Moto-America (Road Atlanta) & Donington BSB Test

Motopod, proudly supported by Road Skin, a UK label specializing in protective outerwear for motorcyclists. Modern biker clothing that you can wear all day long, and engineered to save your skin. For the road, for life, visit roadskin.co.uk Hello and welcome to Motopod, the internet radio show all about motorcycle road racing. This is episode number 766. I'm your host Richard Jarrett, although not really because what you've happened upon here is one of our interview specials where we're putting together a small selection of chats that have happened over the last few weeks.

So first up, occasional host and contributor in the USA, Scott Bolton, managed to get along to Road Atlanta. And Scott was able to catch some chats with Sean Dylan Kelly, who's riding the BMW M1000 RR for Top Pro Racing. He then has a chat with Blake Davis, supersport rider for Team M2 Racing, and then follows up with a chat with Hayden Gillum, who rides in the stock 1000 series in Moto America. He's on Honda Team Revzilla, also the reigning champion in the King of the Baggards, which he's also competing in. We then move over to Donington Park in early April.

I was there for the British Superbike Test Day. I managed to get a quick chat with broadcaster Keith Hewan, who will be familiar to many of our listeners. I'm sorry, the audio quality on that one is not excellent because I was stood outside and it was horrendously windy at Donington on that particular day. But hopefully a short chat with Keith will be of interest. And then as we've teased a few times on recent shows, I have a quick chat with Charlie Winfield, who's the press officer for Tag Honda Racing in BSB.

I have a quick chat with Charlie just to tee up some of the plans that we have between MotoPod and Tag Racing this year. So we just have a quick chat about the setup of the team and a few of the things that we're going to try and get into as the season progresses. So without further ado, let's firstly head over to Road Atlanta and our friend Scott Bolton. Okay, we're here at Road Atlanta, Sunday morning, day two of racing ahead of us. We're here on the fan walk, the hot pit walk.

We're here in the Top Pro Motorsports tent with Sean Dillon Kelly. SDKs came back to join us in the Moto America Pack this year after a little time away in Moto 2. Sean, thanks for joining us. Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me, man.

Yeah, I talked to you a little bit yesterday. Like I said, it's been a few years. I had an injury for the pod back when you first went pro for Team Hammer back in the day. So it's been a bit of a journey since then. Yeah, it's been a handful of years.

And luckily, I can say that I'm in a fantastic position that we've been able to grow a lot since then. And obviously got a whole lot more experience and also trophies under our belt. Yeah, so of course, you know, your time in Moto America previously, you went pretty far up the ladder, you know, you ended up bagging a SuperSport championship. So yeah, took that gamble on Moto 2. Things didn't maybe quite work out like you wanted, but hey, some awesome experience and kind of like Cam when he came back last year, you know, I'm sure the old knife blade sharpened a bit after hanging out with those guys for a year or so.

Yeah, exactly. It was a great three seasons in SuperSport here in Moto America. 2021 was an incredible season for me, record breaking season, getting the most points ever in a SuperSport championship up to that point. A lot of wins, a lot of great battles up front. And that national championship was a dream come true for me, which, you know, directly went into my second huge dream of getting into the world championship racing in Moto 2.

Yeah, absolutely. It was a very tough last couple of seasons, but at the end of the day, I reached the world championship and not many can say that, you know, it's probably one of the most competitive, if not the most competitive championship in the entire planet right now. So to say that I was there and that, you know, I was able to get some decent races in and some championship points in, some battles up front, it was great. Very, very tough, but that's what builds you at the end of the day. And look where I'm at now, you know, I'm very grateful for the position I'm in, jumping back into Moto America, into the Superbike class with the best of the best here in the U.S.

And, you know, already first weekend, being able to fight towards the front is incredible. Yeah, for sure. Good showing yesterday. What'd you bring it home, fifth? Fourth.

Yeah, fourth. Yeah. So first time out with the top pro guys and on the BMW. So how quick did this deal come together for you? Did it was pretty quick or was it a little time getting it together?

Yeah, it was a bit of a time consuming deal just because, you know, I had an idea back in November of last year that I was going to have to scout all my options considering Europe was going to look difficult for me to stay and, you know, make a living at the end of the day. This is my passion, but it's also my job, right? So when I saw things were complicated, I started to scout back for the U.S. and started to So I got some phone calls, started to make some phone calls and here top pro was one of those. Obviously a new project, which was a little bit surprising, I would say, just because they came in swinging, if you can't tell.

And so it took time to really make sure that it was going to be the right call. But, you know, they put everything on the table for me and I'm really glad with the decision I made because we're in a fantastic position. I'm really, really grateful. My crew is amazing. The team is amazing.

The support has been fantastic. So we have a great package and I think it's showing so far. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure it's not just me, but plenty of others here in the Patek. You know, it's kind of wondering what kind of effort top pro is going to put forth, you know, being you guys on the block and, man, you know, just right off the bat, the Patek presence of, you know, the setup and everything and then your performance on the track yesterday. So found out pretty quick.

They're serious and they're here to win it, no doubt. Yeah, absolutely. I think it was amazing for both of us, right? Because the reality is, it's my first year in Superbike. I've got a lot to learn.

It's the team's first full season with this big setup that they have in Superbike. And so to be able to come in and to show that, you know, we're doing all the right things to be up front and that's our goal, right? We want to fight up front. We want to win races. So to come in already the first weekend, I think is a pretty big statement.

Yeah, no doubt. So we were talking earlier before we started interviewing here and unfortunately your main rival and buddy from your SuperSport days, Richie Escalante, there was an unfortunate crash right after the flag yesterday between him and Lars Baz. You know, I know a lot of us were kind of looking forward to maybe seeing you guys rekindle some of that competition that you guys had with each other in SuperSports. I know that's kind of a bummer for you. Yeah, no, it was a shame to see that big crash.

