Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci topped third practice for MotoGP’s Japanese Grand Prix at a wet Twin Ring Motegi, leading recently-crowned six-time champion Marc Marquez. Honda man Marquez led a rain-delayed FP3 from virtually start to finish, breaking the 1m55s barrier 15 minutes into the session to put himself comfortably ahead of the opposition. It wasn’t until

Johann Zarco’s dramatic 2019 MotoGP season took another twist this week, as LCR Honda announced he would be joining the team for the final three races of the year. That deal, revealed by Autosport last week, arose after LCR announced its regular rider Takaaki Nakagami will be undergoing an operation on a shoulder injury after

Valentino Rossi has ditched the updated Yamaha exhaust and swingarm he has used since August’s Misano test for the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix. Yamaha introduced a Suzuki-style twin exhaust and the long-requested carbon fibre swingarm to its M1 during the Misano test, with Rossi racing both elements in the San Marino, Aragon and Thailand Grands

Jorge Lorenzo branded second practice for the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix as his “best” since he got injured at Assen, after reverting to an older chassis Motegi. Lorenzo’s already difficult debut season with Honda took a turn for the worse when he suffered a back injury in a crash during FP1 at Assen and was

Maverick Vinales set the pace in the opening practice for MotoGP’s Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, leading Yamaha stablemate Fabio Quartararo by a quarter of a second. Factory Yamaha man Vinales posted a lap of 1m45.572s at the very end of the 45-minute Friday morning session to lead Petronas SRT rider Quartararo by 0.258 seconds,

Honda has told Johann Zarco to have “no illusion” of replacing Jorge Lorenzo at its factory MotoGP team as he gears up for a three-race stint with LCR. Takaaki Nakagami will miss the last three races in Australia, Malaysia and Valencia to recover from a shoulder operation he is to have after this weekend’s Japanese

LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow believes his new part-time MotoGP team-mate Johann Zarco will “do better than people expect” in his upcoming three-race stint. KTM outcast Zarco has been drafted in to replace Takaaki Nakagami on the year-old Honda RC213V at Phillip Island, Sepang and Valencia, with the Japanese rider ruled out due to a

Johann Zarco will contest the three final races of the 2019 MotoGP season on an LCR-run Honda bike. The 29-year-old will ride a year-old Honda RC213V, replacing Honda-contracted LCR team regular Takaaki Nakagami. Honda announced the day prior that Nakagami has had his MotoGP deal extended through 2020, but that he will skip the Phillip

Honda has announced Takaaki Nakagami will keep his LCR MotoGP ride for 2020 but skip the end of this season for surgery – opening the door for Johann Zarco’s opportunity. Autosport revealed last week that KTM outcast Zarco is set to come into the LCR line-up for Phillip Island, Sepang and Valencia as Nakagami’s stand-in

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

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

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

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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Data from Marc Marquez’s frightening high-side crash in Thailand Grand Prix MotoGP practice reveals he hit the asphalt with a 26.14g impact and that the accident lasted 4.81 seconds. The Honda rider was flicked from his RC213V at Turn 7 while on an out-lap in the latter stages of the first 45-minute practice session of

Marc Marquez knew there was a “big chance” of crashing as he braked for Turn 5 during final qualifying for MotoGP’s Thailand Grand Prix, but still opted against backing off. The Honda rider was on a lap that was threatening to put him on pole in the dying moments of qualifying when he slid off

KTM MotoGP rider Mika Kallio says he is “not happy at all” with his current form after having replaced Johann Zarco in the team’s full-time rider line-up. Having granted Zarco the request to leave the outfit after 2020, KTM then sidelined him in favour of tester Kallio ahead of the Aragon race, in order to

Petronas Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo bagged the fourth pole of his rookie MotoGP campaign in Thailand, despite crashing on his final lap. Quartararo posted the fastest-ever MotoGP lap of Buriram, eclipsing Dani Pedrosa’s benchmark from 2018 pre-season testing, as he saw off fellow Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales and championship leader Marc Marquez – who also

Ducati MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso topped a rain-delayed and shortened third practice ahead of the Thailand Grand Prix at Buriram. A last-gasp lap on slicks on a rapidly trying track left Dovizioso over eight tenths clear of his nearest rival, Petronas SRT Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli. Torrential rain in the morning meant the session was postponed

Marc Marquez comes into MotoGP’s Thailand race with a 98-point lead in the championship and his first opportunity to seal a sixth premier class world title. All the Honda rider needs to do is outscore nearest rival Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati by two points at Buriram and an early coronation will be assured. Marquez