MotoGP

Petronas SRT Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo dominated MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix FP2 by six tenths with the first official 1m58s lap of the Sepang circuit. Having lowered the official MotoGP benchmark to a 1m59.027s in this morning’s first 45-minute session, Quartararo was in record-breaking form again in second practice. Not only did he become the first

Fabio Quartararo believes he and his Petronas SRT MotoGP team “deserve” the factory-spec Yamaha he will ride in the 2020 season. Earlier on Friday at the Malaysian Grand Prix, it was confirmed that Quartararo would join team-mate Franco Morbidelli in having machine parity with works Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales next season. In

Tech3 MotoGP rider Miguel Oliveira faces a dilemma over whether to have surgery on his shoulder or not, after it forced him to pull out of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Oliveira suffered some tendon damage in his shoulder when he was wiped out by Johann Zarco during the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in August

Valentino Rossi says his current worst season as a Yamaha MotoGP rider is still “a little bit better” than his two difficult seasons with Ducati. With two races still to run in 2019, Rossi is seventh in the standings with 153 points having scored just two podiums so far, putting him on course for his

Three-time MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo admits his form has been “unrecognisable” for most of the period since he joined Honda from Ducati. Lorenzo has endured a nightmare first season aboard the Honda RC213V in 2019, struggling with injuries and a general lack of confidence with the bike, and has finished no higher than 11th so

LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco says his target of a top-seven finish in this weekend’s MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix is a must to show “I can be with the top guys”. Zarco made his debut on the Honda last week in Australia in place of the injured Takaaki Nakagami, and ended the race 26 seconds from

Honda MotoGP team boss Alberto Puig admits that securing a triple success of riders’, manufacturers’ and teams’ titles in 2019 would be “incredible” given Jorge Lorenzo’s current performances. Marc Marquez already sealed his sixth riders’ title earlier this month at Buriram, and two weeks later he put the manufacturers’ prize beyond reach of Honda’s rivals

Johann Zarco made his return to MotoGP action in Australia with LCR Honda following his dismissal from KTM following September’s Misano race. Encountering tricky conditions throughout the weekend as he tried to learn the 2018-spec RC213V, Zarco showed flashes of speed and ended up just 26 seconds from the victory in 13th spot. His debut

Andrea Dovizioso admits he is “not that happy” to have cemented the runner-up spot in this year’s MotoGP standings because Ducati is still incapable of challenging Marc Marquez. By finishing seventh in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix, Dovizioso moved 57 points clear of Suzuki rider Alex Rins and therefore assured himself of second in this year’s

Tech3 MotoGP rider Miguel Oliveira will miss the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, as he has been declared unfit to ride following his crash on Saturday. During the fourth practice session, a gust of wind pushed Oliveira over the outside kerb and onto the grass at the end of the main straight, which then

Johann Zarco admits he can “enjoy” his MotoGP Australian Grand Prix result more after “thinking where I came from”, a reference to his miserable 13-race stint with KTM. The double Moto2 champion is replacing the injured Takaaki Nakagami on the year-old RC213V for the final races, having been dropped with immediate effect from KTM after

MotoGP Australian Grand Prix winner Marc Marquez admits he had to pass Cal Crutchlow aggressively or else leader Maverick Vinales would have broken away and ‘finished the race’. Yamaha rider Vinales moved ahead of early leader Crutchlow at the Honda hairpin on lap 10, and had displayed pace throughout practice which suggested he had the

Cal Crutchlow admits the Phillip Island crash which badly broke his ankle last year has “haunted” him all season, as he claimed second in the MotoGP Australian Grand Prix. The LCR Honda rider shattered his right ankle when he fell during practice at Phillip Island’s first corner last year, with the injury so severe his

Maverick Vinales says he was not going to settle for second place in MotoGP’s Australian Grand Prix and that he would have rather crashed, which he ended up doing. Yamaha rider Vinales led the majority of the race, but eventual winner Marc Marquez was right behind him all along and the Honda man passed him

Valentino Rossi could only manage eighth in the MotoGP Australian Grand Prix having led early on because Yamaha’s speed deficit meant he was “the slowest on the straight”. Rossi took the lead at the start of what was his 400th grand prix appearance from fourth on the grid, but could only keep first place for

