Danilo Petrucci has described the opening day of track action for this weekend’s Argentina Grand Prix as his worst since he joined the factory Ducati MotoGP team. While Andrea Dovizioso and Jack Miller ensured Ducati locked out the top two times on the opening day of track action at Termas de Rio Hondo, Petrucci ended

Honda’s second attempt to have its Ducati-style MotoGP winglet approved in Argentina has been successful. A swingarm-attached winglet was run by Ducati on all three of its 2019-spec bikes in Qatar, but the part was protested by rival manufacturers Aprilia, Honda, Suzuki and KTM after the race. Ducati argued the appendage was used primarily to

Andrea Dovizioso beat Ducati MotoGP stablemate Jack Miller by just 0.009 seconds to end Friday practice for the Argentina Grand Prix at Termas de Rio Hondo on top. Practice one pacesetter Marc Marquez led much of the 45-minute second session, beating his benchmark from the morning with a 1m39.812s before improving to a 1m39.497s. But

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez commanded the opening practice session for this week’s Argentina Grand Prix, beating Jack Miller by over three tenths of a second. Marquez was the first rider to dip into the 1m40s at the Termas de Rio Hondo track, and early on in the 45-minute session he enjoyed a one-second buffer

Honda has brought its own version of the controversial Ducati winglet to Argentina, with a view of having it homologated in time for the second race of the MotoGP season. Ducati ran winglets on the bottom of all three of its 2019-spec bikes in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix, and although its design had been

Honda MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo says he will be “extra” cautious at the Argentine Grand Prix as he is determined not to add to his current injury concerns by crashing. The triple MotoGP champion was nursing two major injuries at the end of his Ducati tenure last year, and his preparation for his Honda debut

The Aprilia MotoGP team should aim to fight for podiums “in most races” next year, according to its technical chief Romano Albesiano. Aprilia is the only premier-class works team not to have scored a top-three result since its return to the grid in 2015, with a pair of sixth-places its best finishes. Riders Aleix Espargaro

The FIM has ruled that Ducati’s controversial MotoGP rear winglet is legal and that Andrea Dovizioso’s Qatar Grand Prix victory is now final. Following a protest lodged by Honda, Suzuki, Aprilia and KTM in the wake of Dovizioso’s season-opening win earlier this month, the FIM Court of Appeals hearing took place on Friday at the

The opening round of the 2019 MotoE season will take place in July at the Sachsenring, after the first two rounds were cancelled following the Jerez paddock fire. Preparations for the all-new electric MotoGP support class were disrupted by a fire during this month’s Jerez pre-season test in which all 18 of the series’ Energica

Andrea Iannone believes Aprilia must first focus on extracting more performance from its existing MotoGP package before focusing on upgrades. Ex-Ducati and Suzuki rider Iannone made his Aprilia race debut in Qatar earlier this month, qualifying 19th and scoring two points for finishing 14th. Team-mate Aleix Espargaro enjoyed a more competitive showing as he kicked

KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer has dismissed the idea that the Austrian marque could ditch its trademark steel trellis chassis and in-house suspension in pursuit of MotoGP success. The RC16 is an outlier on the current MotoGP grid, as it is the only design not to utilise a conventional aluminium twin spar frame and the

The outcome of the appeal against the legality of Ducati’s controversial MotoGP winglet will not be known until next week. The hearing took place on Friday at the FIM’s headquarters in Mies, Switzerland, with proceedings commencing at 11am local time and wrapping up shortly before 6pm. A verdict on whether Andrea Dovizioso will keep his

Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola believes that Andrea Dovizioso should keep his Qatar Grand Prix victory, regardless of the outcome of Friday’s appeal regarding the legality of Ducati’s MotoGP winglet. Ducati will argue its controversial appendage should be allowed to remain on its bikes in front of the FIM Court of Appeals on Friday. Rivola

On Friday the FIM Court of Appeals will rule on the legality of Ducati’s controversial rear winglet. And, whatever is decided, relations between MotoGP’s manufacturers will be strained, writes Oriol Puigdemont. As is always the case in this kind of situation, the conflict that has cast doubt on Andrea Dovizioso’s Qatar Grand Prix victory has

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez says Honda was “obsessed” with gaining more straightline speed in the off-season, in order to outdo rivals such as Ducati. In the Qatar Grand Prix season opener, Marquez reached a top speed of 218.7mph – narrowly surpassing the track record established by Ducati rider Andrea Iannone in 2016. In addition,

Maverick Vinales says he needs to adapt his riding style during MotoGP races as his preferred one is heavily compromised while riding in traffic. Vinales took pole position the opening round of the season in Qatar by two tenths of a second, but finished the race a lowly seventh after he was unable to recover

The cause of the fire that destroyed the entire fleet of electric motorcycles for the inaugural MotoE season at Jerez has been revealed by the series. MotoE lost all 18 bikes it had prepared for the 2019 season after the temporary building they were stored inside burnt down in the Jerez paddock on Wednesday evening.

