Several MotoGP figures believe shorter race weekends could be an option for the series to explore, as the calendar gets set to expand beyond 20 races. From 2022, MotoGP is set to have a calendar which consists of 22 grands prix, with races in Finland, Indonesia, Brazil and Hungary all set to join the schedule
Hailie Deegan says Ford having a “clearer path” for its NASCAR junior drivers was key to her switch from Toyota. Earlier in December, Ford Performance announced that it had signed Deegan to a multi-year driver development deal and her 2020 racing plans will include running a full season in the NASCAR-owned ARCA Menards Series with
Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller believes the 2019 MotoGP season was his most complete in grand prix racing, even more so than ’14 when he fought for the Moto3 title. Miller won six races for the Ajo KTM team in 2014 but lost the title by just two points to Alex Marquez – who only
Valentino Rossi concedes that it is “better not to renew” his Yamaha MotoGP contract unless his results improve in the early part of 2020. Rossi endured a tough second half of the 2019 season, as he was regularly outpaced by team-mate Maverick Vinales as well as star Petronas Yamaha rookie Fabio Quartararo and ended up
New Dale Coyne Racing driver Alex Palou says securing an IndyCar seat was “a dream and a goal to fulfil” for two years. Palou impressed the outfit during a test at Mid-Ohio in July, but team owner Dale Coyne admitted earlier this month he was worried Honda would decide to keep the Spaniard in Super
Aleix Espargaro says his “objective” with Aprilia in MotoGP is to replicate what Andrea Dovizioso has achieved at Ducati, as his and the team’s transformation has been “unbelievable”. Dovizioso joined Ducati in 2013, but did not get his first podium for the marque until two years later. However, he has been runner-up in the championship
The FIA has confirmed 2022 World Rally Cars will utilise hybrid to offer a power boost on the stages as well as for use in towns, cities and service parks. Original talks on hybrid were focused only on ensuring the rally cars drove using electric power through built up areas and in and around the
Daytona 500 winner and legendary NASCAR team owner Junior Johnson has passed away at the age of 88. Robert Glen Johnson Junior, born in 1931 in North Carolina, was one of the original moonshine smugglers whose modified cars laid the foundations of early stock car racing. He began his stock car career in the early
Pirelli has been selected as the control tyre supplier to the World Rally Championship from 2021, ending Michelin’s strong run at the top level of the WRC. Italian tyre firm Pirelli, which has been involved in the WRC since the start in 1973, will deliver all tyres used by Rally1 (World Rally Cars) and Rally2
Tom Blomqvist will join the R-Motorsport Aston Martin GT squad for 2020 after his departure from BMW. Blomqvist, who was released by the German manufacturer this month after five seasons, will race an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for the squad jointly run by the Arden and Jota Sport teams in the GT World Challenge Europe
The 2019 rally season didn’t disappoint, with Ott Tanak’s first World Rally Championship title and the saga of where he would drive in 2020 eventually concluded in favour of Hyundai. However, as well as the WRC drama, Chris Ingram impressed the rally fraternity by ending a wait of over 50 years for an English winner
Super Formula race winner Alex Palou will compete in the 2020 IndyCar Series, driving for Dale Coyne Racing in a link-up with Le Mans 24 Hours-winning squad Team Goh. As previously reported by Autosport, Palou was on a DCR shortlist that included ex-Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver James Hinchcliffe, left without a seat at the new
Dakar Rally director David Castera has predicted that double Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso will win a stage in his first attempt at the legendary rally raid next month. Alonso will tackle the Saudi Arabia-based event at the wheel of a factory-run Toyota Hilux with Dakar motorcycle legend Marc Coma as his co-driver. Since
Opel has revealed more technical details about the E-Corsa it is durability testing, and will compete in what it believes to be the first all electric rally championship next season. The cars will replace the Adam Cup Car currently being used in its successful ADAC Rallye Cup, the winner of which has been given a
Yamaha has offered retired triple MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo a test role for 2020, Autosport has learned. Lorenzo retired from racing at the end of the 2019 season following a single, difficult year on the Honda, in which his struggles to adapt to the RC213V and various injuries meant he did not even manage
