top Racing Lowdown Stories
WorldSBK: Gutting it out – How a rider gets through the pain barrier
In motorcycle racing crashes will happen. These might be the best riders in the world but sometimes they'll step off the tightrope of the limit and suffer the consequences. Injuries are a fact of life in racing and every rider is always carrying a knock. They suffer...
MotoGP: David Emmett – What’s changed for Jerez Part 2?
Throughout the 2020 season David Emmett, editor of Motomatters.com, will be providing Racing Lowdown with some exclusive analysis of what he sees in MotoGP. This will take the form of the topics that David is most interested in before and after every Grand Prix. Four...
MotoGP: Polarity Photo shoots the Spanish Grand Prix
The return of MotoGP has been long awaited and our man on the ground, Polarity Photo's Rob Gray, was busy at work at Jerez. As usual his stunning artwork has been worth the weight! Here's some of Rob's best work from Jerez and if you like what you see be sure to...
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Paddock Pass Podcast Episode 161: Steve & Neil Talk Teruel WorldSBK
In the latest episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast, Steve English and Neil Morrison get together to take a long look back at the second WorldSBK at Aragon last weekend, and a short look ahead to MotoGP at Misano. They start off with a discussion of what happened at the...
WorldSBK: Rea came out swinging in Race 2
Jonathan Rea just keeps ticking boxes in his title defence. Another weekend and another victory but crucially also another three podium finishes. Consistency wins championships and in the history of the Superbike World Championship he has no equal in this regard....
WorldSBK: Unlocking your full potential
In racing no stone is left unturned. The bikes are tuned to perfection. Development takes place for months behind closed doors. Wind tunnels, fluid dynamic testing, analysis of data and tyre modelling are all key components in getting the most out of the motorcycle....
WorldSBK: Joining the dots at Aragon
Chaz Davies is the most successful rider at Motorland Aragon. The Welshman has dominated at the Spanish circuit in the past and claimed seven wins. He sat down to talk about the naunces of this 5.1 km circuit. At one point the Kingdom of Aragon was one of the Europe's...
WorldSBK: Ducati Dominance to continue at Aragon?
Over the last five years, Motorland Aragon has firmly been Ducati territory and with a double bill upcoming at the Spanish circuit, there’s little reason to expect that to change. The Panigale V4 R has had a clear advantage at the 5km venue and they will expect to...
MotoGP: David Emmett – Post Styria hysteria
Throughout the 2020 season David Emmett, editor of Motomatters.com, will be providing Racing Lowdown with some exclusive analysis of what he sees in MotoGP. This will take the form of the topics that David is most interested in before and after every Grand Prix. It's...
Paddock Pass Podcast Episode 158: Dodging A Bullet
The first round of MotoGP at the Red Bull Ring, the Austrian Grand Prix, was so wild from start to finish that we had to get a show out early. On Monday, Steve English, Neil Morrison and David Emmett got together virtually to discuss the events of the Austrian weekend...
WorldSBK: Gordon Ritchie – Racing In The Time Of Covid
Sometimes your luck is in - and out - at the same time. I greeted the news that I really could go to the restart of the Covid-interrupted 2020 season to ply my normal freelance journalist trade by snatcing the chance with both my QWERTY deprived hands. Then the...
MotoGP: Neil Morrison – What can we expect from the Styrian Grand Prix?
Throughout the 2020 season Neil Morrison will be providing Racing Lowdown with exclusive analysis of what he sees in the Moto2 and Moto3 classes. This will take the form of the topics that Neil is most interested in before and after Grand Prix throughout the 2020...
Tech Corner: Finding the right balance
WorldSBK is all about variety. With a production based series the compromises of the road are felt on the track. The balance of power can shift quickly with a “game changing” bike. Last year this happened with the Ducati V4R, which was a radical departure from what...
MotoGP: David Emmett – What I’m interested in for Austria
Throughout the 2020 season David Emmett, editor of Motomatters.com, will be providing Racing Lowdown with some exclusive analysis of what he sees in MotoGP. This will take the form of the topics that David is most interested in before and after every Grand Prix. Who...
