Dani Pedrosa claimed a surprise pole position for MotoGP’s Malaysian Grand Prix, edging out Johann Zarco, as points leader Marc Marquez struggled to seventh after an early crash in Q2. After topping fourth practice immediately before qualifying, Marquez – who leads Andrea Dovizioso by 33 points heading into this weekend – was favourite to take
Carlos Sainz Jr says he’s sorry to see his former Toro Rosso team mate Daniil Kvyat dropped by Red Bull, and hopes that he can return to the Formula 1 grid. Red Bull has confirmed that the Russian driver is no longer part of its programme after eight seasons, and he is now looking for
Haas Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen’s fitness will be assessed by the FIA prior to final Mexican Grand Prix practice on Saturday after he felt unwell during Friday running. Magnussen was sent back to his hotel early due to what is believed to be a stomach bug. The FIA took the unusual step of allowing
Elfyn Evans added to his Rally GB lead on Friday afternoon to end the first full day of World Rally Championship action in Britain with a 25-second advantage. M-Sport driver Evans picked up where he left off at the start of the afternoon loop by winning SS5 Myherin, going 4.3 seconds faster than anyone else
Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg will take a behind-the-scenes advisory role in the expansion of his father Keke’s Team Rosberg outfit into GT racing next year. Team Rosberg won the DTM this year with series rookie Rene Rast and has purchased a pair of Lamborghini Huracan GT3s to enter in the German ADAC GT
Haas team boss Gunther Steiner says his Formula 1 team is braced for a tough Mexican Grand Prix, because the circuit presents “one of the worst scenarios” for the squad. Mexico was one of the worst F1 events for Haas in its debut season last year, with Romain Grosjean qualifying slowest of all and beating
Valentino Rossi says Yamaha is still not “strong like last year” in wet conditions after a mixed opening day of MotoGP practice at Sepang. The seven-time premier class champion was sixth-fastest in the wet in Friday’s second practice, 1.431 seconds off Ducati’s pacesetter Andrea Dovizioso. Yamaha has struggled in the two most recent wet races,
Elfyn Evans leads the Rally GB round of the World Rally Championship after setting the pace on Friday morning’s opening loop. Fifth after Thursday evening’s opening superspecial, Evans flew to the fastest time on two of the morning’s three stages – the longer Myherin and Hafren tests – in his DMACK-shod Ford Fiesta, to build
MotoGP title contender Andrea Dovizioso says the speed that allowed him to top both Friday practice sessions for the Malaysian Grand Prix came “quite easy”. Dovizioso was fastest in dry and wet conditions at Sepang, the Italian going fastest by half a second in FP2 in the wet. He led a strong day for Ducati,
Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso set the pace in a wet second practice session for MotoGP’s Malaysian Grand Prix, half a second clear of title rival Marc Marquez. With conditions deteriorating since Friday morning’s opening practice session at Sepang, Dovizioso’s benchmark FP1 time of 2m00.671s went untouched through the afternoon, with the provisional top 10 order also
Max Verstappen took to social media to apologise for the language he used in criticising Formula 1’s stewards in the wake of his United States Grand Prix penalty last Sunday. Verstappen hit out at FIA officials after being stripped of his third place for overtaking outside of the track limits on the final lap at
Kiefer Racing boss Stefan Kiefer has passed away in Malaysia, on the eve of the Sepang MotoGP weekend.
Autosport understands the Moto2 team boss died in his hotel room overnight, however details of his passing are limited at this time. News of Kiefer’s passing was confirmed by MotoGP on Twitter after first practice in Malaysia
Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly are set to complete the 2017 season for the Toro Rosso Formula 1 team, Autosport understands. Toro Rosso drafted in Porsche World Endurance Championship driver Hartley to replace Gasly for last weekend’s United States Grand Prix so Gasly could try to win the Super Formula title in Japan. Gasly had
Sebastien Ogier leads Rally GB after the short Tir Prince stage that kicked off the event on which he could become World Rally champion for a fifth straight year. M-Sport Ford driver Ogier leads team-mate Ott Tanak by 37 points and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville by 38, with only 30 available after this weekend. Ogier completed
Kris Meeke has criticised the Citroen World Rally Championship team’s decision not to test locally before this week’s Rally GB. Winner of the previous WRC round, Meeke fears his chances of success on his home rally have been hit by struggling to find the most appropriate set-up for his C3 WRC on Thursday’s shakedown stage.
