David Emmett's blog

MotoMatters.com, in association with Motor Sport Magazine, is proud to feature the rider insights of 1983 and 1985 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer. After every MotoGP race, Fast Freddie will share what he saw and learned from the race.

In this edition of Freddie Spencer's video blog, the former world champion takes a look back at one of the greatest premier class races in history, the 88th Dutch TT at Assen. Spencer starts off talking about the possibility of bringing F1 to Assen, and the reasons not to be too enamored of the idea. He looks back at his experiences of riding at Assen, at what was then a much longer track with the magical North Loop still intact.

MotoMatters.com, in association with Motor Sport Magazine, is proud to feature the rider insights of 1983 and 1985 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer. After every MotoGP race, Fast Freddie will share what he saw and learned from the race.

In the latest episode of his video blog, Freddie Spencer shares his thoughts on Jorge Lorenzo's second consecutive victory on the Ducati, this time at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló, near Barcelona. First, Fast Freddie gives his thoughts on the track, and what it takes to ride there, and more importantly, what it takes to succeed.

MotoMatters.com, in association with Motor Sport Magazine, is proud to feature the rider insights of 1983 and 1985 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer. After every MotoGP race, Fast Freddie will share what he saw and learned from the race.

In his latest video blog, Freddie Spencer takes a look back at the eventful Jerez round of MotoGP, and examines its repercussions on the championship. He starts off with a look back at his own first experiences of what is a fiery and passionate event, and his own first visit to the Jerez circuit. He then takes a quick digression to discuss the benefits and risks of rider training, with a view to Remy Gardner's injury picked up in an MX crash.

MotoMatters.com, in association with Motor Sport Magazine, is proud to feature the rider insights of 1983 and 1985 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer. After every MotoGP race, Fast Freddie will share what he saw and learned from the race.

MotoMatters.com, in association with Motor Sport Magazine, is proud to feature the rider insights of 1983 and 1985 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer. After every MotoGP race, Fast Freddie will share what he saw and learned from the race.

There was certainly a lot for Freddie Spencer to talk about after an eventful Argentinian round of MotoGP, and the former world champion starts his latest video blog off with a memory of the only time he got to race in the country, his very first race in his first full season 500cc.

MotoMatters.com, in association with Motor Sport Magazine, is proud to feature the rider insights of 1983 and 1985 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer. After every MotoGP race, Fast Freddie will share what he saw and learned from the race.

The MotoGP season got underway on Sunday, and so Freddie Spencer takes time to sit down and analyze what went on under the floodlights at Qatar. Fast Freddie has a few comments on the problems caused by the new schedule at Qatar, before going on to discuss a fascinating qualifying session, which suggested that Marc Marquez would be the man to beat.

MotoMatters.com, in association with Motor Sport Magazine, is proud to feature the rider insights of 1983 and 1985 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer. Every week after each MotoGP race, Fast Freddie will share what he saw and learned from the race.

A new season means another season of video blogs by the legendary 500cc champion Freddie Spencer. In this blog, Fast Freddie answers a number of questions sent in to Motor Sport Magazine podcast he did with Mat Oxley, then goes on to examine the state of play in MotoGP after preseason testing. He runs down the different manufacturers, how Honda have started strong, how Jorge Lorenzo has been up and down, and how Yamaha have lost their way.

It has been a long year in motorcycle racing. A rewarding, entertaining, surprising, and wonderful year, but with so much going on, it has been hard to keep up. So much so that we have been left exhausted at trying to cover it all, and depressed at how utterly we have failed to cover just a fraction of all the things which happened this year.

The MotoMatters.com calendar has earned a loyal following and customer base through the years. However, for a variety of logistical reasons, it has proven impossible to put together a calendar for 2018. So if anyone was holding out for a Christmas present, we are very sorry to disappoint you.

We are hoping this is only a temporary hiatus. The plan is to bring the MotoMatters.com calendar back for next year. Fingers crossed we will not face the same insurmountable problems we did this year. 

MotoMatters.com, in association with Motor Sport Magazine, is proud to feature the rider insights of 1983 and 1985 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer. Every week after each MotoGP race, Fast Freddie will share what he saw and learned from the race.

With the 2017 MotoGP season at an end, Freddie Spencer takes a look back at what has been a scintillating year. Fast Freddie reviews the performance of the top ten riders of 2017, working his way back from Jonas Folger, who finished the year in tenth, to 2017 world champion Marc Marquez.

MotoMatters.com, in association with Motor Sport Magazine, is proud to feature the rider insights of 1983 and 1985 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer. Every week after each MotoGP race, Fast Freddie will share what he saw and learned from the race.

MotoMatters.com, in association with Motor Sport Magazine, is proud to feature the rider insights of 1983 and 1985 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer. Every week after each MotoGP race, Fast Freddie will share what he saw and learned from the race.

In the latest episode of his video blog, Fast Freddie Spencer casts an eye over the events of a thrilling Phillip Island MotoGP race. Spencer shares his memories of riding at the Island, and his abiding memories of his first visit there, and being in the odd situation of testing during the day and then popping down to watch the Penguin Parade after he was done.

MotoMatters.com, in association with Motor Sport Magazine, is proud to feature the rider insights of 1983 and 1985 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer. Every week after each MotoGP race, Fast Freddie will share what he saw and learned from the race.

The latest episode of Freddie Spencer's video blog focuses on an eventful weekend at the Motorland Aragon circuit. Fast Freddie starts off with a note on Joan Mir, and the incident with Fabio Di Giannantonio down the back straight at Aragon. He then moves on to talk about the Michelin tires, and the role they played on Sunday's race, and how they affected the fortunes of both Marc Marquez and Maverick Viñales.

Ducati, Honda and Yamaha all have a chance of lifting the MotoGP crown – so which factory has the technical advantage?

Five races to go, the top three riders on three different machines separated by 16 points, the top two equal. So what’s going to happen, who’s going to win?

MotoGP isn’t only about riders, it’s also about motorcycles, so it’s worth looking at where Ducati, Honda and Yamaha are by comparing their records since MotoGP changed so dramatically at the start of last season.

Since the arrival of control software and Michelin tyres, Yamaha has suffered worst. The brand has won 10 of the 31 races since the start of 2016, compared to the 15 victories it took in the preceding 31 races. That’s a disastrous drop of 33 per cent.

Inspiration comes from strange places. I was arguing – sorry, "discussing" – with the ridiculously talented MotoGP photographer Cormac Ryan Meenan about the relative value of various Social Media outlets. I am, as you may know, a big Twitter fan, and a fairly prolific tweeter. Twitter allows me to quickly post updates and respond to questions from racing fans. As I have little affinity with the graphic arts (a euphemism for saying I take rubbish pictures), I have no real time for Instagram. My primary method of communication is words, not pictures.

Cormac disagreed. He strongly believes in the value of Instagram as a means of communication, and especially in the power of Instagram Stories. Cormac, together with others like top photographer Tony Goldsmith and On Track Off Road kingpin Adam Wheeler, persuaded me that plenty of people would be interested in an Instagram story telling the tale of what an ordinary race weekend looks like for a MotoGP journalist. When I asked people on Twitter if they would be interested in such a thing, the response was overwhelmingly positive.