Alex Marquez says his crash in MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix FP2 was a “rookie” error and was caused by him being “too optimistic” after a strong morning session. The younger Marquez brother slid off his factory Honda in the afternoon at the first corner, marking his second tumble at Jerez in two days after falling
Month: July 2020
Avintia MotoGP rider Johann Zarco says he is beginning to ride “like Ducati style” on his year-old GP19 after a strong Friday practice for the Spanish Grand Prix. The double Moto2 world champion joins the satellite Avintia squad for 2020 after ending his two-year KTM deal midway through last season. Initially struggling on the GP19
Franco Morbidelli led a Petronas SRT Yamaha 1-2 in a scorching second practice for the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix, while both Marquez brothers suffered crashes. FP1 pacesetter Marc Marquez set the initial benchmark on the factory Honda at 1m39.063s on a track surface some 16 degrees Celsius hotter than it was this morning. Petronas SRT
Kelvin Fletcher and Martin Plowman will not contest the 2020 British GT championship in a JRM Bentley Continental GT3 and instead plan to defer their entry to 2021. Soap actor Fletcher, who won BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing competition last year, has raced with former IndyCar racer Plowman since 2018 and the pair combined to win
Pramac Ducati MotoGP rider Jack Miller admits post-race celebrations at Jerez will be “kind of depressing” without fans lining the circuit. Due to social distancing measures imposed across Europe to quell the spread of COVID-19, the early MotoGP races will be held behind closed doors and with less people in the paddock. The Spanish Grand
Valentino Rossi insists 13 races will be enough for a “real” coronavirus-delayed 2020 MotoGP season, citing past championships won in similar length not being any less valued. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the 2020 MotoGP season to be delayed to this weekend, while championship promoter Dorna Sports has had to cut the campaign down from 20
Cal Crutchlow doesn’t believe his LCR exit will affect his development role with Honda in MotoGP, having trialled a part that the factory riders didn’t in the Jerez test. Honda has signed Pol Espargaro for the 2021 season, with Alex Marquez being moved into the LCR outfit in place of Crutchlow. Though he insists there
Sebastien Ogier is poised to stay in the World Rally Championship in 2021, with a new deal with current employer Toyota close to being signed. Six-time WRC champion Ogier stated in August last year that he would retire from the sport at the end of the 2020 season, although at that point he hadn’t left
Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott fended off a late charge from reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch to win the rescheduled All-Star race at Bristol and bank $1 million. The exhibition race is where those who scored a win in the previous year of Cup racing, are a past All-Star winner or a series champion
Fabio Quartararo doesn’t believe the Yamaha is the “bike to beat” in MotoGP ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix as last year the M1 lost its “potential” in pack races. The Yamaha is famed for its supreme cornering ability, which was particularly noticeable in qualifying, with Quartararo guiding his M1 to six pole positions across
Outgoing LCR MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow admits he was “surprised” at Honda’s decision to sign Pol Espargaro for 2021. Honda confirmed earlier this week that it signed 2013 Moto2 champion Espargaro to its works team for the next two years, with rookie Alex Marquez being moved out of the factory squad to LCR on a
Marc Marquez topped the first test session ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, marking MotoGP’s return to action following the COVID-19-forced worldwide lockdown. The opening round of the 2020 campaign in Qatar had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, with only the Moto2 and Moto3 classes racing at Losail having
Nico Hulkenberg will make his first race appearance since he left the Renault Formula 1 team in the ADAC GT Masters series at the Nurburgring on 15-16 August. The 2015 Le Mans 24 Hour winner will drive a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo entered by championship newcomer mcchip-dkr. He recently tested the car at the same
Outgoing LCR MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow says he’s “not really interested” in taking up Honda’s offer to move over to its works-backed World Superbike project next season. HRC confirmed Crutchlow’s LCR exit on Monday, with Alex Marquez being moved to take his place while Pol Espargaro switches from KTM to the factory Honda squad in
Ducati MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso has been passed fit to race in this weekend’s season-opening Spanish Grand Prix just weeks after breaking his collarbone in a motocross race incident. Dovizioso was taking part in the Emilia Romagna regional motocross championships late last month when he crashed heavily onto his left shoulder and broke his collarbone.
