Honda rider Marc Marquez became MotoGP champion for the sixth time after defeating Fabio Quartararo in a scintillating battle for Thailand Grand Prix victory. Marquez, who has sealed the 2019 crown with four races to spare, is now just two premier-class titles short of Giacomo Agostini and one short of Valentino Rossi. He is officially
MotoGP
Fabio Quartararo says his last-corner MotoGP defeat to Marc Marquez in the Thailand Grand Prix was more “frustrating” than when he was beaten on the last lap at Misano. Petronas Yamaha SRT rider Quartararo led off the line from second on the grid, and was only overtaken by eventual race winner and newly-crowned six-time premier
KTM MotoGP rider Mika Kallio says he is “not happy at all” with his current form after having replaced Johann Zarco in the team’s full-time rider line-up. Having granted Zarco the request to leave the outfit after 2020, KTM then sidelined him in favour of tester Kallio ahead of the Aragon race, in order to
Data from Marc Marquez’s frightening high-side crash in Thailand Grand Prix MotoGP practice reveals he hit the asphalt with a 26.14g impact and that the accident lasted 4.81 seconds. The Honda rider was flicked from his RC213V at Turn 7 while on an out-lap in the latter stages of the first 45-minute practice session of
Marc Marquez knew there was a “big chance” of crashing as he braked for Turn 5 during final qualifying for MotoGP’s Thailand Grand Prix, but still opted against backing off. The Honda rider was on a lap that was threatening to put him on pole in the dying moments of qualifying when he slid off
Ducati MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso topped a rain-delayed and shortened third practice ahead of the Thailand Grand Prix at Buriram. A last-gasp lap on slicks on a rapidly trying track left Dovizioso over eight tenths clear of his nearest rival, Petronas SRT Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli. Torrential rain in the morning meant the session was postponed
Marc Marquez comes into MotoGP’s Thailand race with a 98-point lead in the championship and his first opportunity to seal a sixth premier class world title. All the Honda rider needs to do is outscore nearest rival Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati by two points at Buriram and an early coronation will be assured. Marquez
LCR rider Cal Crutchlow says the current performance of Honda’s MotoGP bike on out-laps is “embarrassing”, and believes this played a part in Marc Marquez’s FP1 crash at Buriram. Marquez was thrown from his RC213V late on in the first practice session at the Turn 7 right-hander while off-throttle, and had to go to hospital
MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez has been taken to hospital following his brutal crash in first practice for the Thailand Grand Prix. Marquez was thrown off his bike at the Turn 7 right-hander during a late out-lap in FP1, and was clearly shaken and hurt by the incident, spending some time on his knees in
Jorge Lorenzo says he will likely have to “sacrifice” front stability with his Honda to improve tyre life for the MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix, after struggling with this at Aragon. Lorenzo was running strongly in the early stages of the race at Aragon, before tyre wear dumped him to a distant 20th – some 45
MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi has admitted his arch-rival Marc Marquez has put together a season “close to perfect” in 2019, as the Spaniard nears a sixth premier-class title. Marquez only needs 27 points from the five remaining races to put the championship out of reach for his only remaining mathematical rival Andrea Dovizioso. The Honda
Andrea Dovizioso admits his current MotoGP championship situation would not be different had he not crashed at Silverstone and Catalunya, as Ducati hasn’t been “close” to Marc Marquez this year. Despite a strong recovery ride to second, Dovizioso could offer no challenge to a dominant Marquez in last weekend’s Aragon Grand Prix, as the Spaniard
Controversial rider Romano Fenati will join Max Biaggi’s squad for his eighth season in Moto3 and his second since his ban from competing was lifted at the end of 2018. Fenati was ousted from the world championship last year when he grabbed the brake lever of Forward Racing’s Stefano Manzi in a controversial incident during
One of the most mouth-watering prospects heading into this MotoGP season was Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo sharing the Honda garage and going head-to-head on equal machinery. But a constantly injured Lorenzo has struggled to adapt from the Ducati he took to three race wins in 2018 to the RC213V, and he is in the
KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer says that Johann Zarco has the company’s blessing to test or race for a rival MotoGP manufacturer while he remains under contract. Following Zarco’s decision to request an exit from his two-year deal one year early, KTM decided to drop the two-time Moto2 champion with immediate effect. Zarco was then