Aprilia MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone says he was “surprised” to receive a provisional suspension over a potential doping violation, but has “every confidence” he will be cleared of any wrongdoing. Motorcycle racing’s governing body FIM announced on Tuesday that a prohibited substance, falling under the category of anabolic androgenic steroids, was found in Iannone’s urine
Rising junior NASCAR racer Hailie Deegan has left Toyota’s development programme to move to Ford, Autosport has learned. Ford has admitted it has a “major announcement” planned for Monday at its headquarters in North Carolina and will announce a new development driver. Multiple sources have confirmed to Autosport that 18-year-old Deegan will be announced as
After a long-term tie-up with Sebastien Bourdais at both Newman/Haas Racing and Dale Coyne Racing, Craig Hampson will join Arrow McLaren SP as race and R&D engineer for 2020. Hampson, who has fulfilled a similar role in the past at Andretti Autosport, has accumulated more than 30 wins, four Indy car (Champ Car) titles and
Aprilia MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone has been handed a provisional suspension after testing positive for an anabolic steroid. Iannone, the winner of the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix, is in the middle of a two-year works contract with Aprilia. His positive test came from a sample taken at the Malaysian Grand Prix. He has been suspended
Former Indycar driver and motorsport safety innovator Bill Simpson has died following a stroke. Between 1968 and 1977, Simpson made a total of 52 Indycar starts, with a best finish of sixth place at Milwaukee in 1970. His earlier drag racing exploits first triggered his interest in safety after a severe crash in 1958 left
MotoGP podium finishers Bradley Smith and Alex de Angelis are poised to return to MotoE for a second season, with both included on the series’ 2020 entry list. Smith, who finished runner-up to Matteo Ferrari in the inaugural MotoE campaign, has previously expressed a desire to continue in the all-electric series, but stressed this was
The deadline for a decision on a replacement event for the cancelled Rally Chile has not been set, and could come after the start of the 2020 World Rally Championship. The Concepcion-based event was cancelled earlier this month following a state of emergency declared in Chile following political and social unrest. Spain lost its slot
Alberto Puig says claims that Honda bikes are the hardest to ride is just a theory and is “not a fact”, highlighting HRC’s MotoGP statistics as proof of this. Marc Marquez romped to a sixth premier class crown in 2019 with 12 wins and a record 420 points, while almost single-handedly guiding Honda to the
MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi won the Pro-Am class for Ferrari in the Gulf 12 Hours in Abu Dhabi and finished third overall. Rossi was behind the wheel of the #46 Monster VR46 Kessel Ferrari 488 GT3 for the final stint, and took the chequered flag in third position, four laps down on the winning car
Five-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon will make his Bathurst 12 Hours debut next year with the R-Motorsport Aston Martin squad. The New Zealander is joining the Swiss entrant for the opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge on February 2 as part of a deal that will also result in him sharing a car with
Reigning Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin will test a Penske-run Indycar at Sebring next month, driving a top-line single-seater for the first time. The DJR Team Penske driver has been continually linked to a NASCAR future with Penske, with team owner Roger Penske stating that any switch to NASCAR would be done gradually and through the
Takamoto Katsuta will tackle eight rounds of next year’s World Rally Championship in a Toyota Yaris WRC, including his home event – the season-closing Rally Japan. The 26-year-old drove a Yaris during his top-class WRC debut in Germany this year – where he took a top 10 finish – and also contested Spain in the
Fabio Quartararo says his “amazing” rookie MotoGP season was spurred on by the “bad comments” made about his suitability for the Petronas SRT Yamaha ride last year. Eyebrows were raised when the new Yamaha satellite team signed Quartararo for his premier-class debut, as the young Frenchman scored just a single win in a mixed four-year
Oliver Solberg has been linked to a Skoda Motorsport deal next season – even though the team will not run a factory squad in the 2020 World Rally Championship. After being introduced in 2015, the Skoda Fabia R5 has won the WRC 2 championship in each year it has competed, catapulting 2016, ’17 and ’19
Red Bull will field a host of young drivers in the 2020 Dakar Rally as part of its motorsport junior programme’s expansion to rally raids. The new initiative, which will follow in the footsteps of the circuit racing Red Bull Junior Team that produced Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel and grand prix winners Daniel Ricciardo