Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Herve Poncharal says Johann Zarco continuing with Tech3 after the 2018 MotoGP season is “not impossible” despite KTM’s interest in the Frenchman. Tech3 will switch from being Yamaha’s satellite team to a KTM factory-supported operation in 2019. Its star rider Zarco

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso says he’s “glad” to be considered the favourite for victory in the opening round of the new MotoGP season in Qatar. Although Dovizioso did not top of any of the nine days of pre-season testing, his long run

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. MotoGP rookie Franco Morbidelli says reigning champion Marc Marquez is teaching his fellow Honda riders that crashing is a necessity. The Honda MotoGP bike has garnered a reputation for being difficult to ride in recent years, as reigning Moto2 champion Morbidelli

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Aprilia racing manager Romano Albesiano admits the Italian MotoGP manufacturer “overestimated” its own capabilities when it chose to recruit Sam Lowes for 2017. Lowes originally agreed a two-year deal with Aprilia, but the Moto2 graduate was released half way through his

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Aprilia has unveiled the 2018 livery for its MotoGP bike, which will be ridden by Aleix Espargaro and Scott Redding. The new paint scheme features slightly more red compared to the 2017 version. Aprilia is going into its fourth season in

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Andrea Iannone believes Suzuki “can’t hide” its race pace deficit relative to its MotoGP rivals, admitting he “suffered too much” on long runs despite his rapid Qatar test times. Iannone was third on the opening day of running at Losail, and

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. MotoGP privateer outfit Tech3 will link up with KTM from the 2019 season onwards, following its decision to split with long-time partner Yamaha. The French team has fielded Yamaha bikes in grand prix motorcycle racing’s premier class since 2001, but announced

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Jorge Lorenzo says Ducati’s 2018 MotoGP bike still “doesn’t feel natural” following the conclusion of the final pre-season test in Qatar. Lorenzo ended the three-day test in 10th place overall, three tenths slower than team-mate Andrea Dovizioso and was narrowly outpaced

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. A lack of factory support for Johann Zarco prompted Tech3’s decision to part with Yamaha at the end of the 2018 MotoGP season, says team principal Herve Poncharal. Tech3 announced before the final pre-season MotoGP test that it was ending its

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Valentino Rossi believes MotoGP team-mate Maverick Vinales should adjust his unrealistic expectations to overcome the frustration of Yamaha’s uneven form in winter testing. Vinales topped two of the nine 2018 test days, and ended the final test in Qatar fifth overall,

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Leading MotoGP riders believe racing in the rain under floodlights in Qatar would be feasible after a wet test session was held on Saturday evening. The final hour of pre-season testing was set aside for wet running, with the Losail circuit

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Tech3 Yamaha rider Johann Zarco got within a tenth of a second of the Losail lap record as he led the final MotoGP pre-season test day ahead of Valentino Rossi. Zarco moved into first place at the Qatar Grand Prix venue

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has estimated he is “six or seven tenths” slower than 2017 title rival Andrea Dovizioso heading into the final day of pre-season testing in Qatar. Marquez ended up third-fastest behind Andrea Iannone and Dovizioso in Friday’s

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Valentino Rossi claims Yamaha is in “more or less the same” position as it ended last year’s disappointing campaign with just one day of 2018 MotoGP pre-season testing to go. Although his team-mate Maverick Vinales was quickest on the opening day

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Suzuki rider Andrea Iannone went quickest on the second day of MotoGP’s final pre-season test in Qatar. The Italian dethroned former team-mate Andrea Dovizioso from top spot by 0.041 seconds in the final half hour of the session, courtesy of a

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Jorge Lorenzo said a new chassis, based on the 2017 Ducati MotoGP bike, tested on Thursday in Qatar “didn’t work”. Lorenzo, who is seeking a frame with a “mix” of the 2017 and ’18 Ducatis’ attributes, spent the final day of

Valentino Rossi says his team will not enter MotoGP in 2019 or ’20, despite Tech3’s split from Yamaha creating an opportunity for his VR46 squad to make the step up. Tech3 announced last week it would end its 18-year collaboration with Yamaha, while Ducati outfits Avintia and Angel Nieto expressed an interest to replace the

Yamaha MotoGP rider Maverick Vinales set the pace on the first day of MotoGP’s final 2018 pre-season test in Qatar. Vinales, who went quickest in this test last year before winning the season-opener at the same venue from pole, has endured a troubled run in winter testing at previous venues Sepang and Buriram. But he

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez has completed a new deal to remain at the factory Honda team for a further two seasons. Despite some interest from rival manufacturers, Marquez had made it clear his preference was to remain with Honda –

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Aprilia has been forced to delay the introduction of its latest specification MotoGP engine until the opening round of the season in Qatar. The Italian manufacturer was scheduled to bring its latest engine to the final pre-season test at the Losail

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Two of Ducati’s satellite MotoGP teams, Angel Nieto and Avintia, have expressed interest in taking over Yamaha’s supply of customer bikes from Tech3 for the 2019 season. On Thursday, it was announced that the 18-year relationship between Yamaha and its sole

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. MotoGP privateer team Tech3 has announced it will end an 18-year partnership with Yamaha at the conclusion of the 2018 season. Herve Poncharal’s team, which has run Yamahas since its premier-class debut in 2001, made clear it has secured a new

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Italian rising star Francesco Bagnaia will graduate to MotoGP as a factory-contracted Ducati rider in 2019, joining satellite team Pramac. The 21-year-old, who is part of seven-time premier class champion Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Riders Academy, emerged as a favoured option for

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. BT Sport has signed a three-year extension to continue to hold exclusive rights to show live TV coverage of MotoGP in the UK until the end of 2021. The subscription-only channel took over the rights from the BBC at the start

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Hafiz Syahrin has been signed as a full-time Tech3 MotoGP rider for the 2018 season following his test debut for the satellite Yamaha outfit in Thailand. The 23-year-old will become the first premier class rider from Malaysia after being selected to

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Alex Rins says Suzuki’s 2018 specification MotoGP bike is already “100 times better” than last year’s GSX-RR. Suzuki endured a torrid 2017 campaign, losing ground to MotoGP’s leading manufacturers and failing to score a single podium with its all-new line-up of

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. The factory Honda MotoGP team has unveiled a revised livery ahead of the start of the 2018 season. Honda took the covers off its new design on Tuesday at a launch event in Jakarta, where works riders Marc Marquez and Dani

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Marc Marquez has indicated that Honda has settled on continuing with its latest-spec MotoGP engine despite worries the new unit is overly “aggressive”. Though Marquez and team-mate Dani Pedrosa set the pace on the second and third days of last week’s

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Valentino Rossi admits Yamaha is “relying on fate” for the opening rounds of the 2018 MotoGP season, as a potential fix for the team’s acceleration issue could be “months” away. Rossi conceded after the opening day of last week’s Thailand test

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Jorge Lorenzo says he reverted to Ducati’s 2017 MotoGP bike on the final day of testing at Buriram because he was struggling for confidence with the manufacturer’s ’18 challenger. Lorenzo finished no higher than 10th on the first two days at