Honda MotoGP team boss Alberto Puig says he believes moving Alex Marquez to the satellite LCR team for the 2021 season is in the best interests of the rookie. The Japanese manufacturer finally confirmed on Monday that it is recruiting Pol Espargaro from KTM to join Marc Marquez in its works team line-up for 2021
Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi says that reduced on-track time is causing the apparent proliferation of errors among all IndyCar teams in the paddock, pitlane and on the race tracks. Rossi, who took his first podium of the season in Sunday’s race at Road America said that ironing out all bugs and “finding limits” is often
Outgoing LCR Honda MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow says a move to Aprilia in 2021 would be “a great deal for me” and would “excite” him. Honda confirmed on Monday that it has signed Pol Espargaro to its factory team for 2021, with Alex Marquez being moved to LCR in place of Crutchlow. Crutchlow revealed he
Martin Truex Jr admits he ‘probably took away Kevin Harvick’s chance to win’ at the Kentucky Speedway after a thrilling last-lap NASCAR Cup duel, in which Cole Custer won out. Truex fought from the rear of the field to lead 57 laps on Sunday at Kentucky but, after losing the lead after two late restarts
Arrow McLaren SP’s Patricio O’Ward has been left with mixed emotions after dominating at IndyCar’s second round of the Road America double-header only to ultimately lose out to Felix Rosenqvist. The 21-year-old Mexican edged Colton Herta for his maiden IndyCar pole position in the morning session, and went on to lead 43 of the race’s
The World Rally Championship has revised the starting order rules for the series’ return to action on the gravel of Estonia in September. The WRC has been on hiatus since Rally Mexico in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, and has seen landmark events including Argentina, Finland, New Zealand, Wales and the returning Safari Rally
Honda has officially announced it has signed Pol Espargaro for the 2021 MotoGP season, while Cal Crutchlow has been moved aside at LCR to make way for Alex Marquez. Last month Autosport revealed Espargaro would be leaving KTM at the end of the year to join six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez at Honda in
Franco Morbidelli will remain with Petronas SRT Yamaha in MotoGP until 2022 after signing a new two-year deal with the outfit. Morbidelli joined the team for his sophomore campaign in the premier class last year aboard current-spec Yamaha machinery, and ended up 10th in the standings having managed a best result of fifth place on
Cole Custer claimed his maiden NASCAR Cup victory in a last-lap dash to the flag at the Kentucky Speedway, winning out in a four-wide battle for the lead. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver went four abreast with long time race leaders Martin Truex Jr, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney as they took the white flag to
Felix Rosenqvist claimed a maiden IndyCar race victory with a penultimate lap overtake on the pole-sitting Arrow McLaren SP of Pato O’Ward in the second race at Road America. The final race of the double-header weekend quickly became a two-way fight, with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist hunting down long-time race leader O’Ward with both
Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward earned a shock maiden IndyCar pole position for the second race of the Road America double-header. O’Ward clocked a 1m44.897s in the dying moments of the second session to edge rookie Alex Palou, fresh from claiming his first IndyCar podium at the circuit on Saturday. McLaren is making its full-time
Scott Dixon expects the strategy employed by Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing in the first of this weekend’s IndyCar races at Road America will be copied in race two. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver maintained his unbeaten start to the season despite only qualifying 10th, leading Team Penske’s Will Power and rookie Alex Palou.
Five-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon earned his third successive victory of the 2020 season in the first of two races this weekend at Road America. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver had moved up to sixth from ninth on the grid in the opening stages before vaulting into second when he undercut the majority of
Reigning IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden has taken pole position for the first of the two races at Road America this weekend. Qualifying for the first race of the double-header – which will be held in front of fans for the first time this season – saw the field split across two 14-minute sessions, with the
MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports’ CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta says preserving the series’ current competitiveness is more important than swelling the calendar again in light of the coronavirus crisis. The COVID-19 outbreak has forced MotoGP to field a revised 13-race schedule at just eight circuits in 2020 instead of the original 20 planned events, marking the shortest