Maverick Vinales topped the final day of Valencia 2020 pre-season MotoGP testing by 0.164 seconds from fellow Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo. After a first hour without action, Honda’s Stefan Bradl took to the circuit as well as KTM trio Pol Espargaro, Iker Lecuona (Tech3) and Brad Binder. Bradl was forced to park up after just
Month: November 2019
Sebastien Ogier has spoken exclusively to Autosport to explain his decision to leave Citroen’s World Rally Championship team with a year to run on his contract. Citroen’s cited Ogier’s departure for Toyota – a deal expected to be announced next week – as the reason for its withdrawal from the WRC in an announcement made
Citroen’s World Rally Championship pullout announcement had been anticipated for a week, and its statement pointed strongly towards Sebastien Ogier’s decision to leave as the cause. But was it that simple? Citroen team principal Pierre Budar spoke exclusively to Autosport about the other factors behind the move. Were the WRC calendar, its profile or the
2019 Indy Lights runner-up Rinus VeeKay has been announced as the driver of Ed Carpenter Racing’s #21 entry for the 2020 IndyCar season. The 19-year-old Dutchman racked up six wins and seven pole positions for Juncos Racing in Indy Lights this year, and impressed Carpenter in his initial IndyCar tests at Portland and Mid-Ohio. He
Citroen Racing has announced it will depart the World Rally Championship with immediate effect – stating Sebastien Ogier’s decision to move to Toyota left it with no alternative. The firm announced its decision on Wednesday, confirming mounting speculation of a withdrawal. Ogier and team-mate Esapekka Lappi had a year left to run on their contracts,
LCR’s Cal Crutchlow insists it made “more sense” for Honda to sign Marc Marquez’s brother Alex for the 2020 MotoGP season over the other contenders for Jorge Lorenzo’s seat. Crutchlow ended the year as second-best Honda rider in ninth in the standings in 2019 and was the only RC213V rider aside from world champion Marc
World Rally Championship event winner Hayden Paddon will race in the new-for-2020 TCR New Zealand series, in a Hyundai run by his own team. Paddon Rallysport Group took delivery of a TCR-spec i30 earlier this year, the Kiwi using it to help sharpen his asphalt skills as he looked to work his way back to
Renault F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg will not be joining Ed Carpenter Racing next year, despite speculation continuing to mount as recently as last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix. With Indy Lights graduate Rinus VeeKay expected to be confirmed this week as the full-time in the #21 ECR-Chevrolet to replace the departing Spencer Pigot, there had been
Marc Marquez says the crash which totalled his 2020 MotoGP Honda prototype on the first day of the Valencia test was “strange”, but doesn’t believe there was a mechanical issue. Marquez was on an out-lap on the new RC213V prototype when he was flicked from his bike heading into the Turn 13 right-hander on Tuesday
Valentino Rossi says Yamaha still has “a long way” to go to match its MotoGP rivals’ top speed, despite positive initial impressions from the 2020 prototype engine. While the M1 emerged as possibly the best bike in MotoGP towards the end of the 2019 campaign, it had an obvious top speed weakness, which Rossi felt
Fabio Quartararo topped the first 2020 pre-season MotoGP test in Valencia despite a crash, while new Honda line-up Marc and Alex Marquez wrecked their bikes in falls during the session. Quartararo set a 1m30.163s late in the afternoon before bringing the session to a halt with a fall at Turn 10, but held onto top
Aleix Espargaro says Aprilia not having a prototype 2020 MotoGP bike to test in this week’s two-day post-Valencia Grand Prix test is “not at all” acceptable for a “big factory”. Yamaha, Honda, KTM, Suzuki and Ducati are expected to roll out their ’20 bikes on Tuesday and at the two-day test at Jerez next week
Honda MotoGP team boss Alberto Puig says Alex Marquez would not have been offered a works ride for 2020 had he not won the ’19 Moto2 title. On Monday, Honda confirmed six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez’s brother Alex would take the seat vacated by Jorge Lorenzo, who retired from racing after last weekend’s Valencia
On Monday in Valencia, Honda announced it would be partnering Marc Marquez with his Moto2 world champion brother in MotoGP next season. The previous Thursday, Jorge Lorenzo announced his retirement, with rumours immediately swirling as to who could replace him at the works Honda team. Sensationally, Alex Marquez emerged as a contender, with Autosport revealing
Marc Marquez’s Moto2 title-winning brother Alex will make his MotoGP debut in 2020 as his team-mate at the works Honda team in place of the retired Jorge Lorenzo. Triple MotoGP world champion Lorenzo announced his retirement on the Thursday of the Valencia Grand Prix, with speculation quickly swirling as to who would take his place.
