Valentino Rossi’s deal to join the Petronas SRT Yamaha squad in 2021 and extend his MotoGP career has been made official after months of discussions. The nine-time grand prix world champion was moved out of the factory Yamaha squad for 2021 at the start of the year to make way for Fabio Quartararo to join
Month: September 2020
Mercedes-AMG driver Maro Engel took pole position for the Nurburgring 24 Hours in dominant fashion under difficult mixed conditions on Friday evening. The 35-year-old German, who is teamed with Adam Christodoulou, Manuel Metzger and Luca Stolz, first had to qualify for the second session due to the event’s all-new MotoGP-inspired two-part Top Qualifying session. This
A member of Honda working for the LCR MotoGP team has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been immediately isolated, as are those who were in direct contact. LCR confirmed on its social media channels that someone from Honda has tested positive for the virus, while the three with Category 1 contact have been isolated
The visor tearoff from Fabio Quartararo’s helmet which ended Jack Miller’s Emilia Romagna MotoGP race has been put up for auction to raise money for charity. Miller’s Ducati sucked in the discarded tearoff on the main straight at Misano on the second lap of last Sunday’s grand prix. The piece of plastic ended up chocking
James Hinchcliffe will join Andretti Autosport for the final three races of the 2020 IndyCar season following Zach Veach’s split from the team. Hinchcliffe, a six-time IndyCar race winner, has slotted into the sixth entry for Michael Andretti’s team on three occasions so far this year, but now takes over the #26 car from Veach
Audi driver Robin Frijns has been forced to withdraw from this weekend’s Nurburgring 24 Hours due to what the German manufacturer has called a ‘flu-like infection’. DTM and Formula E regular Frijns was due to contest the German endurance classic for the Car Collection Motorsport team, sharing the #3 Audi R8 LMS with Mirko Bortolotti,
Toyota World Endurance Championship racer Kamui Kobayashi will return to the Spa 24 Hours next month driving a Ferrari 488 GT3 for the HubAuto Corsa team. Kobayashi, who took his third pole in four years at the Le Mans 24 Hours last weekend, will team up with 2018 Spa 24 winner Tom Blomqvist and Marcos
Petronas SRT’s Fabio Quartararo dominated the opening practice for the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix by 0.410 seconds, while Misano podium finisher Joan Mir crashed. The final part of the second triple-header this season got underway in cool conditions at the Catalunya circuit, with Quartararo setting the early pace on his SRT Yamaha at the scene
Helio Castroneves will stand in for Oliver Askew at Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet in next week’s Indianapolis road course double-header after the IndyCar rookie was declared not fit to drive. According to a team statement, following the NTT IndyCar Series race at Mid-Ohio, Askew reported a balance and coordination issue, which triggered an examination from the
Aleix Espargaro says Andrea Iannone’s visit to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was “very good news for Aprilia” and encountered a “different” MotoGP race winner. Iannone is currently serving an 18-month doping ban after testing positive for a steroid during last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix. The Italian is currently awaiting a hearing with the Court
Honda’s Alex Marquez says his struggles in extracting lap time from the RC213V on fresh soft tyres in qualifying is because he trying to gain time “in Moto2 style”. After winning the 2014 Moto3 title, Marquez stepped up to Moto2 with Marc VDS where he spent five seasons – two more than fellow MotoGP rookies
The Bathurst 12 Hour is unlikely to happen as an international GT race next year, according to Supercars boss Sean Seamer. The Supercars-run event has staged the opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge in recent years, with teams representing manufacturers participating in the SRO-organised series flocking to Mount Panorama from around the world. This
The greatest Indycar is the focus of the fifth episode of the Autosport 70 mini-series podcast, which celebrates our 70th birthday. The first issue of Autosport magazine appeared on 25 August 1950 and as part of our celebrations we have taken on the task of picking out the greatest competition cars from each of the
Zach Veach has relinquished his Andretti Autosport IndyCar with immediate effect, on learning he will not be returning to the team in 2021. Andretti confirmed the news that Veach would miss the final three races of the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season, adding that “a replacement driver for the No. 26 will be named in
Petronas SRT’s Fabio Quartararo admits it’s “difficult to win a race” in MotoGP on the Yamaha if he is not leading, due to the bike’s lack of power. The Yamaha has won four times this season in the hands of Quartararo at the Jerez double-header, his team-mate Franco Morbidelli in the San Marino Grand Prix,
Injured MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez admits he “expected much more” from erstwhile 2020 standings leader Fabio Quartararo after his double victory at Jerez in July. Marquez has been out since an aborted comeback attempt from a broken right arm suffered in a crash in the Spanish Grand Prix, and looks set to be sidelined
MotoGP completes its current triple-header at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with the Catalunya Grand Prix. With a sixth different winner from the opening seven races, as Maverick Vinales claimed victory at last weekend’s Emilia Romagna GP, the most unpredictable season in MotoGP history has continued as the paddock heads to Barcelona for the rescheduled Catalunya GP.
