MotoGP

The six-time MotoGP world champion rode to eighth in last Sunday’s Jerez race, the second of his comeback from a nine-month injury layoff. Though he is still not at his physical peak yet, he admitted his condition was better on the bike than it was in Portugal, and this allowed him for the first time

Rins crashed out of second while fighting Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo for the win in last month’s Portuguese Grand Prix, before tumbling out of the lead group on lap three of last Sunday’s Spanish GP at Jerez. As a result, Rins’ title hopes have taken an early knock as he slips 43 points off the championship

Mir became the first world champion to begin his title defence season without a podium since Nicky Hayden in 2007 when he was cruelly robbed of second on the run to the line in the Qatar Grand Prix by Johann Zarco and Francesco Bagnaia. The Suzuki rider finally made it to the rostrum in third

Despite finishing as top Yamaha rider in 2020 and second overall in the championship, Morbidelli remains on the 2019 ‘A-spec’ M1 he rode last season and has struggled. Morbidelli was able to get into podium contention in Portugal and claimed third in last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, but hasn’t hid his displeasure at not having

Having qualified on pole, the Frenchman was leading the Jerez race comfortably when suddenly his pace began to fade around the halfway point. After losing the lead to Ducati’s Jack Miller, who went on to win, Quartararo tumbled out of the points altogether and dropped to an eventual 13th place at the finish. Quartararo, who

Nakagami was comfortably the top Honda rider throughout the Jerez weekend, his form boosted by a switch to an older chassis giving him more rear grip. The Japanese rider qualified fifth and fought his way through to fourth in the latter stages of the Jerez race, piling pressure on Petronas SRT’s Franco Morbidelli in third

Miller didn’t make the start to life at the factory Ducati squad as was expected of him, the Australian admitting pre-Jerez that he was “in the shit” having come in for criticism for his performances to that point. But the Miller proved his doubters wrong at Jerez on Sunday with his first dry-weather MotoGP win,

The paddock stayed put at Jerez for a day of testing, although Yamaha’s Quartararo elected against running due to the arm-pump issue which cost him victory in the race and dropped him to an eventual 13th. The French rider has returned home for medical consultation to determine the best course of action for his arm

Espargaro launched from 13th on the grid but was unable to make much progress into the top 10, ultimately ending the race 11.7 seconds from the victory in 10th and trailing his Honda team-mate Marc Marquez. The Spaniard says he was “just feeling really bad” in the 25-lap Jerez race and was unhappy with the

The Honda rider had a big tumble at the Turn 7 left-hander in FP3 on Saturday, which required a visit to the hospital after he had a brief memory problem. Marquez was cleared to race – though crashed again in warm-up on Sunday – and managed to finish the second grand prix of his comeback

The 2020 championship runner-up endured a torrid start to the year in Qatar, but was a factor in the Portimao podium battle in fourth two weeks ago. At Jerez, having qualified second, Morbidelli struggled to run the pace of Yamaha stablemate Fabio Quartararo and eventual winner Jack Miller early on. But an arm-pump issue for

Herve Poncharal’s Tech3 squad ended a 20-year partnership with Yamaha at the conclusion of the 2018 season to join forces with KTM as it extended its presence on the MotoGP grid to four bikes. Running factory-supported RC16s, Tech3 scored two of KTM’s three grand prix victories in 2020, when Miguel Oliveira took a sensational maiden

Many riders were critical of having to use pre-heated tyres during the Doha GP round, with a number of runners getting caught out in crucial moments with the lack of grip from these options. Pre-heated tyres are unused tyres from an allocation for a grand prix weekend that have been returned to Michelin to be

The Honda rider – competing in the second weekend of his comeback after a nine-month injury layoff – had his first crash of the season at Jerez during Saturday’s FP3, sliding off at the fast Turn 7 left and going hard through the gravel. Marquez went to hospital for precautionary checks but was able to

Espargaro has made a strong start to the 2021 season aboard the new RS-GP, scoring top 10 results in the opening three rounds and currently occupying sixth in the championship. On Friday at Jerez Espargaro was second in FP1 and followed up his speed in the morning with the third-fastest time of the day in

