Latest / Pit Talk / Phillip Island's farewell, Antonelli's (almost) title-winning drive and Supercars finals heartbreak

Transcript

Phillip Island's farewell, Antonelli's (almost) title-winning drive and Supercars finals heartbreak · Pit Talk

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Pit Talk, brought to you by Shannon's.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: On today's episode, Phillip Island bids goodbye to MotoGP and
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: the Australian Grand Prix in the most Phillip Island way imaginable,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Andrea Kimi Antonelli puts one hand and four fingers on
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the title trophy after dominating the Formula 1 United States
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Grand Prix, and Matt Payne retains the supercar's points lead
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: after the first round of the finals on the Gold Coast.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: My name's Michael Laminato. It's great to have your company
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: and the company of my co-host. He's bid a sad
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: farewell for the final time to the single toilet block
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: servicing the entire Phillip Island paddock. It's Matt Clayton.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Oh, Michael, I'd say farewell, yes, sad, no, in terms
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: of that intro. RIP the Phillip Island toilet block singular
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: that serviced the entire paddock for the... near 40 years
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: on the calendar and that part of it will not
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: be missed. The circuit will be missed and everything around
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: it will not be missed because it's in about three
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: feet of mud right now. But it wasn't, you know,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: it was ever thus with Phillip Island and yeah, for
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: once we can't do the, well, I guess we're going
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: back next year then.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Yes, I do. You know what? Someone might miss the
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: mud around the circuit because probably someone's still got their
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: car stuck in there. Half submerged, judging by some of
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: the videos I saw.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Some of the best driving of the entire weekend was
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: me getting out of the car park on Sunday night.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: A bit of opposite lock and searching for a bit
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: of dry ground. But, yeah, we got there and, well,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: I mean, I had a podcast to do, so I
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: had to get out.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Yes, very good. You're a committed man. Now, before we
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: look at, well, yes, the mud and everything that happened
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: on the Sunday and eulogise the Great Phillip Island Circuit
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: and Les' great toilet situation. Let's look from the sporting perspective,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: because this is... Well, it's the fifth last round, or
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: it was the fifth last round. We got some racing in,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: so it was the fifth last round of the championship.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Another change in the lead, with Marc Marquez walking away
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: on top. After the sprint, obviously, and we got another...
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: It's always great when you get the title contenders battling
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: each other directly. It's obviously great for the storyline. There's
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: also an added intensity to it. And certainly, the sprint
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: battle between Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez lacked nothing for intensity,
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: at least until Martin came off the bike, but... Now,
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: what a great window. It's not often we get this
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: in any kind of motorsport, but what a great window
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: into the significance of what was up for grabs those
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: eight laps.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, look, it was an amazing race. It's been a
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: weird championship in a lot of respects because it kind
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: of feels like Martin and Marquez have been shadowing one
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: another without really the on-track battle on trackers. Martin had
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: built the championship lead by dint of just consistency. He's
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: only won one Grand Prix, but he's just been there
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: and thereabouts the entire time. He's not even been the
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: fastest Aprilia a lot of the time, but he's just
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: been there. And we know the season that Marquez has had,
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: he came in underdone. He had the 79th shoulder surgery
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: on his right shoulder and he missed a couple of rounds,
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: was 102 points behind. We know all of the stats,
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: but they hadn't really met on track in that real
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: ferocious fight. And This was all set up by, we
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: must come back to this, the qualifying and the pole
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: position that Mark had on Saturday morning. But Martine made
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: an amazing start, and it was pretty clear that these
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: two were going to engage in this battle that we'd
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: been lacking so far this season. And maybe because it
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: was the first real one, or maybe it was because
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: it was Phillip Island, I don't know. I mean, you
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: saw it, the ferocity of the passing and repassing. I
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: think the lead changed hands nine times in the first
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: eight laps, and it was just getting increasingly aggressive in
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: that There were parts of the circuit where Martin was
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: clearly faster, but he was riding, I would say, impatiently.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: And the fact that if you had to guess which
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: one of those two wasn't going to finish the race
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: with the way that it began, you would have put
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: the house on Martin because of just how incredibly aggressive
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: he was being. But it was just awesome to see.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: It's the previous two world champions who haven't really had
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: this head-to-head fight all season yet. They're on bikes. The
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Ducati is clearly an inferior bike to the Aprilia, but
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: it has its strengths in certain areas where the Aprilia doesn't.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: And then the, you know, Mark will make a difference
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: in this. And it was really interesting afterwards in that,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: you know, Mark was asked about the battle with Martine
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: and he was saying that, you know, it was a
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: title battle was the way he framed it. There was
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: an extra level of intensity. And he said, you know,
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: today was the day to do it. And it was
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: clearly a level of aggression that he was prepared to
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: put himself in that position because of what was at stake.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: And I think the ramifications of Martin crashing out, from
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: a maths point of view, it's interesting in that Martin
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: could have finished second to Mark in that race. He
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: would have lost the championship lead by one point, and
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: you live to fight another day. And there's the racer instinct,
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: which is what makes Martin so great, but also probably
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: is a bit of a flaw here in that he
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: wasn't able to see the bigger picture with all of this.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: And obviously, no one knew that he was going to
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: fall and get hurt and put his participation in the
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: remaining rounds in jeopardy. But there was a It was
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: a fight that he couldn't resist having, but didn't necessarily
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: need to, if that makes sense. You could have played
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: the longer game in all of this. You're only one
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: point down. This is a track where Mark is going
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: to be stronger, but it's also a bit anomalous in
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: that a lot of the tracks the rest of the
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: way will be more Aprilia tracks. So I thought it
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: was interesting that the bigger picture in all of this
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: didn't come to mind. It was awesome for the spectacle
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: that it didn't, but I wonder if that's one of
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: those ones in hindsight. Maybe I should have just kept
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: my powder dry because there are bigger fights to be
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: had in this season. Was this the time to do it?
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: For Mark, probably. But for Martine, I'd say maybe not.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought it was interesting. And obviously, it's very
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: easy to, in retrospect, say what you want to say.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: And Mark Marquez plays the political game so well. But
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: even in retrospect, he said... He found that extra or
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: he decided to go that extra mark because he could
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: see how much on the edge Jorge Martin was. Whether
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: or not that's because he wasn't on pole, Marc Marquez was,
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: and that seemed to flip the script or the expectations
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: a little bit. Prilly was expected to do so well
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: in qualifying and conditions meant Marc Marquez. What was it,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: margin in the end? It was more than a second,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: wasn't it, that he was on pole position?
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: It was, yeah, nearly 1.5 seconds on pole position after
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: he crashed on his first time lap in Q2. It
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: was the most Marc Marquez pole of all time. Biggest
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: pole margin in seven years, by the way, for those
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: counting at home.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Remarkable scenes. Also great for Jack Miller, that qualifying performance.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: You've got to wonder what would have been in store
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: for him had we got any kind of wet race
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: on Sunday to start on the second row. It was
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: a tremendous result for him. The crash, though, you've touched
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: on that, obviously, with Jorge. We're recording this on Tuesday
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: morning as we speak, and I guess there's always a
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: little bit of uncertainty as we head towards the Malaysian
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: Grand Prix and practice starts in four days or whatever
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: it is, however many hours that is. Yes. There was
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: some speculation this might be a multiple round out for
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: him because he's broken at least one of his forearm bones.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: What's the latest on whether or not he'll be competing?
