MotoGP stewards have thrown out a protest against Ducati following Sunday evening’s 2019 season-opening Qatar Grand Prix, meaning Andrea Dovizioso keeps his victory. Dovizioso’s narrow win over Honda’s Marc Marquez was thrown into doubt when it emerged that Suzuki, Honda, KTM and Aprilia had lodged a protest against Ducati’s newly-introduced rear tyre winglet. The component

The Ducati MotoGP team is facing an investigation following its Qatar Grand Prix victory with Andrea Dovizioso, regarding a rear tyre winglet it used during the race. Ducati introduced a new winglet positioned right in front of the rear tyre for the season opener at Losail. Four of Ducati’s five rival manufacturers – Honda, Suzuki,

Valentino Rossi says there is very little chance of making progress from his disappointing 14th on grid for the MotoGP season-opening Qatar Grand Prix. The Yamaha rider was fastest in opening practice at Losail on Friday, but has struggled in sessions run in the evening – which is when Sunday’s race will be held. He

Danilo Petrucci says he was frustrated to have lost what he described as a game of ‘cat and mouse’ with Marc Marquez in Qatar Grand Prix MotoGP qualifying. Honda man Marquez positioned himself to get a tow from the Ducati of Petrucci in both runs during Saturday night’s pole position shootout, and in doing so

New Honda MotoGP recruit Jorge Lorenzo says he is “in pain everywhere” after suffering two crashes during Saturday’s Qatar Grand Prix sessions, including one in qualifying. Lorenzo, still not fully recovered from a wrist injury sustained during training in the winter, had a hefty crash in Saturday morning’s third practice session, high-siding off his bike

MotoGP has announced a new date for its 2019 in-season test at the Finland-based KymiRing track ahead of its planned addition to the calendar the following year. The announcement comes shortly after news had emerged that the series had cancelled a two-day test scheduled for August 29-30 at the track, which is currently under construction.

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez admitted he was surprised by new Honda team-mate Jorge Lorenzo’s speed during Qatar Grand Prix Friday practice. Lorenzo was second in the daytime opening practice session at Losail, trailing only Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi. Although Lorenzo then slumped to 11th in the evening practice two session, Marquez named the three-time champion

The 2019 MotoGP season-opening Qatar Grand Prix will stick to its planned start time, after riders’ final attempt to push through a late schedule change on safety grounds was rejected. The start time for the Losail race had been moved an hour later compared to 2018 but many riders called for this to be reversed,

Honda MotoGP test rider Stefan Bradl will make his first race appearance of the 2019 season in May’s Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. Bradl contested a total of five races last year, two as a Honda wildcard – at Brno at Misano – one as a stand-in for Franco Morbidelli at the Sachsenring and two

Cal Crutchlow says he fears this year’s Honda MotoGP bike may have sacrificed the manufacturer’s traditional “weapon”, its front-end strength. LCR rider Crutchlow said during both pre-season tests that he was struggling with the front-end of this year’s RC213V, and on the eve of the new season in Qatar the Briton reiterated those concerns. Crutchlow

MotoGP riders will continue to push for an earlier start time for the opening race of the season in Qatar, believing a change would make for a better and safer spectacle. The race at the Losail International Circuit is set to start 8pm local time, an hour later than last year, and riders remain concerned

Alex Rins says Suzuki’s MotoGP bike has been improved in all the areas he had requested after winter testing. Rins impressed in the final pre-season test in Qatar as he topped Sunday’s second day of running and ended up third fastest overall, behind only Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo. Despite suffering a small crash at

Jorge Lorenzo claims he feels more at ease on Honda’s MotoGP bike than he did with the Ducati this time a year ago after an encouraging end to pre-season testing. Having missed the opening test of the year in Sepang after breaking his scaphoid in a training accident, Lorenzo got his first on-track running of

Andrea Iannone says he is “not expecting a lot” from his first race on Aprilia’s MotoGP bike at the 2019 season opener in Qatar. Iannone sat out much of the first pre-season test at Sepang and then finished 18th overall – four places behind team-mate Aleix Espargaro – over three days of running at Qatar’s

