Advertise on podcast: Tank Slappers - A Motorsport Network MotoGP Podcast

Marc Marquez's domination of MotoGP in 2025 continued as the sport travelled to Brno for Round 12 of the Championship. It was another double victory for Marquez with the Sprint and the Grand Prix win, but it wasn't straight-forward, especially on Saturday. Dre Harrison, Richard Asher and Oriol Puigdemont break down why Marquez had to intentionally drop the lead of the race due to warnings over tyre pressures, and how Dorna got their sums wrong when caluclating its own regulation. With Alex Marquez crashing in the GP, it pushes older brother Marc's Championship lead up to 120 points, and made way for Marco Bezzecchi to lead the fight for Aprilia, taking his second runner-up finish in the last three weekend. With Raul Fernandez finishing as top independent and Jorge Martin back and happy in 7th, is Aprilia back on a positive upswing? There's also a discussion on a potentially huge story - MotoGP's manufacteurs banding together against Dorna Sports as rights holders for the sport, to ask for a bigger slice of the overall revenue, and to own their own slots on the grid, rather than have them be at Dorna's discretion. Is a "Concorde Agreement" reachable between the parties, and is this more to do with Liberty's recent acquisition? Finally, the 2026 MotoGP calendar has dropped, with Brazil making its debut for 2026 in March, and promise of a return to Argentina's Buenos Aries in 2027. 

Tank Slappers is back to review a hectic German GP at the Sachsenring, which celebrated a record crowd of over 250,000 across the four days. Marc Marquez took his fourth consecutive double victory and seventh in 2025 so far, but he had to earn his 10th Sprint win of the season after an early mistake dropped him to fifth on the opening lap. Dre Harrison, Richard Asher and Oriol Puigdemont break down why Marquez is still "cruising" at this level, including his seven-second victory in Sunday's Grand Prix.  The German GP was also a race of extreme attrition. By the time the race started, the field was down to 18 starters, with Maverick Vinales and Franco Morbidelli out via injury, and Enea Bastianini suffering a bout of appendicitis. To make matters worse, only 10 riders finished the race, the lowest amount for a MotoGP race since Australia 2011. Why? Six crashes at Turn 1, one of the nastiest on the calendar. Dre explains what makes the hairpin at the Sachsenring one of the trickiest on the whole calendar.  There's also reaction to the news that the Jorge Martin contract dispute is seemingly over, with the World Champion set to stay at the team and announce said news at a press conference in Brno next week. Oriol explains how a protracted court battle and the Assen speech made by Carmelo Ezepelta left Martin virtually no choice but to concede in his fight against Aprilia. 

Dre Harrison and Oriol Puigdemont return to host another edition of Tank Slappers, as Marc Marquez made history at the 100th Anniversary of racing at the Assen TT. With his 68th Premier Class victory, he tied the legendary Giacomo Agostini for second on the all-time wins list, with only Valentino Rossi ranking higher. But Marquez didn't have it easy - Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi pushed him all the way to the flag, but was unable to get close enough to pass for the win. Dre and Oriol discuss how this plays perfectly into the Mugello talk from fans and some members of the media in regards to Alex Marquez's racecraft and the allegations that the Marquez brothers weren't racing each other hard enough, and why more criticism should be levelled at Pecco Bagnaia's garage... There's more on Alex Marquez during the show, after the Spaniard broke the metacarpal in his hand after crashing into Pedro Acosta in the Grand Prix, and with it, falling to 68 points behind brother Marc in the Championship standings.  Jorge Martin is back in the news after his agent continued to up the pressure on Aprilia, by claiming his client is still leaving at the end of the season, with Aprilia continuing to deny that the release clause exists in a feud where even Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezepelta's had to intervene. Is there any resoultion on the horizon?  And finally, with his first win in Moto2 confirmed, is Diego Moreira on the way to MotoGP? Oriol discusses the Brazilian's options with the sport keen to promote him with a home Grand Prix set for 2026. 