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Because obviously this could have, having just evaded losing potentially
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: 25 points on the Sunday, this could nonetheless be another
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: big points loss if he can't compete.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think on Saturday he left the
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: circuit with his arm in a sling. It all looked
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: very dire. It looked possibly season ending at that point.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: And I think some subsequent x-rays, the idea was that
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: he was going to get looked at probably go back
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: to Europe for treatment, see what happened after that. So
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: it was going to rule him out of Malaysia and
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: Qatar at the very least. But the subsequent prognosis is
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: that it's a fracture, but it's not as bad as
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: was feared. And so in true MotoGP rider style, he
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: has stayed in Europe and is going to try and
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: compete at Sepang this weekend with a fracture in his
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: right arm. So Look, I mean, Sepang is a pretty tricky,
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: a lot of really hard braking there. I mean, you
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: obviously know this circuit very well from F1 and the
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: inverted commas Bahrain Grand Prix just recently, but a tough
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: place to brake a MotoGP bike, even if you have
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: two possible working arms, let alone one. And I admire
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: the grit and determination and the stubbornness, but you do
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: have to wonder, like Massimo Rivela, the Aprilia boss, was
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: saying on Sunday night, it's like, look, you know, we
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: have to see here. Like, we can't really commit to
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: doing anything, but he's clearly going to try. And so,
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: you know, he'll undergo some medical tests once we get
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: to Sepang this week. Like every rider, they always get
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: past fit because they just do. You'll probably be made
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: to do some push-ups or do some push-ups or pull-ups
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: or something or other, and they'll go, ah, fair enough,
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: and off you go. Whether he's able to compete, and
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: then if he is able to compete into what capacity
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: he's going to be able to compete, this should be
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: a good track for Aprilia Interestingly for Mark the rest
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: of the way, this and or Portimao might be his
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: weakest tracks. He's never been particularly great at Sepang, Mark,
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: for whatever reason. Not one of his stronger tracks. So
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: it's a championship match. It's 10 points in Mark's favour now.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Even if Martini is able to get something out of Sepang,
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: I mean, if he falls not really much further behind
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: after Sepang, that's almost a little bit of a win
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: in some respects. And he was probably pretty lucky that
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: Sunday did get cancelled because, I mean, whatever points Mark
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: got on Sunday was going to increase that title lead.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: Given the conditions at Phillip Island and given how good
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Mark is there, then you would have expected that margin
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: to have probably doubled. So he kind of got away
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: with one a little bit there. But yeah, your favourite
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: three words in MotoGP, rider declared fit. We might be
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: seeing that in a couple of days' time. And- Let
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: battle recommence. But yeah, I mean, there were so many
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: little storylines that came out of Sunday being cancelled with
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: some people lamenting that it was cancelled and some people
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: being a little bit lucky. And I think in some respects, Martine,
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: as much as he's left Phillip Island with a broken arm,
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: he's got away with one a little bit.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Yes, you can imagine my shock when I heard Martin
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: was declared unfit for Sunday's race. Rare scenes. Look, before
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: we come back to Phillip Island and this being the
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: last race, just want to throw forward to Malaysia. We
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: don't know, like we said, don't know whether or not
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Martin's going to compete or if he does, what kind
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: of state he's going to be in, whether or not
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: it's just going to be damage limitation or whatever you
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: call riding with the broken armies. Marquez, I'm sure, has
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: a word for it after all these years. But it does,
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: it obviously changes the championship complexion. Marco Betsecki is a
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: long way behind, 50 points, I think it is now.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Does this at all, if Martin, we discover, either can't
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: compete or is not fit enough to be competitive, does
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: this at all change the complexion to your mind, that margin,
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: whether or not he can come back as the Aprilia
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: rider who presumably, in that situation, wouldn't have another Aprilia
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: rider taking points of him and perhaps at some circuits,
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: as you said, where Marquez... may not be as competitive
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: as he's been in the last month or so.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it still feels, I mean, 50 points
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: is a lot. I mean, I know there's 37 points
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: a weekend, but this is a championship now that when
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: the momentum swings or even the lead changes, they're by very,
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: very small margins. 50 just feels like a lot when
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: we've only got four rounds to go, and it could
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: even be three rounds, depending on whether we go to
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: Qatar or not. So it feels that Bozeki's championship from here,
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: I don't know if there's necessarily a championship for him.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: He might be the guy that finishes ahead of Marc
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: in a few races, potentially. But as I said before,
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Jorge Martin's been good in sprints this year. He's only
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: won one Grand Prix. And Martin needs a big points
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: haul somewhere, but Bozeki's the sort of guy who could
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: influence individual race results. But it just feels to me
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: that you're relying on too many other factors to go
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: awry for both Martin and Marquez for Bozeki to be
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: in the championship mix here. Look, as much as Aprilia
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: would probably want this to happen, because the other side
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: story of all of this is whether he wins the
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: championship or does not, Jorge Martin's leaving for Yamaha at
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: the end of the season anyway. So if you gave
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: Aprilia's management truth serum, I'm sure they would love Marco
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: Pizzecchi to be the one in the championship fight rather
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: than Jorge Martin. But this is the situation we find
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: ourselves in. And all of these variables, you've mentioned a few,
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: I've mentioned a few. Don't they all just sort of
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: add up to, and then you add the person they're
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: fighting against. This somehow remarkably feels like Mark Marquez's championship
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: to lose now, which is a crazy thing to be saying,
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: given at the end of May he was 102 points
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: behind in the championship and clearly not fit. This feels
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: like a championship lead that he's earned by being sporadically
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: brilliant over the course of the season. But my goodness, Aprilia.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: This is where the experience, I think, of Aprilia in
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: a championship fight has sort of come up a little
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: bit in that they probably should have walked this given
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: the wounded opponent they had and the fact they've got
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: the best bike. And all four of their riders have
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: won Grand Prix this year and they might not win
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: the championship. That feels like a huge lost opportunity to me.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, remarkable couple of races coming up to decide this one.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: All right, let's talk about Phillip Island, last race there.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: I was really pumped watching the action. Part of me,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: after watching pre-practice, was like, gosh, I've got to go
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: down there. Obviously, I had US Grand Prix duties. We'll
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: talk about Formula 1 a little bit later on. Sunday
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: would have been the day. I'm glad I decided not
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: to go down because it would have been a bit
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: of a disaster as much as it was for the
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: entire event. But once I watched the sprint and watched
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: them line up for that, My just overwhelming emotion was
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: just a little bit of sadness, really, that this was
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: going to be the last, well, it ended up being
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: the last race ever at that circuit for MotoGP, that
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: we're losing such a great track. You did a lot
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: of great riding over the weekend, a couple of pieces
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: in particular, of course. I love the toilet story. There's
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: a great toilet story in one of your previews for
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: Phillip Island, because that also does cut to the reason
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: why we've lost this circuit. And you also had a
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: great chat with the CEO, Carlos Espeleta, who kind of
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: spelled it out maybe a little bit more clearly than
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: any There's no one more official than the CEO of MotoGP,
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: I guess, has about why the sport has been lost
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: by Phillip Island. Tell me a little bit about what
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: it was like the last weekend, what the atmosphere was like,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: particularly in the paddock among the riders and the teams
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: and what it was like to walk out the gates
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: or to squelch out the gates, I guess, for the
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: final time.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was interesting in that there was this sort
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: of simultaneous feeling of– I thought Jack Miller summed it
