Latest / Pit Talk / Did Russell reignite the F1 title in Baku? Plus Matt Payne builds up to Bathurst and MotoGP is bound for Motegi | Shannons Round-up

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Did Russell reignite the F1 title in Baku? Plus Matt Payne builds up to Bathurst and MotoGP is bound for Motegi | Shannons Round-up · Pit Talk

• 0:00
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  Speaker 1: 13 46 46 or jump online.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to Pit Talk, brought to you by Shannon's.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: On today's episode, George Russell wins the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: after Kimi Antonelli crashes out of qualifying. But has he
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: reignited his title hopes or simply delayed the inevitable? We
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: look ahead to this weekend's Japanese Motorcycle Grand Prix in
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  Speaker 2: Mategi and the concluding part of that championship. And we
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  Speaker 2: catch up with Supercar's points leader, Matt Payne, as we
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  Speaker 2: count down to the Bathurst 1000 next weekend.
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  Speaker 3: My name's Michael Laminato.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: It's great to have your company and the company of
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  Speaker 2: my co-host.
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  Speaker 3: He's often thought Bahrain.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: And Malaysia should cooperate more closely and glad someone's finally listening.
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  Speaker 3: It's Matt Clayton.
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  Speaker 1: It's nice to have a geopolitical story with a sporting
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: calendar that actually works because God knows the back end
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  Speaker 1: of these two seasons is still remaining uncertain because of
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: that great word geopolitics hyphenated if you like but it's
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: still the same situation but uh Yes, the Japanese Motorcycle
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Grand Prix at Motegi, as it is every year, the
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  Speaker 1: Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, which it has never been.
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  Speaker 1: It is a strange time.
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  Speaker 3: It is highly unusual.
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  Speaker 2: I haven't wrapped my head around how I'm going to
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  Speaker 2: feel about writing that as a sentence in the first place.
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  Speaker 2: But look, that's a bridge we'll cross maybe on Sunday
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  Speaker 2: night when I finally give in one way or the other.
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  Speaker 3: That is this weekend.
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  Speaker 2: We will talk about Malaysia in a little bit of
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  Speaker 2: a second, as well as Japan and everything else we've
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  Speaker 2: talked about. But of course, we're going to talk about
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: the racing that took place over the weekend in the
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  Speaker 2: Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Azerbaijan, which I believe should be
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  Speaker 2: the naming convention for all Grands Prix for now on.
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  Speaker 3: And an unusual result in that George Russell has won.
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  Speaker 2: He's won a Grand Prix, the third time only this season,
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  Speaker 2: first time since the Austrian Grand Prix back in June.
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  Speaker 2: So quite a while between drinks. Since that time, of course,
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  Speaker 2: Antonelli has pretty much run away with the championship. I
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  Speaker 2: thought it was interesting, though, Matt, is it 66 points now,
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  Speaker 2: the gap, because Antonelli crashed out in qualifying.
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  Speaker 3: We'll mention him in just a second.
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  Speaker 2: That George Russell, obviously the question at this point, when
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: there's only two title contenders realistically left, maybe in contention, was.
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  Speaker 3: Sort of asked, well, you know, what do you think
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  Speaker 3: about the title?
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  Speaker 2: And he definitely was much less definitive than a couple
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  Speaker 2: of weeks ago when he said, obviously I'm not in
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  Speaker 2: it anymore.
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  Speaker 3: I'm no longer thinking about it.
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  Speaker 2: He's tried to, I think, turn a little bit more
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  Speaker 2: pressure on Antonelli at a moment where maybe Antonelli is
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  Speaker 2: on the canvas, probably a bit of an exaggeration, but
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  Speaker 2: maybe looking a little bit weaker than usual. Do you
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  Speaker 2: think there's anything in this title fight or is this
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  Speaker 2: just George Russell having a bit of an adrenaline high
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  Speaker 2: after winning a Grand Prix?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, a little bit of the latter, I think. I
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  Speaker 1: think it's, you know, when you were in his position,
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  Speaker 1: given the way the season has gone and it's probably
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  Speaker 1: the reverse of how we saw this season going at
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  Speaker 1: the beginning of it when Russell won way back in Australia.
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  Speaker 1: Doesn't that feel like a long time ago? I think it's,
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  Speaker 1: you know, by turning up the psychological heat a little bit,
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  Speaker 1: there's only really one card to play at this point, right?
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  Speaker 1: And there comes a point that you may as well
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  Speaker 1: play it or you end up just holding it and
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  Speaker 1: not using it for the remainder of the season. You
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  Speaker 1: can do that on a rare weekend when you've outscored
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  Speaker 1: your teammate. There hasn't been too many of them, particularly
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  Speaker 1: since Austria, as you mentioned. So it was probably a
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  Speaker 1: little bit of the adrenaline coming through, but also a
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  Speaker 1: completely understandable comment. And look, I mean, if you're George Russell,
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  Speaker 1: forget what Antonelli did on the other side of the garage.
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  Speaker 1: you can't have a more complete weekend than he had
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  Speaker 1: at Baku. So if there's ever a time to strut
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  Speaker 1: around with your chest out a little bit, it's after
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  Speaker 1: a weekend like that. He was as dominant and as
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  Speaker 1: good as anyone has ever been this season. The unfortunate
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  Speaker 1: part about it was that it took us until round
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  Speaker 1: 15 and a very hefty title deficit to his teammate
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  Speaker 1: for us to get there. So nice to get there.
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  Speaker 1: It would have been nicer if it was a bit sooner.
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  Speaker 1: But I can completely understand why he's played this card
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  Speaker 1: because this is the time to play. Otherwise, when are
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  Speaker 1: you going to?
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  Speaker 2: There is also a question here, and I'm glad for
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  Speaker 2: a change, I guess, that we've got so many races
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  Speaker 2: to come, including two in the next couple of weekends,
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  Speaker 2: of whether or not this is a bit of a
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  Speaker 2: track-specific situation. To take nothing away from Russell, who has
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  Speaker 2: been telling us since the mid-season break that he feels
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  Speaker 2: more comfortable in the car, that the thinking he did
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  Speaker 2: and the homework he did during the mid-season break.
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  Speaker 3: Is paying off.
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  Speaker 2: And he has been closer to the pace, even though
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  Speaker 2: he's been beaten by Antonelli every weekend up until now.
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  Speaker 2: But if I may repurpose a phrase and be slightly
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  Speaker 2: contentious in saying it, Matt, as perhaps supporting evidence for
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  Speaker 2: that idea, this track wasn't bad for the number two drivers,
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  Speaker 2: was it? Russell excelled, normally beaten by Antonelli. Piastri looked
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  Speaker 2: quite good this weekend until he threw it off the road,
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  Speaker 2: although Norris did exactly the same thing in exactly the
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  Speaker 2: same place. Charles Leclerc, okay, he's not really the number
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  Speaker 2: two driver at Ferrari, but he's probably for most of
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  Speaker 2: the season been a little bit behind Hamilton, absolutely not here,
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  Speaker 2: although he's always so good at this circuit as well.
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  Speaker 3: Even Matt.
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  Speaker 2: Dare I say it, the number two of number two
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  Speaker 2: drivers of recent years, Sergio Perez, had a very good
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  Speaker 2: race for Cadillac. In fact, he says the best race
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  Speaker 2: he's ever had at Baku, despite having won it twice before.
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  Speaker 2: So I do think there is an element of, in
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  Speaker 2: this equation of why Russell and other drivers like him
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  Speaker 2: aren't getting the most out of these cars, perhaps this
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  Speaker 2: track sort of lessened, either lessened their deficits or lessened
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  Speaker 2: the strengths of the other drivers who are doing very.
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  Speaker 3: Well this year.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought you were going to add Franco Colapinto's
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  Speaker 1: name to that list of number two drivers who did
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  Speaker 1: well this weekend, but that's probably a separate conversation. Hello
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: to all our listeners in Buenos Aires. But no, I
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  Speaker 1: think the interesting part about Azerbaijan, and this is why
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  Speaker 1: this race has become a bit of a modern classic.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if that's overstating things a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: There's something about this track that there isn't really anywhere
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  Speaker 1: like it. You can say, oh, this bit's a bit
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  Speaker 1: like somewhere and this bit's a bit like somewhere else.
