WARNING: This episode of the Motorsport101 Podcast contains conversations regarding racism, transphobia and bigoted behaviour. You may find this upsetting. If you feel this might be harmful, you can skip to 36:08 where we move onto other topics. Look after yourselves.

This is one of the longest modern shows we’ve done, and for good reason. In the time between Formula 1 races, we’ve had Naomi Schiff racially abused on Twitter, Juri Vips lose his Red Bull Academy job after dropping an n-bomb on Twitch, Nelson Piquet Sr. was exposed in a 2021 interview to having used a racial slur to describe Lewis Hamilton. And Jamie Chadwick was caught in a Daily Telegraph interview claiming that trans women shouldn’t be allowed to take part in women’s sports, a take in line with her team boss Caitlyn Jenner.

In a frank, open and raw 35 minute conversation, Dre, RJ and Cam break down all the incidents, relate it to their own personal lives, and ask what F1 can and should do regarding incidents of such bigotry and racism, and where the sport is at two years to the week since #WeRaceAsOne became the sport’s apparent “call to action”.

We also talk about the departure of our own legendary producer, host, and staple of the network, Ryan Erik King, who’s leaving us to become a fully fledged member of Jalopnik’s writing staff. We couldn’t be prouder of him moving up in the world and while he’ll still be here for the occasional episode when he works from home, he’s not going to be on anymore, so we talk about some of our favourite moments of his on the show and give our thanks to the man himself. King, we’re gonna miss you, we’ve never done it without you, but we’re sure as hell going to try in your honour.

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MotoGP’s Assen TT is one of the flagship rounds on the calendar, and one of the most important given the Summer Break falls in right afterwards. And we had another major Championship flashpoint right before the holidays as Fabio Quartararo made his first mistake of the year, crashing into Aleix Espargaro on a divebomb he was probably never going to legitimately make. Fabio was given a Long Lap Penalty by the stewards for it, and after years of political headbutting, Yamaha and Fabio FLIPPED out, even considering the Court of Arbitration for sport as a potential method of appeal.

Should Fabio have been punished? Isn’t this exactly what we wanted as biking fans? And why Dre thinks there’s a deeper political reason as to why Yamaha has kicked up such a stink – He thinks they want Freddie Spencer gone altogether as chief steward. Listen in!

We also talk Aleix Espargaro’s astonishing comeback. He was 15th after the contact with Fabio put him in the gravel, but he came surging through the field to finish an incredible 4th, including a DOUBLE overtake on Brad Binder and Jack Miller at the final chicane on the final lap. It was a ride of the year candidate.

Oh, and Francesco Bagnaia won too, that’s gotta be worth a mention right? Oh, and Marco Bezzecchi finished a career high 2nd as a rookie. That’s insane, and yet it feels like it’s a pub quiz question waiting to happen! All of that and much more on a loaded MotoGP episode of Motorsport101!

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Well, this was a dramatic one. Formula 1’s next move as the travelling circus was Montreal for the first Canadian Grand Prix in 3 years, and in it, we had a classic late Safety Car sprint finish from Max Verstappen and… “checks notes”… Carlos Sainz? Yep, with Charles Leclerc starting from the back with a fresh power unit, it was up to Carlos to try and restore some pride for Maranello… even if he just came up short. We break it down here!

We also talk about judgement day for the porposing issue. The FIA did indeed step in and issue a technical directive about how the issue will be managed going forward. Floors will be monitored and discussions will be held about a maximum force of bounce allowed. Is this the right move going forward?

And we also talk about a loaded midfield, with Fernando Alonso, Zhou Guanyu, Valtteri Bottas and more all involved as “El Plan” nearly came to pass for the man starting from the front row for the first time in nearly a decade. All of that and more on a loaded Motorsport101!

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