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: up quite well in the lead-up where he said, this
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: feels like a farewell rather than a funeral, which I
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: thought was kind of interesting in that I think people
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: were happy to be there one more time and experience
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: the good, bad, and the ugly of Phillip Island, and
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: we got all three over the course of the weekend.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: But there was also this sort of nodding, well, this
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: is why we can't be here anymore necessarily– You even
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: go as far as, why was the race cancelled on Sunday,
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: which is something I think we were going to get to,
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: but this is probably the natural place to talk about it.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: The circuit is so remote that you need a hospital
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: with a trauma centre that is able to be flown
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: to from a remote track. If you can get to
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: the hospital with the facilities like that within 45 minutes
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: by road, then you don't need an air ambulance. So
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: if there was a hospital nearby that was suitable, then
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: you could have driven there, theoretically. That clearly isn't the
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: case with Phillip Island. The hospital they need to use
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: in case of a situation like that is the Alfred,
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: which is back in Melbourne, which needs to be flown to.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: The problem was the weather in Melbourne on Sunday, as
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: you would know, was worse than Phillip Island was in
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: the morning, particularly. So even if you could have taken
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: a helicopter off from Phillip Island, you couldn't necessarily have
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: landed it in Melbourne. And then you need to have
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: a standby helicopter and so on and so forth. And
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: for all of the laissez-faire attitude that MotoGP has to
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: some things, I'm glad they're quite unbending on this. We
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: are not going to host on-track action while we can't
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: get a chopper up. And there's only a few circuits
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: this applies to. What was interesting is that you look
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: at the equivalent situation with Adelaide, where MotoGP is going
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: to next year. If you have a similar situation, there
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: is a hospital that is a 4.1 kilometre drive, I think,
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: from the furthest most part of the Adelaide circuit. You
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: could literally carry people there on stretchers, Michael, if you
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: had to, if you didn't have a car available. And
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: you certainly don't go to need a helicopter. And that
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: was part of the problem in that the conditions never
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: really improved in either Phillip Island or Melbourne to enable
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: that helicopter to be taken off and landed in case
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: of emergency. And in that situation, you can't race. And
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: that kind of just encapsulates the entire thing in that
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: the actual 4.4 Ks of racetrack is, and Mugello, and
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: you can decide which one is the best, it's the
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: best racetrack in MotoGP. The way the bikes can race, the,
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: There's the emotion of the place, the configuration of the quarters.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: I mean, the sprint was absolutely spectacular and could probably
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: only happen at a racetrack like that. The track itself
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: is amazing. The layout, everything else around it was barely
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: World Championship standard when it started and has never improved.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: And it's just slipped further and further and further away.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: So you have this dichotomy where you've got the best
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: racetrack in MotoGP and the worst facilities. And the weekend
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: completely played out both of them. Incredible sprint race. Sunday,
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: completely rained out, fans everywhere. The grounds in the car
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: park looked like some sort of, you know, music festival
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: on steroids by the end of it. It was shocking
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: by the end of it. And everyone just sort of
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: shrugs their shoulders and says, well, this is Phillip Island.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: And that's part of the reason we're in the situation
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: that we are. I think everyone savoured the days that
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: were good, particularly. I mean, Friday was 29 degrees down there.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: It was unbelievable.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: Unbelievable.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: And so it's just what happens at Phillip Island. So
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: I think everyone relished one final chance to race around
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: it and be there. And it is a spectacular place
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: to be when the weather's good, but it's absolutely miserable
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: when it's not. And if MotoGP was ever looking for
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: any justification to have moved it from Phillip Island to Adelaide,
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: I think Sunday was... kind of all they needed.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: Really yeah it really was the best and the worst
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: wasn't it i've had plenty of days i've been down
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: there and been sunburned and soaked on the same day
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: as i've gone home realized that it shouldn't have been
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: possible felt like one of those weekends um at least
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: the australian grand prix remains it will be moving to
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: adelaide of course next year quite a high profile switch
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: at a city circuit in the parklands there uh which
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: will be under construction will presumably after supercars leaves at
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: the end of the year the current circuit Still some
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: water to go under the bridge on that one, I think,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: just judging by the local political situation. But they admit
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: it'll be ready for late next year for the Australian
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: Grand Prix to move. So MotoGP is not done with
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: the country, but unfortunately it is done with Phillip Island.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Although I guess the supercars will at least give it
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: a big event for next year, moving back to that
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: as a finals round. So there's a lot at stake
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: for Phillip Island once the racing resumes there. Matt, let's
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: go to Move of the Week, brought to you by Shannon's.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: We're in that part of the season where there's motorsport
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: pretty much every weekend. Although, you know what it is?
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: It's motorsport all on the same weekend, and then there'll
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: be a weekend coming up where there's nothing at all.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: We'll drink that episode when we get there. But for now,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: we're in the everything all at once section of the year.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: So what among our many sports caught your eye?
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Well, I know we're about to have a chat about
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: F1 in Austin here, but I'm going to preemptively jump this.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: I'm actually going to ask you a maths question.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Oh, go on.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: Before we start this. If you were to divide 22
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: by 3, what does that give you, more or less?
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: Oh, God.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: Is it 7? The answer is 7.3, but we'll round
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: it down to 7 for the sake of the argument.
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: The reason I bring this up, Fernando Alonso at the
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: United States Grand Prix in Austin- where he made the
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: comment after an early race skirmish with Alex Albon that, quote,
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: the quality of the drivers in the lower third of
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: the grid is very low, as we saw today with Alex.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: So my move of the week was to get the
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: calculator out and work out exactly where the lower third
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: of the grid begins. And on a 22 driver grid,
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: the lower third of the grid is positions 16 to
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: 22 in the Drivers World Championships. Fernando Alonso is 17th
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: in the Drivers' World Championship. So by saying that the
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: quality of the drivers in the lower third of the
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: grid is very low, he's actually speaking about himself. So
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: that is my move of the week. It was probably
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: something where he probably should have worked out where it
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: was in the championship before he said it. Look, we
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: know Fernando Alonso is not one of the, in the
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: bottom three, a third of drivers in Formula One, but...
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: The comment itself and then where I realised where he
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: was on the driver's standings made me laugh rather a lot.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: And yeah, great soundbite, probably ill-conceived. Move of the week,
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: he was actually speaking about himself when he was supposed
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: to be speaking about somebody else.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: I enjoyed it a lot. And also because through this
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: year of struggle, we haven't had a lot of Fernando
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: Alonso bragging and anger directed at other drivers in the
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: way we normally do. Hero of race, yes. Yes, we
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: haven't had many hero of race moments, have we? But
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: I think it was the race that ran the headline today.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: Alonso criticizes low-quality Elbon. I thought, oh, this is going
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: to be a great story. And he delivered. He absolutely delivered,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: not only on the criticism, but then, of course, the
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: mandatory Fernando Alonso component of describing this as one of
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: his best ever. races, but no one was talking about it. Yeah, yeah.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: I enjoyed that a lot. And then also, I just
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: enjoyed Alex Albon, who didn't hear the comments, but said,
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: I thought it was a great race. I'm sure Fernando
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: Alonso will have something better to say about it. And
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: he was right. He was right about that. I thought
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: that was... He'd enjoy it. That was a great move.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: That is a great pick. I'm going to go for...