Yamaha MotoGP team manager Massimo Meregalli is not worried about Valentino Rossi’s Qatar test performance and is convinced he will be at the front in this weekend’s season-opener grand prix. Rossi concluded last month’s Qatar test with the fifth-fastest time over the course of the three days, a little under half a second slower than

Honda MotoGP team boss Alberto Puig has challenged KTM to keep its MotoGP riders “until 2031” in response to comments made by KTM’s CEO about Dani Pedrosa’s Honda exit. Pedrosa was dropped by Honda last season to make way for new signing Jorge Lorenzo, and opted to retire from grand prix racing altogether rather than

Alvaro Bautista demonstrated the potential he didn’t manage to fulfil during his MotoGP career on his debut World Superbike weekend, reckons Ducati general manager Gigi Dall’Igna. Bautista was recruited to join Ducati’s factory World Superbike team for the 2019 campaign when the Spaniard ran out of options to remain in MotoGP, having been part of

MotoGP has officially announced that its new ‘Long Lap Penalty’ system will be in use from the opening grand prix of the 2019 season in Qatar. As previously reported by Autosport, the decision was made to implement the new system following a successful trial in Qatar testing and positive rider feedback. It involves riders having

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. The weekend schedule for the MotoGP 2019 season-opening Qatar Grand Prix will remain unchanged for now despite safety concerns. Some in the paddock had called for the MotoGP race, which is run under the floodlights at the Losail circuit, to

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. The Pramac Ducati team has revealed a tweaked colour scheme ahead of the 2019 MotoGP season. Taking the wraps off its new colour scheme during a launch event at Sky Italia’s Milan headquarters on Wednesday, Pramac has revamped the white,

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Andrea Dovizioso says it’s “impossible” to draw any meaningful conclusions from the Qatar MotoGP test, as every bike appeared strong in the “strange” conditions. While Ducati concluded the previous winter test in Sepang by locking out the top four positions,

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Marc Marquez claims he is now in a position to fight for the podium in 2019’s MotoGP season-opening Qatar Grand Prix after a slow start to the final pre-season test at Losail. The reigning world champion declared Honda was lagging

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Maverick Vinales concluded 2019 MotoGP pre-season testing by setting the fastest time of the week in Qatar, leading a Yamaha one-two ahead of satellite rider Fabio Quartararo. Vinales, who began the Qatar test by topping Saturday’s opening day of running

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. LCR rider Cal Crutchlow admits he is “not even close” to being ready for the 2019 MotoGP season opener in Qatar with just one day of pre-season testing to go. Crutchlow concluded the penultimate day of pre-season running at Losail

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Jorge Lorenzo has admitted that his first MotoGP races with Honda are likely to be “difficult”, despite making improvements on the second day of testing in Qatar. Lorenzo was only 21st on the opening day of the Losail test, the

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Valentino Rossi admits he is “worried” by the top speed deficit Yamaha faces compared to its MotoGP rivals after a subdued second day of Qatar pre-season testing. On the penultimate day of 2019 pre-season running, Rossi ended up down in

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. MotoGP is set to add the ‘long lap penalty’ to the list of punishments available to stewards for the start of the 2019 season. The new initiative requires penalised riders to ride through a specially-marked area off-track, and was trialled

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Suzuki’s Alex Rins narrowly beat Maverick Vinales to the fastest time on the second day of MotoGP’s pre-season test in Qatar. As was the case on day one, factory Ducati duo Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso spent the most time

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi have both voiced their approval of the in-race penalty system being trialled at MotoGP’s Qatar pre-season test. Race direction held a special meeting with riders to explain the new system shortly before the start of

Get unlimited access for free You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Marc Marquez believes Ducati and Yamaha are both “far” ahead of Honda after the opening day of MotoGP pre-season testing in Qatar. Honda had a quiet start to the Qatar test, with Marquez and factory team-mate Jorge Lorenzo 10th and