MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez had successful surgery on Wednesday on a recurring right shoulder dislocation he initially suffered during qualifying at Sepang earlier this month. Marquez was thrown from his Honda at Turn 2 of the Sepang circuit in the latter stages of qualifying while trying to follow Petronas SRT’s Fabio Quartararo, but he
MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez is set to have surgery on Wednesday on a recurring right shoulder dislocation he initially suffered during qualifying at Sepang earlier this month. Marquez was thrown from his Honda at Turn 2 of the Sepang circuit in the latter stages of qualifying while trying to follow Petronas SRT’s Fabio Quartararo,
The Avintia MotoGP team had to split with Karel Abraham to ensure it was in a “secure situation” going forward, says the team’s sporting director Ruben Xaus. Abraham had a deal in place to continue with the Ducati customer outfit in 2020 but was informed that his contract was being terminated last week. It is
Andrea Dovizioso has warned the gains from Ducati’s “very interesting” 2020 prototype MotoGP chassis are “not as big as we want” after testing it at Valencia and Jerez. Through the 2019 season, Dovizioso called for improvements to the bike’s turn in and he added that the new Ducati chassis has demonstrated improvement. Chassis gains remain
Marc Marquez says a damp patch caused his crash early in Monday’s MotoGP test at Jerez and led to a partial dislocation of his right shoulder. Marquez sat top of the session early on Monday after his initial run on his 2019-spec Honda, but quickly switched to his ’20-spec RC213V. In the morning, the track
Maverick Vinales opened up the final MotoGP post-season test of 2019 at Jerez fastest in a session which was red-flagged three times, as Marc Marquez also crashed in the afternoon. The track stayed silent for the first 45 minutes of the session before Aleix Espargaro disrupted the calm on his Aprilia, with KTM duo Brad
Cal Crutchlow says Honda won’t be giving back the LCR MotoGP crew it took to help Jorge Lorenzo this year, as they will remain in place for Alex Marquez. Crutchlow revealed HRC took three members of his team away from him at the end of last year to form part of Lorenzo’s crew for the
Moto2 squad Marc VDS has replaced the Honda MotoGP-bound Alex Marquez with Augusto Fernandez, increasing the liklihood that Johann Zarco will sign for Avintia in MotoGP. The Belgian-owned outfit Marc VDS, which has won three of the last six Moto2 riders’ titles with Marquez, Franco Morbidelli and Tito Rabat, was left scrambling to find a
MotoGP regular Karel Abraham says he is out of a ride for 2020 and will conclude his career in the premier class, potentially paving the way for Johann Zarco’s full-time return. A MotoGP regular in privateer machinery since 2011, albeit having taken a year off to race for BMW in World Superbikes, Abraham had a
MotoGP regular Karel Abraham says he is out of a ride for 2020 and will conclude his career in the premier class, potentially paving the way for Johann Zarco’s full-time return. A MotoGP regular in privateer machinery since 2011, albeit having taken a year off to race for BMW in World Superbikes, Abraham had a
KTM MotoGP rookie Brad Binder says some of the things team-mate Pol Espargaro is doing on the bike is “insane” to him, but believes he will reach a similar level eventually. This year’s Moto2 runner-up Binder will contest his debut MotoGP season with the works KTM squad in 2020, having been promoted from the Tech3
Sebastien Bourdais will leave the Dale Coyne Racing IndyCar squad following the recent collapse of a proposed sponsorship deal for the 2020 season. Four-time Champ Car champion Bourdais has raced for Coyne for the past three seasons, and recently tested IndyCar’s new aeroscreen protection device with the team. The split is expected to be formally
Jimmie Johnson will not retire from racing when he leaves the NASCAR Cup Series at the end of the 2020 season, although he has ruled out an IndyCar switch. The seven-time Cup Series champion, who has 83 wins to his name, announced on Wednesday he will leave the #48 Hendrick Motorsports squad at the end
Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller wants MotoGP to get rid of post-season testing and instead have manufacturers make more use of test riders. The series will lose the traditional post-Valencia GP test from next year onwards as part of a wider reduction in testing, and will instead head to Jerez the week after the final
Esapekka Lappi says he was ‘shocked’ at Citroen’s World Rally Championship withdrawal, and that M-Sport is his only hope for a seat in 2020. Lappi left Toyota to join Citroen alongside Sebastien Ogier for the 2019 season, but has struggled to master the squad’s C3 and took 10th in the championship with equal best finishes
Andrea Iannone says his RS-GP caught fire during the MotoGP Valencia test because Aprilia was trying an “extreme” gearbox solution to find more power. Iannone caused a red flag a couple of hours into Wednesday’s running at the Valencia test when his Aprilia burst into flames on the main straight on the run into Turn
Pol Espargaro was “shocked” when he was able to match Marc Marquez’s top time after just three laps with KTM’s new chassis in MotoGP’s post-season test in Valencia. Espargaro tried a radical new KTM chassis on Tuesday, which he ended the opening day in eighth with, and had another specification at his disposal for Wednesday.
