Valentino Rossi accused MotoGP rival Marc Marquez of overtaking him at the end of San Marino Grand Prix Q2 knowing that the Italian’s lap would be ruined in the process. Rossi was running ahead of Marquez as the duo were on their last laps in qualifying, and the Honda rider pulled off a tight move
MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez says he is puzzled by rival Valentino Rossi’s “intention” in their run-in during Misano qualifying. Marquez was tucked in behind Rossi on his final lap in qualifying, and was on course for a front row spot when he overtook the Italian down the inside of the high-speed Curvone right-hander. But
Reigning World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier edged into the lead of Rally Turkey, as his Citroen team-mate Esapekka Lappi made a mistake in the afternoon loop on Saturday. Ogier’s afternoon got off to the perfect start as he won SS11 Yesibelde for the second time, having also won the same stage in the morning loop,
Esapekka Lappi maintained his Rally Turkey lead on Saturday, ahead of team-mate Sebastien Ogier, while World Rally championship leader Ott Tanak retired with an electrical issue. Ogier had managed to close the gap to his Citroen team-mate down to 2.2s after the second stage on Saturday morning, but Lappi won Kizlan – a new stage
Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal Tommi Makinen says an ECU or fuel-related failure are the most likely reasons for Ott Tanak’s retirement from day two of Rally Turkey on Saturday. The Estonian failed to start the second stage of the day after his Yaris WRC refused to fire-up ahead of the Datca test. As usual,
Valentino Rossi says he was “surprised” that all four Yamaha MotoGP riders ended Friday practice at Misano strongly, despite them using several different configurations. Rossi rode with a new carbon swingarm, brake cover and exhaust in practice for the San Marino Grand Prix, while his team-mate Maverick Vinales stuck with the old parts. Vinales ended
Honda MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo expects his physical condition to worsen over the San Marino Grand Prix weekend as he continues to recover from a back injury. Lorenzo fractured his back in a crash at the Assen round, and missed four races as a result before returning to action last time out at Silverstone –
Citroen’s Esapekka Lappi has extended his Rally Turkey lead to 17.7 seconds after a tough afternoon, increasing his advantage over reigning World Rally Championship winner Sebastien Ogier. Lappi excelled during the rain-affected second running of the 23.6-mile Cetibeli stage in his C3 on Friday afternoon, despite being on the hard tyre which was ill-suited to
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson says he is “favouring more years” in the series if he is “forced to make a decision” by Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson has a contract until the end of 2020, but after testing a Formula 1 car alongside Fernando Alonso last year, Johnson reaffirmed his interest in contesting an
Dakar Rally icon Marc Coma will serve as Fernando Alonso’s co-driver at Toyota Gazoo Racing when the two-time Formula 1 champion takes on the legendary event. Coma, 42, won the Dakar title on two wheels five times for KTM between 2006 and 2015 in a career that spanned the event’s African and South American eras,
Maverick Vinales narrowly led fellow Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo in the second MotoGP free practice session for the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano. Vinales and Quartararo ended up over three tenths clear of Honda’s Marc Marquez, who had led most of the session before being surpassed by the Yamahas late on. Marquez ran in
IndyCar plans to conduct its first on-track test with its Red Bull Advanced Technologies-developed aeroscreen cockpit protection device at Indianapolis next month. A full-day test session has been scheduled for October 2 on the oval, and driving duties will be shared between Ganassi’s five-time Indycar champion Scott Dixon and Penske driver Will Power. Dixon originally
R-Motorsport has unveiled the new Aston Martin Vantage Cup one-make series beginning in 2020, while also reiterating its commitment to the DTM and hinting at a World Endurance Championship future. The outfit, which holds the Aston Martin license in the DTM and races in the Blancpain GT Series, will first launch its one-make series in
Citroen World Rally Championship driver Esapekka Lappi has taken the lead of Rally Turkey by nine seconds after Friday morning’s loop. Lappi set the fastest time in the Cetibeli stage – 5.6 seconds quicker than second-placed Andreas Mikkelsen – and fifth fastest in the final stage of the morning was enough to hold off the
World Rally Championship title hopeful Thierry Neuville shared the joint-fastest time on the opening stage of Rally Turkey with team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen as Hyundai set the pace. Mikkelsen and Neuville – who is 33 points behind Ott Tanak in the drivers’ standings – both completed the stage in 2m2.6s, going 1.6 seconds faster than M-Sport