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: It's a verbal move of the week, and this was
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: also Formula 1 related, so we're going to transition absolutely
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: seamlessly towards Formula 1 after this, clearly. But after this
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: race in which Antonelli almost won the title, two positions
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: was all he needed from Hamilton and Russell to get
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: the job done, Toto Wolff described this as the best
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: race of his career. And then he was asked, well,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: what about Monza? Last. He said, ah... I don't remember
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: many race wins, it turns out. So I just enjoyed
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: the idea of him constantly shuffling race victories for Antonelli
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: to the very top of the list of his race wins.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: This was a very good race win. And we'll get
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: into a moment what made it so good. But I
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: think it also goes to the point of just how
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: many good race wins he's had this year. Not too
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: many walks in the park. And this was another, I mean,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: this was almost the knockout move, wasn't it? If we're
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: talking about move of the week.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: Well, and isn't it funny how a driver who'd come
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: into this season having not won a Formula One race,
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: there's so many of them now, they all blur into one.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: This is kind of where we've got to. And it
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: is astonishing. He's won nine Formula One races this year,
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: which is the same in the entirety of Mark Webber's career,
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: the entirety of Oscar Piastri's career, and won more than
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: Daniel Ricciardo won. And at the start of the season,
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: he hadn't won any.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: So, yeah. Yeah. It is interesting.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: I mean, Toto Wolff may have been making a comment
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: about modern day Formula One there and that there are
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: so many races that it's hard to remember one that happened, what,
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: four weeks ago?
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: That's kind of the way modern day Formula One works.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: But yeah, I did enjoy the comment, but- Yeah, moves
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: of the week and move of the year. I mean,
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: you look at the status this guy now has relative
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: to this time last year. It's been like an amazing
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: story a long time coming that's happened really quickly at
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: the same time because, you know, our first memory of
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: Kimi Antonelli this year was throwing his car at the
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: scenery in the opening days in Melbourne and thinking, okay,
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: this guy's got a championship winning car and look what
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: he's going to do with it. And yeah. Look what
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: he's gone and done with it.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: Yes. One more win, not only than Mark Webber or
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Daniel Ricciardo, but also than George Russell. George Russell's career.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: That's one of my most interesting stats. It's not the
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: first time this year actually he's overtaken Russell for wins.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: Russell got one back in Azerbaijan to equal it, but
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: I'd be shocked if he ended up not more than
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: a couple of races ahead of George Russell's career victory.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: This year, yeah. We might talk about Russell in just
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: a second. Yeah, just this year, obviously. Well, absolutely this year.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: He's got triple Russell's wins already this season. Just to
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: stick on Antonelli for a moment, he needed some results
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: to go his way to seal the title this weekend.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: In the end, Hamilton finished one place safe and so
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: did George Russell, though Russell finished eighth and we'll talk
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: about him more in just a second. But I thought
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: it was really interesting that this was going to be Obviously,
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: it was an outside chance he was going to seal
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: it nonetheless, but this was going to be his first chance.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: The spotlight was on him. That was the main talking
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: point heading into the weekend. And if anything, he seemed
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: to rise to the occasion more than he did in
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: what we see from some riders and drivers or any
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: athletes in any sport that when the moment comes, actually
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: they retreat a little bit and play it safe. Maybe
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: it was because he knew there was no way to
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: win it if he was going to play it safe,
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: but actually ended up being probably the top performer of
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: the weekend and didn't show any signs of the championship
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: chance weighing him down. If anything, it seemed to energize him.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, there's that theory, isn't it? You can
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: either sprint through the tape or you can just cruise
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: to the finish line when it looks like you're going
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: to win like this. And maybe that's just a product
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: of the youth and the fact that this is also,
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't say unexpected, because he's been tapped as a
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: world champion quality driver since he came in. But it
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: was actually really refreshing to see him not play it safe. Now,
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: it was a weekend where this upgraded Mercedes, you know,
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: the mystery of one track to the next. And, you know,
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: they bought the upgraded car. It wasn't working super well.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: Now it is working super well. The fact that he
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: won the race took all of the intrigue out of
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: the race, really, because of just how good he was.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: And the gap back to his teammate, that was the really,
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: really extraordinary thing. It was the biggest gap all season.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: And just, you know, George Russell looked like he was
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: driving for another team. And that just is testament to
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: how far Antonelli has come. It was a really intriguing
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: race in prospect because of Ferrari being good through free practice.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: And we knew that Verstappen had come in off two
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: wins in a row for Red Bull. Antonelli sort of
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: sapped any of the life out of it, quite frankly,
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: by making an amazing start. And even where there was
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: a few strategy questions, pretty much put them to bed.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: It was just completely flawless. And there is a wider
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: thing here. We were discussing this on Monday when the
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: race is on that. Kota is always one of those
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: tracks for me in Formula 1 that I think it
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: always promises a good race and really delivers one. It's
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: not a great, for whatever reason, it's a fantastic layout.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Qualifying there is always quite good. You have your hopes
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: up for the race, but there's never many that are
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: super memorable over the years. There was that famous Hamilton-Vistapen
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: one in that championship fight where they took completely different
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: approaches and almost crossed the line simultaneously. That was super interesting.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: But that's, what, four years ago, five years ago now?
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: But Antonelli just took a tricky situation, potentially amazing qualifying
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: lap in Q3, and just removed any intrigue out of
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: the race by just being so good. And yeah, I mean,
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: how far this guy has come, how fast. It's great
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: in the moment because in Mexico, we're almost certainly going
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: to celebrate Italy's first world champion for, what is it,
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: 70 years or 60 years?
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: All of the numbers that will go with that. But
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: you're thinking, if this is him where he doesn't really
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: know how to win a world championship yet, then what
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: are we looking at here? Assuming that Mercedes stays towards
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: the forefront of Formula One, are we at base camp
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: of an Antony.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Lee era here?
