Yamaha has dominated the MotoGP headlines this week, after it announced a new-look team for 2021 and the return of a familiar face as test rider this year. Maverick Vinales was the first major signing of the ‘silly season’ on Tuesday, as he extended his Yamaha stay by a further two years, while standout 2019

Reigning MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez has ridden a motorcycle for the first time since surgery on a right-shoulder injury to evaluate his fitness ahead of next month’s Sepang test. Marquez partially dislocated the shoulder in a heavy crash during qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, before aggravating it further in a tumble during testing

Retired three-time MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo will return to Yamaha in 2020 after agreeing a deal to become its official test rider. Lorenzo won all three of his MotoGP titles with Yamaha, with which he made his debut in 2008 and remained for nine years until 2016, before departing for Ducati and then an

Valentino Rossi says his decision not to commit to extending his MotoGP career with Yamaha until later in the season was because he ‘needed answers’ on his own form. The nine-time grand prix motorcycle world champion has been phased out of the works Yamaha squad for 2021 by Fabio Quartararo, who was announced as Maverick

Valentino Rossi will make a decision about his MotoGP future during the 2020 season, after Yamaha announced he would be replaced at the works team by Fabio Quartararo for 2021. Autosport reported earlier on Wednesday that Quartararo was poised to step up to the main Yamaha squad after a standout rookie season at the satellite

Fabio Quartararo is set to replace Valentino Rossi at the factory Yamaha MotoGP team in 2021, Autosport has learned. Quartararo, who was the standout MotoGP rookie in 2019, will partner Maverick Vinales, who recently agreed an extended deal to remain at Yamaha until 2022. An announcement regarding Quartararo’s graduation from the satellite Petronas SRT Yamaha

Yamaha has extended Maverick Vinales’s contract for two more years to the end of 2022, marking the completion of the first major deal of the ’20 MotoGP silly season. The 2013 Moto3 world champion joined Yamaha from Suzuki in 2017, and has so far scored six wins – including two last year – on the

Johann Zarco says Jorge Lorenzo’s ability to win on the Ducati is a ‘positive example’ for him ahead of his first MotoGP season on a Desmosedici in Avintia colours in 2020. Double Moto2 world champion Zarco signed a deal directly with Ducati to join the customer Avintia squad aboard a GP19 late last year, despite

Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci says his ambition of finishing second in the 2019 MotoGP standings was the reason for his slump in form in the second half of the season. Petrucci earned a place at the works Ducati squad for 2019, and secure a contract renewal early on after a run of three podiums – including

Ducati has become the first MotoGP team to unveil the colours its factory team GP20s will run this season at its official launch event in Bologna on Thursday. The Italian manufacturer comes into 2020 with an unchanged line-up of three-time MotoGP championship runner-up Andrea Dovizioso and one-time race winner Danilo Petrucci. Rumours at the end

Ducati will again become the first manufacturer to launch its 2020 MotoGP programme when it takes the covers off its new livery later on Thursday. The Italian marque will show off the Desmosedici in 2020 colours during an event at the Palazzo Re Enzo in Bologna, just a few miles away from its Borgo Panigale

MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez says recovery from his latest surgery has been “less painful but more difficult” than the aftermath of his previous operation. The Honda rider underwent surgery on his right shoulder in late November after having injured it during qualifying at for the Malaysian Grand Prix – when he crashed heavily trying

Yamaha’s 2020 MotoGP bike has been designed to make it easier to battle in the pack, says the team’s group leader Takahiro Sumi. The appointment of Sumi as the head of the M1 project was one of a number of organisational changes Yamaha made in the wake of a disappointing 2018 campaign. These were followed

Andrea Iannone’s appeal hearing to have his FIM doping ban overturned has been set for February 4, which means he will miss the first MotoGP test of 2020. The Aprilia rider tested positive for an anabolic steroid over the winter from a sample taken during the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend, which he claims was ingested

Retired triple premier class world champion Jorge Lorenzo will be made an official MotoGP legend during this year’s Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. After a miserable season aboard the factory Honda in 2019, in which he failed to register a top-10 finish, Lorenzo announced on the eve of the Valencia season finale that he would

