The Tank Slappers with Lewis and Uri

Last weekend's Americas Grand Prix produced numerous talking points as the 2024 MotoGP season continues to thrill, with Maverick Vinales stealing the headlines for Aprilia. Thrown a career lifeline by Aprilia after his acrimonious split with Yamaha midway through 2021, Vinales had so far failed to deliver the kind of results expected of him. But in America, having taken a breakthrough sprint win in Portugal, Vinales put together a perfect weekend where he took pole, sprint victory and registered his first grand prix win since Qatar 2021. It made him history too, as he became (officially) the first rider in the modern MotoGP era to win races on three different brands of motorcycle. On this week's Tank Slappers podcast, Autosport's Lewis Duncan and Motorsport.com's Oriol Puigdemont discuss Vinales' resurgence and how Aprilia has been able to coax out the best version of the Spaniard. They also discuss Ducati's ongoing chatter woes, why Marc Marquez's Americas GP weekend wasn't as bad as his DNF suggested, and the continuing rise of rookie superstar Pedro Acosta. With Honda enduring a miserable weekend, our hosts give their honest opinion of the Japanese manufacturer and why it is so far from being competitive again.

On the latest episode of Tank Slappers, Lewis Duncan and Oriol Puigdemont react to the big news of the week, as Fabio Quartararo announces a new two-year extension at Yamaha's team, and the pair discuss the ripple effects of the move, including why Aprilia was turned down and who they might try for instead in what could be a chaotic silly season.  Also, the big question as MotoGP heads to Austin this upcoming weekend for the Grand Prix of the Americas at COTA... is this the big win for Marc Marquez that can kickstart a title campaign?

The motorsport world has been digesting one of the biggest announcements of the year on Monday after Formula 1 owner Liberty Media announced its acquisition of MotoGP. The American media giant announced on Monday 1 April that it had purchased majority shares in Dorna Sports from Bridgepoint Capital for €4.2 billion. The news means Liberty now owns the world's two biggest motorsport world championships in F1 and MotoGP. The deal will herald a new era for MotoGP as Liberty gets to work growing the series in key markets across the globe, with America set to be at the forefront of this. There are still many unknowns about the deal and the direction Liberty will take Dorna and MotoGP in the coming years, though the former is confident it will be able to clear the regulatory boards. In the latest Tank Slappers Podcast, Autosport's Lewis Duncan and Motorsport.com's Oriol Puigdemont discuss everything we know about the deal and what it could mean for MotoGP.

The 2024 MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix was won by Jorge Martin but the collision between Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia stole all the headlines. Pramac Ducati rider Martin put in a mature display to clinch his first grand prix win of the season, seeing off Aprilia's Maverick Vinales prior to the Spaniard's gearbox problems, and Ducati's Enea Bastianini to move into the lead of the championship. But it was the collision between Gresini Ducati rider Marquez and the reigning double world champion Bagnaia that served up the biggest talking point of the second round of the 2024 season. The crash was dismissed by the stewards as a racing incident, but both riders differed on their opinion about the clash. Harshest of all was Marquez, who felt Bagnaia was at fault for the collision. This has served up Ducati's first big internal drama to manage. On the latest Tank Slappers podcast, Autosport's Lewis Duncan and Motorsport.com's Oriol Puigdemont discuss the incident and what it means for both the riders and Ducati going forward. They also assess Martin's impressive grand prix performance and evaluate where he is now as a rider after the 2023 season. Pedro Acosta continued to make waves in his MotoGP debut year as he scored a maiden podium in the grand prix in third, while Vinales' return to form is also a point of discussion on this week's show.