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's the biggest thing for me because he's
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: made a very, very difficult task look pretty simple for
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: most of the season. In its season in itself, but
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: also this particular race, there were a lot of things
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: that Probably shouldn't have gone as smoothly as they did,
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: but he was just so good that he just cruised, really.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and this is the element that Toto Wolff described
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: as a champion's drive before he wins the world title,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: or whatever exactly his phrasing was. It was that I
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: don't think the Mercedes car was as dominant as it looked.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: He made it look very straightforward. He was on the
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: one-stop strategy that turned out to be fastest if you
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: had track position early as he did. But to your
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: point about why this racetrack sometimes feels like it doesn't deliver,
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: I think it's a track that really lends itself to
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: the strategy elements, taking different strategies and then coming together late,
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: like Leclerc and Verstappen, or similar to Hamilton and Verstappen
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: all those years ago. But when you've got one guy
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: who can make the less likely strategy work very easily,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: you completely neutralize that as a way to make the
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: race interesting. What he did was he used his abilities
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: and his ability to extract pace from the tire, which
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: is normally the hardest thing for any young driver to
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: do because it just requires experience. And it seems like
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: he's already nailed that element of it. He just completely
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: took the jeopardy out of it. And the only interest
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: was really in the battle for second when we had,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: for a little bit of period of time, as many
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: as four drivers battling for that one between... Leclerc and
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: Norris and Verstappen and Hamilton. So just taking the victory
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: out of everybody's hands, I think, was the really impressive
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: part of this one. Let's talk about the driver he's
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: about to defeat, though. Well, he's about to defeat Lewis
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: Hamilton as well, but I don't think he was ever
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: really in the mix. But George Russell should have been.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Three-time winner this season, started as a pre-season favourite, 54
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: seconds off the lead after this race. Probably, you know,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: if we talk about this being, in words of Toto Wolff,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: Antonelli's best race, or one of them, surely must rank
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: among the most disappointing races for George Russell. Certainly he
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: seemed like that after the fact. This was the kind
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: of race that he thought he'd put behind him at
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: the mid-season break. He feels like he's been performing at
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: a much higher level, and for most of the time
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: that's been true, but this felt like a very much
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: first half of the season performance for him. Finished behind
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: Oscar Piastri. I think that's indicative of not only his
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: difficulties as a track where Piastri does very poorly, but
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: both of these drivers have struggled with similar things this year,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: and they both seem to be struggling quite a bit
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: at this track. We will talk about Oscar in a second.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: The thing that interests me here... To go back to
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: the argument that perhaps we're on the cusp of an
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: Antonelli era, we feel like we might have been on
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: the cusp of a Mercedes era. Russell leads... the battle
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: for second over the top, the following three drivers by
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: just nine points. Yes. It's a very real risk. Russell
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: finishes this season in fifth. If it is an Antonelli era,
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: it would very much be an Antonelli era, not necessarily
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: a Mercedes one, because the competition is very close behind him,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: essentially behind Antonelli. It is really close, but this, this
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: is a, this is a turn that I think we
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: could never have seen coming. You wouldn't have thought second,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: you would have thought second would have been the floor
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: for either of these guys. Now we have the concept
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: of a, In form Hamilton, in form Verstappen, in form
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Leclerc beating an out of form Russell in the final
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: four or five races of this season. That's going to
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: be a difficult blow to take at a time when
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: Russell should really be thinking about building momentum for next
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: season and righting the wrongs, I guess, of this year.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: Well, and it's interesting with drivers too, because there's a
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: bit of a, you know, if you're not first, you're
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: last type attitude with Formula One drivers. But the optics
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: and the momentum and the narrative, if George Russell finishes
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: fifth in this world championship, which is very, very possible
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: based on what you were just saying there, because the
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: three drivers behind him in the standings, Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc,
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: are all in better form, probably in inferior.
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: Machinery, I would guess.
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, unless Antonelli's just so overachieving in what he has.
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: There's a very, very real world in that George Russell
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: finishes fifth in this world championship here. And now I think,
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: you know, pre-season you and I were talking, it looked
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: like Mercedes probably had a bigger gap over everybody else
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: than maybe it's played out. And you just said then
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: the floor for a Mercedes driver looked probably to be
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: second in the World Championship. And I think this year,
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: had Kimi Anzanelli finished second in the World Championship, we
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: would be lauding this guy saying, how good is this
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: guy going? He's second season, he's runner-up in the World Championship. Yes,
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: the car was good. Isn't that amazing? This felt like
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: this was the opportunity that Russell had been hinting that
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: he was ready to take for so, so long. And
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: the fact that he may not, and quite frankly, I
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: would be surprised if he finishes runner-up in the World
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: Championship right now based on the trajectory. There's a lot.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, you mentioned the Piastri thing. He's very clever.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: the second McLaren driver right now we'll get into that
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: in a sec but if this is to become an
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: Antonelli era these last five rounds or however many we've
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: got left based on calendars and cancellations and things They
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: actually become super important for Russell. If he was able
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: to finish second, I mean, obviously, it's not winning the
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: World Championship, but at least that feels like a slightly
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: more acceptable result for the future, not for this year
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: in and of itself, but for the future. If he
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: finishes fifth in a car that's won the World Championship
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: and is going to win the Constructors' Championship pretty easily,
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: that invites a completely different set of questions, doesn't it?
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's also just because what it would take
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: to finish second or lower. I think to finish second, realistically,
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: he needs to be back on the podium regularly. He
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: scored one podium in the last five Grands Prix, which
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: is just not enough. If he's off the podium, not
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: only does it obviously mean he's not in great form,
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: unless the Mercedes completely drops off a cliff somehow, but
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: it means he's being beaten not only by Antonelli, presumably,
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: but by all the drivers behind him. And that's the
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: opposite of really what he needs. He needs to be
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: on podiums to feel like he can generate some self-belief
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: again for next year. Because with stable regulations, and Mercedes
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: has talked about this as well, whatever's happened to this
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: upgraded car, if it's put it a little bit further
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: away from what George Russell wants, it doesn't matter because
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: this is sort of the direction that next year's car
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: is going to be. It won't be exactly this car,
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: but it'll be in this general wheelhouse. He's going to
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: have to get used to it one way or another.
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: So it's as much about next year now as it
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: is about just the optics of not finishing second because
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: the results are really going to dictate it. He doesn't
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: have a buffer to lean on and grind it out.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: He's got to go out and get it. And I
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: know they say, like you say, it doesn't matter if
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: you second because you haven't won the title. But I
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: think it will matter to some extent if he's beaten
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: by any of these drivers, really. that's going to be
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: something interesting to watch. Let's go to McLaren now, because
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: while Red Bull and Ferrari are in good form and
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: clearly contending for second in the Drivers' Championship, even if
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: the Constructors' title is all wrapped up, McLaren's now slipped
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: a fourth in the Constructors' Championship. It is on countback.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: They're equal with points with Red Bull Racing, but that
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: is the direction of movement, really, the direction of travel
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: over the last few rounds. Red Bull's hit its straps.
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: McLaren's fallen off that cliff since that middle part of
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: the year where it looked like everything was working out
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: so well. Another difficult race for Oscar Piastri, a so-so
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: race for Lando Norris. I think they were both talking
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: about the fact that this car has become, in the
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: last couple of races, so difficult to drive. I like
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: the way, actually, Oscar put it after qualifying, that if
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: you get a really good lap, and the difference between
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: a really good lap and an okay lap in this
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: car could be half a second or more, and that
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: is the way it felt. But this also feels like,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: I mean, the air I got, I know you're on MotoGP, Judy,
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: so maybe you saw a little bit less of this,
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: but was just of a little bit of resignation from
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: both drivers that this was probably going to be their
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: lot for the last four or five rounds as they
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: hope for a better 27. And I mean, that's a
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: grim way to end what was meant to be a
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: defending championship campaign, not just for the team, but also
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: for Norris.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: Well, and surprisingly so, because it wasn't great in the
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: first part of the season. And then we did have
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: that run of rounds where it did look really good.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: Hungary and Zandvoort, you think, okay, they're starting to get
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: to grips with this new regulation set and it'll be
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: either stable or the arrow will slightly be going up
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: from there. It does feel that, as you said, the
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: direction of travel is going in the wrong way. Now, obviously,
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: that's been magnified a little bit by the fact that
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: Red Bull's got a little bit better and Verstappen has
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: taken a couple of wins that, you know, it did
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: look for all the world like Red Bull were going
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: to go winless in a season and Verstappen was going
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: to have his first winless season since he went there.
