Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Tetsuta Nagashima came through from 14th to grab a surprise emotional maiden Moto2 win in a frantic Qatar Grand Prix. Nagashima grabbed the lead late on and opened up an insurmountable gap to cruise to his first win, some 10 years after fellow Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa won the very first
Albert Arenas clinched the first Moto3 win of the new decade and KTM’s 100th after beating John McPhee by 0.053 seconds in a thrilling Qatar Grand Prix. Arenas spent several stints at the head of the field, and made a break with McPhee in tow on the final lap, repelling the Petronas Sprinta rider’s advances
Several MotoGP manufacturers are set to carry out a private test at Jerez later in March in the absence of racing this month as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. This weekend’s season-opening MotoGP round in Qatar had to be cancelled due to new quarantine procedures being placed on Italian travelers by the country, while
Joe Roberts became the first American to qualify on pole in Moto2 since 2010 after beating Luca Marini in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix – with both setting identical laptimes. Roberts topped practice overall with a record lap of 1m58.421s in FP2 on Friday, and came into Saturday’s running as the favourite to end
Tatsuki Suzuki clinched the first Moto3 pole of the 2020 season after beating Raul Fernandez by 0.008 seconds in qualifying at Qatar. The SIC58 Squadra Corse rider had to go through Q1 after missing out on a top 14 place across the three practice sessions. Suzuki set the pace immediately in the second 15-minute session
MotoGP’s new season-opener in Texas has been thrown into significant doubt following the declaration of a state of emergency in host city Austin due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Circuit of the Americas, originally slated to host the third round of the 2020 MotoGP season, was subsequently due to kickstart the campaign on April 5
American Racing Team rider Joe Roberts usurped the Losail lap record to end Moto2 Friday practice for the Qatar Grand Prix fastest on combined timesheets. As with Moto3, the Moto2 class was already present in Qatar for a pre-season test and will race this weekend – while the MotoGP grand prix is cancelled as a
KTM Ajo’s Raul Fernandez led the opening free practice Friday for the 2020 Moto3 season, after surging to top spot late on in FP2 for the Qatar Grand Prix. The coronavirus outbreak led to the Qatari government imposing new travel and quarantine measures, which meant the opening round of the year has had to go
Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta admits running MotoGP races behind closed doors is a consideration to minimise disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. New quarantine procedures for those travelling from Italy in Qatar led MotoGP to cancel to the first race of the season, while the second round in Thailand was postponed due to a
MotoGP has issued an updated 2020 calendar in wake of the coronavirus cancellations of Qatar and Thailand, with Austin officially the first round. New quarantine procedures implemented by the Qatari government on travelers from Italy led Dorna Sports to cancel the MotoGP season-opener, though Moto2 and Moto3 will race at Losail this weekend owing to
Retired triple MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo will return to racing in June’s Catalunya Grand Prix in a wildcard outing with Yamaha. Lorenzo announced his retirement from racing at the end of last season, after a difficult and injury-hit year on the Honda sapped him of confidence and motivation. Over the winter he penned a
Seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson will make his IndyCar debut at Barber Motorsports Park next month in a test with Arrow-McLaren. The 44-year-old Californian, who is due to retire from full-time NASCAR competition at season’s end, attended last month’s IndyCar Spring Training and expressed enthusiasm for broadening his range of experience. However, he remained
Dorna Sports may move the Aragon MotoGP race forward by two weeks to accommodate the postponed Thailand round on October 4. The MotoGP promoter is continuing to work through a revised calendar amid the COVID-19 crisis, with the season-opener at Qatar already called off and the second round in Buriram postponed. It is yet to
CEO of Dorna Sports Carmelo Ezpeleta insists “there will absolutely be a 2020 MotoGP season” in a statement responding to the cancellation of the first two races due to coronavirus. On Sunday evening, series organisers Dorna confirmed it had cancelled this weekend’s Qatar MotoGP race owing to all travellers from Italy – which saw a
Fernando Alonso’s decision to contest the Indianapolis 500 with Arrow-McLaren SP instead of Andretti Autosport was driven by his “loyalty” to his former Formula 1 team McLaren. Alonso will return to the famous Brickyard event this year having failed to qualify for it in 2019, but previously insisted it would be just a one-off appearance