Citroen’s exit from the World Rally Championship was not exactly unexpected, but Wednesday’s announcement confirming that was nevertheless a bombshell. What was a surprise, too, was the wording of the statement confirming it’s departure that blamed six-time world champion Sebastien Ogier, whose decision to leave left it with no alternative but to withdraw with immediate
LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow admits the 2020 prototype RC213V he tested in the post-Valencia MotoGP test is no easier to ride currently than its much-criticised predecessor. Crutchlow was very vocal about the ’19 RC213V’s difficulty in turning all through this year, with the LCR rider only managing three podiums in 19 races having won a
The 2019 Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy has been won by newly crowned British GT4 champion Tom Canning. Canning came out top of the field of 23 drivers aged between 17 and 25 racing Aston GT3 or GT4 machinery during 2020 who were part of the initiative. The 17-year-old was chosen by a panel of
Citroen team principal Pierre Budar has defended the manufacturer’s record in this year’s World Rally Championship following the announcement that it will walk away from the series. CEO Linda Jackson said in the statement confirming Citroen’s exit that Sebastien Ogier’s decision to leave the squad was the reason for its WRC withdrawal. Asked by Autosport
Seven-time NASCAR champion and Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson will retire from the Cup Series at the conclusion of the 2020 season. Johnson was keen to delay his call on when to retire for as long as possible, although one of his major sponsors had committed to 2023. The 44-year-old’s seven cup championships is equal
Maverick Vinales topped the final day of Valencia 2020 pre-season MotoGP testing by 0.164 seconds from fellow Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo. After a first hour without action, Honda’s Stefan Bradl took to the circuit as well as KTM trio Pol Espargaro, Iker Lecuona (Tech3) and Brad Binder. Bradl was forced to park up after just
Sebastien Ogier has spoken exclusively to Autosport to explain his decision to leave Citroen’s World Rally Championship team with a year to run on his contract. Citroen’s cited Ogier’s departure for Toyota – a deal expected to be announced next week – as the reason for its withdrawal from the WRC in an announcement made
Citroen’s World Rally Championship pullout announcement had been anticipated for a week, and its statement pointed strongly towards Sebastien Ogier’s decision to leave as the cause. But was it that simple? Citroen team principal Pierre Budar spoke exclusively to Autosport about the other factors behind the move. Were the WRC calendar, its profile or the
2019 Indy Lights runner-up Rinus VeeKay has been announced as the driver of Ed Carpenter Racing’s #21 entry for the 2020 IndyCar season. The 19-year-old Dutchman racked up six wins and seven pole positions for Juncos Racing in Indy Lights this year, and impressed Carpenter in his initial IndyCar tests at Portland and Mid-Ohio. He
Citroen Racing has announced it will depart the World Rally Championship with immediate effect – stating Sebastien Ogier’s decision to move to Toyota left it with no alternative. The firm announced its decision on Wednesday, confirming mounting speculation of a withdrawal. Ogier and team-mate Esapekka Lappi had a year left to run on their contracts,
LCR’s Cal Crutchlow insists it made “more sense” for Honda to sign Marc Marquez’s brother Alex for the 2020 MotoGP season over the other contenders for Jorge Lorenzo’s seat. Crutchlow ended the year as second-best Honda rider in ninth in the standings in 2019 and was the only RC213V rider aside from world champion Marc
World Rally Championship event winner Hayden Paddon will race in the new-for-2020 TCR New Zealand series, in a Hyundai run by his own team. Paddon Rallysport Group took delivery of a TCR-spec i30 earlier this year, the Kiwi using it to help sharpen his asphalt skills as he looked to work his way back to
Renault F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg will not be joining Ed Carpenter Racing next year, despite speculation continuing to mount as recently as last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix. With Indy Lights graduate Rinus VeeKay expected to be confirmed this week as the full-time in the #21 ECR-Chevrolet to replace the departing Spencer Pigot, there had been