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: So that's part of the story too. But you're right,
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: there's like a– the optimism glass is pretty empty right now,
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: isn't it? There's not a lot of– It was one
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: of those weekends that it kind of played out as
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: McLaren expected, and that's not something you want to hear
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: when your expectations are really low in the first place.
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: And you mentioned it before, this has historically not been
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: a great Piastri track. And even at the start of
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: the race where Piastri found himself ahead of Norris, and
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: Norris was just quicker. It's just a fact, isn't it? Yes,
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: they broadcast the radio messages and what have you. There
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: was no conjecture at all of this. He was just faster.
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: And this is not a great Piastri track, but it's
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: just not a great McLaren track. And they've gone from being...
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: I mean, the manner in which Norris... How good he
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: was in Hungary. It felt like he was bossing everybody
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: in Hungary. It's like, okay, they're back here. This is
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: going to be something to watch for the remainder of
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: the season. And it's kind of just fizzling out. And
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: the fact that You said it's on Countback only, but
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: the fact they've slid to fourth in the Constructors' Championship
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: behind Red Bull, which has been pretty hopeless for a
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: decent amount of the year. They had Isaac Hadjar out
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: injured and Liam Lawson's in there and, you know, Max
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: has had his problems with the car and has been
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: pretty vocal about them. The fact that McLaren's now behind
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: Red Bull, yes, on Countback, that's not a storyline I
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: saw coming and, yeah, probably does really show the difficulties
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: that McLaren's in right now.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: I mean, this is a team that only in Singapore,
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: Andrea Stella was saying the objective was to beat Ferrari
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: to second in the championship. I don't think that's happening.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: What is it now? 120-odd points, I think, between them.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: 119 points, perhaps, between them. You know, it's not an
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: impossible gap to bridge, but you're just not in the
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: form to do it. You know, if they were winning
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: races or on podiums or even outscoring Ferrari in recent rounds,
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: you'd say it. They haven't outscored Ferrari since Madrid, and
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: that was a pretty unusual weekend. So it's just not.
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: And they're going to have to outscore them by, what,
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: 25 points a round the rest of the way to
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: get in front of Ferrari. That's not happening.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: Which is just so improbable to imagine. Now the question
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: is whether or not they can hang on to third.
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: I sort of was worried about this, wrote about this
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: in the lead-up to the United States Grand Prix, that
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: as much as Oscar Piastri felt like he'd improved in
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: the last month or so, and McLaren talked about how
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: they were sort of seeing the old Piastri back, that
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: this was going to be the testing moment for him
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: because these are the tracks that, He's struggled out really historically.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: He's among his worst circuits, US and Mexico particularly. And
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: then Brazil's been more about circumstance, but he's never had
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: really big results there. It's almost like the Daniel Ricciardo
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: sort of thing, where Brazil is one of his worst tracks.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: I guess Daniel was never really that competitive there, but
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: circumstance certainly seems to play a role as well. And
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: I feel like we saw that this weekend, similar to Russell,
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: in fact, to go back to that point, that he
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: was struggling in a way that felt very familiar. And
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: it feels like, you know, if there were two steps
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: forward recently, we're taking another step back. And I think
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: they're going to be really braced for Mexico because that
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: is a circuit. It was a circuit where he lost
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: the title lead last year with a pretty flat performance.
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: And I think this isn't going to do much for
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: any momentum he was attempting to generate.
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: No, there's just this, as much as we hate to
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: say it, there's kind of just this anonymity with Oscar
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: at the moment. We were sort of, you know, half
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: joking the other day saying, well, he's either going to
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: be seventh or eighth, which would you like? Because that
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: seems to be Piastri's lot at the moment. I'm sure
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: you will expand upon this later in the week, but
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: I did, during the very flat part of the USGP,
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: decided to have a look back and see how many
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: times he'd been seventh or eighth in a session this year,
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: because it feels like it's a pretty regular occurrence. There's
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: been 90 data points or on-track sessions this year, if
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: you like. He's been seventh or eighth in 25 of them.
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: So it shows you where he's been for the majority
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: of the year. But that's a picture that's been clouded
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: more recently, because at the start of the year, there
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: was obviously some much better results. Japan comes to mind, Miami.
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: But there's just this McLaren is the third or fourth
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: best team right now, and he is routinely the second
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: best driver within his own team, and that gets you
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: somewhere between sixth and eighth most weekends. Okay, we know
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: that Austin is not a great track for Piastri historically.
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: We know Mexico has been very similar, but there's just a– yeah,
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: one of your favourite terms are ones that I like.
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: I do like your direction of travel. Is that something
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: that you– and it's very true. I might even have
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: half taken the piss here, but it is a– It is,
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: you know, it's part of the narrative. It explains the
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: Antonelli situation, explains Red Bull and Verstappen situation of late.
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: And when you have this relentless run of races coming
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: up to close the season, I think it's six in
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: seven weekends. There's no momentum here right now for McLaren
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: generally and Piastri specifically. And given where we're going next,
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: it feels a bit of a long shot that that's
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: going to continue.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's the thing. And it does feel
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: like a long... And this is always going to happen,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: which is happening all over the field, because obviously the
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: championship's a bit of a dead rubber at this point,
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: but it feels like the long grind to the finish.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: It almost would be a bit of a mercy if
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: they cancelled one of the rounds just to get us
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: to the finish quicker. Not that we don't love Formula
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: 1 racing, but it just feels like a lot of
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: drivers and teams, everyone except Antonelli and Mercedes really, will
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: just be hoping to get through this season and hope
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: for a better 2027. Either that's because they've had an
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: awful year this year, Or because maybe if you're Ferrari,
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: for example, or Red Bull, you feel like you can
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: actually start next year with some momentum, having finally more
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: or less figured out your direction with these cars and
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: how you're making them work. But we've still got, officially,
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: five rounds to go. We'll see if we get to
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: those last five or whether it's shortened to four. We're
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: also at the pointy end, Matt, of the supercars. Nothing.
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: There was no time for you to get off the
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: couch at all if you were watching motorsport at home
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: this weekend. It was absolutely non-stop. The cancellation of the
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at least meant there was no
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: clash with the Supercars Sunday race on the Gold Coast.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: Saturday was very rained out, less so on Sunday. The
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: rain just about stayed away for that one. This, of course,
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: is the first round of the finals. We've had three
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: drivers already knocked out, and it's all high tension from here.
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: Well, and for me, this is where we're going to
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: resuscitate one half of the interested versus expert conversation, because
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: you watched enough MotoGP this weekend that you don't have
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: to be just interested.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: You can be a.
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: Pseudo-expert in all of this, but For me, seeing it
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: rain a lot on the Gold Coast and watching that
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: from afar, I mean, to my mind, this sort of
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: feels like we've seen this before. This is Chas Bostert
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: peaking at the right time, right? I mean, what, second
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: round win in three weekends? not been in the top
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: three for scores at any other weekend this season. So
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: I guess the question feels like we're really living 2025.
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: Is he the favourite now or am I misreading this?