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez was victorious in the Australian Grand Prix as long-time race leader Maverick Vinales crashed out on the final lap. Both Marquez and Vinales started from the front row but had slow getaways, meaning Valentino Rossi – making his 400th MotoGP start – held the lead, with Cal Crutchlow and Andrea

Yamaha MotoGP rider Maverick Vinales put on a dominant display in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix to claim pole by a more than half a second from Fabio Quartararo. Vinales built on the pace he showed earlier in the weekend, breaking into the 1m28s barrier on his first run in Q2, which put him

MotoGP riders have offered differing views on Australian Grand Prix qualifying being moved to Sunday morning, after high winds forced Saturday’s action to be abandoned. After a high-speed crash for Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira during FP4, caused by a sudden gust of wind into the first corner, a safety commission meeting was called during the red-flag

LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow says conditions on Saturday during MotoGP Australian Grand Prix practice were not “rideable”, and is “glad” qualifying was abandoned. High winds wreaked havoc with Saturday’s MotoGP schedule, with only 12 riders taking to the track in a red-flagged FP3, before the day was abandoned altogether during FP4 as conditions failed

Marc Marquez says he almost gave up trying to save a crash in a tyre test during MotoGP Australian Grand Prix practice on Friday. The riders carried out a 20-minute test session following second practice on Friday at Phillip Island to try out a new tyre construction from Michelin ahead of it being raced next

Tech3 MotoGP team boss Herve Poncharal says Fabio Quartararo’s sensational rookie season in 2019 was partly behind his desire to sign Moto2 underdog Iker Lecuona for next year. Lecuona has been signed by Tech3 after just three full years in the Moto2 world championship to take over the KTM originally earmarked for Brad Binder, who

Johann Zarco admitted he “was like a rookie” in Australian Grand Prix FP1, his first MotoGP session on the LCR Honda, but made “huge improvements” in the dry FP2. Zarco is replacing the injured Takaaki Nakagami for the final three races of the 2019 season aboard the year-old LCR-run Honda, and was 13th in the

Johann Zarco says he wants to “understand why” Marc Marquez has been “destroying everyone” on the Honda on his first outing on the bike in this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix. Zarco will make his first of three outings this weekend at Phillip Island on board the year-old LCR Honda bike, replacing the injured Takaaki Nakagami,

Valentino Rossi fears the rider market for the 2021 MotoGP season could move “too soon” for him to be able to make a fully-informed decision whether to retire or not. The seven-time premier-class champion is under contract to Yamaha until the end of 2020, but previous rider market cycles indicate that deals for 2021 and

Miguel Oliveira says KTM’s decision to hand rookie Brad Binder a factory MotoGP ride for 2020 makes sense “only” to KTM and has left him feeling “not worthy”. A strong debut season on the KTM RC16 as part of the satellite Tech3 team meant Oliveira was the obvious candidate to replace the suddenly-departing Johann Zarco

KTM has named Brad Binder as Johann Zarco’s replacement in its factory MotoGP team in 2020 and will line-up alongside existing rider Pol Espargaro. Moto2 rider Binder had been set to graduate to MotoGP next year, but he was in line to replace Hafizh Syahrin at KTM’s satellite outfit Tech3. But Zarco’s exit from KTM

Ducati MotoGP general manager Gigi Dall’Igna has suggested Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales could be an option for the 2021 season. Vinales will be a free agent for 2021 – like the majority of other riders on the grid – after the expiration of his current factory Yamaha deal. As Marc Marquez is already in early

Ducati MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso has expressed his concern over his bike’s lack of performance when the tyres offer peak grip, despite scoring a podium in Motegi. Dovizioso charged late in the race on used rubber to put second-placed Fabio Quartararo under pressure and ultimately complete the podium within a second and a half of

Valentino Rossi “has perhaps hung around a little bit too long” in MotoGP according to his long-time crew chief Jeremy Burgess. Veteran engineer Burgess (pictured above with Rossi in 2009) was by Rossi’s side for all seven of his premier class titles, the two working alongside each other from 2000 up until the end of

Recently-crowned six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez scored his 10th pole position of the 2019 season by topping qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. In the closing stages of Q2 on a damp-but-drying track, Honda rider Marquez posted a best time of 1m45.763s to take pole by 0.132 seconds and beat Petronas SRT Yamaha duo Franco