The opening two rounds of the 2020 MotoGP world championship have been scrubbed from the schedule due to travel restrictions put in place over coronavirus fears. On Sunday night series organisers Dorna Sports and MotoGP’s governing body the FIM announced it had to cancel the Qatar Grand Prix for the premier class due to the
The MotoGP Thailand Grand Prix has been postponed due to coronavirus fears, the country’s government has announced just hours after Dorna Sports and the FIM cancelled the opening Qatar race. Dorna Sports and the FIM officially confirmed the postponement of the Thailand GP later on Monday morning. A statement read: “Due to the ongoing coronavirus
Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman took his second NASCAR Cup win after claiming victory at Fontana – a venue he previously hadn’t finished in the top 10 at. Bowman, who started third, was one of the fastest drivers across the 200-lap race in his Chevrolet Camaro and was towards the front of the field throughout. He
MotoGP has announced its 2020 season-opener in Qatar will not go ahead due to travel restrictions brought about by the coronavirus outbreak. The virus – known as Covid-19 – originated in China and is reported to have infected more than 80,000 people globally and resulted in at least 3000 deaths since the outbreak. In recent
Pol Espargaro believes KTM is “in the pack” with Ducati ahead of the 2020 MotoGP season after a strong winter testing programme with its RC16 motorcycle. KTM ended the recent Sepang test seventh overall, while rookie Brad Binder guided the factory team RC16 to ninth on combined times at last week’s Qatar test. The evolved
Johann Zarco says his “main target right now” is to establish a “base” of top 10 finishes in the early part of his first MotoGP season on the Avintia Ducati. After quitting KTM midway through last year – and then being dropped outright after the Misano round – Zarco was thrown a lifeline by Ducati
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will partner with Citrone/Buhl Autosport to give Spencer Pigot IndyCar lifeline entries in the Indianapolis road race and the Indianapolis 500. The new team, a partnership formed between sometime Indycar driver Robbie Buhl, his brother and business partner Tom, Robert Citrone – the founder of Discovery Capital Management and the largest
Marc Marquez says his younger brother and works Honda MotoGP team-mate Alex must “earn” a contract renewal, and that he will not “impose” his preference on the Japanese manufacturer. Reigning Moto2 champion Alex was brought in to replace the retiring Jorge Lorenzo at the factory Honda outfit for 2020, joining his elder brother for his
The GPX Racing Porsche squad that won last year’s Spa 24 Hours will mount a full assault on the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with factory backing. The Dubai entrant will field a pair of Porsche 911 GT3-Rs in the five-round series that incorporates the Spa enduro with a line-up boasting five factory drivers.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has admitted that Fernando Alonso’s return with Arrow McLaren SP for this year’s Indianapolis 500 came about after his negotiations with Andretti Autosport broke down. Two-time Formula 1 world champion Alonso, who made his highly impressive Indy 500 debut with a McLaren-backed Andretti Autosport entry in 2017, failed to qualify for
A contingency plan has been drawn up should the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup opener at Monza in April be cancelled as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. The plan has been put in place by series organiser the Stephane Ratel Organisation following a concentration of coronavirus cases in Lombardy, the province in which
Two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso will contest the Indianapolis 500 for a third time with the Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar outfit. Alonso’s #66 Chevrolet-powered car, a third entry in addition to those driven by the team’s full-time 2020 IndyCar drivers Patricio O’Ward and Oliver Askew, will hit the track for the first time
IndyCar will reintroduce grid penalties for unapproved engine changes this season for the first time since 2013. Any car that has its engine changed before a manufacturer’s pre-determined mileage limit has been reached will suffer a grid penalty in the next race – a six-place drop for road/street courses and a nine-place drop on ovals.
MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez says Honda has “found the way” with its troubled 2020 RC213V, following a pre-season testing phase that “worried” the injured Spaniard. Marquez’s pre-season has been hindered by his ongoing recovery from a shoulder operation in November, though he admitted after a difficult Sepang test that he was more worried about
Valentino Rossi admits he is worried about the 2020 Yamaha’s race pace ahead of the first race of the new MotoGP season, as he is still ‘suffering’ with tyre wear. In recent years Yamaha riders have constantly struggled in races with rear tyres beginning to fade too much halfway through a race distance. Michelin’s new-for-2020