You know, I was super happy to be back on track with Richie. He's probably my number one competitor up until now in my career and had by far the best battles I've ever had, best races I've ever had with Richie. So shame to see that he's hurt, but you know, he's going to bounce back. He's a strong guy. So I'm looking forward to seeing him back in the grid.

Yeah, absolutely. No doubt. So it looks like we've got a possible rain race today. It's certainly wet now. Of course, we've got several hours till the SuperBikes hit the track this afternoon.

Any thoughts on what's ahead? I'm sure you're like most, you'd rather be completely wet or completely dry. But yeah, at the end of the day, I'm just weather is weather. We know I've competed in all sorts of weather. I'm just happy that I at least got a warm up done this morning and I had a few few laps of experience in the wet.

It would have been really, really tough to go straight into the race without any rain experience. But first time in the rain with the SuperBike, first time in Road Atlanta in the rain. So a lot of new experiences this weekend. But I think we did a really solid warm up finish third. So I think we're in a good spot to be fighting up front again.

Awesome. And one more question. What does that BMW feel like on the back straight here at Road Atlanta? Oh, man, it's a rocket. Honestly, it's a rocket.

It is very intimidating to go through that kink six gear sliding the rear out. It's insane. But I'm loving it. I'm really enjoying this bike. So I'm going to try and put it up front.

Awesome. SDK, appreciate you joining us here on MotoPod. Looking forward to seeing what you can do later today and the rest of the season. Exciting to have you back in the paddock with us. And like I say, best wishes.

Fantastic. Thanks so much, man. Yeah, man. Scott Bolton here at Road Atlanta for the Moto America SuperBikes at Atlanta Weekend. Saturday afternoon after today's first day of racing.

And we're here in the N2 Racing bobblehead Moto Pits with Blake Davis. Blake's racing in the SuperSport. He's the next generation, I guess they're calling it now. But he's on the R6. He's on the Yamaha R6.

So he's last generation competing with the next generation, the GSXR 750s and the Ducatis and those guys. So he had a good race today. It came up just short a second. PJ Jacobson got by him there at the end of the race. So we're going to talk to him about that and a few other things.

Blake is the defending Twins Cup champion from last year for Moto America and that was his second Twins Cup title. So he certainly knows how to win the hardware and he's coming up fast in the SuperSport here. Hey Blake, thanks for joining us on MotoPod. Hey, thank you for having me. Yeah, absolutely, man.

I always like to try to talk to the guys that are next in line for greatness, you know, it seems. And you seem to be on that trajectory. I know I think Yamaha is eager to keep you kind of in the fold here. So yeah, let's talk a little bit about today's race first off. So just tell us a little bit about the race and that battle leading down there at the end.

Those last five laps were pretty frantic. Yes, it was definitely a wild race. I had a pretty decent start, not quite what I wanted. I was fourth off the line. I was able to get past another rider to get third through turn one.

I kind of followed in line for the first lap, ended up running second most of the race. And yeah, coming down to the last five laps, we started battling hard. Tyler Scott had a big crash right in front of me, causing me to run off through the grass. I came back on track in the lead. It was where I needed to be and just everyone started getting grouped back up together and we ended up throwing down the last few laps.

I was running second on the last lap and I was right where I wanted to be. I got a good draft on the back straight away and I was able to out break PJ Jacobson into 10A, hard downhill braking zone. And I knew I needed to get it parked in 10B and get to the inside. I knew he was going to try and cut back under me and so I parked it the best I could in 10B, got it turned, was getting ready to drive up the hill. I started spinning up a little bit, track was really greasy and PJ was able to make it back under me, coming down to the last corner.

So it was definitely a crazy race but I was happy to have that kind of result in my first super sport season race. Yeah, for sure. We were down there outside of 10A and B on that last lap. Man, I saw you make that move. PJ, I saw him definitely spinning up and I was like, man, is he going to be able to get the power down to try to get back up under Blake?

And he was able to and I didn't know you had spun up a little bit. So heck of a race though, man. They know you're there, they know you're going to, they've got some tough competition in you for the season. So after today's race, what's some of your strong points on certain parts of the track, maybe some other parts of the track you guys think you might gain a little on? Yes, so I feel really strong in the first corner, driving up a hill after that.

I feel like I squared up really good and I can get up beside the other riders going into the tight chicane at the top of the hill. I do feel like I'm losing a little bit in the chicane and a little bit in turn five but we're working that out right now so I should have it down pat for tomorrow. I also feel really good in the last sector, down on the brakes into 10A and B and up over the hill into the last corner. I feel really strong. So I feel like that's where I can make a lot of my moves tomorrow but also tomorrow's looking like rain and I love the rain so I'm excited for it.

Good deal, yeah. Yeah, tomorrow's forecast looking wet for sure. Hopefully it'll be proper wet, you know, just good and wet all day, not any drying and getting wet again stuff. So yeah, definitely seen some good rain races around here over the years. So I know you did run a few supersport races last year I think.

Of course you ran the Daytona 200 this year. Did you run it last year? I did. I did run it last year also. Yeah, that's what I thought.

So you know, just making that transition from twins cup to the supersport, what's some of the takeaways you got from that? Really just to stay calm. Everything comes at you so much faster on the supersport bike and I found myself early this weekend getting worked up and rushing into almost all the corners and I feel like that's one of the biggest things I've learned so far is just stay calm, keep your eyes up and you know, make everything come to you a little bit slower. Cool. Yeah, so let's talk real quick about Daytona.