Aprilia has scored just six top six finishes in the modern MotoGP era. The latest of those came two weeks ago in Portugal, courtesy of an in-form Aleix Espargaro aboard an RS-GP that looked like a genuinely competent package for the first time. A strong Friday showing at Jerez for the Spanish Grand Prix, which

The six-time MotoGP world champion broke his right humerus in a nasty crash at the Turn 3 left-hander in the 2020 season-opener, which began an injury layoff that would continue until the Portuguese GP a fortnight ago. Marquez elected against a time attack run in FP2 and ended Friday 16th overall, but admitted he had

The six-time MotoGP world champion broke his right arm at Jerez last season, which ultimately forced him out of the entire 2020 campaign and meant he would not race again until the Portuguese GP two weeks ago. Marquez qualified sixth and finished as top Honda in seventh despite his 265-day absence from MotoGP, with many

On Wednesday, Tanal Entertainment – a Saudi holding company belonging to Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Suad – announced it had struck a deal with VR46 and Aramco to bring Rossi’s team to MotoGP from 2022. Though no official statement from the Rossi camp was made, VR46 did confirm to Autosport the news was correct.

Six-time MotoGP world champion Marquez returned to action after a nine-month injury layoff last time out in Portugal, qualifying sixth and riding to seventh in the race. That was the best result for a Honda rider so far in 2021, with Espargaro managing eighth place in the Qatar GP as he continues to adapt to

Speaking exclusively to Autosport ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, Rins was responding to criticism of his crash at Portimao while battling Yamaha’s Quartararo for the lead. Rins admits “it wasn’t easy” to get over the mistake he made as the telemetry gave no “apparent reason” for the crash. And while he

On Wednesday Tanal Entertainment Sport & Media, which is a holding company of Prince Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Suad, announced it had struck an agreement with the VR46 Team beginning in 2022. Backed by Saudi Aramco as its main sponsor, the VR46 outfit will race in MotoGP from 2022 to 2026. The partnership also hopes

Following Fabio Quartararo’s victory at the Algarve International Circuit two weeks ago, the factory Yamaha rider holds a 15-point lead over nearest rival Francesco Bagnaia after the opening three rounds of the new season.  MotoGP reverts to its more traditional race calendar with a return to Jerez at the start of May, with the schedule

Rossi’s grand prix career has been going for 26 seasons, having made his debut in the world championship in the 125cc class back in 1996. The Italian has been through all major changes to the premier class since 2000 and has inspired legions of young riders in his time in grand prix racing. In a

Morbidelli remains on the ‘A-spec’ M1 for the 2021 season, which is effectively a slightly upgraded 2019 Yamaha, on which he rode to second in the championship last season and scored three of the Japanese marque’s seven victories. Yamaha has won all three races in 2021 so far courtesy of its factory duo Maverick Vinales

Espargaro has shown strong race pace on the RC213V in the first three rounds of 2021, but has only managed a best of eighth in the Qatar GP and was forced out of the Portugal race due to a rear brake failure. But so far Espargaro has not been able to match his qualifying form

Every form of motorsport comes with its own set of dangers, although few are quite as risky as motorcycle racing. Unlike in Formula 1 or IndyCar, riders in MotoGP are completely exposed on the race track, with no survival shell or halo to provide protection in the event of a crash. Nowhere was this more

KTM had a torrid time in the Qatar double-header, with Binder and team-mate Miguel Oliveira languishing outside the top 10 in 14th and 13th in the Qatar GP. Although Binder improved to eighth in the Doha round, Oliveira struggled to 15th. At Portimao, where Oliveira dominated on the RC16 in 2020, Binder emerged best of

The Honda rider scored an impressive seventh-place finish at Portimao in his first race in nine months since breaking his right arm in last July’s Spanish Grand Prix. Marquez had only ridden a motorcycle three times since his aborted comeback at the second Jerez race last year and was off two wheels on the month

Double 125cc world champion and veteran team boss Gresini passed away in February after a two-month battle with COVID-19. MotoGP has carried several tributes to the late Italian since, including a moment of silence ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix, while Aprilia – whose factory entrant is run by Gresini Racing – carries its late