Yamaha and Honda’s slumps and 2026 rider changes

Off-track, Honda and Yamaha are the key protagonists in the 2026 MotoGP rider market. On-track, they’ve both gone backwards again after their breakthrough results in May.Why has that happened, and is a champion rider like Jorge Martin right to put his faith in investment and long-term hope over current performance and the evidence of recent years? Simon Patterson and Val Khorounzhiy make the case for Honda and Yamaha’s prospects to a sceptical Matt Beer in The Race MotoGP Podcast.Honda’s likely 2026 line-up - and a surprise twist in it - is discussed too, as is the possibility of a total rider clearout at Yamaha’s second team, even though the Pramac duo Miguel Oliveira and Jack Miller are matching or outperforming struggling factory rider Alex Rins.Want to win a Marc Marquez special edition 8K AI-powered camera, signed by Marquez himself?We’ve teamed up with Insta360 to give away an autographed Insta360 Ace Pro 2 MM93 Edition - a special customised version of the camera with Marquez’s logo and iconic #93 on its body, plus other unique Marquez customisation touches.For a chance to win the signed Marquez edition Insta360 camera, all you have to do is send us ONE question about Marquez that you’d love The Race MotoGP Podcast team to answer. Submit your question HEREAnd whoever sends the best question as chosen by The Race MotoGP Podcast panel receives the signed Insta360 Ace Pro 2 MM93 Edition.Read the T&Cs HEREWant more MotoGP podcast content? Sign up to our motorbike-only Riders tier on Patreon for our 2015 revisited series, ad-free listening and more.Follow the Race Moto channel on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠Check out our latest videos on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.