The 2024 MotoGP season continues this weekend with the second round of the campaign at the Portuguese Grand Prix. After Ducati dominated the opening round of the season in Qatar with Jorge Martin winning the sprint and reigning double world champion Francesco Bagnaia taking the spoils in the grand prix, Portugal presents a new challenge for the Italian marque. The unique conditions of the Qatar race coupled with the fact a test took place there just two weeks before the season started means Portugal will act as something of a reset, as well as perhaps offering a better glimpse as to what the pecking order truly looks like. That much is true for two stars of the Qatar GP in KTM rookie sensation Pedro Acosta and eight-time grand prix world champion Marc Marquez on the Gresini Ducati, with the latter admitting after the last round that Portugal would see him "starting from zero". In the latest Tank Slappers podcast, Autosport's Lewis Duncan and Motorsport.com's Oriol Puigdemont preview this weekend's Portuguese GP and the storylines to watch out for. They also discuss the latest rider market announcement, following Ducati's signing of Moto2 star Fermin Aldeguer to a two-year deal from 2025: Where will the young Spaniard actually race and how does it affect other key Ducati players?

ewis Duncan and Oriol Puigdemont are back to review the first round of the 2024 MotoGP Championship, where Francesco Bagnaia kicked off his MotoGP title defence with victory in a thrilling Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday, ahead of Brad Binder and Jorge Martín with Marc Marquez finishing a strong fourth on his Ducati debut.

The Tank Slappers is back for a brand new MotoGP season. The 2024 season promises to be one for the history books. Eyes will be Marc Marquez as he starts a new chapter in his career switching from Honda to Gresini-run Ducati Desmosedici GP23. Lewis Duncan is joined once again by Oriol Puigdemont as they preview the upcoming season.

Francesco Bagnaia is the 2022 MotoGP world champion after finishing the Valencia Grand Prix in ninth with Fabio Quartararo fourth, as Alex Rins took an emotional race win. Lewis Duncan and Oriol Puigdemont are here for the final time this season to analyse all the action.

Lewis Duncan and Oriol Puigdemont are together to review the San Marino GP, look at the title challengers, and say goodbye to Andrea Dovizioso after a brilliant MotoGP career.

Surprise news that MotoGP from 2023 will have twenty one sprint race weekends for every grand prix weekend.  Is it good for the championship? Are you excited for what it does for the sport? Whilst it's necessary for MotoGP to evolve, are sprint races the answer? And is it possible that so many sprint races devalue the main event grand prix? The promoters seems to have caught many of those in the paddock by surprise, which led to strong opinions being voiced last week. We discuss all those issues and much more, including the Austrian GP, and look ahead to Mizano.

Lewis and Uri discuss the imminent retirement of MotoGP star Andrea Dovizioso, and how he didn't expect to struggle on the Yamaha. He won't be sticking around for the end of the season, but from Aragon GP onwards, he'll be replaced by Cal Crutchlow. The pair also look back at yesterday's British GP and the state of the championship, with Quartarao, Espargaro and Bagnaia all in the mix.

Alex Rins joins Lewis Duncan and Oriol Puigdemont for his first interview with the media following news he's joining Honda for 2023.

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia stormed to victory in a dramatic MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix after championship leader Fabio Quartararo crashed twice, while Valentino Rossi’s team got its first podium. Lewis Duncan and Oriol Puigemont are back on the Tank Slappers podcast to analyse the race.

Lewis Duncan and Oriol Puigdemont look back at the key moments in the German Grand Prix, as Fabio Quartararo dominated to take charge in the championship after his main title rivals faltered at the Sachsenring.

Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo dominated the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix as nearest title rival Aleix Espargaro threw away a podium by miscounting the number of laps remaining.

Lewis and Oriol are here to review the Italian GP. Plus the big news from Marquez is his latest surgery and potential consequences for his career.

Lewis Duncan and Oriol Puigdemont look back at the French GP to analyse all the track action. This is also their first opportunity to discuss the news we broke last week about Suzuki leaving the sport at the end of 2022.

Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia fended off Fabio Quartararo in a tense Spanish Grand Prix to claim his first MotoGP win of the 2022 season, as Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro completed the podium. Lewis Duncan and Oriol Puigdemont are here to analyse the events in Spain, and ask if the lack of predictability this season could actually be harming MotoGP for some fans. 

Lewis Duncan and Oriol Puigdemont were trackside in Portugal to witness all the action. Fabio Quartararo kickstarted his MotoGP world championship defence in a thrilling Portuguese Grand Prix, crossing the line over five seconds ahead to take his first win of the 2022 season. 

Lewis Duncan and Oriol Puigdemont review all the weekend action from COTA. Enea Bastianini took his second win of the 2022 MotoGP season in a thrilling Americas Grand Prix, as Marc Marquez recovered to sixth after dropping to last on lap one.