So like we said, you've ran that for the last two years. Moto America has taken over the 200 a few years back and it's really kind of gaining steam again, getting some really, you know, a lot of international competitions. Even though it's not a points paying race, you know, most of the top Moto America teams are there. And so what's your experiences with Daytona been like so far, especially this past March when it was your second go around there? Yeah, so my first Daytona 200, I was having a really good race.

I came across the line to finish sixth place, but I was speeding in pit lane. So I had a 15 second penalty. It dropped me way farther down the field than I wanted. I'm not exactly sure where I finished. And then this past year, or this past March, I raced it again and I was feeling really good.

I qualified seventh. I was right there with the leaders. I was running in the front group and I was in fourth place actually and came into turn six right before you come up on the banking. And I caught a false neutral. I didn't get a good downshift in.

So, you know, got in there a little bit hot, a little hard on the front brake and tuck the front. So I was able to pick the bike back up. I was in last place. I think it was 61st or something like that. I made it up coming back to 18th, but it just really wasn't the race I wanted.

So I guess you'll be looking at going back there next year and maybe your third time there. You know, you showed this year you definitely had the pace for running with the front guys. So I know you're probably kind of looking forward to getting back there maybe next March for a little bit of redemption. Yes, I love Daytona 200. It's one of my favorite races ever.

I love the endurance stuff. It's a whole team that, you know, that wins that race. You have the pit stops where the team has to be perfect. They have to be so good. So I'm definitely really excited and hopefully we'll be back next year also.

So Blake, just for some of our listeners that may not be just real familiar with you, give us just a little bit of a timeline on your, you know, racing career, you know, where you kind of where you got started up to, you know, how you've transitioned up to this point. Yes, so right now I'm 17. It all started. I was three years old. My dad used to ride motorcycles and I wanted to motorcycle.

I wanted to be like my dad. So I got a little pocket bike. I would ride around my backyard. And by the time I turned four, I got a dirt bike that I could do motocross on. So I did motocross while I was four and five.

Then we switched over. Someone had told us we could take my dirt bike and put slicks on it and ride around go-kart tracks. So that's how we started riding around go-kart tracks. And that's kind of where I fell in love with asphalt. So it all went up from there.

When I was eight, I rode on the big track for the first time down in Little Talladega Grand Prix and then moved up from there. I rode an RS 125 that I really loved. Loved the two strokes. From there, I went to an R3 to a 400 where I did my first Moto America season. I missed the first two or three rounds.

I wasn't quite old enough to start the season. But kind of had a rough time in Junior Cup. Wasn't where I fit in. I was struggling for top fives. And the next year, we went to N2 on the Yamaha R3.

And pretty much the same thing. Junior Cup, I wasn't having any luck. And I wasn't the fastest. I just didn't like those smaller motorcycles. After my season on the Yamaha R3, I moved up to Twins Cup on the Yamaha R7.

And had a really good first season. Actually won the championship. We figured out points make prizes. So I didn't have any. I had three race wins, but not a ton.

Nothing special. I just was consistent top five. So really amazing first season on the Twins Cup. My second season in Twins Cup, kind of got off to a slower start. I had a few problems at Daytona for the first round.

And ended up fourth in both the races. And then I won the first race of the second round here in Atlanta. And then race two, I crashed. I was able to pick up the bike and finish 11th. But yeah, just kind of a slow start to the season.

Towards the end of the season, it came down really close between me and two other competitors. And I ended up getting it in the last race actually. We were one point apart coming into the last race. It was in the rain, a very dramatic showdown. But I ended up getting my second championship in Twins Cup.

Over the off season, this past off season, we've been doing a lot of work with Evan Brothers, World Super Sport Team. They're an amazing team. And they've really helped me get this R6 together, help the team get the R6 together. And it's been amazing working with them. And here we are now at Road Atlanta.

Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. I just temporarily forgot about that collaboration with Evan Brothers, like South, the World Super Sport scene. So I'm sure that's added some boost to the effort for sure. Yes, definitely gave the team a whole lot of confidence. And gave me a lot of confidence also coming into the first round, knowing I have the best R6 that can be built.

Yeah, and it's like we said at the beginning, the R6 is the older generation. And then you of course have the next gen. And some people say, well, maybe it's a little long in the tooth. But you proved out there today, Road Atlanta, where you really need the top end, but you need the good handling too. It looked like he was hanging in there with the Suzuki's and the Ducati's and such for sure.

Yes, the bike felt amazing. It was handling really well. The R6 is known for that. They are one of the best handling super sport bikes you can get. And yeah, I mean, even on the back straight, I was running right there with the Ducati's and 750's.

It had the good top speed. So I was very happy with the bike. Well, awesome showing today, like I say, first, you know, full season points paying race and come out runner up. We got that rain race tomorrow, which said you like the rain. So we're looking forward to that.

You know, it'd be great for you to come out of here with a, you know, first, second, you know, in the points headed to Barbara in a month. So best of luck tomorrow and the rest of the season. Looking forward to see how you progress and then on beyond from this year. Just looking forward to seeing your career transpires. I think me and a lot of people really feel you got a bright future ahead of you.

So looking forward to seeing, you know, kind of tagging along for the ride and be pulling for you for sure. Yes, sir. Thank you so much. Yes, sir. Thanks, Blake, for joining us on MotoPod.

Thank you. All right. Here in the Revzilla Motul Vansen Heims pit area and glad to be joined here on MotoPod by Hayden Gillum. Hayden, thanks for joining us, man. Oh, yeah.

Glad to be here. Yeah, so Hayden, I just told him he's like as far as motorcycle racing goes, one of the single one of the hardest working guys in show business for motorcycle racing business. He, as many of you probably know, and some of you that might not, he actually was a double champion last year. He took the stock 1000 championship and the Baggers Cup championship. So that was pretty impressive.