Toyota World Rally Championship ace Jari-Matti Latvala reveals the secrets of winning Rally GB in the latest edition of The Autosport Podcast. Latvala, who won Britain’s World Rally Championship round in 2011 and ’12 and lies fourth in the standings heading into this year’s event, joins David Evans and Edd Straw for a rally podcast
Valentino Rossi is uncertain whether Yamaha’s 2018 MotoGP bike will be ready in time for next month’s post-season Valencia test. After Maverick Vinales was finally eliminated from title contention last weekend at Phillip Island, Yamaha’s full focus is likely to have shifted to its 2018 bike. It debuted a prototype 2018 frame at Silverstone, but
Niki Lauda says Mercedes must make its Formula 1 car easier for Valtteri Bottas to drive, following the Finn’s slump in form since the August summer break. Bottas won two grands prix during the first part of the F1 season, but has not out-qualified team-mate Lewis Hamilton since July’s Hungarian GP and endured another difficult
Elfyn Evans’ fastest time at this morning’s shakedown stage has marked him out as favourite for this week’s Wales Rally GB, according to his M-Sport team-mate Sebastien Ogier. Evans went more than a second a mile faster than anybody through the morning’s Clocaenog test, posting a time of 1m58.1s for the 2.06-mile stage, 2.3s faster
Michael van der Mark says Valentino Rossi’s late decision to ride injured at Aragon last month has taken the pressure off for his MotoGP debut in Sepang this weekend. Yamaha World Superbike regular van der Mark will make his MotoGP bow this weekend standing in for the unwell Jonas Folger at the satellite Tech 3
Chip Ganassi Racing has signed IndyCar rookie of the year Ed Jones for the 2018 season. Jones made his IndyCar debut with Dale Coyne Racing this year after graduating from Indy Lights and led the team in the absence of Sebastien Bourdais following his Indianapolis 500 qualifying crash. Dale Coyne had been keen to retain
Renault Formula 1 advisor Alain Prost says the arrival of Carlos Sainz Jr at the team fills “a big hole” in its plans to move up the grid. Sainz has been loaned to Renault for the end of this season and 2018, replacing Jolyon Palmer, and he remains under contract to Red Bull until the
Valentino Rossi believes he will have to adapt his “vintage” approach to MotoGP pack racing in future after a bruising encounter in last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix. The Phillip Island race was characterised by aggressive fighting throughout, with several instances of contact between riders in what was mostly an eight-strong lead group. Rossi ended up
Red Bull insists it did not keep Max Verstappen’s Formula 1 engine upgrade secret from Daniel Ricciardo, after the Australian only found out about it when he was told by the media. Verstappen was handed Renault’s new-spec engine, which features 2018 development parts, for the United States Grand Prix weekend. The changes were estimated to
Co-driving for Kris Meeke has been something of a mixed bag for Paul Nagle this year. He has bagged a couple of wins alongside the Northern Irishman, but there has been the odd inversion to go with that success. Offered the chance to sit in Nagle’s seat ahead of Rally Spain, Autosport’s rallies editor David
Team bosses say Formula 1 should not be afraid to try new ideas like the glitzy driver presentations ahead of the United States Grand Prix, even though the event divided opinion. F1 organisers drafted in famous boxing announcer Michael Buffer to announce the drivers to fans at Austin, with the pre-race build-up being extended by
IndyCar could scrap its push-to-pass system because the new-for-2018 universal aerokit should allow cars to follow more closely, although it is unlikely to be dropped for next year. The push-to-pass overtaking aid was added by IndyCar in 2012 for Toronto’s street race and utilised a turbocharger boost to allow cars to overtake more easily with
Sebastien Ogier says he is cautious of taking risks to win a “complicated” Rally GB with a fifth World Rally Championship title at stake. The Frenchman and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, one of his two remaining title rivals, were present at the Rallylegend event in San Marino last weekend and both talked of their chances ahead
Ross Brawn believes Formula 1 should consider a new review system to better judge controversial incidents, in the wake of the Max Verstappen penalty in the US Grand Prix. Verstappen’s last lap pass on Kimi Raikkonen sparked huge debate in and around F1, after the Red Bull driver was penalised for going off track to
Max Verstappen insists he “didn’t mean to hurt anyone” when he referred to FIA Formula 1 steward Garry Connelly as an “idiot” after the United States Grand Prix. The Dutchman was furious in the wake of losing his podium finish at Austin after being ruled to have cut the track in a last-lap overtake of