MotoGP rookie Brad Binder felt he did a “better job” on the KTM during the Jerez test, but admits he is still waiting for “something to click” on the bike. Last year’s Moto2 runner-up Binder will contest his debut season in the premier class with the works KTM squad in 2020, and ended the last

Honda team boss Alberto Puig believes world champion Marc Marquez “would worry much more” if younger brother Alex Marquez made his MotoGP debut with another squad in 2020. Reigning Moto2 champion Alex will step up to MotoGP with Honda this season, after breaking his contract with Marc VDS in Moto2 to take the seat vacated

Former MotoGP rider Max Biaggi has been linked to a test role with Aprilia at next month’s first pre-season test of the year in Malaysia. Andrea Iannone was hit with a doping ban from MotoGP’s governing body the FIM over the winter after testing positive for an anabolic steroid, which he claims was ingested through

Alex Marquez says his elder brother and Honda team-mate Marc “won’t tell him much” to help ease his transition to MotoGP next season. The younger Marquez brother – who replaces the retired Jorge Lorenzo in 2020 – made his first outing as a Repsol Honda rider in the Jerez post-season test last year, after riding

The reference rider among Yamaha’s MotoGP contingent is Maverick Vinales rather than Fabio Quartararo, according to Vinales’ crew chief Esteban Garcia. Quartararo’s emergence as a MotoGP star on the Petronas SRT-run satellite Yamaha was one of the main storylines of 2019, as he became the category’s youngest-ever poleman and regularly ran at the front. But

With all factory contracts up for grabs for the 2021 season, this year’s MotoGP silly season is set to be one of the maddest. One of the biggest story arcs in shaping the 2021 grid will be what seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi decides to do – will he retire or will he decide to

Ducati motorsport boss Paolo Ciabatti believes it is “just a coincidence” that Danilo Petrucci’s form tailed off dramatically once he was handed a contract extension for the 2020 MotoGP season. Petrucci joined the works Ducati outfit on an initial one-year deal in 2019 and he was confirmed for a further season in July after a

Ducati motorsport boss Paolo Ciabatti believes it is “just a coincidence” that Danilo Petrucci’s form tailed off dramatically once he was handed a contract extension for the 2020 MotoGP season. Petrucci joined the works Ducati outfit on an initial one-year deal in 2019 and he was confirmed for a further season in July after a

Valentino Rossi says he would be open to a move to satellite Yamaha MotoGP squad Petronas SRT if it meant he could prolong his top-line career. Yamaha will field Rossi and Maverick Vinales again in 2020, but the form of last year’s standout rookie Fabio Quartararo is likely to put him in contention for a

Lin Jarvis says there was no “consensus” within Yamaha that continuing with Jonas Folger as its MotoGP test rider was the “right solution”, despite Folger’s claims he had a contract. Ex-Tech3 rider Folger (pictured below) joined Yamaha’s new European test team at the start of this year, but only took part in a handful of

Suzuki’s Joan Mir admits his huge Brno test crash in August led to him having problems breathing in some MotoGP races later in the 2019 season. Mir was forced to miss the Austrian and British Grands Prix after suffering lung contusions in a violent 186mph accident during the post-race Brno test. He returned at Misano

Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller says it takes MotoGP riders “two-three years” to adapt to a change of machinery in the premier class these days. Miller swapped a Honda for a Ducati last year and hit top form with the Desmosedici bike towards the end of 2019, scoring three podiums in the last six races

Yamaha MotoGP boss Lin Jarvis believes the manufacturer has addressed an “internal islands” problem that had hampered its premier-class form in the past years. In the aftermath of two disappointing campaigns, Yamaha made a host of organisational changes ahead of the 2019 season – most notably appointing Takahiro Sumi as project leader instead of Kouji

Honda’s decision to pair MotoGP dominator Marc Marquez with his brother Alex could affect the reigning champion more than the rookie, believes grand prix legend Wayne Rainey. Following Jorge Lorenzo’s decision to retire from grand prix motorcycle racing in the wake of his disaster 2019 season, Honda chose to promote Moto2 champion Alex Marquez to

Several MotoGP figures believe shorter race weekends could be an option for the series to explore, as the calendar gets set to expand beyond 20 races. From 2022, MotoGP is set to have a calendar which consists of 22 grands prix, with races in Finland, Indonesia, Brazil and Hungary all set to join the schedule