Yeah, it was a good year. It was a lot of fun, a lot of long weekends. But I enjoyed it. I like keeping myself on my toes and having, last year, having three different bikes to race and super bike stock 1000 and baggers. It was a busy, busy year, but it was a lot of fun.

I just want to ride. I don't like sitting still too much. So it's, yeah, trying to keep the same thing going this year. So yeah, I forgot about the super bike effort apart from the super stock effort. So yeah, so this year Hayden's back on the bagger to defend that title.

And he is one of two or three other teams campaigning a Honda this year in super stock and of course for you and one other of those teams this weekend in the super bike cup, which is where the stock 1000s kind of have their own points set up within the super bike class. So really interesting. I know me and a lot of people are glad to see Big Red making kind of a comeback. As far as on the track, they've been around in the paddock and with different kinds of support. But this seems like the first year in many that we've seen more than just one or two just kind of showing up every now and then.

So how did that deal with the Honda come together? The Honda deal, it was a lot of work. I know we had kind of with disrupt last year, we're trying to make some things happen and we ended up myself and disrupt and Jesse, we ended up kind of splitting and going our own ways. And I was able to, me and Mark Young, my crew chief and a couple sponsors were able to kind of keep talking with Honda and ended up getting the deal worked out and Southern Power Sports out of Chattanooga. Came on board the biggest Honda dealership in America, I'm pretty sure.

And they're strictly Honda, it's wild in there, they have nothing but red. And so having them on board, having Honda kind of help a little bit is really good. It's cool to see and to be a part of it. It's been a long time since I've had this kind of support from a manufacturer. So I'm really enjoying it.

It's a big learning curve, the bike's a lot different from the Suzuki than I thought it would be. But it's got a ton of power and a ton of potential. So we're doing our best right now. Superbike this weekend is tough, the field is stacked. And I thought top ten would be pretty easy on most weekends and turns out not so much.

This year, I think in qualifying, there was 11 of us within a second and a half. So it's gonna be tight, it's gonna be a lot of fun, a lot of hard work, but I'm looking forward to it. We're learning a lot and figuring it out and being back on the red bike is really cool. I haven't raced a Honda since I think my amateur days in 2010, I think was the last time I was on a Honda road race bike. So it's really cool to have them back and see them pushing in the series again.

It's been a long time since they've been in it. And so hopefully we can put it up front and have some more good showings. Yesterday, first race in Superbike was really good. I've got really good outright pace with it. But right now I just gotta work on late race pace.

So obviously today it's raining right now. So this morning was good, six fastest on it. So I feel good, I'm happy to just be here. Yeah, the great equalizer. Yeah.

In rain. So yeah, but you said something that's very important, that the manufacturer support coming from Honda. And that's what a lot of us have been waiting to happen. And that it's happening now is very promising, not only for you and your team, but for some other guys that are thinking about chasing some of that Honda contingency, they put up quite a pot of gold for you guys to be chasing after this year. So that's really cool.

So yesterday's race, race one, did you finish 10th or 9th? 9th. Yeah, okay. So hey, so you made that top 10 potential. I know it is a battle still, but- Yeah, the first few laps were really good.

I didn't get a great start, but first few laps were good. I was trying to hang on with that front super bike pack. They had a little bit of time on me. But after I think lap four or five, I was only five or six seconds back. So I felt really good about that and then started tapering off from there.

Then got a little bit of a handful to ride. It was like riding a bucking bronco. So it was fun. It was exciting. It was a big learning experience yesterday.

Learned quite a bit. That was my first long, long stint on the bike. We've done some track days and everything, but you don't only get eight, nine, ten laps at a time normally. So it was really good to learn. We've been trying to figure out the suspension stuff, the chassis side.

Like I said, it's a lot different from what I've been running for a long time. And I'm enjoying it. And it's really cool to be a part of the Honda comeback. I know, obviously, Jeff May has been running on for a few years and Ashton ran on a few years ago too. So, but now they're really making a big push for it.

So it's cool to be a part of it and to learn a new bike and to have the excitement behind it. There's a lot of fans that are really happy to see it. I know a lot of people at Honda are really happy about it. So yeah, it's exciting. Yeah, and so you mentioned Ashton, of course, they're here this weekend competing in the Superbike Cup within the Superbike class on a Honda.

They're the new team he's on. And then Jeff May, even though Jeff retired full time riding last year, is building, I can't think of his name right off. I know he won the rain race at Barber. De Silva. De Silva, yes.

Yeah, so that could be a pretty good battle between you three and the Superstock class. I'd be up there mixing it up with those BMWs and some of those guys out there. So that ought to be a really competitive class. I think you guys are running next round at Barber. Yeah, first round for stock is at Barber.

It's gonna be a fun class this year. I think last year, the Suzuki was a little underpowered versus the BMW and Jeff's Honda and even some of the Cowies that were out there. But it's gonna be really exciting. I think there's a lot of good talent in the class. You got Travis, Wyman, and Uribe on the Orange Catbikes.

And then Gabriel, Ashton, me on the Hondas. There's gonna be some good battles there. I'm excited about it and having the legs of the Honda is gonna help. Yeah, that ought to be some really good racing for us to look forward to. So I know I'd heard you on the off track pod with Carothers and VICE a few weeks ago.

And you guys are still trying to get some of the bits and parts and stuff for the bike to help you get it where you want it. How's that going? It's going good. This is our first weekend with the HRC kit electronics. We're learning that.

A little different from the stock stuff. Biggest thing is just trying to get the engine braking and everything right. It's a lot different from what we've been running. And so trying to get that stuff sorted. I was glad that this weekend wasn't a stock thousand round just because it gave us another weekend to learn and figure things out.