MotoGP race winner Sete Gibernau will not remain part of the MotoE grid after the 2019 season, the rider has told Autosport. The 46-year-old came out of retirement to contest the electric series’ inaugural season with Pons, and currently sits 10th in the standings after four of six rounds. Gibernau said he has been “completely
Valentino Rossi says the Yamaha MotoGP bike’s acceleration deficit is no longer as “embarrassing” as it was during last year’s Aragon Grand Prix. In 2018, the Motorland circuit was the scene of one of Yamaha’s worst performances in recent years, as Rossi and team-mate Maverick Vinales laboured to eighth and 10th places respectively – behind
Honda’s Marc Marquez took pole position for the MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix by 0.327 seconds, despite intense pressure from Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo in the closing stages. Marquez was over a second clear of the field after Friday’s practices, and duly delivered on his status as favourite for his ninth pole of the year ahead
Maverick Vinales says the Yamaha’s deficit in power relative to the Ducatis meant he “had no chance” to defend a MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix podium late on. Vinales made his way up to second ahead of Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller in the early stages of the 23-lap race, and at one stage was able to
Aleix Espargaro warns his strong MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix weekend is not the “reality” of Aprilia’s true pace and admits the manufacturer is still “suffering”. Espargaro put his RS-GP fifth on the grid having held a front-row spot briefly in qualifying and was only narrowly pipped to sixth by LCR’s Cal Crutchlow late on in
Honda has announced Alvaro Bautista will join its factory World Superbike squad in 2020, ending speculation of a shock return to MotoGP with KTM for the current Ducati WSBK rider. Bautista, a MotoGP regular between 2010 and ’18, has so far won 15 races in his maiden WSBK campaign with Ducati and took 11 victories
Marc Marquez put one hand on a sixth MotoGP world championship by securing a dominant victory at the Aragon Grand Prix from pole position. The Honda rider, making his 200th grand prix start, nailed his launch off the line and was already a second clear of the field by the end of the first lap,
Valentino Rossi does not understand his “bad” pace in MotoGP’s Aragon Grand Prix, which left him 23.6 seconds from the win in eighth place. The Yamaha rider opted for the same hard rear, medium front tyre combination as works team-mate Maverick Vinales and the Petronas SRT M1 of Fabio Quartararo. While they finished fourth and
KTM MotoGP rider Pol Espargaro will not take part in this weekend’s Aragon Grand Prix after fracturing his left wrist in a practice crash. Espargaro suffered a crash at Turn 9 during Saturday afternoon’s fourth practice session, and skipped the subsequent qualifying session after being taken to the medical centre. Later it was confirmed the
Jorge Lorenzo has dismissed the idea of quitting Honda’s MotoGP team a year early in the same way Johann Zarco has done with KTM, despite saying he is “not happy”. Zarco requested his two-year KTM deal be terminated early last month as he failed to find any form on the RC16, with the Austrian team
Aleix Espargaro says he “almost crashed three times” chasing Aragon Grand Prix polesitter Marc Marquez on his way to taking Aprilia’s first MotoGP qualifying top five spot in two years. Espargaro tucked in behind Marquez – who has been dominant at the Aragon round so far – for his final flying lap, and produced a
Marc Marquez admits he knew there was a “very big chance” he’d crash in MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix free practice, as he had to discover the hard front tyre’s limits. The Honda rider dominated Friday’s running with a lap of 1m46.869s set in FP1, which put him over a second clear of the field on
Jack Miller says Marc Marquez’s blistering 1m46.869s in MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix FP1 ‘f***ing hurt’, and believes the Honda rider has “another one in him”. Reigning world champion Marquez has won the past three races at Aragon, and kicked off this year’s event by topping FP1 by a whopping 1.6 seconds. He was fourth in
Maverick Vinales led Yamaha MotoGP team-mate Valentino Rossi in Aragon Grand Prix FP2, though Marquez held onto top spot on the combined times despite a small crash. Honda Marquez was dominant in FP1, leading Vinales by 1.6s, and continued to run the soft rear tyre at the start of second session in a bid to
Marc Marquez set a blistering pace in opening practice for MotoGP’s Aragon Grand Prix, going 1.6 seconds faster than his nearest rival Maverick Vinales. Repsol Honda rider Marquez quickly put himself 1.1s up on the field with a benchmark of 1m48.771s early on in the 45-minute Friday morning session, before working his way down to