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  Speaker 1: That's what makes this racetrack so interesting because there's not really...
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  Speaker 1: It's such a small sample set, right? There's nowhere you
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  Speaker 1: can really compare it to. It's one of the things
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  Speaker 1: I really like about this particular track, despite the fact
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  Speaker 1: that the broadcaster sends the B team there every year
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  Speaker 1: and there's 14 people at the grandstands. It looks great.
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  Speaker 1: It's great to watch. But I also think it unlocks
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  Speaker 1: a really different driving challenge because there's elements of other
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  Speaker 1: circuits in it. But when you take it as its whole...
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  Speaker 1: It's a really interesting layout that does tend to throw
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  Speaker 1: up interesting races. Now, until we got some safety cars
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  Speaker 1: on Saturday, at least on Sunday, in Baku, it was
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  Speaker 1: petering out to a bit of a lame conclusion, primarily
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  Speaker 1: because of, I think, there's the complete lack of tyre degradation.
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  Speaker 1: It's not something we see often in Formula 1 racing
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  Speaker 1: these days. There was just this status quo happening where,
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  Speaker 1: quite frankly, they could have done the race with no stops.
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  Speaker 1: It was just one of those really low degradation tracks.
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  Speaker 1: So we got the safety cars to add the random
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  Speaker 1: element at the end, but... You're right. This is a
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  Speaker 1: track where you either click or you don't. And the
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  Speaker 1: Perez example is really interesting that you bring that up
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  Speaker 1: because obviously Cadillac aren't fighting for anything. They're right at
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  Speaker 1: the back. They're just participating in Formula One this season.
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  Speaker 1: That's the best we can say about them. Perez was
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  Speaker 1: genuinely excellent the entire weekend. And it's one of those
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  Speaker 1: things that it gets lost because he got a penalty
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  Speaker 1: in qualifying and he's down the back anyway. You don't
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  Speaker 1: really see him on the coverage. But this is one
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  Speaker 1: of those tracks where You know, the lesser light in
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  Speaker 1: the teams this year has been the one that perhaps
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  Speaker 1: stole the limelight over the course of the weekend. You
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  Speaker 1: mentioned Piastri. I'm sure we'll get into that. But the
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  Speaker 1: Perez one for me was, other than Russell, he'd have
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  Speaker 1: to feature very highly if you were doing your list
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  Speaker 1: of driver rankings for the weekend. He was genuinely excellent. But, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it was a strange weekend in that regard. It was
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  Speaker 1: the drivers that have been the statue rather than the pigeon, Michael,
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  Speaker 1: that shone this weekend in Baku.
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  Speaker 4: Goodness.
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  Speaker 3: Like that.
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  Speaker 2: Just before we get to Piastro, I do want to,
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  Speaker 2: of course, touch on Antonelli here. Very unusual to see
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  Speaker 2: him in a vulnerable position as we did this weekend.
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  Speaker 3: Very rough build-up to qualifying.
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  Speaker 2: Had only really half the running time, perhaps even less,
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  Speaker 2: in Thursday practice. Had FP3, then crashed out in Q1.
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  Speaker 2: Reasonably good recovery up into the deep points into fifth.
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  Speaker 3: Maybe could have had the pace.
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  Speaker 2: To go up to third, but I thought it was
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  Speaker 2: interesting how much he emphasised after the race that he
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  Speaker 2: was being very conservative in this one. Just wanted to
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  Speaker 2: get some good points. Didn't want to have the kind
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  Speaker 2: of weekend, perhaps, that Piastri had this time last year,
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  Speaker 2: where he came into this weekend also with a pretty
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  Speaker 2: comfortable lead, although nowhere near as big as Antonelli's is
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  Speaker 2: at the moment, and had the scrappiest weekend of his
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  Speaker 2: entire career, as he's called it. Antonelli's had the same,
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  Speaker 2: but has taken quite a few points away with him,
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  Speaker 2: which means his lead is still very much intact. And that,
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  Speaker 2: for me, does answer maybe a question, maybe exaggerating it
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  Speaker 2: a little bit, but this is the most challenged I
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  Speaker 2: think he's been all season And he had all the
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  Speaker 2: right answers after making what is admittedly a pretty poor
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: mistake of crashing out with the fastest car in Q1.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: If it was the last run of Q3, it might
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: be a little bit of a different situation. But, you know,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: they say titles are won on your worst days. If
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  Speaker 2: this is his worst day, it's certainly his worst day
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: so far. Well, that title picture hasn't really changed.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: No, I'm usually the person saying that on this podcast.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: What's going on here? You win the championship on your
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: worst days. It's one of my mantras to live by.
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  Speaker 1: But it was interesting about the fact that, so he
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: came from, what, 16th on the grid, finished fifth. It's
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: only because we were thinking about what happened two races
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  Speaker 1: previously in Monza when he came from the very back
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  Speaker 1: and won that perhaps we didn't laud this as being
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  Speaker 1: as good as it was because it was a fairly
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  Speaker 1: straightforward race. He didn't have just the outright car advantage
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  Speaker 1: that he had at Monza. So to gain those places
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  Speaker 1: on a track where, particularly when you have safety car restarts,
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  Speaker 1: there is peril and for him to get through that,
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  Speaker 1: bank a decent slab of points, mitigate the points lost
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  Speaker 1: to his teammate. I know he didn't win the weekend,
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  Speaker 1: which is a rare thing to say for this year
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  Speaker 1: for Kimi Antonelli, but he still kind of won the
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: weekend in that there was a different test for him
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  Speaker 1: to pass by the time we got out at the
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  Speaker 1: end of qualifying. What he had to get out of
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: Saturday was very different than what he thought he was
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: going to get out of Saturday coming in. I actually
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: thought that he handled it really well. And, you know,
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: even a bit of self-deprecation said he was driving around
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: like his grandmother. So there you go. But his grandmother
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: must be pretty quick, I've got to say. But I
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: just thought it was a really, really well-handled weekend because
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: there were enough trapdoors and tripwires there that you couldn't...
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: have really, really tripped yourself up. The fact that he didn't,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: it does show you the growth he's made in the
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: past 12 months because I think if you put this
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: race in September 2025, I'm not quite sure we get
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: the same result from that same position. I think it
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: just shows you the growth over the course of the year. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: he's taken a hit in the championship standings. It could
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: have been so much worse.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and who was it? I think it's from MotoGP.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: I forget the rider who said it, but it's underestimated
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: because we spend so much time thinking about the leaders
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: who are usually at the lead in the front, how
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: much of a jungle the midfield is and how much
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: risk there is, particularly at a track like this where
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: there are pinch points non-stop around the lap for drivers
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: to hit one another, as we saw later on in
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: the race with Franco Colapinto in... knocking out as many
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: cars as possible. Also, Arvid Lindblad taking out his teammate.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: The McLaren side of that story, a miserable weekend for them,
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: their first scoreless weekend since they were disqualified from the
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: Las Vegas Grand Prix.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: I beg you, not their.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: First scoreless Grand Prix, of course, because that was China
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: where they didn't start, but a total weekend considering there
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: was a sprint there.
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  Speaker 3: This was.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: It's hard to know what to think of McLaren even
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: building up to now. Obviously, they had a great run
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: of form, should have won three of the last four races,
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: had three of the last four pole positions with Lando Norris.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: There was some optimism that while this track obviously wasn't
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: going to suit them that much, but it wasn't going
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: to look that bad because they've taken all these great
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: steps in the last month or so, but really looked
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: quite anonymous. Piastri putting on a great defensive drive in
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: that first stint, reminiscent of his drive here a couple
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: of years ago, but clearly had no pace relative to
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: the Red Bull car's You know, the only blessing in
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: terms of pace analysis is that Ferrari was also on
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: track and they looked equally anonymous, perhaps even more. But
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: to walk away with two non-scores, mistakes from both drivers
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: at the first turn, then Norris being wiped out with
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: no fault of his own. This feels like a little bit...