With it being our first weekend with a full race package bike is a big deal. So should be able to show up at Barber and have a really good showing. I'm excited. That's one of my best tracks. So I'm excited to get there, see what we can do.

Awesome, yeah, we're looking forward to seeing you there with the rest of the full stock 1000 field. So you're talking about a buck and bronco earlier today. So let's move over to the baggers. Were you on the podium yesterday or just off? Third, that's what I thought.

So defending that number one play from last year. Yeah, I don't know if Daytona and Austin quite went to plan for you. But you got points, come in here looking a little stronger. So what's the thoughts on the bagger effort so far? Yeah, it's getting better every week.

And we've made, the guys made some big changes to the bike in the off season. And it was looking really good in testing and everything. And now once we've got to the track and started actually racing, we're figuring a lot of things out. And the bikes changed a lot since the beginning of Daytona. So Daytona and Austin didn't, obviously the plan is to win and yesterday was my first podium on the bike.

So the start of the season wasn't the best, but we finished, we're right there. We've got the pace with everybody else and we've got some new stuff coming down the pipe here in the next month or so before Road America. And yeah, this weekend has gone more how I expected it to. I'm able to fight a little bit more with the guys. But right now I have to get in front of them to be able to really do much with them.

So we'll see, starting on the second row isn't great. But my starts have gotten a lot better this year. Last year I was getting terrible starts. So, so far everything's been on an upward trend and yeah, it's gonna be a good day hopefully. Depending on what this weather does this afternoon, we'll see what we've got going for us.

Yeah, so the great looking bikes, the orange and black, the Vans and Hines. RevZilla livery, RevZilla on board this year, so super cool effort. So we noticed one of the new Suzuki GSX-R8s, GSX-8Rs over here. So that leads me to your new teammate for this year, Rocco Landers. Rocco's a character, he's a good kid.

But I mean, you gonna try to maybe, I think you could offer a little mentoring for him or is he already beyond that? What's your thoughts on that situation? Yeah, he's a really good kid and teammate. Yeah, I've got ten years on him. So I got a little bit of experience and he's got a lot of energy.

He brings a lot of energy and excitement and everything to the team. So it's been good. It's a big learning curve, especially with the bagger side and then with the new bike, obviously the kid can ride. Yeah, won yesterday. Won the first race of the season for the team yesterday and for the Suzuki.

So it's cool to see, I'm glad that he was able to come on board. If I was at 19, if I would have had the opportunity to be with Vans and Hines and everything, that's kind of the dream scenario for a young kid. These guys have a lot of experience, a lot of knowledge from the years of their racing, Terry Vans and Byron Hines. And those guys have been doing this for a long time at a really high level. So he's learned a lot really fast.

And this weekend shows he's picked up the pace on the twins cup bike, got the win yesterday and even on the bagger he's found quite a bit. It's good to see I'm trying to help him where I can and don't wanna help him too much. I don't want him to get in front of me. But the main thing here is all the team cares about is winning or doing the best they possibly can. So if both of us can be up there, that's the main goal.

Well, we know Rocco, it's kind of rough going the last couple of years, securing a good full time ride and whatever. So I think it's gonna be really good to help get him grounded to be, like say under the tent with Terry and then you as a experienced teammate. So yeah, it couldn't be anything but positive for him. So looking forward to seeing how that helps him, even though he's already at a high level move up to the next level. Yeah, I know for me, and the good thing is that he wants to learn.

I know for me at 19, I was kind of off of my own little world. I didn't care enough about racing whenever I was his age, unfortunately. And I finally kind of got it figured out in my mid 20s and now things are going really well for me. But I had a lot of older riders kind of trying to help me along too. And finally it all started clicking.

So now I'm kind of at the point, I'm not by any means nowhere near done, but I'm enjoying kind of taking on that role a little bit. And even from him, I can still learn a little bit from him and get that joy back that we all look for as a kid. Yeah, absolutely. And which speaking of you got a couple of your own now and a lot of times you're able to have them at the track with you. It's another story for another time, kind of went through a little bit of a unsettled time.

And got settled down with summer and the kids and looks like things are good. Yeah, everything's going good. I'm enjoying being a dad and have them at the racetrack with me every weekend, almost every weekend. And yeah, being able to still be at a high level and especially running the number one plates and having them here with me is really good. It keeps me level headed and it's been a big change for me before.

I was 100% all the time go, go, go. Even if I didn't have it, I would override and push and push myself beyond my limits and crash. And I think with them, it's helped me calm down a little bit and take what I can get on days that I'm not at my best. So yeah, honestly, a lot of the success in the last couple of years has come from them being around. Yeah, that's understandable for sure for those of us that are fortunate enough to have a strong family set up around us for sure.

One last thing, Hayden, I just wanna kinda set the record straight for, I know most of our listeners probably know the connection, but some of our international listeners, I'm not sure. Of course, first name Hayden, some relation to the Earl's racing team. Is it your grandfather and Earl were brothers? Yes, yeah, my grandpa Marty and Earl are brothers. And my mom's maiden name is Hayden.

And so whenever her and my dad got married and had kids, they ended up naming me after her side of the family. So that's the big shoes to fill. Luckily, whenever I was younger, I didn't want those shoes. And now I'm enjoying being able to kinda be a part of it and look back on all the times whenever we ride over at Earl and Rose's house with Nikki and Tommy and Roger and those guys. And it's lots of good memories, lots of fun times that, like I said, as a kid, I took for granted.

And now it's fun to look back on everything. Yeah, that's awesome. That's an awesome legacy to be part of, yeah, just that whole family unit. And great people, and I'm sure, same with your dad and that, and you're part of that family. So part of the OWB, so it's still alive and kicking.