After a year of announcements, wait, anticipation and an investigation by the European Commission, Liberty Media were finally given the green light to complete their majority purchase of Dorna Sports, the commercial rights holders of MotoGP, for $4.2 billion. On this week's episode of Tank Slappers, Dre Harrison, Richard Asher and Uri Puigdemont break down the move and what they hope will be the key areas that Liberty focuses on in order to grow the sport, such as revenue sharing, marketing improvements, and getting people to care about the riders, like F1 has with "Drive to Survive". All the action from the past weekend's Italian Grand Prix is also reviewed, with Marc Marquez taking control early on and never looking back enroute to his fifth win of 2025, and his first at Mugello since 2014. With Alex Marquez second again and Pecco Bagnaia off the podium, is the title battle already over? There's also a discussion in regards to whether Alex Marquez is racing his brother differently to others, and the struggles that Bagnaia has faced in Ducati. And finally, Franco Morbidelli was in the spotlight for causing a nasty crash with Maverick Vinales that led to the Italian taking a Long Lap Penalty. But is the current system in place not harsh enough for ending another riders race? 

Dre Harrison introduces another special interview for Tank Slappers, as Alberto Gomez was able to sit down with 1999 500cc World Champion, and MotoGP Hall of Famer, Alex Criville.  Alex talks In-depth on the differences between his era of 2-stroke racing, compared to the 4-strokes and modern-day prototypes, what he admires about Marc Marquez and how his rivalry with Francesco Bagnaia is comparable to Alex’s own with Mick Doohan.  There’s also a chat about what the sport needs to do to improve, and who Alex himself admired as a young racer growing up. If you enjoyed the interview, please subscribe, and check back next week for our review of the Italian Grand Prix. Until then, thanks for listening.

It was a truly perfect weekend in Aragon for Championship leader, Marc Marquez. Dre Harrison sits down with Richard Asher and Uri Puigdemont to review a stunning weekend from the Spaniard, with a Grand Chelem victory, and the first rider to lead in every single session across the weekend since... Marc himself did it in Germany back in 2015. It was a close fight from behind as Alex Marquez limited the Championship damage with another pair of second place finishes, with Francesco Bagnaia making a big change in his brake discs that earned him a podium finish, and according to the man himself, some regained confidence after just four points in his previous five races. Is it the first sign of a turnaround by the former Champion. There's also some focus on today's news that two-time World Superbike Champion Toprak Razgatlıoğlu will be heading to MotoGP in 2026 with Prima Pramac Racing. The trio discuss why this is a fun but "risky" move by the Turkish rider and what challenges may lie ahead.  And finally a wrap-up of the rest of the weekend's action, including Pedro Acosta's dispondent feelings despite a fourth place finish, what could have been for Marco Bezzecchi's Aprilia after a horrible Qualifying session, and the unpredictable future of KTM with rumours Herve Poncheral at Tech3 might be prepared to sell his team. 

Dre Harrison introduces a special episode of Tank Slappers, featuring a sit down interview with former rider, LCR Team Principal and new President of the IRTA, Lucio Cecchinello. In a wide-ranging interview, Lucio talks about what he misses most about being a rider, his new role as IRTA President, and what it was like juggling being both a rider and a team boss at the same time. There's also a chat about his partnership with Honda, and having the last two wins the manufacturer has earned in MotoGP.  There's also a deep dive into what he thinks of Liberty Media, whose takeover of MotoGP is imminent, what the sport can learn from Formula 1 in terms of fandom, entertaining and sporting merit, and how he thinks the 2027 regulations could shake up the sport, and what the other manufacturers can learn from Ducati's dominance. 

Dre Harrison is joined again by Richard Asher and Uri Puigdemont to review what was an incredibly dramatic Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone. It was a shocking win for Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia winning their first race of 2025, and it couldn't have come at a better time with the unstable future of World Champion Jorge Martin still looming over the horizon. But will that win and Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivera's plea for Martin to stay hold up? There's also a discussion on the heartbreaking rear ride-height device failure that almost certainly cost Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo his first victory in nearly three years. The trio react to the emotional outpouring from the French rider and the solace Yamaha can take from the performance. Also on the podcast, Ducati's surprise struggles in Britain, Pedro Acosta's possible ultimatum to the bosses at KTM, Johann Zarco scoring another podium for Honda, and what the British GP can do to attract more fans after another disappointing attendance of under 100,000 for the weekend. 

