Episodes

  • 131: Marquez's Five Of A Kind In Brno, Is A "Concorde Agreement" Coming?

    131: Marquez's Five Of A Kind In Brno, Is A "Concorde Agreement" Coming?
    Jul 24 2025
    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.
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    58 mins
  • 130: Marc Marquez's Dozen German Wins, Jorge Martin Stays At Aprilia

    130: Marc Marquez's Dozen German Wins, Jorge Martin Stays At Aprilia
    Jul 15 2025
    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.
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    49 mins
  • 129: Marc Marquez Ties Agostini With Assen Win while Alex Leaves Injured

    129: Marc Marquez Ties Agostini With Assen Win while Alex Leaves Injured
    Jul 2 2025
    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.
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    46 mins
  • 128: Liberty Media Completes MotoGP Buyout, Marc Marquez Dominates Mugello

    128: Liberty Media Completes MotoGP Buyout, Marc Marquez Dominates Mugello
    Jun 25 2025
    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?
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    53 mins
  • 127: MotoGP Legend Àlex Crivillé On Bagnaia/Marquez, Doohan And MotoGP's Future

    127: MotoGP Legend Àlex Crivillé On Bagnaia/Marquez, Doohan And MotoGP's Future
    Jun 23 2025
    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.
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    19 mins
  • 126: Marc Marquez's "Perfect" Aragon, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu Heads To MotoGP

    126: Marc Marquez's "Perfect" Aragon, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu Heads To MotoGP
    Jun 10 2025
    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.
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    49 mins
  • 125: Lucio Cecchinello on IRTA Presidency, Liberty Media Buying MotoGP And Its Future

    125: Lucio Cecchinello on IRTA Presidency, Liberty Media Buying MotoGP And Its Future
    Jun 5 2025
    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.
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    19 mins
  • 124: Marco Bezzecchi Wins In Britain, Heartbreak for Quartararo, Drama for Aprilia and KTM

    124: Marco Bezzecchi Wins In Britain, Heartbreak for Quartararo, Drama for Aprilia and KTM
    May 28 2025
    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.
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    56 mins