Paddock Pass Podcast Episode 157: Reviewing MotoGP At Brno And WorldSBK At Portimao
This week's episode of the Paddock Pass Podcast is something of a bumper episode, with racing happening both in the Czech Republic and in Portugal, but fortunately, the Paddock Pass Podcast crew have both MotoGP and WorldSBK covered. Neil Morrison and David...
WorldSBK: Rea reasserts himself in Portugal
Jonathan Rea joked before the start of the weekend that he’d sprint naked down the streets of Portimao if he won all three races. After dominating the weekend in Portugal it would have been more surprising if he hadn’t left with a perfect weekend. The Northern...
WorldSBK: Highs and lows with Ten Kate
Motorcycle racing is filled with highs and lows. When a rider is winning races everything is easy. When the tide turns, it can become hard to see signs of encouragement. For the Ten Kate Racing Yamaha squad, this was certainly the case in late 2018 when their world...
WorldSBK: Portimao – A happy hunting ground for Rea
Sunday November 2nd 2008, was a landmark date in WorldSBK history. It was on this day that the FIM Superbike World Championship first raced at the thrilling Algarve circuit. It was also the debut for a rider that would go on to rewrite the record books. Jonathan Rea...
WorldSBK: A lap of Portimao with Eugene Laverty
Portimao is one of the most exciting laps of the year for a WorldSBK rider. It is loved almost universally by riders and with the Portuguese circuit used extensively for winter testing it's also a favourite of teams. The circuit, nestled in the hills of the Algarve...
WorldSBK: Redding – A career revitalised
Throughout the winter, it was inevitable that Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) would clock up a win in the early rounds of WorldSBK. From the moment he stepped into the WorldSBK paddock, his confidence has been sky high. An opening round with a trio of third...
WorldSBK: Weekend turnaround for Lowes
In racing there are certain days when the world just throws everything back at you. You struggle to see where progress can be made. It’s easy to get in a hole and stay there. Wait for it to pass and move onto the next round. Saturday certainly had all the hall marks...
WorldSBK: Redding is a very different rival for Rea compared to Bautista
It’s very easy to rewrite the narrative of 2020 along the same lines as what we saw for the first half of last season. A MotoGP exile coming to the WorldSBK paddock who instantly feels at home and is winning races. One man set to dominate and resurrect their career....
WorldSBK: Quick hits from Saturday – Redding claims his first win
Four races, four winners and four close battles at the front. WorldSBK in 2020 is certainly shaping up to be a very different campaign to twelve months ago but opening race of the Jerez weekend showed that some riders have a slightly bigger knife at the disposal. Race...
WorldSBK: Too hot to handle
Lord Almighty, I feel my temperature rising Higher higher It's burning through to my soul Elvis wasn’t singing about WorldSBK racing at Jerez this weekend when he covered Burning Love almost 50 years ago, but he might as well have been. During the course of this...
WorldSBK: Melandri – From sofa to Superbike
At the end of the 2019 season, Marco Melandri bid farewell to the WorldSBK paddock. After a disappointing campaign with the GRT Yamaha team, his time on the Superbike grid came to a close. He went out with a whimper under the floodlights of Qatar. The paddock paid...
MotoGP Gallery: Polarity Photo shoots Jerez 2
MotoGP is back in action and we've boots on the ground with Polarity Photo's Rob Gray shooting under the scorching Spanish sun. His hard work didn't go unrewarded at Wednesday's test that acted as a curtain raiser for this weekend's action. Here's some of Rob's best...
WorldSBK: When will Redding win?
Scott Redding is a world class motorcycle racer. His natural ability is beyond question, and now he has the machine underneath him to show the world exactly what he can do. When will Scott Redding win a WorldSBK race? The Ducati Panigale V4 R is the best bike on the...
WorldSBK: Will 2020 be Rea’s toughest title defence?
or five years, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) has dominated WorldSBK. 2019 was arguably his most difficult year but he showed that he was at the top of his game. Alvaro Bautista romped to 11 wins in a row at the start of his WorldSBK career; it’d have...
WorldSBK: Is Toprak ready to topple Toseland’s record?
