Honda rider Marc Marquez reckons Jorge Lorenzo is favourite for MotoGP’s Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, based on the Ducati rider’s strong pace in Friday practice. Lorenzo, whose Friday was hindered by an FP1 crash involving LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow, ended the day fourth-fastest in a wet second practice. But Marquez reckons Lorenzo was
Mercedes has continued to push to introduce upgrades to the 2017 Formula 1 championship-leading F1 W08 in recent races. In this latest video from Motorsport.tv’s weekly programme The Flying Lap, Peter Windsor and Craig Scarborough look at the changes in detail with the help of the latest 3D animation. “Mercedes have gone through a stepped
IndyCar is targeting an early August race at Mexico City, replacing the now vacant World Endurance Championship slot, and believes it’s “possible” for the race to happen in 2018. Autosport has learned that IndyCar was in discussions to add a race at the Mexican Grand Prix venue, after previously considering an oval race at Puebla
Sebastien Ogier says he is wary of prolonging the World Rally Championship title fight beyond the penultimate round of the season in Britain later this month. Thierry Neuville’s disastrous Rally Catalunya retirement has opened the door for Ogier to seal a fifth straight WRC title. Ogier finished second to Kris Meeke last weekend in his
Yamaha has failed to get on top of its wet-weather issues and has got worse in such conditions as the 2017 MotoGP season has progressed, according to Maverick Vinales. Both of Motegi’s Friday practice sessions were affected by rain, with Marc Marquez leading the morning’s opening session for Honda before Andrea Dovizioso’s Ducati took the
Red Bull boss Christian Horner has backed calls for the FIA to get tougher on oil burn, and believes the activity makes a mockery of Formula 1’s environmentally-friendly push. Oil burn has been an issue all season, and the FIA has been working hard to clamp down on teams being able to get a power
Dani Sordo will miss the final round of the 2017 World Rally Championship after Hyundai confirmed a three-car team for next month’s Rally Australia. Sordo is the second Hyundai driver to be dropped for a rally recently, after Hayden Paddon was sacrificed to make way for new signing Andreas Mikkelsen in Spain last week. Last
Sportscar stalwart Renger van der Zande will race the factory-entered Honda NSX in next month’s FIA GT World Cup in Macau. The Dutch driver has been chosen to drive the JAS-run car on November 18/19 for his Macau experience: he has finished in the top six of the Chinese street venue’s end-of-season GT3 blue riband
Marc Marquez led a rain-soaked opening practice session for MotoGP’s Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, beating nearest rival Aleix Espargaro by almost nine tenths of a second. In torrential conditions, Marquez was the rider to beat throughout Friday morning’s 45-minute session, grabbing the top spot from title rival Maverick Vinales with a 1m58.303s around 15
IndyCar has dropped Watkins Glen for its 2018 season with the championship set to return to Portland, while Autosport understands Mexico City could yet be added to the calendar. The removal of Watkins Glen for Portland is the only change to last year’s schedule. Watkins Glen had been added to the 2016 calendar when a
Brendon Hartley is the leading contender to drive for the Toro Rosso Formula 1 team in the United States Grand Prix, with Sebastien Buemi the back-up option, Autosport has learned. Toro Rosso needs to fill the seat alongside Daniil Kvyat at Austin after it was agreed Pierre Gasly would return to Super Formula to contest
F1 Racing magazine has launched its online voting to decide the winners of its annual Formula 1 awards, and you can have your say on each category. Last year nearly 100,000 fans took part in the vote to decide the winners across nine categories. Cast your vote in the 2017 F1 Racing Awards Anyone can
Jorge Lorenzo says he can take more risks in the last four MotoGP races of the season in pursuit of a breakthrough Ducati win because he has “nothing to lose”. Lorenzo’s best result during his first year with Ducati has been third place, having stood on the podium at Jerez and Aragon. The three-time champion
Bradley Smith says that KTM’s announcement that he will remain a race rider for the Austrian manufacturer in 2018 solves an “awkward situation”. KTM issued a statement on Wednesday confirming that Smith will be team-mate to Pol Espargaro again next year, despite his struggles to match the Spaniard this season. The pressure on Smith was
Robert Kubica has completed a one-day test in a 2014-spec Williams at Silverstone as the Formula 1 team evaluates his potential for a 2018 race seat. The Pole is pushing for a return to F1 six-and-a-half years after he suffered serious injuries in a rallying crash. However, he faces competition for the Williams seat alongside