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: Feels more humbling than perhaps you would have thought for McLaren,
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: considering they felt like they were building to something.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: A little bit, yeah. And I think because they were
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: so keen to talk it up too, and this whole,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: is Lando Norris a championship contender? Well, we can put
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: that one in the bin. That's not happening anymore. And so...
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: I wasn't hugely surprised given that that car has proven
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: to be pretty draggy and not great in a straight line.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: And as much as you can be good on, you know, what,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: 15 of the 21 quarters of Azerbaijan, that last sector,
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: they were always going to get slaughtered there. And it
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: was visceral, just really visceral. You could see just how
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: slow and just how stubborn that thing was to get
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: out of that last corner. It had no real pace
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: on the straights. The Piastri defensive driver feels... you know, it's,
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: it's praise yet. It's praise with a caveat. Cause we feel,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: I feel like we've done that a few times this year. Well,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: he did the best in a situation where there wasn't
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: much going on, like Hungary. We talked about that as well. So, um, yeah,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: he had a strong qualifying clearly. Uh, but in the race,
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: it did feel like he was kind of the cork
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: in the bottle and he was just hanging on a
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: little bit. Um, unfortunately the safety car was a thing
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: that probably did him undone that left him vulnerable to Verstappen.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: And then we know what happened after that. But, uh, Yeah,
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: not a great weekend for McLaren and, you know, the
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: humbling element of it. Perhaps we or possibly they were
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: getting a little carried away at what had happened in
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: previous races and they've kind of just regressed to where
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: they've been recently. Now, do I think this is a
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: trend for the remainder of the season? Not necessarily because
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: this is such a one-of-one track. We've already discussed this.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: There will be tracks that suit them far better, possibly
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: this weekend in whatever we're calling this weekend's race. That
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: could be a little bit better for them. But this
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: was always going to be a tough one. But I
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: don't think they would have predicted this tough.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: Now, before we look ahead to Malaysia, I do want
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: to touch on Ferrari here, not just because on track
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: they were pretty nowhere. And it's always disappointing, I think,
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: when Charles Leclerc turns up here, similar to Monaco, with
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: a car that can't really do the business. You know,
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: got it into second. Admittedly, it was about four light
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: years behind George Russell in qualifying, which is as close
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: as anyone could get to him. And then they just
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: regressed backwards to nowhere. Lucky the McLaren drivers didn't finish
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: the race, I suppose, which meant some limited blushes, but
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: still plenty of blushes to go around.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Particularly behind the scenes at Ferrari.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: Now, the last couple of weeks, there's been a lot
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: of rumors around team principal Frederick Basso, whether or not
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: he's destined to last beyond the end of the year,
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: given the championship they all thought they were going to
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: be fighting for hasn't really materialized.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: And in fact, it feels like.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: Ferrari's lost some of the advantages it had only a
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: couple of months ago as its rivals have been developing.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: But this week, the cat was put among the pigeons
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: by Christian Horner. Remember him from 14 months ago when
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: he was sacked from Red Bull Racing in promotion for
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: his new book? And that, I think, is not irrelevant
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: in some of the comments he made with the Times.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: He said that Ferrari is the only team he'd be
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: willing to come back for without a shareholding. Now, having
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: a shareholding in a team is the condition he's placed, essentially,
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: on him coming back to F1. He doesn't want to
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: be an employee and suddenly sacked again in the way
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: he was at Red Bull Racing. He wants some security
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: knowing he's a shareholder, unless... It is at Ferrari, and
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: he's acknowledged, yes, that means some people, no names listed
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: in brackets, but you can fill them in yourself, would
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: have to leave. But at some point, I thought this
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: was the interesting line, that at some point a team's
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: competitive will has to overcome the egoism of not wanting
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: to do what other people tell you to do. The
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: timeliness is, well, it's up to you. Is it coincidental?
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: Is it a little bit more than that? But the
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: fact is that we're all waiting for Christian Horner to
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: get back in Formula 1. He says he wants to
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: come back. And it does seem like if the Italian
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: media speculation is to be bought into, there could be
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: an opening here.
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: There could be a chance something happens here.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Look, I mean, it's always good to promote your book
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: before it comes out. I think that's always, I mean,
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: when I write my autobiography, God knows I'm going to
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: start doing things like that just to make sure we
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: sell a few more. But I do wonder, because Christian
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: Horner is not someone who ever does things on a
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: whim here, I do wonder if this is an attempt
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: to if there are other opportunities elsewhere on that shareholder
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: front that you mentioned, just a chance to perhaps kick
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: that along a little bit to try and expedite whatever
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: those opportunities are and are they real or are they not?
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: Ferrari right now is the only team that would hire
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: Christian Horner as a team principal. The best thing about
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: being hired as a team principal at Ferrari is that
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: you will get fired at some point. So that's the
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: good news for him. He's been there before. He knows
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: how this works. It'll be a lot more public and
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: gesticulations and what have you, but I do wonder if
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: there's something in this where there might be something going
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: on elsewhere that perhaps could be coming to a resolution
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: or not. And this is a way to perhaps fast-track
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: that process one way or not. Now, two things can
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: be true at the same time. Clearly, Ferrari's under pressure.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: It has under-delivered this year based on the internal hopes
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: they had. I think we all got caught up in this, oh,
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: rule reset. Here's the big chance to end this drought
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: that just goes on and on and on. Operationally, we
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: know it's not been great. The car's had some strengths,
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: but has kind of regressed to the mean a little bit.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: I thought Charles Leclerc's Baku weekend was kind of emblematic
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: of the whole way the season's gone for Ferrari. Lots
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: of promise and then a bit of a damp squib
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: at the end. But, yeah, look, it will be interesting
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: because we know the Italian media loves to pile a
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: heap of pressure on Ferrari when things are not going
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: particularly well. They've had plenty of practice of doing this
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: because things have not gone particularly well for quite some time.
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: Just to spark my memory, if memory serves, it was
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: September that Renault can no longer veto the sale of
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: the 24% shares in the Alpine team, which he's been
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: closely linked to. So, well, watch this space. Just briefly, Matt,
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: this weekend, it's a Grand Prix happening in Malaysia, paid
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: for by Bahrain. Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. You're going
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: to be hearing a lot of that.
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: It's not in Bahrain. Don't think that it is. He's
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: in Malaysia, old favorite of F1 Malaysia.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: We raced there for nearly two decades, a couple of
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: decades ago, last race there in 2017. Do you want
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: to guess how many drivers on the current grid raced
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: there in Formula 1?
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: Off the top of my head, look, I know Max
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: did because Verstappen won the last race there. It was
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: held there in 2017. It would be five or, oh,
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: I actually know. I think about Perez a lot. So
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: let's say eight.
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: Eight, that's good. I thought there were only six. In fact,
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: there was 10. I was surprised. Really? Almost half the grid.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, Ocon, Hultenberg, Perez, Alonso, Stroll, Sainz, and
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: the supplementary was Pierre Gasly, who.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Made his debut there. Gasly, debut, yeah. That was the
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: one where you were going through the list and went, yes,
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: that's the one where he came in in the 15th
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: round or whatever it was. Yes, I do remember that now. But, wow,
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: it's amazing when you think there's so much churn in
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: the Formula One driver ranks, but perhaps there's not. But
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: what's interesting about that list you mentioned... There's a few
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: of those drivers who have gone away and come back
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: in those 10 years since. When you think about it,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: they've gone off and done the Indy 500 or they've
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: been parked or they've lost their gigs at Mercedes or whatever. So, yeah,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: interesting that basically half the grid was there the last
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: time we were there in 2017. I'll let you decide
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: whether that's a good thing or not. I'd suggest possibly not,
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: given the underperformance of some of those drivers. But, yeah,
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: it is interesting. And Max Verstappen was a mere pup
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: in those days, wasn't he?
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: Yes, but still winning from his early days. This will be,
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: you know, if you want a reason to tune in
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: other than the fact that it's at the glorious time
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: of 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, imagine that. This will be,
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: I think, the toughest physical test on the entire calendar.
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: Normally that's Singapore, so convenient for the drivers that their
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: fitness will be peaking at the right time, because that's
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: a week later.
