Cal Crutchlow says beating Andrea Dovizioso for his first MotoGP podium at the 2012 Czech Grand Prix was the “big turning point” of his career. Crutchlow stepped up to MotoGP from World Superbikes in 2011 with the Tech3 Yamaha squad, though endured a largely difficult opening campaign which yielded just one top five finish. He

The start of the MotoGP season has been pushed back even further following the official postponement of the Sachsenring race in Germany. With the Italian and Catalan Grands Prix postponed earlier this month, the German GP – originally the ninth round – scheduled for 21 June, was left as the earliest possible starting point for

MotoGP will continue to use 2020 bikes next season as part of cost-saving measures to mitigate the financial impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on the indefinitely postponed series. The 2020 season has had the first eight of its races either cancelled or postponed, with new government social distancing guidelines in Germany likely leading to

All MotoGP manufacturers aside from Ducati have opposed the idea to scale back the number of bikes per rider to just one as a cost-saving measure, Autosport has learned. The coronavirus pandemic has hammered the MotoGP World Championship, with the cancellation and postponement of the first eight races meaning no team is producing any income

Aleix Espargaro has revealed a deal to join Ducati for the 2015 MotoGP season was “practically done”, before it ultimately retained Andrea Dovizioso. Espargaro made his full-time MotoGP debut in 2010 with Pramac Ducati, before returning in 2012 with the Aspar team on its Aprilia CRT machine in 2012. He moved to the Forward Racing

MotoGP promoters Dorna Sports has ruled out the possibility of the series having two-race weekends as part of a condensed schedule should racing get underway later this year. The coronavirus pandemic has forced the opening eight races of the 2020 campaign to be either cancelled or postponed due to lockdown restrictions worldwide, with the season

Jorge Lorenzo believes he may have secured a future with Ducati beyond 2018 had he not crashed out of a convincing lead of the 2017 MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix. Lorenzo spent nine years at Yamaha between 2008 and 2016, winning all three of his premier class world titles on the M1, before departing for

The unprecedented effects of the coronavirus crisis on motorsport are beginning to show, with numerous teams and manufacturers in car and bike racing alike currently facing major difficulties. Ducati’s Borgo Panigale base is situated right in the major breakout zone for COVID-19, and the lockdown in place in Italy means Ducati has shut its shop

Pol Espargaro believes Honda will find it “difficult” to manage its Marquez brothers MotoGP line-up in 2020, especially as the pair are “very close” off-track. In the wake of Jorge Lorenzo’s retirement announcement, Honda moved to form the first all-brother rider line-up in MotoGP when it signed reigning Moto2 world champion Alex Marquez to join

Francesco Bagnaia beat Maverick Vinales in a chaotic second #StayAtHomeGP MotoGP Esports race around a virtual Red Bull Ring. Just as with the Mugello race, a five-minute qualifying preceded the 10-lap Red Bull Ring contest on the official MotoGP 19 game, with Pramac’s Bagnaia claiming pole in a crash-strewn session. Bagnaia beat Yamaha’s Vinales –

Seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi has named the three race victories he considers his “best”, and reveals the rivals which spurred him on most in his career. Should the 2020 MotoGP season get underway, it will his 21st in the premier class and mark his 24th year of grand prix racing, having made his

Cal Crutchlow admits “there’s no reason why I won’t be racing” in MotoGP in 2021, having previously said that he expected his current contract to be his last. The LCR rider stepped up to the premier class from World Superbikes in 2011 with Tech3, and has gone onto win three races in that time. Currently

Honda MotoGP boss Alberto Puig admits Marc Marquez “would have suffered hell” with his injured shoulder had Qatar gone ahead, but believes he would have fought for the win regardless. Reigning six-time world champion Marquez partially dislocated his right shoulder in a heavy crash during qualifying for November’s Malaysian Grand Prix, before aggravating it further

Petronas SRT team principal Razlan Razali says he will “strive” to keep Yamaha-bound Fabio Quartararo for 2021 should the 2020 season be cancelled outright by the coronavirus pandemic. The opening eight rounds of the 2020 MotoGP season have been either postponed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, with uncertainty as to when racing will

Azhan Shafriman Hanif has taken over the CEO role at the Sepang International Circuit from Razlan Razali, who is stepping down to concentrate on his MotoGP role. The change comes after an 11-year stint from Razali, whose tenure formally ended on Tuesday. He’s been immediately replaced by trained mechanical engineer Hanif, who is fresh out