The Ferrari Formula 1 team has drafted in Maria Mendoza from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to reorganise its quality control department. Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne has said his team paid the price for “ignoring” quality control with its technical director Mattia Binotto confirming changes were being made to the department. Sebastian Vettel’s title hopes appear dashed
Codemasters has announced its major F1 2017 game update that will feature the latest car designs and liveries among the changes introduced. F1’s official game usually launches with the in-game cars based on how they appeared for the first race of the season, but the frantic rate of development between the teams means the look
Honda and Chevrolet have begun their manufacturer testing of the new 2018 IndyCar aerokit, with the engine builders conducting running at Mid-Ohio and Road America respectively. Chevrolet ran Penske driver and 2016 IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud alongside Ed Carpenter Racing’s Spencer Pigot at Road America yesterday, in the first of five days allocated to the
Yamaha test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga will make his sixth successive MotoGP appearance at Motegi in this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. Nakasuga has seven premier class starts to his name, having been handed wildcards with Yamaha each year for his home race since 2012. His best result from those outings was an eighth place finish in
Penske drivers Josef Newgarden and Will Power have called for a change to IndyCar’s oval qualifying format because the current system can disadvantage some drivers in title contention. At all ovals aside from Indianapolis, the running order for the one-by-one qualifying is currently decided by names being drawn from a hat – giving an advantage
KTM has retained both Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro for the 2018 MotoGP season. Test rider Mika Kallio contested several rounds as a wildcard entry this year, but the under-pressure Smith has been given the nod to retain a full-time ride on the KTM. The confirmation ends speculation that KTM could switch Smith and Kallio,
Formula 1 world championship rivals Mercedes and Ferrari have opted for marginally different choices for the United States Grand Prix. Pirelli has made the soft, super-soft and ultra-soft tyres available for the Austin race, which is one step softer than last year. While Mercedes and Ferrari have chosen seven sets of the ultra-soft tyre for
Honda will enter a factory NSX in the FIA GT World Cup in Macau next month. The Japanese manufacturer has decided to take part in the blue-riband GT3 race on November 18-19 after launching customer sales of the NSX racer in July. It will be the first race for the twin-turbo V6-powered GT3 contender with
Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville has all but conceded this year’s World Rally Championship to rival Sebastien Ogier after retiring from Rally Catalunya last weekend. A run of six-straight podium finishes, which included three victories, hoisted Neuville into a mid-season share of the lead with Ogier. But the Belgian damaged his transmission and suspension on August’s
Mid-season driver changes for Toro Rosso and Renault can boost the Haas Formula 1 team’s chances of a strong constructors’ championship finish, says its team principal Gunther Steiner. Haas is locked in a tight battle for fifth in the standings, with Renault one point behind, Toro Rosso nine clear and Williams a further 14 ahead
Red Bull thinks that the combination of Suzuka’s layout and the 2017-spec Formula 1 cars exposed its lack of a ‘magic’ engine mode from Renault more than usual. The Milton Keynes-based team was surprised to be one second off the pace of Mercedes in the fight for grid positions, before Max Verstappen went on to
Tony Kanaan says both he and his new AJ Foyt Racing team needed a change in order to win IndyCar races in 2018. The 2004 IndyCar champion has not won a race since ’14, his first year with Chip Ganassi Racing. His four-year spell with the team came to an end this season when Ganassi
Two-time Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix winner Felix Rosenqvist is set to return to the Chinese venue next month in an attempt to win the FIA GT World Cup. The Formula E and Japanese Super Formula frontrunner, who took back-to-back F3 wins at Macau in 2014 and ’15, is understood to be on a World
The latest edition of The Autosport Podcast looks back at the Japanese Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton moved to the brink of a fourth Formula 1 title. Edd Straw is joined by Scott Mitchell and podcast returnee Andrew van de Burgt to discuss Ferrari’s latest failure, and the end of Sebastian Vettel’s realistic world championship
Ducati’s MotoGP title contender Andrea Dovizioso believes people are “freaking out” about his strong form this season because they had previously underestimated him. Dovizioso has taken four victories in 2017 and lies second in the standings, 16 points behind main title rival Marc Marquez with four races left this season. His tally of wins for