Ducati says it may consider lodging a protest against its MotoGP rival Honda as the row over the legality of its controversial rear winglet escalates. Honda was among the four premier-class manufacturers that protested Ducati in the aftermath of the Qatar MotoGP opener, questioning the legality of the ‘spoon’ appendage that featured just in front

MotoGP support series MotoE says its inaugural 2019 season will go ahead, despite having had to cancel the planned Jerez opener after all its bikes were lost in a fire. The 18 Energica Ego Corsa bikes that were set to contest the campaign were destroyed when the MotoE paddock caught fire overnight after the opening

Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola says the Italian marque was informed by MotoGP officials in February that running a winglet in front of the rear wheel would be illegal. Rivola, who joined the Aprilia MotoGP squad from the Ferrari Formula 1 team this year, was one of the driving forces behind the protest filed in

The nascent all-electric MotoE championship has had its whole roster of Energica Ego Corsa bikes destroyed by an overnight fire at Jerez. The MotoE field has been at the circuit for three days of pre-season testing, but all 18 bikes that had taken to the track on the opening day on Wednesday were burned. The

The outcome of the appeal against the Ducati MotoGP team’s new winglet device will be announced before the series’ Argentinian Grand Prix at the end of this month. Honda, Suzuki, KTM and Aprilia all protested the factory Ducatis of race winner Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci, and Jack Miller’s 2019 specification Pramac Ducati, after the

Reigning Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton says he is “building up” towards a “dream” first MotoGP test, as he accepts he needs more mileage on a racing bike. Energy drink brand Monster Energy, which sponsors Hamilton as well as the Yamaha factory team, is known to be keen on arranging a ride swap between him

Jorge Lorenzo believes an encouraging first MotoGP weekend with Honda was “destroyed a little bit” by a significant practice crash. Lorenzo’s started the weekend by finishing second to Valentino Rossi in first practice, although he ended the first day at the Losail circuit just outside the top 10 after Friday’s more representative night-time session. He

Suzuki MotoGP rider Alex Rins admits he was “very angry” during the 2019 season opener in Qatar, as he felt his rivals were “playing” with him. Rins charged from 10th on the grid in the first few laps, and quickly emerged as Andrea Dovizioso’s main rival for the lead. He would overtake Dovizioso during several

Valentino Rossi believes Yamaha’s MotoGP bike is “more or less” in the same position it was last year, despite an impressive recovery in the Qatar Grand Prix. Rossi struggled in the cool evening conditions on Friday and Saturday in Qatar, but having qualified 14th he finished the race fifth, just six tenths behind winner Andrea

While the protest against Ducati at the Qatar Grand Prix was quickly dimissed, it’s easy to see why its rivals are appealing – as Oriol Puigdemont explains The case centres around a winglet on the bottom of the Ducati, in front of the rear tyre. It was trialled by factory rider Danilo Petrucci, and then

Cal Crutchlow says his third place in MotoGP’s season-opening Qatar Grand Prix is a “dream” result after the huge crash in Australia last year that curtailed his 2018 season. LCR Honda rider Crutchlow was forced to skip the final three races of 2018, as well as post-season tests at Valencia and Jerez, after a heavy

The protest lodged by Ducati’s MotoGP rivals following Andrea Dovizioso’s Qatar Grand Prix victory was made largely for “political” reasons, believes team sporting director Paolo Ciabatti. Four manufacturers – Honda, Suzuki, KTM and Aprilia – challenged the legality of the rear winglet seen on the Ducati bikes of Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller in

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez says rival Andrea Dovizioso answered his prayers by setting a slow pace out front in the Qatar season opener. Dovizioso beat Marquez in a photo-finish in Qatar for the second year running. The Ducati rider led 18 of the 22 laps and kept the lap times at around 1m56s –