All six MotoGP manufacturers will meet with each other this week to discuss cost-saving measures, including a freeze on engine development, in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has shut down countries worldwide having infected more than 1.3 million people, has forced the opening eight rounds of the 2020 MotoGP season

The MotoGP season has been delayed until mid-June at the earliest, after the Italian and Catalan Grands Prix were officially postponed on Tuesday. The coronavirus pandemic, which has infected well over a million people worldwide as more countries begin to hit the peak of the outbreak, has played havoc with the MotoGP calendar. After the

Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola says the idea of MotoGP following in Formula 1’s footsteps and racing with current machinery next year to save costs is “not madness”. The 2020 MotoGP campaign is on indefinite hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the opening six races either cancelled or postponed, with further rounds at Mugello and

Aprilia rider Andrea Iannone’s 18-month ban for a doping violation has put his MotoGP career in serious doubt, though he is now in the process of appealing the ruling. After failing a doping test during last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix weekend, Iannone has been under FIM-ordered suspension since December while a hearing was carried out

Johann Zarco believes he will be “less lost” than the rest of the MotoGP grid when racing resumes having already had more time away from riding than his rivals. The 2020 MotoGP season is on indefinite hiatus right now due to the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the cancellation of the Qatar Grand Prix and the

Ducati believes it will be difficult to find 10 countries able to host a race this season due to the coronavirus pandemic, and has offered up a radical alternate solution. The opening six round of the 2020 MotoGP campaign have been either postponed or cancelled, with the originally scheduled seventh and eighth rounds at Mugello

Multiple MotoGP race winner Max Biaggi admits he “misses” his grand prix days and his intense rivalry with seven-time premier class world champion Valentino Rossi. Biaggi stepped up to the premier class in 1998 as reigning four-time 250cc world champion, winning on his 500cc debut in Japan, before going onto win a further 12 grands

Due to the enforced racing hiatus by the coronavirus pandemic, MotoGP promoters Dorna Sports has announced a financial package to sustain the paddock. Last week, Dorna confirmed it would be offering financial assistance to all independent MotoGP teams – LCR, Pramac, Avintia, Petronas SRT, Tech3 and Gresini Aprilia – as well as the squads in

Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta admits he would be “delighted” if MotoGP could run a 10-round 2020 season once the worst of the coronavirus pandemic has subsided. The current MotoGP campaign is on indefinite hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the first six races of the current calendar either cancelled or postponed, with May’s

Ex-MotoGP star Sete Gibernau says his infamous clash with Valentino Rossi at Jerez in 2005 “opened the door” for contact to become an accepted part of grand prix racing. Nine-time premier class race-winner Gibernau engaged in a bitter rivalry with Rossi during his career in the early-mid 2000s, with the last-corner tangle at Jerez –

Ducati boss Paolo Ciabatti believes the Italian marque’s 2021 MotoGP line-up will consist of either of its five contracted riders currently racing Desmosedicis. Both Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci’s contracts with the works Ducati squad are up at the end of the year, with the manufacturers’ preferred options of Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo signing

Suzuki MotoGP boss Davide Brivio admits the marque has “already agreed on everything” for Alex Rins and Joan Mir to remain for 2021, though nothing has been formalised yet. Both Rins and Mir’s contracts are up for renewal at the end of the year, though both have looked likely to stay put despite keen interest

MotoGP’s number of cancelled or postponed races due to the coronavirus pandemic has risen to six, after May’s French Grand Prix was officially postponed on Thursday. MotoGP has yet to get a premier class race underway in 2020, after the season-opener in Qatar at the start of last month was cancelled a week prior owing

Aprilia CEO Massimo Rivola says Andrea Iannone’s 18-month racing ban for an anti-doping infringement is “absurd” and vows to support the MotoGP race winner’s appeal. Iannone was suspended by MotoGP governing body the FIM over the winter after two WADA urine samples taken during the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend in November tested positive for an

Aprilia MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone has been handed an 18-month competition ban for an anti-doping infringement, but prosecutors conclude he did not purposefully take steroids. The one-time MotoGP race winner tested positive for an anabolic steroid during a routine WADA drugs test at last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix, with a follow-up sample also testing positive.