The Pramac Ducati MotoGP team has announced it will retain on a works-spec Desmosedici bike Jack Miller for 2020. Miller had been at the centre of a major MotoGP transfer market saga at last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, during which it emerged that Honda’s Jorge Lorenzo was keen on taking his ride with the Ducati
Month: August 2019
The Tech 3 motorcycle racing team will follow its partner KTM in leaving the Moto2 class in 2020, and will instead set up a two-bike Moto3 operation. KTM announced its decision to withdraw from bike racing’s intermediate class on Sunday during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, having supplied nine entries in the category during the
Fernando Alonso is “yet to show interest” in a full season of IndyCar competition, according to McLaren Formula 1 CEO Zak Brown. McLaren will partner with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in a two-car IndyCar team next year, which will mark its first full season in America’s top single-seater category since 1979. Alonso was part of
Ex-Honda rider Dani Pedrosa has moved to downplay the suggestion he could come out of retirement to replace Johann Zarco in KTM’s factory MotoGP line-up in 2020. The two-time 250cc champion, a winner of 31 premier-class races, put an end to his top-line career last year after 13 seasons with the factory Honda team before
Johann Zarco had “tears in his eyes” as he requested an early end to his KTM MotoGP contract, according to the Austrian marque’s motorsport boss Pit Beirer. KTM announced on Monday, August 12 that Zarco, who had initially penned a two-year deal with the Mattighofen-based squad, would leave at the end of the current season.
Moto2 championship leader Alex Marquez will not graduate to MotoGP for at least another year after agreeing to stay with Marc VDS in the intermediate class for 2020. Marquez, the brother of five-time MotoGP champion Marc, leads the Moto2 standings in his fifth season in the category, and finished second in Austria last weekend after
Cal Crutchlow says a suspected jump-start from Jack Miller prompted his poor launch in MotoGP’s Red Bull Ring race, which ultimately led to the LCR Honda rider’s early race-ending collision. Crutchlow started alongside Miller in ninth, but a poor start dropped him to the fringes of the top 15 behind Avintia’s Tito Rabat. Rabat hit
MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez believes “nobody will remember” his last-corner Austrian Grand Prix defeat to Andrea Dovizioso if he goes on to secure the 2019 riders’ title. Dovizioso’s lunge to snatch Sunday’s win at the death denied Marquez what would have been a first-ever triumph at the Red Bull Ring, where he has now
KTM has announced Johann Zarco will leave its MotoGP outfit at the end of 2019, ending his two-year contract after a single season. Double Moto2 champion Zarco was a prize signing for KTM’s ambitious MotoGP programme, having starred on Tech3’s satellite Yamahas in 2017 and ’18. But he has been unable to replicate that form
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick survived a stage one puncture at Michigan to claim his second NASCAR Cup Series win of 2019. Harvick was running in second behind Penske’s Brad Keselowski in the opening stages, before he picked up a right-front puncture on his SHR Ford as he rounded Turn 3. Diving into the pitlane for
MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez says he briefly expected to crash at the Austrian Grand Prix’s final corner, after getting his right brake lever guard caught on Andrea Dovizioso’s bike. Dovizioso dived down the inside of Marquez at the final corner, and the Honda rider looked to cut across Dovizioso’s line to get a better
Andrea Dovizioso admits he “didn’t prepare” for a last-corner lunge on Marc Marquez to win the MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix, as Spielberg’s final corner doesn’t suit him or the Ducati. Dovizioso engaged in a race-long battle with championship leader Marquez at the Red Bull Ring, which culminated in a repeat of the pair’s last-corner duel
Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso prevailed in the MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, winning a sensational duel against Marc Marquez in the final corner of the race. Marquez and Dovizioso were in a league of their own in the 28-lap event, and their battle featured several twists and turns before a forceful move
KTM has announced it will retain a factory MotoGP programme at least until 2026, but will pull out of the intermediate Moto2 class as early as next year. The Austrian manufacturer had joined MotoGP full-time on an initial five-year deal in 2017, and has now reaffirmed its commitment for another five years past that, after
Jorge Lorenzo has decided against a shock Ducati return for the 2020 MotoGP season and told Honda he will instead see out his existing contract, Autosport has learned. It is understood that Lorenzo, who has been on the sidelines with injury since June’s Dutch TT at Assen, informed Honda team boss Alberto Puig on Saturday
LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow says his factory counterpart Marc Marquez is like “Houdini” in that he has “a trick” for every part of the Red Bull Ring circuit. On one of the shortest tracks on the calendar, Marquez took Austrian Grand Prix pole position by a dominant 0.434 seconds, and broke Mick Doohan’s record
Jimmie Johnson says he has no regrets about his ‘quivering lip’ spat with NASCAR rival Ryan Blaney at last weekend’s Watkins Glen Cup race. After Penske Ford driver Blaney collided with Johnson’s Hendrick Chevrolet as they battled for a place in the top 10, Johnson confronted Blaney in the paddock. He later gave a furious
Honda rider Marc Marquez dominated the third MotoGP practice at the Red Bull Ring, beating Maverick Vinales by over three tenths of a second. Marquez, who had a carbon-reinforced chassis on both of his bikes, beat his own benchmark from Friday soon after the session began with a 1m23.788s as he and Valentino Rossi locked
Sam Schmidt hopes to find a way for James Hinchcliffe to remain with his IndyCar team despite its 2020 McLaren/Chevrolet deal potentially clashing with his Honda backing. Hinchcliffe, now in his fifth year with what is currently Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, is currently under contract with the team through to the end of the 2020
Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller says the news Jorge Lorenzo could take his MotoGP ride in 2020 “hit me like a ton of bricks”. Miller is out of contract next year but had been expecting to seal a one-year extension to his contract, having already agreed terms with Pramac. But Jorge Lorenzo’s interest in returning
MotoE suffered another fire-related incident in Austria on Friday as points leader Niki Tuuli’s bike ignited while being charged. The Ajo Motorsport bike of Tuuli, who won in Germany, caught fire while charging in the e-paddock at the Red Bull Ring. The fire was swiftly dealt with and no disruption is expected for the remainder
McLaren will enter the IndyCar Series full-time from 2020 in partnership with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, running two Chevrolet-powered cars. Double CART champion Gil de Ferran will lead the management of the new programme. McLaren, which last ran a full-season ‘works’ team in top-line American single-seater racing in 1979, began its current IndyCar foray when
Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso set the pace in the opening MotoGP practice session at the Red Bull Ring, heading points leader Marc Marquez by just under two tenths. Marquez led almost the entirety of the session, but a late flyer from Dovizioso on soft tyres relegated the Honda rider to second place as Marquez had
World Rally Championship exile Hayden Paddon is working on a deal to land a seat in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC before the end of the 2019 season. Paddon’s planned WRC return with M-Sport at Rally Finland collapsed after a heavy testing crash three days before the start, and M-Sport confirmed the driver was blameless
Conor Daly will return to Andretti Autosport for IndyCar’s 2019 season finale at Laguna Seca. Daly drove for Andretti at the 2019 Indianapolis 500 and finished 10th on his first outing for the IndyCar team. He then subbed for Max Chilton at Carlin for the oval races after the ex-Formula 1 driver opted against racing
MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez says his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo “needs to” persist with his current Honda challenge, following suggestions that Lorenzo could depart after the 2019 season. Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller admitted in the lead-up to MotoGP’s Red Bull Ring weekend that there was “some truth” to reports linking Lorenzo to a potential
Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller admits that recent rumours about Honda’s Jorge Lorenzo taking his MotoGP ride for 2020 might have “some truth” in them. Danilo Petrucci’s contract renewal with the factory Ducati team had suggested Miller was certain to continue with Pramac in 2020 and he was expected to continue with a current-spec bike.
Ott Tanak looks set to end speculation in his World Rally Championship future by signing a renewed deal with Toyota, with a deal expected after Rally Germany. Tanak left M-Sport to drive for Toyota in 2018, and narrowly missed out on the WRC title last season after a late run of victories failed to undo
Suzuki rider Joan Mir will sit out this weekend’s MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix to continue recovery from minor injuries sustained in a high-speed crash during the Brno test. The MotoGP rookie fell from his GSX-RR at the first corner late in Monday’s post-Czech Grand Prix test, and he made impact with the ‘air fence’ inflatable
Craig Breen has secured a further World Rally Championship outing with Hyundai for Rally GB, Autosport has learned. Breen made his first WRC start since being dropped by Citroen for 2019 last weekend, after securing a late deal to contest Rally Finland in Hyundai’s third i20 Coupe. The Irishman impressed there, fighting for a top-five