Dre Harrison, Richard Asher and Oriol Puigdemont host an emergency edition of Tank Slappers off the back of one of the biggest bombshell MotoGP stories of 2025 so far. The majority of the show is taken up with the breaking news that Jorge Martin met with Aprilia discreetly during the French GP weekend at Le Mans and told the team that he intends to leave at the end of the season via a performance clause that was in his contract that gave him an option to leave after six races if Martin wasn't placed high enough in the Championship. Oriol breaks down how this story came about, the logic behind Martin activating the clause in his contract, where Martin may intend to move to as a result if he fully commits to leaving, and what this means for Aprilia going forward if their news talismanic rider wants to leave despite just one GP weekend with the team so far. There's also a short review of the French GP itself, as Johann Zarco become the first premier class home winner of the race since 1954, as well as why it was a huge weekend for Marc Marquez in the Championship fight, and Pecco Bagnaia's latest explanations for his struggles after leaving the weekend without a single point. 

Alex Marquez said to the media at the start of the season that he might win a MotoGP race, 'If his brother let him." And in his 93rd attempt, at his home Grand Prix, the younger Marquez brother finally has his first GP victory.  Dre Harrison is joined by Autosport MotoGP reporter Richard Asher, and Motorsport.com MotoGP writer Uri Puigdemont to review an incredibly dramatic Spanish GP weekend with 100,000 in attendance in Jerez.  If you didn't know any better, you may have thought Alex Marquez took a page out of his older brother's book to win across the weekend. Two crashes on Friday, then a lap record in practise, and then taking advantage of Marc crashing early on, making one pass for the lead, and then taking off. But is the Spaniard a genuine title contender now he's leading the standings again by just a single point. What about the factory Ducati camp? Pecco Bagnaia was very vocal about struggling to extract the full speed out of his GP25, esepcially with the Sprint tank in on Saturday's. And as for Marc Marquez, is he struggling to figure out where the limit is on his bike after another Sunday crash? Fabio Quartararo had an incredible weekend, with his first pole position for Yamaha in nearly three years, and second place in the GP, their first podium in a year and a half. Is there hope for the factory, and how is their V4 coming along? And with back-to-back strong races from Maverick Vinales, is Pedro Acosta under more pressure to leave KTM? All that and more on a busy episode of Tank Slappers!

Dre Harrison is back to host another episode of Tank Slappers after a newsworthy Grand Prix of Qatar, joined by Autosport and Motorsport.com writers Uri Puigdemont and Richard Asher.  Once again it was Marc Marquez who dominated from the front to take his third double victory of the season in the Sprint and the Grand Prix. The trio talk about Marquez’s brilliance despite the early clash with his brother Alex, and the worry for teammate Francesco Bagnaia, who was expected to win on a track he’s won at multiple times before. There’s also the latest news on the condition of World Champion Jorge Martin, who suffered a horrendous crash after being struck by Fabio DiGiannantonio, and is set to miss three months of racing after having his lung collapse and breaking 11 of his ribs.  Maverick Vinales shocked everyone in the sport by giving Marquez a run for his money by finishing second on the road, only to drop to 14th after the race finished due to a breach of the tyre pressure regulations. Dre and Richard discuss whether the rule needs changing after Vinales spent multiple laps leading to bring his tyre pressures down.  There’s also the polarising performances coming from the Japanese manufactures, as Honda’s Johann Zarco continues to impress with a fourth-placed finish, while Fabio Quartararo falls down the order after claiming his first front-row start in nearly three years. 