Avintia has announced the renewal of its contract with Ducati and will receive improved manufacturer support, paving the way for Johann Zarco to join the team in MotoGP next year. Zarco has been linked to a place at Avintia over the course of the Valencia Grand Prix weekend, though dismissed the idea of joining it
Johann Zarco could end up at Avintia in MotoGP next year despite dismissing the outfit as “not a top team” when rumours of a move first appeared last weekend. Zarco quit KTM midway through a difficult campaign on the RC16, and has been riding in place of Takaaki Nakagami at LCR on the year-old Honda
Kyle Busch claimed his second NASCAR Cup Series title by winning the 2019 season finale at Homestead, ending a 21-race winless streak in the process. The Toyota driver was one of three Joe Gibbs Racing entrants competing for the championship alongside Martin Truex Jr and Denny Hamlin, as well as Stewart-Haas’ Kevin Harvick. He held
Jorge Lorenzo says he “felt freedom” after the Honda rider completed his final MotoGP race in the season finale at Valencia. Lorenzo, who announced he would be retiring at the end of the season on Thursday following a bruising first season as a Honda rider, brought his bike home in 13th place in an attritional
Ducati MotoGP riders Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller have both insisted the manufacturer has not discussed with them the prospect of Miller replacing Petrucci in the works team in 2020. Petrucci secured a 2020 contract extension to ride alongside Andrea Dovizioso in the factory team on the heels of a solid start to the season
Marc Marquez capped off his sixth title-winning MotoGP season with a dominant victory in the Valencia Grand Prix to secure the 2019 teams’ title for the Repsol Honda squad. Petronas SRT Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo led for the first seven laps before being passed by a recovering Marquez, and was unable to mount a challenge to
The 2019 NASCAR Cup championship will be fought out between Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr and Kyle Busch at Homestead later on Sunday. Under the series’ playoff system, the points have been reset and the quartet start equal – whichever of them is first over the line after 267 laps (or more if
Mercedes’ Raffaele Marciello put in a second flawless drive in as many days to secure the FIA GT World Cup crown in Macau. Like Saturday’s qualifying race Marciello against faced competition from a pair of Porsches, Laurens Vanthoor leading the charge for the Rowe squad after getting past team-mate Earl Bamber on the opening lap.
MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez says he won’t change his approach should younger brother Alex become his Honda team-mate in 2020, as has been strongly suggested. Autosport revealed on the Saturday of the Valencia Grand Prix that Honda was closing in on a deal that would bring ’19 Moto2 champion Alex Marquez to MotoGP next
Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi lamented a “wrong” Valencia qualifying strategy that left him mired in traffic and consigned him to a lowly 12th on the grid. While the other three Yamahas all made it to the top five in the second qualifying segment, Rossi was 0.976 seconds off the pace in the pole shootout
Fabio Quartararo snatched the final pole of the 2019 MotoGP season by 0.032 seconds from Marc Marquez in a close Valencia Grand Prix qualifying. The Petronas SRT rider has topped all bar one session so far this weekend, and produced the first sub 1m30s lap of the weekend late on in Q2 to secure the
Qualifying for the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series title decider at Homestead has been cancelled and the four championship contenders handed the first two rows of the grid. After persistent rain showers washed out both Friday’s planned practice sessions, NASCAR made the decision to forgo Saturday’s scheduled qualifying session and replace it with 50 minutes of
Mercedes driver Raffaele Marciello held off Earl Bamber’s Porsche to win the qualification race for the 2019 FIA GT World Cup in Macau. The 12-lap race got off to a wild start with Dries Vanthoor firing his Audi into the wall at Mandarin as he tried to get a run on the polesitting Mercedes. The
MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez suggested that the Valencia Grand Prix host circuit Ricardo Tormo will be “critical” should temperatures plummet any more this weekend. The mid-November timing led to track temperatures not exceeding 21 degrees Celsius during Friday’s two free practice sessions. Numerous riders made complaints after Friday’s running about the track conditions, with
While Citroen’s immediate World Rally Championship future remains unclear, Autosport has learned it will definitely not be part of the series’ hybrid era in 2022. It is understood that Citroen could pull out of the WRC with immediate effect, with its 2020 programme currently under review. Citroen has previously taken a sabbatical from the WRC