Yeah, we're trying to keep it going. We got a few of us out here still, so it's good, it's fun. And people love seeing all the OWB crowd and everything out there. The fans are still really, really big and love coming to the race track and being a part of it. Awesome.

Hey, I'm gonna let you go, I took up too much time already, but I appreciate it, great chat. Good to finally catch up with you, and man, wish you the best of luck today. Out there in the rain, bringing that Honda along, and then the bagger as well. And just look forward to that. The stock 1000 effort, that's gonna be exciting.

So like I say, just best of luck for the rest of the year, and we'll be seeing you around. All right, I appreciate it, thanks for coming and chatting. Thanks, man. So I'm here with Keith Ewan, delighted to see you, Keith, in the BSB paddock for the test session at Donington Park today. So Keith, what are you looking forward to in BSB this year?

Cuz you're a man that's been in this paddock for many, many years, obviously commentating and so on and so forth. So what's exciting you the most? Many, many, many, many years, it's gotta be said. I think that it's a family thing for me. BSB feels a bit family-ish, it's close to home.

Jordan and Frank Bird obviously taking over from Paul Bird's demise, the family I've known for years and years and years and years before they were born. So it's a kind of, for me, that's, Glen Irwin's a mate of mine as well, I really like Glen Irwin, I rate him quite highly. One man team this year, so for me, that was the big thing is to support those guys here. In fact, my family was supposed to be coming up today, but they wouldn't get out of bed this morning. I don't blame them in this wind, at least it's not raining.

That's a fact. And what about, as you see Tommy on the Honda? It's a big change of bike, isn't it? He's been on the GK for a long time. It's a massive change, he's got a lot of talent, Tommy.

And he's got that kind of roll with it attitude, which will be good for that, to change motorcycles, to see how it goes. I mean, unfortunately, this wind makes a massive difference at Donington Park. It's very difficult, yeah, when you're trying to find confidence in the light, suddenly, you can't understand why it's not as pinpointed as it should be. Coming onto the back straight, you know, it just picks you up and takes you out to the curb. You can never quite work out when you're on a bike, when you're riding at those kind of speeds, exactly why.

Not quite as accurate as you need to be, but you only need the slightest gust of wind to get you a little bit destabilised, even with these big bikes. So I think that maybe we're not going to see a big indication from Tommy for the first little while, I don't think. Yeah, and tomorrow's meant to be pretty wet, I think, as well, which won't obviously help. But you need it. You need that confidence boost.

You need to be riding around and getting used to a new motorbike. I mean, I think everyone else has got their markers already sorted at pretty much in their data sorted if they're on the same bike as they were last year. But Tommy has got that work to go through with the Honda. Honda, BMW, I mean, look at BMW a couple of years ago. We were all going, what the hell?

A factory like that ought to be getting on it by now. And the same thing really with Honda. You would have expected it to be there or there. And it was at one point. It was looking like it was it was on the way there.

Donington, you love it for aircraft. Yeah, so the Donington curse, East Midlands Fairport. It's like we're about to clear out of the way. And yeah, I mean, talking to BMW, I mean, what to make a top rack in World Supers? Well, it would be what you would expect.

And I mean, if BMW don't get a result with top rack on board the bike, then they might as well pack up now. I mean, it's one of those situations where actually BMW and Honda, in my mind, are quite similar factories from attitude point of view. Yeah, Honda build what they build, the best that they can come up with and the way that they've designed it. And you as a rider are supposed to fit in with that rather than them listening quite as much as they needed to to the riders input or the riders input, depending on how many they got riding for. Yeah, I think the same with BMW to a great extent.

They built motorcycles that they thought were bang on dead right in the way that it should be. But people just didn't quite get on with them, just didn't quite gel. There were things that weren't quite working for the riders. So that made a massive difference. And I think now we've got that sea change in attitude.

You know, look at Honda, particularly factories at MotoGP and the like, where personnel are turned over. You know, they're doing things that are more, if I might say, in a kind of European way, taking notice of what's going on. So I see BMW and Honda coming, coming good. Top rack. Well, I've always been a massive top rack fan.

Yeah, I love his attitude. Kienensofwag, Louis' manager, is about as hard as nails. And he's made the decision to keep top rack pretty much in World Superbike. And it might be a good call. You know, for World Superbike, certainly MotoGP is going to be changing.

Yeah, 2027, when we have the five years worth of new tech rules, it will be coming up. 850s look like that's pretty much signed off now. Sustainable fuels, 100% sustainable fuels from 2027. So a lot of things are going to change come 2027. Maybe that's the time.

Maybe with a BMW on the grid. Exactly that, because BMW, you know, I can't remember the guy's name now, but one of the head honchos at BMW racing turned around and said, well, we haven't ruled it out. They certainly got the money for it. But they can't really afford to do years and years and years of waiting before they start winning, as they have in World Superbike. You know, Suzuki, when Suzuki came back into the fray, they had a couple of years off before they started winning races again.

So if they can do it, the likes of BMW surely should have been able to as well. And I know you haven't come to spend the day talking to me, so I'll just let you go. But I kind of cheat and I know your answer to this question, because I was listening to your AMG. AMG MotoGP podcast. Listen to everybody.

It's very, very good podcast. Liberty Media coming in. I'm positive about it. I think it's one of those. Not that it's a done deal yet.

It's got lots of hoops to go through. No, I think that it will be a done deal. I mean, I believe that the Monopolies Commission and the like, or whoever it is, whatever guys they come under now, particularly in Europe here, you know, buying up a premier sport to go with the other premier sport they've got is obviously a monopoly of some kind. So that will need looking at. But my feeling is, is that World Superbikes will get hived off.