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: I think you'd be silly not to have him in
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: that conversation. I mean, it's the way with the finals.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: I mean, picking a favourite is so difficult because it
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: is so cutthroat race to race, isn't it? But he
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: is at this point, I think you can say, the
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: form driver, considering, as you say, it's two round wins
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: in three. Okay, one of them was... one of the
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: Enduros at the bend, which I shouldn't say there's an
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: asterisk on it, but it's obviously a different format of racing. Yes.
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: Probably worth acknowledging that the bend, the conditions were very
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: similar to the Gold Coast on Saturday, which he won.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: So maybe this is just going to be a weather
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: specialist sort of situation. Let's hope for rain for his
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: sake at Sandow. of the Adelaide. But it's undeniable that
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: he's peaking at the right time. That's the way it feels.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: Toyota as well, peaking at the right time, notwithstanding that
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: Ryan Wood was knocked out this weekend. But there was
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: some misfortune in there as well, similar to last year, unfortunately,
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: for him. But he's the reigning champion. I think that
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: you can never discount a reigning champion when they're in
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: the mix like this. He's now inside the top four
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: going to Sandown. I know the points are so close
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: to some extent that doesn't mean too much, but he's
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: clearly moving upwards rather than down or stalling out. And
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: the Toyota is also in a good window. You know,
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: this is the other element. Everyone's been surprised this season,
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: as we were talking about a lot in the build-up
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: to Bathurst, how well Toyota has looked in this first
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: season as a manufacturer. There were obviously a lot of
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: bumps on the road. Engine reliability was a big problem early,
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: but a lot of them have been ironed out just
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: in time for the finals. The car looks very solid.
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: There were Toyotas in the mix all weekend. Chas Moss
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: had obviously won on the Saturday, and he was high
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: enough on the Sunday as well, despite having to give
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: up a position, a potential vie for victory as well,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: to try and help Ryan Wood get into the finals.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: And he still wins the round, wins it relatively comfortably.
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: Signs look really good for him, but there are a
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: lot of competitors who also rose, I think, at the
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: Gold Coast to try and stake a claim on this
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: finals campaign. We're so early in this finals experiment, I
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: guess it's only the second year, but It does feel
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: like there's more of a psychological element this year because
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: everyone knows what's coming and everyone's thought about how they
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: want to play it. You know, whereas last year there
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: was a bit more randomness to it. So he's definitely
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: in the mix more than he was, you know, two
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: races ago, essentially. And he's got to be considered one
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: of the favorites.
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: You mentioned Ryan Wood a couple of times here. I'm
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: going to, go a little off script, because I did
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: want to mention this. Now, look, he was in until
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: he wasn't. I mean, let's be honest, because the two
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: GM cars suddenly needed fuel. Donning your Michael Laminato conspiracy
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: or not hat here, assuming that you have such a thing,
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: are we reading too much into this to call it
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: a conspiracy? And I guess the subsequent question to that is,
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: you mentioned that people now have a bit of a
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: handle on how to handle these finals now. Last year
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: was a step into the unknown. What does this mean
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: for team games coming here? Because, you know, there are
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: drivers that are on track that can influence the way
• 41:39
  Speaker 2: the rest of the season plays out, right?
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, there's two elements here. One is the
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: fuel conspiracy. I mean, what are the odds that two
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: General Motors cars run out of fuel in the last
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: five laps or whatever it was? Remarkable scenes. That just
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: so happened to drop out the order and help Anton
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: Di Pasquale, the only GM car that was in the
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: mix for the finals... qualify for the next round of
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: the finals I mean it set tongues wagging immediately at
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: the expense of Ryan Wood that's obviously the hook here
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: Cam Hill and Cooper Murray the sport did checks afterwards
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: everyone just probably read this by now and they said
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: there was not enough fuel in the car to have
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: finished they said the fuel they pumped out of the
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: car after those late fuel stops verified that and So
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: if you want to believe the conspiracy, you have to
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: believe everyone's in on it, which, you know, that's part
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: of the joy of conspiracy theories, I guess. But it's
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: all above board because, of course, it would be illegal
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: for a manufacturer to direct teams to act in this way.
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: Team orders is fine within a team, obviously, but from above,
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: it would not be okay. But apparently, it's all above
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: board despite the willingness to believe in the conspiracy theory.
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: But team orders are okay because, as we saw, as
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: I mentioned, Chas Mostert tried to help Ryan Wood get
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: into the finals by giving him a position that didn't
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: ultimately work because of the fuel stops, but it would
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: have worked had it not been because of those fuel stops.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: Somewhat contentious, maybe triggering for some people might be a
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: better way to describe it, considering the role Ryan Wood played,
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: incidentally or deliberately, depending on your perspective, in Adelaide last
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: year to help Chas Mostert win the title over Brock Feeney.
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: And a technical problem for Brock meant that he wasn't
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: going to get it anyway, but it was pretty... well
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: felt at the time but I like that or well
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: do I like it I'm interested in it because this
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: is sort of the fun element of the finals and
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: I am optimistic that the more years we have the
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: finals the more this becomes sort of a part of
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: the game naturally But when you do have multiple teammates
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: in there, or when you have one in and one out,
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: perhaps more to the point, you do have this capacity
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: to influence the finals in a different way. Because unlike
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: finals in football or whatever, you also have all these
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: other cars that are trying to race and win the
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: race that don't care whether or not you're in the
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: finals or not. I think that's very interesting. We saw
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: a couple of examples. Now, Kai Allen, for example, he
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: was probably one of the shock eliminations from this first
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: round of the finals because he's been in good form
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: this year. But the fact that he's been in good
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: form means he's probably going to be quite useful to
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: Matt Payne because he's probably going to be fighting in
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: the top 10, top 5. Matt Payne does lead the
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: points at the moment, so he doesn't need too much help.
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: But if you've got a driver backing up some cars,
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: passing's not super easy at Sandown or Adelaide, that can
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: be very useful. How much is that going to be
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: part of it? And I think that this was a
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: really big worry for the sport last year because it
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: was obvious that this was going to be a risk
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: because you eliminate cars, there's more chance you're going to
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: have one teammate in contention. But I actually think that...
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: As everyone gets used to it, it becomes part of
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: the spectacle of it, I guess, that you can have
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: this sort of random element to it, as long as
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: no one's crossing the line and causing crashes, obviously. But
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: if it's strategic, and that's the beauty of these long
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: races being fuel races, you have that strategic element. You
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: can have another driver out there who doesn't have a
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: title on the line deployed totally to assist their teammate.
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: I think it's going to be very interesting. And obviously
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: the closer we get to Adelaide, the more chance there
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: is that one teammate's not going to be in the mix,
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: the more this is going to happen. So I think
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: we've got a little glimpse of it. Part of it
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: was a conspiracy. Part of it was not, obviously, with
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: Chas Boston and Ryan Wood. I think it's only going
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: to increase as we go to the last couple of rounds.
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: I love me some unintended consequences of any rule change
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: in any sport. One of the greater things. Also, your
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: Michael Laminato conspiracy hat. No truth to the rumour that
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: it's actually made out of tinfoil, but that's another... I
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: love my conspiracy hat. Maybe it should be. It means
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: you could recycle it, but... You mentioned Brock Feeney just then.
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: I mean, look, finally got a win on the Gold Coast.
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: Pretty emotional for him. It's home, I guess, isn't it?