Toseland won his first WorldSBK title in 2004; it was his first year in a factory squad. He’d already won a race, bagged podiums and shown a prodigious turn of speed at times. Could he handle the pressure and go into a team with an established rider and get the job...
WorldSBK: In racing twists of fate are as important as twists of the throttle
A motorcycle racer’s career can hang in the balance. It can come down to a twist of fate or a bit of persistence to turn a chance into a career. Opportunities are what you make of them. Eugene Laverty’s initial outings in the WorldSBK paddock are proof of this point....
WorldSBK: Has Chaz Davies improved enough on the V4R?
When Chaz Davies is on form, he’s formidable. He’s won 30 races in WorldSBK and been Jonathan Rea’s closest competitor throughout the last five years. Davies is a force of nature on the right bike and can hit a rich vein of form that makes him unbeatable....
MotoGP: Neil Morrison – What can we expect at Jerez?
Throughout the 2020 season Neil Morrison will be providing Racing Lowdown with some exclusive analysis of what he sees in the Moto2 and Moto3 classes. This will take the form of the topics that Neil is most interested in before and after every Grand Prix. Who can...
WorldSBK: Gutting it out – How a rider gets through the pain barrier
In motorcycle racing crashes will happen. These might be the best riders in the world but sometimes they'll step off the tightrope of the limit and suffer the consequences. Injuries are a fact of life in racing and every rider is always carrying a knock. They suffer...
MotoGP: David Emmett – What’s changed for Jerez Part 2?
Throughout the 2020 season David Emmett, editor of Motomatters.com, will be providing Racing Lowdown with some exclusive analysis of what he sees in MotoGP. This will take the form of the topics that David is most interested in before and after every Grand Prix. Four...
MotoGP: Polarity Photo shoots the Spanish Grand Prix
The return of MotoGP has been long awaited and our man on the ground, Polarity Photo's Rob Gray, was busy at work at Jerez. As usual his stunning artwork has been worth the weight! Here's some of Rob's best work from Jerez and if you like what you see be sure to...
WorldSBK: Was Michael van der Mark’s lack of podiums in Australia misleading?
At the opening round of the 2020 WorldSBK season, Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) was outperformed by teammate, Toprak Razgatlioglu. Three top five finishes meant that he didn’t hit the high marks of his teammate, but did Australia mislead as...
Paddock Pass Podcast Episode 154: The Drama At Jerez
Finally, there is real racing to talk about on the Paddock Pass Podcast, and so Steve English, Neil Morrison, and David Emmett debate everything that happened at the reopening round of MotoGP at Jerez. There is of course the big news of Marc Marquez' injury, the...
WorldSBK: What will make the BMWs click?
It’s a race for all the marbles. In a battle to stay on the WorldSBK grid for 2021, Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and teammate Eugene Laverty are going head-to-head to show they deserve the chance to stay with BMW alongside Michael van der Mark next year. The...
WorldSBK: How far can Honda go in 2020?
When Honda puts its weight behind a project there is only one target; to win everything in sight. The letters HRC mean more than the sum of their parts: it means that no stone is left unturned. It means that the bean counters in Japan will put up with almost any...
MotoGP: Dovi – undaunted or unappreciated?
Once again Andrea Dovizioso showed that his mentality and his ability to grind out results is what makes him special. The Italian now has his chance to finally win the premier class title but will he ever be truly respected by Ducati? When people think of Andrea...
WorldSBK: Can Lowes keep up the pressure all season long?
It’s not easy to win a WorldSBK title, no matter how Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) has made it seem in recent years, and this year will be more difficult than ever. Whether it’s the COVID-19-induced lockdown or the most competitive grid in years, the...
MotoGP: Five hours to forget for Honda
With twelve confirmed rounds spread over just four months, the 2020 MotoGP season always had the potential to be an action packed ride. Any mistake was likely be punished. Potentially severely. Over the course of five hours on the opening MotoGP race day of the...
MotoGP: What impact will see from the 2020 Michelin tyres?
Track conditions are going to be the biggest talking point this weekend at Jerez. With a scorching sun the asphalt will be baked throughout the day. At Jerez this has always been an issue and during the traditional Spanish Grand Prix weekend,typically in early May,...