And I believe that will be good for World Superbikes and BSB and AMA, you know, Moto America. Yeah. People in the 70s, Superbikes haven't been allowed to go to where they should go to. They've been held back. Criminally under exposed, isn't it?

Well, I think so. I think the World Superbikes is a fantastic series with some great riders in it. And it deserves better. BSB, you don't get much better than BSB. Yeah.

And so I think that there is room for BSB, for Superbikes to be hived off a little bit. And make a situation where they bring all, I'm jumping ahead a lot here, but where they bring all the rules together. So AMA, sorry, Moto America, BSB and World Superbikes amalgamate their rules packages or make them so that they are compatible with each other. Back to the glory days of the wild card. That's what you need.

That's exactly what you need. You need something that's completely different to what MotoGP are offering. And I think World Superbikes has the potential for that. Particularly now, if it doesn't go under the Liberty Media headline, because Liberty, like Dorner, are always going to be in a situation where they want to keep that series second rate in their minds. Yeah.

And I think that's bad for World Superbikes. So the Liberty thing, as far as MotoGP is concerned, I see that as a positive. I think the rules package that we have in MotoGP and where the sport is, is brilliant. I think that the other stuff, if you like, I liken it to the Bernie Ecclestone thing with Formula One. Bernie Ecclestone was against any kind of media in the paddock, any kind of digital media, driver, rider, whatever it might be, squashed all that down.

As soon as they got rid of Bernie and Liberty bought it in, look at what it's doing to their sport. Yeah, admittedly, we have the best package over F1. MotoGP is a better sport than F1. There's no doubt in my mind about it. It's more exciting.

It just needs a kind of exposure that somebody like Liberty might well be able to bring to it. I know there's a lot of negativity out there in the media and the like. And I'm sorry if I'm out of step with anybody listening to this, but I think it's positive. I totally agree. I think it's going to be a shot in the arm that there's more need.

Because it has fallen. I mean, like you say, going back to the Bernie Ecclestone thing, MotoGP was miles ahead of Formula One back in the day, wasn't it? In terms of its then, its kind of social media presence and marketing. Well, it's become a little bit too Spanish-centric, hasn't it? I don't want to have a go at the Spanish because the Spanish have done a fantastic job.

The Espelada family have done a great job. They will now have been paid handsomely for that. There's a fair few... I had to look up what an actual billion euros was the other day. It's a thousand million.

A thousand million is a billion. So four thousand million euros has been spent on this deal. I mean, I think Liberty only paid eight billion for Formula One, which as a worldwide sport is probably a bit bigger. There's my man, Clybe. I've come here specially to have a cup of tea with Clybe Badger.

I've got a bit of a headlock. Well, Keith, I must let you go then, because you're just going to have a chat with Clybe Badger, and I don't blame you, but lovely to talk to you. Thank you for your time. I've got to say, I loved listening to you and Jill's on World Supers back in the 90s. Well, you never know.

We might be doing that from some studio in Manchester. Very, very much hope that will come to pass, sir. Cheers, mate. Cheers, Kate. To that.

OK, so I'm at a... Let's call it a rather windy, thankfully not wet, but certainly very windy Donnington test day today. And following up on what we said about the association that Motopod is going to have this year, we're tag Honda Racing. I'm sat in the team truck with Charlie Winfield. Now, Charlie, first of all, let's get your job title right.

You are... That's a bit of it. It depends on who you're asking and what day I'm working. Generally, I will let's say I do social media and PR communications. How about that?

I'll wear that hat for a little bit now. That'll do. That'll do. So, yeah, you and I have been chatting for a while about doing this together. So this purpose of this little chat briefly is just an intro to describe what we're going to try and do this year.

So the way I've described it is that I'm going to try and tell the story of the tag team, which has been in the championship since, I think, 2014 or in BSB since 2014. And about seven years in British Super Sport, I think, before that. So the team's been around for a long time. There's a deep history there. We're going to talk to Tracy, who is team owner, which a lot of people won't know that.

One of the very few female... Spoiler alert. Yeah, one of the very few female team owners in the BSB paddock. So that's an interesting angle. So, yeah, let's talk a little bit about what we're going to try and do together this year.

So, well, what do you want to get out of this? What we're doing this year, I think what's really important to tag this season is we are a family based team and we sort of we carry that ethos in what we do, who we are. And we also feel like that about our fans and our spectators, you know, same with the technicians and all the team members that get involved. It is a team that wants to bring on new talent and things like that as well. So we kind of felt like we just want to open the doors a little bit more, let more people into what really goes on behind the team.

It's all well and good. You see the results, you see what happens out on track. None of that's a secret. But I think sort of behind the scenes a little bit, people want to know more. And I think from a family team, it's something that we want to be able to show other people.

We want to get other people on board with us. And really just actually experience it from unloading the trucks, getting all the kitchen area, so the rider changing that we're in at the moment, right the way through to what goes on with the machines and the riders themselves. And one of the things that I'm going to be interested to talk to you about in terms of your role is, how can we put this politely, the challenge things like sponsorship, you know, last minute changes, disappointments, all of that stuff that goes on. So the idea really, when we first started talking, was to, as you just said, get under the hood, really, and get into the detail, the nitty gritty detail of running a team, being involved in a team that you just don't get to see ordinarily. Yeah, so I'm hoping that that's going to be of great interest to the MotoPod listeners.

We'll be asking for listeners to send me questions if they got particular questions about, you know, certain aspects of being involved in running a team. Let's just quickly talk about who we've got on the team riding this year. So talk us through the BSP side. So Superbike, full factory Superbike we've got is Fraser Rogers. So he's come back into Superbike series.