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: But what does this mean for his finals hopes? Because,
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: I mean, he's clearly very solid for the weekend. Got
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: the win that had eluded him for a while. Where
• 45:30
  Speaker 2: do you see this moving forward for him? Because he's
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: in the game, obviously.
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was nice to see how emotional a victory
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: this was. Supercars obviously doesn't have... I guess we do
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: have home races to some extent, but it doesn't get
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: much more home than on the streets of your city,
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: I guess. What are the odds someone comes from Ipswich
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: near Queensland Raceway or whatever? I'm sure someone does off
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: the top of my head, but this was a really
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: meaningful home victory and we don't get that many. New
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: Zealand's the obvious other one, right? Every New Zealand driver
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: wants to win in New Zealand because it's not in
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: Australia and it feels more like a home race. So
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: I really liked seeing the emotion there. I can't help
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: but think some of the emotion was the fact that
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: it's been such an up and down season for that
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: there was a real risk he wasn't going to have
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: a second crack at this championship, having lost it at
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: the last race last year. The victory was important, having
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: had a so-so race, I guess, on the Saturday, but
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: the pace was clearly there, and I think that was
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: the more important part. But I don't know what he's
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: thinking about this, obviously. I'm not Brock Feeney. But you've
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: got to see, I think, a big result, or at
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: least good pace in Sandown before you really consider him
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: properly among those favourites for the championship. Not because of him.
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: We know he's extremely fast. The records he's broken, the
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: stats he has in his young career are clear. But
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: it's been so up and down for 888 this year,
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: this first season switching to Ford. Look at Will Brown,
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: for example. Looked reasonable on Saturday, didn't even finish in
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: the top 10 on Sunday. But then previous in Bathurst,
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: he was on the podium, then he was nowhere to
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: be in. Then he had a good round in Ipswich.
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: It's been so up and down that it's hard to
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: know whether or not to trust this result as indicative
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: of them finding that pace properly with the car or
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: whether it just clicked as it has at various other
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: races this year just clicks at a track looks like
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: everything's back to normal and then the next round they
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: go out and they cannot figure out how to get
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: the car to how to generate grip the tires aren't
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: working balance isn't right whatever the case is so i
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: think it was important obviously to get him through to
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: the next round all that kind of stuff but i
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: think if we don't see a big result in sandown
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: even if we get through to adelaide it's going to
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: be hard to feel like He's going to be the
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: kind of force he needs to be to really clinch
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: this title in Adelaide. He knows what defeat there is like.
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: It doesn't take a lot. The team, I think, has
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: to be in better form, more than him, because I
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: think his form has been fine. But the team has
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: to be in better form before we can say that
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: this is the start of something. But obviously, better than
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: not that he's shown it. I think the finals will
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: be better for him being in it, considering the storyline
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: of last year, plus what we know he's capable of.
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: But we need a bit more than this, I think.
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: Well, look, I mean, he's still in the mix and
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: that's all you can ask for at this time of year. But,
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: you know, you mentioned Sandown a couple of times. It
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: is next. It is the semi-final, as the Americans might
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: call it. This is not an American podcast, so we
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: won't call it that. A short question with a potentially
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: long answer. We've talked a bit about the team game already,
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: but who's most at risk, do you think, going to Sandown?
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think semi-final with only seven athletes, competitors in
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: it is a funny one, isn't it? Yeah. But it
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: is what it is. So we know Kyle Allen, Ryan Wood,
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: Andre Heimgartner, they're out of the final. Or Jack LeBrock,
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: I beg your pardon. Andre Heimgartner's already ahead of Jack
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: LeBrock because the points reset after you're eliminated from the finals.
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: But next on the chopping block, if you like, it's
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: Will Brown, which I think is the big one. I
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: was sort of saying this earlier today. Only four obviously
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: go through, but it feels like there probably should be
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: five based on just who you expect to be. And
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: I think Will Brown's arguably the fifth driver. Cam Ward
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: is obviously out. He's still with Tickford struggling for a
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: really good run of form. Hints at it maybe, but
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: didn't really come together this weekend. And obviously Anton Di Pasquale,
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: who only just got through. General Motors very much the
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: outsider brand as we get to the finals, because it's
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: really all... all Ford action really this season but nonetheless
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: anything can happen in the finals we know that much
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: but for me the big one to watch is Will
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: Brown because well I mean Triple Eight has been very
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: up and down so perhaps we'll get there and they'll
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: just be nowhere in Sandown it'll be obvious he's going
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: to be eliminated but he's the driver who really should
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: make it through but then the question is well at
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: whose expense Matt Payne has led so much of this
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: season he's leading the championship it'd be a shock if
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: he wasn't in it. Although this is where he was
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: knocked out last year. Brock Feeney, we've talked about him.
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: Brodie Kostecki's obviously in there. It feels like he's getting
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: back into good form. He was really critical of some
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: self-mistakes that meant he wasn't in contention for victory on Sunday.
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: He finished second anyway. And then obviously Chas Mossett, the
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: defending champion, who is the round winner and he's maybe
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: the most informed driver at the moment. So We've got
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: a really stacked field heading to Sandian in terms of
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: the competition for that top four. Someone has to miss out.
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: I don't think it's just going to be as straightforward
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: as the bottom three being knocked out. The points are
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: too close for that, but we'll wait and see. There's
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: also this side battle just very briefly for the team's championship.
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: Groves lost about 120 or 150 points over the last
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: couple of rounds to Triple Eight. They're still in the lead.
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: The lead's 115 points. That can disappear very quickly. Whether
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: or not it's an advantage that Kai Allen's out, and
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: can just race for points or is a disadvantage because
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: you want to use him to help Matt Payne, we'll
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: have to wait and see. But that's suddenly looking much
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: hotter as we head to the penultimate round of the season.
• 50:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, look, whoever gets knocked out is a story, right?
• 50:17
  Speaker 2: It's just a different story, but it's a big story.
• 50:20
  Speaker 2: And that's the beauty of this format is that there
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: is jeopardy as you get towards the end of the season.
• 50:26
  Speaker 2: And however it shakes out, there's going to be quite
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: a few inquests, you might say, going on once we
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: get through Sandown.
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Not everyone can win it. That's the thing. Someone's
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: got to be knocked out. That is the beauty of
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: the finals, is this jeopardy that we get week to week.
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: It'll be fascinating to see how it all pans out
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: when we get to Sandown. But that's all the time
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: we have for Pit Talk this week. You can subscribe
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: to Pit Talk wherever you get your favourite podcasts, and
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: you can leave us a rating and a review as well.
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: This weekend, it's only two motorsport categories on for you,
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: so we've sort of settled things down a little bit.
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: for your weekend schedule. We start, of course, with the
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: Motorcycle Grand Prix of Malaysia. That's at 6pm on Sunday.
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: That won't be cancelled because of... Oh, well, sometimes it
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: does rain in Malaysia, but I'm sure they've figured out
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: the medical situation. And that's followed by the Formula One
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: Mexico City Grand Prix. That's 7am on Monday morning. That's
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: all Australian Eastern Daylight Time. You can keep up to
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: date with all the latest F1, supercars and MotoGP news
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: at foxsports.com.au. From Matt Clayton and me, Michael Laminato, thanks
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: very much for your company. We'll catch you next week.