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: But this is Singapore, but in the daytime. Admittedly, it's
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: not a street circuit. It's a bit more flowing.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: There are some more straight lines in which the driver
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: can pop over the visor for a little.
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: Bit and cool down.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: They have some cooling tests now for those who want
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: to use them. But if the sun comes out, anyone
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: who's been to Malaysia or that part of the world,
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: the sun comes out, I don't think there's a more
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: inhospitable environment than a Formula 1 cockpit. And that's what
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: I'm really interested to see because as much as 10 drivers,
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: it was a surprising number who have already been there
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: and done that, that means there are 12 drivers who
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: have not.
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: And this has got me thinking of that year in Qatar,
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: which is what, 24? And we had mandatory stint lengths
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: because the tyres were getting chopped up over the kerbs there.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: So you effectively had a flat-out Grand Prix from start
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: to finish in an earlier time of the year than
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: Qatar has previously been held. And we remember there were
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: people being peeled out of cars at the end of
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: that race because they were absolutely cooked. so uh yeah
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: it's going to be interesting it's funny like we think
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: of these hot races now but they're never in day
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: are they like you think of Bahrain and Saudi and
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: a lot of night races Singapore being the one of
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: course but a day race in Malaysia no matter what
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: we're calling this Grand Prix that is going to be
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: very very tough and uh I will say that might
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: be the hottest pit lane I have ever been in
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: because it's all very light concrete as well, which reflects
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: the sun. And you get to about 11 a.m. there,
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: and that thing is absolutely roasting. So, yeah, I don't
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: envy those drivers this Sunday. It's going to be quite
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: the shock, I think.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: It's going to be fascinating. I can't wait to watch it.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: We'll get to what else is going on this weekend
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: in just a moment. But first, we have to go.
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: To Move of the Week. Brought to you by Shannon's.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: There was, in the end, quite a few overtakes in Azerbaijan,
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: even if the first half of the race or so
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: was fairly straightforward.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: But what caught your eye?
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: Well, I mentioned it earlier. There was something that caught
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: my eye, but I might leave the Franco Collapinto to
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: the social media comments, or you, if you'd like to
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: go down that path. But the move of the week
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: for me was a driver who probably redeemed himself somewhat
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: within his own team. I'd have to say Arvid Lindblad getting...
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: Esteban Ocon on the line by, what, three hundredths of
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: a second. There's a fantastic shot from the control tower
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: as they almost crossed the line at the same time.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: Saved a little bit of his blushes after taking his
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: own teammate out at the first quarter at the restart.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: But Lindblad has probably surprised me a little bit this year.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: I didn't expect he would be poor, but he's got
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: up to speed and been pretty combative from the beginning. Now,
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: perhaps too combative in some ways, you could argue. It's
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: not the first time He and Liam Lawson have had
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: a little bit of a disagreement on things as the
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: season goes on. But that's been quite an interesting team
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: this year because I think a lot of that's to
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: do with, I think we knew what Lawson was, but
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: Linbad Blade has probably been better than we expected him
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: to be. That's been quite fun. So to snare that
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: extra point, extra couple of points rather, at the finish
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: line helped soothe some of the embarrassment of what had
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: happened previously. So that's where I'm going for my move
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: of the week. But one of a number of moves
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: in the last, what, 15 laps of that race where
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: there was very little happening before that.
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: Yes, I like it a lot. He has been very good.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: But to take out your teammate, and I did like
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: Liam Lawson's.
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: Very sanguine radio message afterwards. That's sick.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: In a very New Zealand way, I thought as well.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: I enjoyed that one. But yes, somewhat contentious, considering he
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: took out his teammate.
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: You know what?
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: I'm going to dive headlong into social media. I'm going
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: to say move of the week was Franco Colafinto's attempted
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: move at turn one at the safety car restart, wiping
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: out not only his teammate, but Lando Norris. Out of
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: all the drivers there, Lando Norris is the least important
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: one because his championship hopes were realistically already over anyway.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: Didn't really matter. He didn't finish the race. Makes a
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: difference to McLaren, but whatever. This was really costly for
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: Alpine because they were on track for, in what Pierre
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: Gasly described as the best racing car they've had all
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: season to score double points. I forget how many points
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: they were behind racing bulls before this weekend, but it
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: was not very many, partly because... the driver shuffler at
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: Red Bull that meant Yuki Tsunoda was in there and
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: he scored a point over the last three rounds. And
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: they're going to score good points, enliven that battle for
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: fifth in the Constructors' Championship, which I know some people say, well,
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: who cares? It's a lot of money. It's a lot
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: of money, millions of dollars. And that matters to everyone
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: obviously involved. Took them out and as a result, set
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: up the conditions for Arvid Lindblad to score some points
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: against Alpine. And had he not hit his teammate, it
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: would have been double points for Racing Bulls as well.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: They're now out to 15 points behind, which is not huge,
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: but considering, you know, any given normal race, there's only
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: maybe three or four points available for the midfield teams
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: before the front runners finish. That adds up pretty quickly.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: Flavio Briatore, I heard reports that he actually was so
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: angry he left before the race was even finished and
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: was flying home before the chequered flag fell. He's reserving
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: his right to punish Colo Pinto in a way he
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: sees fit, which is.
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: Alarming for someone like that. Sounds it. Remarkable situation.
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: Indeed.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: I'm wondering if Flavio is on social media. Perhaps he
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: might reconsider that particular view if that's the.
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: Way to be.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: But look, the worst part about this is it's not
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: the first time necessarily. Colt Pinto can be a little
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: bit erratic with these sorts of things. But I think
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: the Gasly point is the one well made. You take
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: your teammate out, it's never great. But if you're fighting
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: over a point or you're 12th, 13th or whatever it is,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: then so be it. They were genuinely good at Baku.
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: Gasly's been in genuinely pretty good form of late. to
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: have that evaporate because someone else made a mistake is
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: hard to take, to have it evaporate because the person
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: that made a mistake is your own teammate. And I'm
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: not even really sure what the move was. I'm not
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: sure how you were ever going to get that car
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: stopped on the dirty side of the track down the
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: inside at a restart like that. It just seemed a
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: little bit inevitable, I've got to say. We didn't quite
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: get the camera angle we wanted to initially, but it
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: was no great surprise that once the first two or
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: three cars had come through, you were kind of bracing
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: yourself for the impact and saying, Yeah, I can't say
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: I was massively surprised, but yeah, there was quite the fallout,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: wasn't there?
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and the fallout will probably continue through to this
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: weekend when it will remain a talking point considering Lando
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: Torres wanted him banned afterwards. And I look forward to
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: seeing what he thinks about that. We know what social
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: media thinks about that. Let's move on now, though, because
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: the Countdown to Bathurst is on. It's in just a
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: couple of weeks' time. And one of the contenders, of course,
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: the reigning winner even, is Matt Payne. I caught up
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: with him a little bit earlier this week to talk
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: about not only his odds of repeating defeat... how the
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: build-up is going as we head, of course, towards the
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: championship deciding finals campaign.
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: Well, Matt Payne, thanks so much for joining us on
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: the podcast.
• 25:18
  Speaker 5: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: Now, ahead of the Bathurst 1000, you're back on top
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: of the title table, but I do want to take
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: you back a couple of steps to Ipswich, where you
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: seem like you're on track to secure the Sprint Cup.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: We had this perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances that meant
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: you couldn't get it done. You are still in finals contention,
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: of course, so that's positive, but How did you go
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: about and did the team go about picking yourselves up
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: from that result considering it felt like such a close
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: thing to a done deal? Was it a little bit
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: of a case of just hoping that all your bad
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: lucks come at the right time before the finals and
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: before Bathurst?
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it was very strange because we thought at that
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: time that we'd pretty much wrapped it up and and everyone.
• 26:05
  Speaker 5: Was getting pretty happy that, uh, that we'd achieved that.
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: And then all of a sudden, you know, I felt
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: like it was going to be the easiest race that
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: we've ever driven, the easiest fourth or maybe third place
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: we would have ever got in our lives.
