LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow says his slump in MotoGP form means he is unlikely to retire at the end of 2020 as he is keen to prove himself. Crutchlow has endured a mixed campaign aboard the 2019-specification Honda RC213V and has struggled in recent races, crashing at Misano and finishing Buriram in 12th. He has
Month: October 2019
The NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Talladega has been suspended until Monday afternoon, after rain left the field stranded in the pitlane after 55 of the scheduled 188 laps. Having begun racing at 2pm local time on Sunday afternoon, the 40-strong field for the second race in the ’round of 8′ was able to
Team owner Richard Childress will drive the pace car at Talladega on Sunday, as Kevin Harvick is set to surpass Dale Earnhardt’s number of starts in the NASCAR Cup Series. Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway will mark Harvick’s 677th career start in the series, one more than the total career starts of the driver he
With competition out on the stages, and controversy in the service park, Wales Rally GB threw up another exciting World Rally Championship event Llandudno. The moving of the service park to seaside town Llandudno is the chief topic of conversation for the latest episode of the Gravel Notes podcast with David Evans, as Autosport’s rallies
KTM rider Pol Espargaro says he wants to have no input on his MotoGP team-mate for 2020 and believes whoever is chosen should show dedication and willingness to “suffer”. Johann Zarco had slotted in alongside Espargaro on a two-year deal in the off-season but requested to be released from his contract a year early and
Hyundai team boss Andrea Adamo says he is taking a “big picture” view of whether to keep Craig Breen for the 2020 World Rally Championship season. Former Citroen driver Breen was given an initial Hyundai chance in Finland, where he impressed the team with seventh place after giving up sixth to help Thierry Neuville’s title
Johann Zarco is set to replace Takaaki Nakagami at LCR Honda for the last three rounds of the 2019 MotoGP season, Autosport has learned. Nakagami is suffering from a similar shoulder problem to the one that afflicted Marc Marquez last season, and for which the world champion had surgery last December. The fact that Marquez’s
Dorna Sports has announced a five-year deal with the new Rio Motorpark circuit to bring MotoGP back to Brazil for the first time since 2004 in ’22. MotoGP promoter Dorna and organisers of the Brazil race reached a preliminary agreement last year to return the series to the country at a new circuit. The five-year
KTM MotoGP rider Mika Kallio accepts he needs “to show something different” if he is to remain part of the team’s full-time rider line-up for 2020. A long-time KTM tester, Kallio was drafted in to replace the ousted Johann Zarco, but finished out of the points in his first race this year at Aragon and
Kyle Larson is the latest example of how one win in NASCAR’s playoff system can completely change the championship fortunes of a driver. It was just a little over two months ago that Larson was anguishing over having to “race backup cars” as he wrecked his primary car in practice sessions on two consecutive race
Valentino Rossi says his MotoGP employer Yamaha will pull out all the stops to keep Fabio Quartararo beyond 2021 if it’s not “crazy”. Moto2 graduate Quartararo has been the breakout star of the current premier-class campaign for Yamaha’s new Petronas-backed satellite team, scoring five podiums and four pole positions. Speaking after the Thailand Grand Prix,
Kris Meeke is edging ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala in the race to stay at Toyota for the 2020 World Rally Championship due to his greater consistency. With Toyota thought likely to keep WRC leader Ott Tanak and to have already signed 19-year-old WRC 2 Pro champion Kalle Rovapera, Tanak’s current team-mates Meeke and Latvala are
Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro says persistent mechanical failures cannot be allowed to happen anymore, after retiring from the MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix with an electronics problem. Espargaro was battling Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci and on course for a likely top-10 finish when he was forced to peel into the pits two-thirds of the way through the
Dani Sordo will remain a Hyundai driver next season, sharing an i20 Coupe WRC for seven of next year’s 14 rounds of the World Rally Championship. Sordo had been linked with a move to Toyota but Autosport reported last month that he was set to stay at Hyundai into a seventh season instead. The Spaniard,