In an exclusive interview, Uri Puigdemont sits down with eight-time World Champion and newest Ducati MotoGP rider, Marc Marquez. In it, Marc talks about his career-defining switch from Honda to Ducati in 2023, the relationship between himself and brother Alex as they both compete for the sport’s greatest prize, how his family are dealing with the fights on-track, and how he’s getting along with new teammate Francesco Bagnaia. There’s also a deep dive into Marquez’s mentality, from the recent chaos of that aborted start in Austin, the crash that ended his perfect start to 2025, and what Marc would tell his 18-year-old self, nearly 15 years after his first World Championship in the 125cc class.

Given MotoGP came out of Austin, Texas this weekend, it’s safe to say we got The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Marc Marquez, who’s controversial last-minute bike switch caused chaos just minutes before the start of the Grand Prix of the Americas. Dre Harrison and Uri Puigdemont break down all the angles from the incident, including the dialogue that led up to Marquez’s last-minute switch. This includes why the conditions made that decision so difficult in the first place, why Race Director Mike Webb threw the Red Flag to abandon the start, and why Marquez avoided the ride-through penalty he should have gotten as per the regulations. The race itself also had a dramatic flashpoint with Marc Marquez crashing from the lead of the race, handing a comfortable victory to Francesco Bagnaia, his first of the year. With it, Alex Marquez now leads the Championship, and Bagnaia sits just 11 points behind.  The show also features a sit-down interview with Suzuki legend and 1993 MotoGP World Champion Kevin Schwantz, who discusses the dynamics between Ducati teammates Bagnaia and Marquez, where brother Alex fits into the title fight. There’s also Kevin’s opinion on the state of developing talent in the United States via MotoAmerica, and what MotoGP can learn from F1’s Drive to Survive as the sport tries to extend its reach in the US. 

Welcome back to Tank Slappers. On this week's episode, host Dre Harrison is joined by Motorsport.com writers Oriol Puigdemont and Federico Faturos to report on all the action and news coming out of the 2025 Grand Prix of Argentina. At the front, it was almost a case of Deja Vu as Marc Marquez defeated his brother Alex in a one-on-one fight. But the trio ponders on whether Marc was at 100% of his speed in an attempt to win, or whether there could be even more potential in the tank for the Spaniard as he took his 90th Grand Win, tying him with the great Angel Nieto for third all-time in GP history. There's a chat about Francesco Bagnaia's side of the garage. The Double World Champion could only finish fourth in the race, with the rider himself admitting they're "missing something" from the feeling of the latest Ducati GP25. With the Italian 31 points behind Marquez in the standings, how concerned should be? There's also a deep dive on Ai Ogura's technical disqualification as Aprilia could only manage one bike finishing in 15th place across their weekend, and whether reigning Champion Jorge Martin may get a test before returning from his injuries, with his recovery time extended through the United States GP in a week and a half's time. Finally, there's talk about Pirelli becoming the sport's official tyre supplier from 2027 and why it may be adding to the "Monopoly" arguments in the midst of Liberty Media's attempted purchase, and whether Argentina has a future on the calendar with the sport confirming a race in neighbouring Brazil in 2026. 

Tank Slappers is back for the 2025 Season! Taking over the reins is Dre Harrison, alongside Autosport’s Chief Motorsport Writer Ben Hunt, and Motorsport.com MotoGP reporter Oriol Puigdemont. The trio sit down to review the opening round of the 2025 MotoGP season in Buriram, Thailand at the Chang International Circuit. It was a dream debut for Marc Marquez in the Ducati red, dominating the proceedings to finishing in a 1-2 in both the Sprint and Grand Prix with his brother Alex. How impressive was Marc’s performance? How concerned should Francesco Bagnaia be after only managing a pair of third places?  There’s also the fact that Marquez had to concede an early second-and-a-half advantage to comply with MotoGP’s tyre regulation rule. A necessary evil, or bad for the show? There’s also a discussion on Ai Ogura and the best debut performance in the sport since 2013 after finishing 5th in his first race with Trackhouse, the latest on Jorge Martin’s broken hands, and asking if Honda and Yamaha are finally closing the gap to Ducati and Aprilia.