• 26:17
  Speaker 5: Um, and then all of a sudden, yeah, the, the
• 26:20
  Speaker 5: motor just blew up.
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: Um, and then, yeah, it all just quickly went all
• 26:26
  Speaker 4: the way down the drain and.
• 26:28
  Speaker 5: Everyone was pretty, uh, pretty demoralized after that. And the days.
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: After it, um, you know, playing sad music on the
• 26:37
  Speaker 4: Sunday night, trying to get the cars ready for the
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: test drive, the test day, it just turned it into
• 26:44
  Speaker 4: a funny evening. But yeah, kind of, I don't know,
• 26:50
  Speaker 4: one of those real strange ones, one of those ones
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: where motorsport just, you.
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: Know, proves to you that it.
• 26:55
  Speaker 4: Can always, something bad is always around the corner if you,
• 26:59
  Speaker 4: when you least expect it.
• 27:00
  Speaker 5: So, Yeah, pretty unfortunate. I was really hoping to get
• 27:03
  Speaker 5: that wrapped up.
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: Obviously, I was really wanting the 25 bonus points that
• 27:07
  Speaker 4: came with that for the finals, but it wasn't meant
• 27:11
  Speaker 4: to be. So got to face the fact that happened.
• 27:14
  Speaker 4: We moved on and I think everyone moved on really
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: well and reset our focus now for the Enduros. And
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: I think, yeah, I'm pretty proud of the way everyone's
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: done that and reset.
• 27:27
  Speaker 5: And yeah, we've still got the whole year ahead.
• 27:31
  Speaker 4: I feel like, you know, I've just been saying to
• 27:33
  Speaker 4: the guys, the real trophy is handed out at the
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: last race.
• 27:36
  Speaker 5: So that's the one we're all chasing.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: I guess it was a little bit easier to turn
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: the page considering we went straight into enduro mode with
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: Tail and Bend a couple of weeks ago.
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: Really quite a wild race in the end.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: Didn't seem like the forecast was for it to be
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: quite so wild, but a little bit of a baptism
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: of fire too, I suppose, not only for the first
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: week of enduros, but for a new co-driver lineup. You're
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: working with Will Davison this year after a couple of
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: seasons with Garth Tander. He wasn't a stranger to you,
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: of course, when he joined the team, but how much
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: did you learn about each other that weekend, given it
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: probably wasn't a more intense endurance race that you could
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: have imagined for essentially a curtain raiser?
• 28:12
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it was shaping up to be a really good
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: weekend for us. I thought, you know, we'd done a
• 28:18
  Speaker 4: really good job with the balance over the weekend through
• 28:21
  Speaker 4: practice tuning that. Will was really fast. Every time he
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: got in, he was you know, top three or four
• 28:28
  Speaker 4: co-driver pace. So I had no worries about that. And
• 28:32
  Speaker 4: then all of a sudden we turn up on Sunday.
• 28:34
  Speaker 5: And everyone's like, yeah, there's a bit of rain around.
• 28:36
  Speaker 4: And I sort of said, oh, okay. I didn't really
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: think much of it. Some people said, yeah, it might
• 28:41
  Speaker 4: rain for the start and then that'll be it. And
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: then all of a sudden there was lightning and thunder
• 28:47
  Speaker 4: outside and I thought, Jesus, this is a bit serious
• 28:49
  Speaker 4: than that. It's a bit more serious. And then, yeah,
• 28:52
  Speaker 4: the whole day was just constructed around that. how we
• 28:57
  Speaker 4: can get around the track with how bad the conditions were.
• 29:03
  Speaker 4: And obviously our race was underdone and the first corner
• 29:05
  Speaker 4: being spun, which didn't help. But yeah, just a crazy
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: wet and wild Sunday, classic supercars, cars aquaplaning, cars crashing,
• 29:15
  Speaker 4: cars hitting each other, plenty of safety cars. Yeah, just
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: trying to survive really was the goal. We probably didn't
• 29:24
  Speaker 4: have the best race. I probably didn't do the best race.
• 29:27
  Speaker 5: But yeah, I think, you.
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: Know, we still ultimately came out of it with some
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: good points, retook the lead. Brock had a bad day
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: and we managed to take advantage of that when easily
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: it could have been. a bad day for us as well.
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: So yeah, pretty happy we got to see the other
• 29:45
  Speaker 4: side of it. I was a bit gutted it wasn't dry.
• 29:49
  Speaker 4: I was really looking forward to seeing how Will and
• 29:52
  Speaker 4: Todd would have gone at the start of that. I
• 29:54
  Speaker 4: think that would have been a good battle. And also Brodie...
• 29:57
  Speaker 4: how he would have gone as his race pace. So, yeah,
• 30:00
  Speaker 4: I was looking forward to that. But we got a
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: circus instead. So it was good for the fans, good
• 30:07
  Speaker 4: for the fans.
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: So what do you take away looking forward to Bathurst
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: now from a weekend like that, which is all about
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: really betting in for the big race? You got a
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: really unpredictable, very little dry running. It was dry line
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: running in the end. What are the things that you
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: think about after a race like that as you head
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: into Bathurst? Is there anything you can take away? Unless
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: Bathurst is also a thunder and lightning event. Is there
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: stuff you can build on from that as you think
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: about getting ready for it?
• 30:35
  Speaker 5: Yeah, there always is.
• 30:37
  Speaker 4: I think the crew did a great job preparing for
• 30:41
  Speaker 4: that race.
• 30:42
  Speaker 5: Obviously, if it was dry, we're thinking about brake changes.
• 30:45
  Speaker 4: They've been doing amazing practice on that.
• 30:49
  Speaker 5: They've been really quick. The pit stops have been good.
• 30:53
  Speaker 4: Apart from a couple of little hiccups in the race,
• 30:56
  Speaker 4: albeit very hard not to make mistakes.
• 30:59
  Speaker 5: When the pit lane's that busy.
• 31:00
  Speaker 4: But, yeah, I think it was a good tester for
• 31:02
  Speaker 4: all the guys to really put them in the position of,
• 31:05
  Speaker 4: you know, this is probably a worst-case scenario. Go out
• 31:07
  Speaker 4: there and try and do your jobs, which is great.
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: So that's tough on them.
• 31:13
  Speaker 4: But, yeah, I think I learned that Will is more
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: than capable of being up for the task.
• 31:20
  Speaker 5: I know he's going to be good when we get
• 31:21
  Speaker 5: to Bathurst. He's going to be quick.
• 31:23
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, I'm just looking forward to getting out there
• 31:26
  Speaker 4: in a couple of weeks, feeling what the car's got,
• 31:29
  Speaker 4: you know, trying to tune that and.
• 31:32
  Speaker 5: Hopefully get that in the window.
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: And then we'll just see what we got. But I
• 31:37
  Speaker 4: think all the guys are pretty prepared. They're pretty much
• 31:41
  Speaker 4: rearing to go.
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: So only around about a week and a half before
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: the first session of Bathurst gets underway. Now you've won
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: plenty of races in your career and you've returned to
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: venues this year where you did pretty well last year,
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: you scored wins. Is it different going back to a
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: venue where you're the reigning winner and it's Mount Panorama?
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: Does that feel different to going back to a place,
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: other places you know you've done well at?
• 32:04
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it is, you know, like we've, everyone.
• 32:07
  Speaker 4: wants to win a Bathurst so much. And, you know,
• 32:11
  Speaker 4: you want to obviously win the 1000 once in your life.
• 32:15
  Speaker 4: I think it's different for me going there now since,
• 32:18
  Speaker 4: you know, we've won it. I feel a bit more relieved.
• 32:24
  Speaker 4: The stress is off. You know, I've said it to
• 32:28
  Speaker 4: a few people now, but I feel like, you know,
• 32:30
  Speaker 4: the longer it goes on without winning that race, the
• 32:33
  Speaker 4: pressure goes up every year, every time you, arrive to
• 32:36
  Speaker 4: the track you you know you want to get it
• 32:38
  Speaker 4: done even more and then it gets even harder to
• 32:41
  Speaker 4: execute on the weekends because the pressure's up and you
• 32:44
  Speaker 4: know it's it's it's just that underlying effect of of
• 32:48
  Speaker 4: really wanting something but sometimes it just keeps denying itself
• 32:51
  Speaker 4: from you so it can be really tough and that's
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: why you know i feel very privileged to be in
• 32:56
  Speaker 4: the position i am now and having been able to
• 32:59
  Speaker 4: win that race and and win it as early on
• 33:01
  Speaker 4: in my career as i am 23 so.