Chip Ganassi Racing has expanded to a three-car IndyCar line-up after signing Alfa Romeo Formula 1 third driver Marcus Ericsson to partner Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist. Ericsson switched to IndyCar after five years in F1 and raced for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in 2019, partnering James Hinchcliffe, and scored a best result of second in
At the age of 26, Marc Marquez has won eight grand prix world titles after clinching his sixth MotoGP world championship in Thailand. Marquez has been a near-unstoppable force across the last decade through all three classes of the world championship. In MotoGP, he has romped to success on bikes that have proven difficult to
NASCAR’s next generation Cup Series car, dubbed Gen-7, will complete on-track testing on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Gen-7 NASCAR machines are expected to make their competitive debut in 2021, although parts of the new package could appear in ’20 following a successful trial during this year’s Charlotte All-Star race. NASCAR intends for Gen-7 to lower
Newly-crowned six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez has compared Fabio Quartararo’s riding style to that of three-time title-winner Jorge Lorenzo “when he was at the best level at Yamaha”. Lorenzo spent nine years at Yamaha, beginning with his debut season in 2008, and won all three of his MotoGP titles – in ’10, ’12 and
Marc Marquez’s run to the 2019 MotoGP title was “something crazy” for modern grand prix motorcycle racing, according to rival Andrea Dovizioso. After crashing out of a commanding lead in Austin, Marquez finished first or second in the following 14 races and has clinched the title with four races to spare. Speaking after Marquez’s coronation
The FIA is stepping up its efforts to simplify the World Rally Championship’s class structure into a five-tier ladder of progression. Last week’s FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting agreed on revisions to current regulations in an effort to streamline WRC 2 Pro and WRC 2. This is part of FIA rally director Yves Matton’s
Honda and six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez are already in advanced talks over a contract extension to the end of 2022. Marquez’s current deal with Honda – where he has spent his whole MotoGP career so far – expires at the end of next year, at the same time as every other works rider’s
KTM rider Pol Espargaro says three points for 13th place in the Thailand Grand Prix have vindicated his push for an “impossible” return from injury. Having withdrawn from Aragon after fracturing his left wrist in a practice crash, Espargaro was operated on and underwent a week of intense, “24-hour” therapy to be fit in time
Denny Hamlin blasted rival Joey Logano after he felt he was held up unnecessarily by the lapped Penske driver during the NASCAR Cup race at Dover. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver Hamlin dominated the first stage from pole and appeared well on his way to a stage-two win until Logano – who was 24 laps
Pramac Ducati MotoGP rider Jack Miller says he was “disappointed in myself” after he lost a second-row starting position in Thailand by accidentally tripping his bike’s kill switch. Miller looked the quickest Ducati for much of the Buriram weekend, but had to give up sixth place on the grid when he switched off his bike
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson ended a 75-race streak dating back to 2017 without a NASCAR Cup race victory by winning at Dover. Larson was the early challenger to Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, who was celebrating his 500th Cup start. Polesitter Hamlin convincingly won the first stage and was dominating the early stages
Ott Tanak strengthened his World Rally Championship title bid with victory on Rally GB, scoring a maximum 30 points by topping the Brenig powerstage. Toyota team-mate Kris Meeke had led early on Friday morning, with Tanak starting on the back foot after a mistake on the rally-opening Oulton Park superspecial. A storming drive on the
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
Rally GB’s Great Orme stage has been called off because rough weather conditions mean the team of divers required for safety reasons cannot get close enough to the stage. The 2.945-mile asphalt stage on the famous headland near Llandudno was due to conclude Sunday morning’s loop of the World Rally Championship round. Part of the
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
World Rally Championship stewards decided against penalising Sebastien Ogier, Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen for deviating from the prescribed Rally GB route because of how the stage was marked. Controversy had erupted in Wales on Friday when it was suggested the three drivers had not followed the correct route through a chicane after the finish