Jorge Lorenzo responded to the recent criticism of Honda MotoGP team boss Alberto Puig by stating no one can say that “I didn’t try and didn’t risk with this bike”. Puig told the official MotoGP podcast in the lead-up to the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano that Lorenzo’s Honda woes were down to a
Aprilia MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone and his brother Angelo will manage the career of controversial Moto3 rider Romano Fenati from the San Marino Grand Prix. Fenati was banned from racing until the end of last year after controversially grabbing the brake lever of Forward Racing’s Stefan Manzi during the 2019 edition of the San Marino
Defending World Rally champion Sebastien Ogier has admitted he needs a big score at this week’s Rally Turkey to keep his hopes of a seventh straight title alive. The six-time WRC champion is 40 points behind series leader Ott Tanak with four rallies remaining, going into an event he’s described as a lottery. “I need
Stewart-Haas Racing driver Clint Bowyer says he still regrets not pushing Martin Truex Jr out of the way to win the Richmond NASCAR Cup Series round five months ago. Bowyer just made it into the 2019 playoffs with his fifth place finish at Indianapolis last weekend, and has not won a race so far this
Honda MotoGP team boss Alberto Puig believes Jorge Lorenzo’s struggles with the Japanese marque are not down to technique, but a lack of “courage and willingness”. Lorenzo has endured a nightmare first campaign on the RC213V after two seasons as a works Ducati rider, having not scored a top 10 finish this year. He has
World Rally Championship leader Ott Tanak looks near certain to remain at Toyota next season after negotiations with Hyundai have broken down. Hyundai Motorsport’s Andrea Adamo has confirmed his talks with the Estonian are finished, meaning the Estonian’s only remaining option is a return to M-Sport. Asked about his discussions with Hyundai, Tanak said: “We
As the search for Johann Zarco’s KTM replacement for the 2020 MotoGP season continues, the Tank Slappers podcast digs into the rumour that Alvaro Bautista could fill the KTM void. Bautista moved to World Superbikes for this year after losing his place in MotoGP at the end of last season, and dominated the opening rounds
The Toyota World Rally Championship team says it has eliminated the weakness on rough surfaces that slowed it on last year’s Rally Turkey ahead of the 2019 event this week. Toyota still won in Turkey after its rivals hit trouble, but victor Ott Tanak was quick to admit that it had not been quick enough.
In a U-turn for the manufacturer, Honda has revealed a new front-engined layout for its 2019 SUPER GT car, as Toyota and Nissan also unveiled its cars for next season. The SUPER GT version of the NSX has always had the same mid-engined layout of its road-going sibling, with the series using weight adjustments to
Hyundai Motorsport director Andrea Adamo says the biggest pressure he comes under in the race for this year’s World Rally Championship is from himself. The Italian has kept Hyundai at the top of the WRC manufacturers’ title race for much of the 2019 season since being installed as team director for the 2019 season. But
Former World Rally Championship star and current Dakar Rally driver Mikko Hirvonen will enter the penultimate round of this year’s European Rally Championship, the Cyprus Rally. Hirvonen who finished as runner-up to Sebastien Loeb in the WRC standings four times in his career, will drive a Ford Fiesta R5 run by fellow former Ford factory
Matt DiBenedetto has secured a place on the NASCAR Cup Series grid for 2020, signing for Wood Brothers Racing to replace the retiring Paul Menard. DiBenedetto has enjoyed a breakthrough season in the Cup series with the one-car Leavine Family Racing outfit in 2019, lifting the team out of the struggles it had when running
MotoGP’s Aragon Grand Prix will start one hour earlier than usual next weekend to avoid a direct clash with Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix. The final round of the European leg of the 2019 campaign at the Motorland circuit in Spain will take place at 13.00 local time, instead of 14.00. It ensures no overlap
Hayden Paddon says he could not let the disappointment of his Rally Finland testing crash be the end of his World Rally Championship arrangement with M-Sport. The one-time WRC rally winner will drive an M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 MkII on Rally GB next month before making an outing in a Fiesta World Rally Car on
Darrell Wallace Jr believes he reminded his critics that he “can drive” with his third place in the Indianapolis NASCAR Cup Series round. Richard Petty Motorsports driver Wallace famously came close to Daytona 500 victory last year at the start of his first full season at NASCAR’s top level. But he has taken just two