• 33:04
  Speaker 5: Yeah, pretty incredible.
• 33:05
  Speaker 4: I'm really looking forward to going back, soaking it up,
• 33:08
  Speaker 4: soaking up, you know, being the roading champion, everything that
• 33:12
  Speaker 4: comes with that and just heading back to the place
• 33:15
  Speaker 4: and seeing the atmosphere of the Bathurst 1000. I think
• 33:18
  Speaker 4: everyone enjoys the event and loves the fans. You know,
• 33:23
  Speaker 4: hopefully there's even more there than there was last year.
• 33:25
  Speaker 4: You know, there's a lot more activations. We've got Peter Brock,
• 33:30
  Speaker 4: you know, Memorial this year and, That's going to be special. But, yeah,
• 33:34
  Speaker 4: I think it's going to be pretty cool turning up
• 33:37
  Speaker 4: there next week and getting the week started, you know,
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: with all the media commitments and just getting in the
• 33:42
  Speaker 4: groove and, yeah, seeing what we got rolling out for
• 33:47
  Speaker 4: Thursday practice.
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: I think people will be impressed to hear you found
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: a way to be even more relaxed about a race
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: coming up. So that's not a bad result. With Will,
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: you're talking about what a Bathurst win does for you.
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: You're probably among the best credentialed co-driver pairings according to
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: Bathurst Victories anyway. He's bringing two of his own to
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: the table. What does that kind of history give you
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: when you're preparing for a result? Obviously, a little bit
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: of the pressure's off, as you said, but is there
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: additional confidence there or is it really about approaching every
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: Bathurst like it's a brand new event and you'd almost
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: never been there?
• 34:19
  Speaker 5: Oh, I think you've just got to go in, you know, with....
• 34:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you can go in with low expectations because, as
• 34:30
  Speaker 4: we saw last year, you know, if the weather's changeable
• 34:34
  Speaker 4: and there's action on the track, you know, one minute
• 34:37
  Speaker 4: you could be 10th and the next minute there's five
• 34:40
  Speaker 4: guys sparing off and then you've got a chance of
• 34:42
  Speaker 4: a podium, you know.
• 34:43
  Speaker 5: So, yeah, it's pretty crazy. If the weather's obviously.
• 34:48
  Speaker 4: You know, if the conditions aren't changing too much, it's
• 34:51
  Speaker 4: obviously a sprint race these days. So you've got to
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: be fast. You've got to have a fast car. You've
• 34:56
  Speaker 4: got to start in the top five, top ten to
• 34:59
  Speaker 4: have a.
• 34:59
  Speaker 5: Chance of it.
• 35:00
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, there's two ways it really can swing, you know. So, yeah,
• 35:07
  Speaker 4: I'm really hoping it's the latter and it's going to
• 35:09
  Speaker 4: be another one of those really exciting nail biters, you know,
• 35:14
  Speaker 4: right down.
• 35:14
  Speaker 5: To the last corner.
• 35:16
  Speaker 4: I think that's what the fans deserve, you know, especially
• 35:19
  Speaker 4: with Bathurst being so iconic. Um, you know, we all
• 35:23
  Speaker 4: put so much on the line to try and win
• 35:25
  Speaker 4: that race. Um, some people think it's even more than
• 35:28
  Speaker 4: the championship. So, you know, it's pretty, it's pretty cool
• 35:32
  Speaker 4: being able to turn.
• 35:33
  Speaker 5: Up there with Will.
• 35:34
  Speaker 4: Um, yeah, like you said, he's obviously won it twice,
• 35:36
  Speaker 4: so he knows what it takes. Um, but I think he's,
• 35:40
  Speaker 4: he's excited to, to get stuck in and have a
• 35:42
  Speaker 4: bit of fun during the week and settle in. And, uh,
• 35:46
  Speaker 4: Just sort of see what we've got and not put
• 35:49
  Speaker 4: too much pressure on ourselves. I think we've been doing
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: a good job of that all year. Like I said,
• 35:54
  Speaker 4: just try not to have too many high expectations and
• 35:58
  Speaker 4: just take it as it comes really.
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: We can't finish any lower than third in the points tally.
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: If I've done my maths right anyways, we look ahead
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: to the finals. And that obviously means you do qualify
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: for the knockout rounds already. Do you get more of
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: a swing at it now at Bathurst? I think we
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: talked about this earlier at the year, the idea that
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: once you've qualified, it maybe frees up a little bit
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: of mental space, particularly given this is a do or
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: die race for a couple of drivers further down the order.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: Does that change things for you, knowing that you can
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: really just have a go at a victory, even if
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: it ends up being a long shot situation or whatever
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: in the race?
• 36:31
  Speaker 5: Yeah, for sure. I would have been in that mindset anyway.
• 36:35
  Speaker 4: If there's a chance to win Bathurst and it might
• 36:38
  Speaker 4: be a real 50-50, I'm probably going to take it
• 36:42
  Speaker 4: because that's what we are.
• 36:42
  Speaker 5: We're racing drivers.
• 36:43
  Speaker 4: So, yeah, it can be a bit interesting because as
• 36:48
  Speaker 4: the year goes on, if you've got a chance at
• 36:50
  Speaker 4: the Sprint Cup, you're obviously going to chase that like
• 36:52
  Speaker 4: we did. Pushed really hard to try and get that.
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: We're really close with Brock. But I feel like, you know,
• 36:59
  Speaker 4: from those guys, you know, sort of third to fifth
• 37:02
  Speaker 4: or sixth who have got that margin, the year becomes
• 37:05
  Speaker 4: quite tame once you're sitting in that region because you kind.
• 37:09
  Speaker 5: Of just got to keep driving around and getting.
• 37:11
  Speaker 4: Points and then you know you're going to qualify and
• 37:14
  Speaker 4: nothing's really going to happen. And, you know, other than
• 37:16
  Speaker 4: being seventh to tenth, you know, that's where the real
• 37:19
  Speaker 4: action is. Albeit maybe this year, tenth place, you know,
• 37:23
  Speaker 4: solely just tenth place. Seems like no one wants to
• 37:26
  Speaker 4: be tenth. um and the points but yeah it could
• 37:30
  Speaker 4: it's it's extremely important for those guys it's a it's
• 37:33
  Speaker 4: a year breaker you know it's it's um their whole
• 37:36
  Speaker 4: year is hinging on one race and that one race
• 37:38
  Speaker 4: being bathurst is seriously tough but you know for the
• 37:41
  Speaker 4: rest of us i feel like you know the enduro
• 37:44
  Speaker 4: cup is kind of just a it's it's just a
• 37:48
  Speaker 4: cool thing to win um you know last year i
• 37:50
  Speaker 4: didn't even realize we'd won it i was more focused
• 37:53
  Speaker 4: on the whole bathurst thing going on And then, you know,
• 37:56
  Speaker 4: they bring out two trophies.
• 37:57
  Speaker 5: And I thought, oh, that's even better. Even more so.
• 37:59
  Speaker 5: It's nice.
• 38:01
  Speaker 4: But yeah, for sure, for those guys, you know, first
• 38:03
  Speaker 4: to even seventh or eighth now, I think probably almost
• 38:06
  Speaker 4: Woody's still.
• 38:08
  Speaker 5: Got a chance of having a bad one.
• 38:10
  Speaker 4: But even for him, you know, you're going to be
• 38:12
  Speaker 4: putting everything on the line to try and win. So, yeah,
• 38:15
  Speaker 4: I don't know whether it actually creates this kind of
• 38:17
  Speaker 4: buffer where you're going to see people put more on
• 38:20
  Speaker 4: the line.
• 38:20
  Speaker 5: I don't know. Maybe it's. a different way of thinking
• 38:23
  Speaker 5: about it.