Fraser and the team found a really good, just a really good synergy towards the end of last year. We knew who we needed for the team. He felt like we were the right package for him and the right bike. Fraser's hit the ground running here today at Donington, spending lots and lots and lots of laps, which is great. So the team working really close with Fraser, which is brilliant.

We've obviously got Jamie Vazicruz, who is on the Pathway Superbike, which is a little bit new to BSP. It's not completely brand new. It's come back again, but it's been titled the Pathway Machine. So you've got a bit of a hybrid Superstock Superbike. So Jamie has come up from that.

So it's a 1000cc, which he's now getting to grips with as well and thoroughly enjoying from what we've seen today. Sean Winfield, who is stock 1000, has been for the last three seasons, all season now back on the stock Thou bike. Unfortunately, not riding today. He's not quite up to it today. And then Matt Ruloff is returning for his second season.

Again, also on the Superstock 1000 bike as well. Excellent. And let's say that the team have had a challenging few seasons behind. I mean, I think that's reasonable to say, isn't it? The team's looking to get back on the up again.

But we were talking earlier on about 2017 when Josh Brooks was on the team and finished second in the BSP championship. So I mean, the team has real pedigree and can do it and wants to get back there. But what are the in this first third of the season, let's say, what are the realistic expectations as you see them? And I'll be asking this question to other people. Oh, that's interesting.

OK, I think realistic expectations are I certainly know just based on the conversation we have with the riders. More than anything, I certainly know that Fraser scratching for a top 10. There's there's no mistaking that I think anything less than that. He was probably a bit frustrated. We certainly know the machine's capable.

We are just now almost imminently landing the brand new 2024 blade as well. So we have all the support from Honda, Honda racing, the actual factory team. So I think realistically, the Superbike really should be back up that. Fraser's absolutely got it in him. Be interesting to see where the pathway series goes.

We've seen today itself that even the pathway machines are starting to shake up the standings of how they're performing in line against the full Superbike. And I know that from a little bit of a shake up with the Superstock this next time as well, and there's quite a few of the 2023 Superstock riders have either gone into Superbike or to Most of America. So I think the positioning of the Superstock boys as well. I can't see anything failing now more than I'm going to say top five. Let's throw it out there.

We've got two top five riders. I'm going to hang my hat on it because I know that the boys are capable and they are very familiar with these machines now, both Matt and Sean. So I've got every confidence in both of them. And just on the Bisbee spec bike that Fraser's right, you just alluded to the fact that, you know, Honda supported. Yes, absolutely.

And the 2024 bike is turning up fairly shortly. I think it is. I think the first one we're learning is this next week. So it's a little bit before Spain. So whether it's Spain ready, I don't think we'll see how we see how quickly we can work.

But I certainly know that as soon as that bike is available and ready to get going, then that's that will be the goal. And the good news is I was listening on the tunnel earlier on to Tommy Bridewell, who's having his first run out on the 2024 bike this, you know, well today, I suppose. And he's waxing lyrical about the power of the thing. It's certainly known for it, isn't it? So, yeah, Honda's got the ability that there's no mistaking it.

It's just dialing it in and getting it right. And that's personal. Each individual rider, we've had former Moto GP riders, as you know, from from 2022 and 2023. So going into this season to be on a British rider and get his interpretation of how that machine is performing for him as well. But, yeah, we've got a great team.

The crew are absolutely on it. They're working brilliantly in there. It's a great atmosphere to be around. So I think once we start to see the new bike also arrive and we get that in the new livery, then I think it could be really something special. The new livery on the bikes looks really mint as well.

Yeah, a few subtle changes, but the bikes do look really, really good. And so I've been rattling the tin a little bit with the listeners. And I have to say, we've had quite a few new subscribers come on board. So what we're wanting to try and do, and this is something you and I talk about, but hopefully we might be able to, well, certainly for the British subscribers, see if there's a couple of things we can do with TAG this year. Absolutely.

As part of the interaction, we're going to be doing lots of stuff. Join me on the social media side of things. So, yeah, we really want to invite people along on the MotoPod side and on the TAG side to really get involved, get invested with the team, follow the team through the season, you know, starting down here. We're looking to get up here. So that's kind of the journey that we've decided we want to go on season long.

Won't be every single round, obviously, but I'll be at quite a few rounds this year. So we'll keep in regular touch with yourself, with Rob and Tracy, team owners. And then we'll obviously hope to try and speak to some of the team engineers. So, again, I'll be relying on some good questions from some of the listeners because I'm not technical. So, yeah, we hope that everyone will come on board and really enjoy this.

And we'll see what we can do as a little bit of a thank you to the listeners that do contribute. Anything else to talk about before we sign off just for now? I don't think we've got any spoiler alerts. No, I can't think of anything right now. But no, we're looking forward to it.

Like I said, we're opening the MotoPod for this reason so that we can sort of, you know, talk to people via their cars and their living rooms, whatever it is, you know, wherever you are, if you want to be in touch with not just the, you know, the racing, but also the team itself. And we're very much looking forward to opening our doors to the listeners as well. They can come and actually experience it for real. Cool. And let's just quickly tip into social media channels for the team.

So Instagram, Facebook are the key ones, obviously X forward slash Twitter. So it's all tag racing. You'll find some tag racing for all of that at tag racing or tag on the score racing, I believe, on Instagram. But yeah, you'll find us quite quickly and easily on there. Brilliant.

All right, Charlie. Well, that'll be for now just as a little taster and a starter to get us going. And then, yeah, certainly from around three at Donington back here. I'll be here for the weekend and then we'll really get into some detailed chats with people and, yeah, looking forward to it. Thank you.

Thank you for bringing us on board. It's a massive coup as far as I'm concerned, so you can't wait for the end. See you again. Thank you. Yes.