Elfyn Evans insists he is taking nothing for granted as the new leader of the World Rally Championship after Ott Tanak and Sebastien Ogier both suffered setbacks at Rally Turkey. The Welshman won the toughest event on the calendar by 35.2 seconds, and set the third fastest time on the powerstage to collect three bonus
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has announced its entry with Sage Karam for next week’s IndyCar Harvest GP double-header at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The #24 DRR effort will make its third and fourth appearances of the season, having already competed at the GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis 500, in which
Alex Marquez admits his seventh in the MotoGP Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was “not real” because the high attrition, but believes his pace was strong enough for the top 10. The Honda rider qualified down in 17th as he continues to struggle to extract the maximum on a fresh soft tyre on the “radical” RC213V
Pol Espargaro says his podium in the MotoGP Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is worth more to KTM “than a victory in Austria” given its struggles in the San Marino weekend. KTM won the Czech Grand Prix with Brad Binder, while Miguel Oliveira took his Tech3-run RC16 to the top of the rostrum in the Styrian
Porsche has withdrawn the Manthey Racing squad and a number of its works drivers from this weekend’s Nurburgring 24 Hours over COVID-19 fears. The German manufacturer took the decision in the wake of positive COVID tests being returned during routine checks in the wake of last weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours, where Manthey ran the
NBA legend Michael Jordan and NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin have formed a team for 2021 that will feature Bubba Wallace as its driver. In an announcement first posted on Twitter Monday night, Hamlin said he and NBA Charlotte Hornets owner Jordan would field an as-yet unnamed team next year. Wallace has signed a
Suzuki’s Joan Mir says his back-to-back Misano podiums have come after his maiden rostrum in last month’s MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix gave him “overconfidence”. Mir has proven to be one of the most consistent riders in MotoGP in recent races, scoring 69 points from the last four rounds and making it the podium in three
Maverick Vinales became the sixth different winner in the 2020 MotoGP season after scoring victory in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Misano. The Yamaha rider made big changes to his approach and to his Yamaha across the second Misano weekend after a disastrous San Marino GP, in which he went from a dominant poleman
Ross Chastain will finally get an opportunity next season to compete full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series after signing a deal to join Chip Ganassi Racing. Chastain, 27, will take over the driving duties of Ganassi’s No. 42 Chevrolet in 2021, Autosport has learned. An official announcement of Chastain’s move is expected later on Monday
Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso is “still not able” to adapt his braking style to suit the 2020 Michelin MotoGP rear tyre after finishing eighth in a “strange” Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Dovizioso has struggled with the additional grip the new construction rear tyre is providing, which is pushing the front of his bike on the way
Valentino Rossi believes he isn’t competitive enough to fight for the MotoGP title despite dropping only 26 points behind leader Andrea Dovizioso after crashing in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. After seven races of the 2020 season, just 27 points cover the top 10 riders in the standings, with four points splitting the top four.
Maverick Vinales says he was “happy to struggle” on Friday at the MotoGP Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as it led to his change in approach ahead of Sunday’s win. After fading dramatically after setting a record pole time in last weekend’s San Marino GP, Vinales found on Friday for the second Misano race that none
Francesco Bagnaia believes his crash out of a commanding MotoGP Emilia Romagna Grand Prix lead was caused by a visor tearoff or “something dirty on track”. The Pramac rider took the lead on lap six and quickly built up an advantage of over one second to the chasing Yamaha of Maverick Vinales. By lap 21,