• 38:23
  Speaker 4: And then once they all get reset for Gold Coast
• 38:25
  Speaker 4: and things start getting real serious.
• 38:27
  Speaker 5: So, yeah, you could think of it that way.
• 38:30
  Speaker 4: And it's pretty exciting to have the last race before
• 38:33
  Speaker 4: the finals be one of the biggest of the year.
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: And finally, obviously, well, Bathurst is one of the biggest,
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: is the biggest single race of the year. the highlight
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: of the season is the race everyone wants to win
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: but just a couple of weeks after that is the
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: start of the final season we start deciding the championship
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: does that take up any brain space right now for
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: you in the team in the sense of making sure
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: you're absolutely ready for gold coast is that something you
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: you can think about or something you need to not
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: think about.
• 39:00
  Speaker 4: Oh yeah it's definitely something we can think about you
• 39:02
  Speaker 4: know we've been thinking about that all year and everyone's
• 39:05
  Speaker 4: been uh been trying been working real hard to make
• 39:08
  Speaker 4: sure that we got both cars in there and Now
• 39:10
  Speaker 4: that we do and we're confident in the package we have,
• 39:14
  Speaker 4: it's pretty exciting to once we finally get there and
• 39:18
  Speaker 4: to start that whole operation.
• 39:20
  Speaker 5: That's going to be pretty cool.
• 39:21
  Speaker 4: But at the moment, everyone's really focused on Bathurst. you
• 39:25
  Speaker 4: know it's a huge week and weekend in itself you
• 39:28
  Speaker 4: know the guys go up on Monday and they're sitting
• 39:31
  Speaker 4: the whole garage up on Tuesday and you know that's
• 39:33
  Speaker 4: their home for the for the whole week and weekend
• 39:36
  Speaker 4: so you know they're going to be extremely busy and
• 39:39
  Speaker 4: if anything be more fatigued than us you know once
• 39:41
  Speaker 4: we get to Sunday and then you got a weekend
• 39:44
  Speaker 4: and then you got to head to uh head to
• 39:46
  Speaker 4: Gold Coast and probably 30 degree weather and try and
• 39:49
  Speaker 4: set up a garage and then run the perfect race
• 39:52
  Speaker 4: weekend you know it's not easy um so yeah everyone's
• 39:56
  Speaker 4: focused on Bathurst at the moment but for sure we've
• 39:59
  Speaker 4: got one eye open on on the finals and just
• 40:02
  Speaker 4: got it in the back of our minds what I
• 40:04
  Speaker 4: think we're going to need to do what we're going
• 40:05
  Speaker 4: to need to achieve to make sure we give ourselves
• 40:07
  Speaker 4: the best run and try and uh be prepared for
• 40:10
  Speaker 4: when that rolls around but for sure everyone here wants
• 40:13
  Speaker 4: to uh wants to go back to back so they're
• 40:16
  Speaker 4: all pretty excited to get to the mountain and have
• 40:19
  Speaker 4: a crack at that.
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: Well, it's not long to wait now, only a week
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: or so until we get there. Matt, all the best
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: for Bathurst and the rest of the season, and thanks
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: so much for joining us.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: Perfect.
• 40:28
  Speaker 5: Thank you.
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: Many thanks to Matt Payne for joining us on Pit Talk.
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: Look forward to Bathurst in just a couple of weeks' time.
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: The countdown is well and truly on, and then before
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: you know it, it'll be finals time. It'll be the
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: Adelaide Grand Final, it'll be Christmas, and the new season
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: will have started, so embrace it while you still can.
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: This weekend, though, more to the point, it is the
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: Japanese Motorcycle Grand Prix. MotoGP heads towards its flyaway rounds
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: now outside of Europe. There are seven rounds, maybe, till
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: the end of the season, beginning with Japan this weekend.
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: That means there's between 222 and 259 points available, depending
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: on whether or not Qatar happens. Technically, that means as
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: many as 16 riders are still in contention. But, Matt,
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: let's keep this one realistic. Jorge Martins, 12 points ahead
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: of Marc Marquez. while early points leader Marco Bettecchi is
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: now 42 points adrift. Is it just down to these
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: three riders? And if so, how thin is the thread
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: on which Bettecchi's contention is dangling now?
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I would go as far as saying it feels
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: like it's a two-horse race. I know statistically Bettecchi's right there.
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: if you read the form line and the trend line,
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: he was so good at the start of the season,
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: won the first three races of the season. He has
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: not won a sprint all year, and he hasn't won
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: a Grand Prix in the last eight. And you look
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: at the trajectory of Martin, and particularly Marquez. I mean,
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: Marquez was 102 points behind after round seven. He's now
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: 30 points ahead. So it does show you a little
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: bit about how the narrative of the season is going.
• 41:53
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't rule.
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: Bozeki out completely, but it would be something of a shock,
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: I think, if we saw him in contention right to
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: the end, anything other than, barely mathematically because i just
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: don't think the form of the momentum is there if
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: we do get a head-to-head championship fight i mean we've
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: seen jorge martin in a couple of these before that's
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: what makes this so interesting because he has recent head-to-head
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: championship experience and realistically every time marquez has been in
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: a proper championship fight he's won them and so something
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: has to give here you've got this you know martin's
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: so combative at the end of seasons as we've seen
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: previously and marquez who you know he just there's such
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: a an imposing presence at the end of championships is
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: what makes this really interesting if it does come down
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: between the two of them. That's how I see it
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: playing out for the remaining six slash seven rounds of
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: the season. What actually happens once we get there? There's
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: so many little pivot points in this that could skew
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: it one way or the other. I think that's what's
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: going to be so interesting over these next nine weeks.
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: Let's have a look at what is coming up for
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: these riders that will decide the title. As we said,
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: it's Japan this weekend. That's back-to-back with Indonesia the following weekend.
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: Then we've got what on paper at the moment is
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: a triple header, Australia, Malaysia, and then Qatar. Again, look,
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: Middle East and Malaysia, they're very closely linked. Qatar, of course,
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: is up in the air. There were reports not that
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: long ago that it is going to be called off.
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: That's TBC at the moment. I know Formula 1 has
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: delayed the decision until the middle of next month. I
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: currently suggest MotoGP can't wait that long, but we'll wait
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: and see. And then the final double header in Portugal
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: and Valencia, which has been pushed back a week as
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: a result of the rescheduling of Qatar. How do these
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: races play for Martin, Marquez and Betsecki? And I guess
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: not only just those circuits, but where they're at at
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: this point in the season.
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: I think there's significant question marks for all three of
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: these riders. I think Martin on an Aprilia hasn't raced
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: in a number of these circuits because last year he
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: only participated in seven rounds last year. He was so
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: injured for the majority of last year that He doesn't
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: have a prettier experience at a lot of these tracks.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: Now that's not necessarily an impediment to him going well there.
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: We've seen that in a couple of circuits already, but
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: it is a question mark. And of course the other
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: factor in all of this, of these three riders, Martin
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: is the only one of them that's not going to
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: be with that employer next season because he's off to
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: the factory Yamaha team. So that's interesting. I think it
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: becomes more interesting from a Martin point of view, the
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: longer that Bizecki hangs around in the championship in terms
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: of Are Aprilia going to subconsciously or otherwise prioritize the
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: rider that's staying as opposed to the one that's leaving?
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: And if Bozeki is not a mathematical contender, can he
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: be relied upon to help a rider or will they
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: even ask him to help a rider who is leaving?
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: So that's interesting. The Marquez thing is pretty simple to me.
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: I think if he had two completely perfectly working shoulders,
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: I don't think this would be particularly close at this point.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: The Ducati is not as good of a bike as
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: the Aprilia RSGP this year, but Marquez is the rider
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: who makes a difference. You can only see that just
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: by looking at the championship standings. I think Fabio Di
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: Gennantonio is now still mathematically at it, but not particularly
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: as the next best Ducati. And so there will be
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: tracks for Mark. I mean, particularly any of the anti-clockwise tracks,
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: you've got Australia, you've got Valencia. He's good at Motegi
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: this weekend, won his championship there last year, of course,
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: but There will be tracks where he's had a lot
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: of historical success. There's a couple of weaker ones for Mark. Indonesia,
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: he's never even scored a point there. He just hurts
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: himself every time he goes there. Malaysia's not a particularly
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: great track for Mark. And Portugal, just again, limited sample size,
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: but he hasn't really done much there. So it's a
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: bit of feast or famine with the circuits that are
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: left as far as he goes. And then the Bizecki thing,
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: I think we kind of discussed it before, and I
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: still see him as being more outside chance than real
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: contender there. but his real role in this championship running
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: could be how is he deployed by Aprilia if they
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: can deploy him in any way at all to kind of,
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: you've got two against one in this title fight. Marquez
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: doesn't really have any help. We've seen in the past,
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: he doesn't need the help necessarily to close these championships out,
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: but this is no normal season because of how physically
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: compromised he is. So it's, It's really up in the air.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: I don't think there's any... You couldn't look at any
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: of these three contenders and definitively say, oh yeah, this
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: is the guy. The only, perhaps, caveat to that is
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: just because Marquez has been there and done that, and
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: he carries such an imposing figure at the end of championships,
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: because we know how these go, that would be the
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: only trump card you could say that all three of
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: them have over the other.
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, he might not have help from his teammate.
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: He may have help from his future teammate, Pedro Acosta.
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: Not directly, let's say. He's not going to be out
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: there and do it. But, of course, Acosta broke that.
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: It was not even a drought. It was his first victory.
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: He's only just started. There's going to be a drought
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: that's going to come after this in Austria a couple
• 46:32
  Speaker 2: of weeks ago. You know, Ayagura is also back on
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: the bike, obviously, ahead of his home weekend this weekend.
• 46:38
  Speaker 2: Alex Marquez was on the podium only a couple of
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: rounds ago. There's a lot of, they're not contenders, or
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: mathematically they still are, but how influential could the fact
• 46:46
  Speaker 2: that the form guide still feels very variable, it's not
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: always the same winners, perhaps a better way to say it,
• 46:52
  Speaker 2: in deciding how this championship comes along. Who among them
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: might be the ones who are getting in amongst it
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: and redirecting the points?
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: Yes. Yeah, I would say probably on a broader level,
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: I think it's Acosta, simply because of the form that
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: he's been in. It's really interesting. There's ways to leave
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: previous employers. We've seen some of these things go particularly badly.
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: Fabio Quattoraro, Pico Bagnoia, for two examples. It's really interesting
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: with Acosta in that, yes, he's leaving KTM, leaving it
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: on terms where they've said, oh, we've got these one-day
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: Pirelli 850cc tyre tests for next year's bike. Sure, you
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: can ride our next year's bike. That's fine. We know
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: you're leaving. He couldn't be leaving on better terms necessarily.
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: And the fact that those, you know, he and KTM
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: got their first victory together, I think is hugely significant.
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: they will be pushing to the finish line. He's not
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: really a championship contender. He scored the second most points
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: in the past, I think, four rounds Acosta has to
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: Marc Marquez. So you could see him being a bit
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: of a permanent fixture on the podium and perhaps upsetting
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: that championship top three. But then there's a couple of
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: more situational ones for me. And the Malaysian Grand Prix one,
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: as much as you can have specialist tracks in this discipline,
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: Alex Marquez is incredibly good at surpassing, always has been,
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: even when he wasn't on a good bike. And the
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: fact that the Ducati is, I mean, he's won a
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: race this year. He can, on his day, be very,
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: very quick. And that strikes me as a weekend where
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: he might be the interloper in this championship fight that
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: we think is fairly predictable because it would not surprise
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: at all if he's on the front row and sneering podiums,
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: possibly even winning at Sepang. Given where that comes in
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: the season, it might be the fourth last round. It
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: also might be the third last round. And so as
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: much as we keep laughing about this calendar stuff, this
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: is where this becomes really significant because... At the moment,
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: we don't know where the finish line is. And so taking,
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: you know, six, eight, ten points out of a championship
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: rival when it's the third last round as opposed to
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: the fourth last round could actually be really significant. So
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: that's the one. As much as we're looking forward to
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: see what happens with Qatar, is it on or is
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: it not? Then we just move on from however it
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: works out. The timing of Malaysia is really interesting for
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: me because that could carry much more significance if the
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: number of races after that is less than we think
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: it is.
• 49:00
  Speaker 2: We'll wait and see on that one. Let's look ahead
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: more directly to this weekend in Wategi, though. It's the
• 49:05
  Speaker 2: home race for True Brand, struggling to various but fairly
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: significant degrees. What are you going to be watching for
• 49:10
  Speaker 2: from your, of course, quite salubrious position in the media
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: centre this weekend, with a boss coffee in one hand, presumably?
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: Probably one in both, to be honest. I'll need it
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: to keep myself awake. Motegi, we're talking about Azerbaijan being
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: a bit of a one-of-one outlier of a track. Motegi
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: is very much like that because if Brembo could make
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: bigger break discs, they would for this track. Getting these
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: things stopped at this track is so, so difficult because
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: of the nature of the track. It's Big, big heavy
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: braking zones into hairpins or 90 degree corners just because
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: of the nature of the place. It is the sort
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: of race that if you have any arm pump issues,
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: Jorge Martin for one, it could be a bit of
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: an issue because the braking power there is so, so difficult.
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: It's often very sketchy there weather wise. The amount of
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: Japanese GPs we've had be weather affected over the years
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: is pretty significant. As you know from you and I
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: being at Suzuka a billion times at this time of year,
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: it is typhoon season. Things can happen. So it wouldn't
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: surprise me at all if we get a bit of
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: rain up there as well. But I just think the
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: nature of this place and the heavy breaking nature, it
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: is a test physically that nowhere else really is. And
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: we know that Jorge Martin came into Austria. Some discussion
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: that he may be undergoing arm pump surgery. Won the sprint,
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: finished second in the Grand Prix, qualified on pole, had
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: an absolutely fantastic weekend. So thoughts of arm pump surgery
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: have been off the table since then. But getting back
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: to what we were saying before, the fact that these
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: seven rounds, if they all happen, are going to be
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: in a nine-week span. If you do hurt yourself and
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: you need some sort of medical attention over the course
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: of the next few weeks, it's going to carry a
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: really heavy penalty because there's no recovery time now. You
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: are basically on the road pretty much now until the
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: end of the season. be it six rounds, be it
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: seven rounds, there's no real time to rest and recover.
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: So it is going to be a survival of the
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: fittest as well as the fastest, I think. And it'll
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: be just interesting to see. Marquez is obviously compromised, but
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: I think that's manageable compromise where the Martin thing feels
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: a little bit more, I don't know, it could fluctuate
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: a lot more, I think.
• 51:07
  Speaker 2: Should be very interesting. A couple of different storylines to
• 51:09
  Speaker 2: keep track of this weekend. But that's all the time
• 51:11
  Speaker 2: we have for Pit Talk this week. You can subscribe
• 51:14
  Speaker 2: to Pit Talk wherever you get your favorite podcasts and
• 51:16
  Speaker 2: you can leave us a rating and review as well.
• 51:19
  Speaker 2: It is that time of the motorsport calendar, Matt, when
• 51:21
  Speaker 2: you need to pay attention to when the races are
• 51:23
  Speaker 2: coming up.
• 51:23
  Speaker 3: We're not just in Europe. They're at random times.
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: And of course, whether or not you're in a daylight
• 51:27
  Speaker 2: saving region, because it's that weekend as well. So this
• 51:30
  Speaker 2: weekend is the Japanese Motorcycle Grand Prix. That's at 4 p.m.
• 51:33
  Speaker 2: Australian Eastern Daylight Time. Then after that, It's the so-called
• 51:38
  Speaker 2: Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia at 6pm Eastern Daylight Time.
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: You can keep up to date with all the latest
• 51:44
  Speaker 2: F1 supercars and MotoGP news at foxsports.com.au. From Matt Clayton
• 51:49
  Speaker 2: and me, Michael Laminato, thanks very much for your company
• 51:52
  Speaker 2: and we'll catch you next time.