2010

Casey Stoner backs Ducati’s Screamer engine plan

Casey Stoner backs Ducati’s Screamer engine plan

Casey Stoner reckons Ducati should seriously consider reverting back to its more powerful Screamer engine for Valentino Rossi in 2011. The Aussie selected a smoother but less powerful Big Bang engine...

Valentino Rossi denies V8 Supercar deal is close

Valentino Rossi denies V8 Supercar deal is close

Valentino Rossi has denied he is close to agreeing a deal to test drive a V8 Supercar in Australia. Rossi was approached about a test and a possible race opportunity by more than one team at the...

Martin signs for Relentless Suzuki

Martin signs for Relentless Suzuki

Guy Martin has signed tor race for the Relentless by TAS Suzuki team in next year’s major road races. The deal was finalised late on Sunday night and MCN was there at the team’s Moneymore-based...

Moto2 to boast 40-rider field in 2011

Moto2 to boast 40-rider field in 2011

Next year’s Moto2 world championship will be contested by a bumper entry of 40 riders after final selection meetings took place in Estoril last weekend. The field will be made up 22 teams, of which 18...

Estoril MotoGP: Valentino Rossi bemoans set-up gamble

Estoril MotoGP: Valentino Rossi bemoans set-up gamble

Valentino Rossi blamed a wrong set-up gamble for his failure to end 2010 world champion Jorge Lorenzo’s domination of the Estoril MotoGP race yesterday. The Italian led for a long spell in the 28-lap...

Estoril MotoGP: Ben Spies aims to ride in final round

Estoril MotoGP: Ben Spies aims to ride in final round

Ben Spies is determined to ride in this weekend’s final MotoGP round in Valencia, despite the American aggravating an old left ankle injury in Estoril yesterday. The Texan’s Estoril debut ended in...

Estoril MotoGP: Andrea Dovizioso ‘gap to Yamaha too much’

Estoril MotoGP: Andrea Dovizioso ‘gap to Yamaha too much’

Andrea Dovizioso’s delight at snatching a last-gasp third place from compatriot Marco Simoncelli in Estoril yesterday was tempered somewhat by the heavy defeat suffered at the hands of Yamaha. The...

Interwetten Honda confirm 2011 withdrawal

Interwetten Honda confirm 2011 withdrawal

Hiroshi Aoyama’s Interwetten Honda squad confirmed in Estoril last night that it would be quitting the MotoGP world championship at the end of the season. The withdrawal of the Swiss-based squad has...

Toni Elias signs LCR Honda deal

Toni Elias signs LCR Honda deal

New Moto2 world champion Toni Elias has signed a deal to join Lucio Cecchinello’s satellite Honda squad in 2011. It marks a quick return to the premier class for the Spaniard, who claimed a historic...

Tech 3 boss delighted with Bradley Smith signing

Tech 3 boss delighted with Bradley Smith signing

Tech 3 Racing Moto2 boss Herve Poncharal has spoken of his delight at capturing British prospect Bradley Smith for 2011. The current Aspar Aprilia rider 125GP rider signed a deal with the French-based...

Bradley Smith signs Tech 3 Moto2 deal

Bradley Smith signs Tech 3 Moto2 deal

Bradley Smith has signed a deal to ride for the Tech 3 Moto2 squad in Estoril today, as was first reported by MCN last week. The 19-year-old will partner French rider and 2008 125GP world champion...

Estoril MotoGP: Marquez takes dramatic win

Estoril MotoGP: Marquez takes dramatic win

Marc Marquez took victory in the 125GP race at Estoril despite having to start from the back of the grid as the race was red flagged. Marquez got a good start and by the end of the first lap was in...

Estoril MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo takes Portugal hat-trick

Estoril MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo takes Portugal hat-trick

Jorge Lorenzo remains undefeated at the Estoril track in Portugal after he claimed his eighth victory of 2010 this afternoon. After a weekend dominated by appalling weather that badly disrupted...

Estoril MotoGP: Scott Redding fourth in Moto2 thriller

Estoril MotoGP: Scott Redding fourth in Moto2 thriller

Scott Redding came close to a stunning Moto2 podium at a windswept Estoril today when he missed third place in a pulsating encounter by just 0.012s. Starting from 25th on the grid after torrential...

Estoril MotoGP: Bradley Smith not concerned about team orders

Estoril MotoGP: Bradley Smith not concerned about team orders

Bradley Smith dodged the tricky issue of team orders after he claimed his third 125GP pole position of the season at a rain-lashed Estoril circuit in Portugal. Gusting winds and heavy rain saw Race...

Estoril MotoGP: Fuel consumption worry for Casey Stoner

Estoril MotoGP: Fuel consumption worry for Casey Stoner

Casey Stoner reckons fuel consumption will play a massive role in Estoril tomorrow if the Grand Prix of Portugal is staged in dry conditions. Stoner will start the penultimate round of the season from...

Estoril MotoGP: Nicky Hayden thrilled with second

Estoril MotoGP: Nicky Hayden thrilled with second

Nicky Hayden was thrilled to find out he’d start second on the grid for tomorrow’s Estoril MotoGP race after he suffered a heavy crash in treacherous conditions morning. With grid positions decided by...

Estoril MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo claims landmark pole position

Estoril MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo claims landmark pole position

Jorge Lorenzo claimed a milestone 42nd career pole position today after severe weather forced the cancellation of today’s qualifying session at the Estoril track in Portugal. Torrential rain and...

Scott Redding to test FTR chassis

Scott Redding will test a British-built FTR chassis at the Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain on Monday. The Gloucestershire rider will use the frame in a back-to-back comparison with the current Swiss manufactured Suter chassis he has campaigned throughout the inaugural Moto2 world championship. The Marc VDS Racing rider is likely to continue to race the Suter frame in 2011 having been chosen as...

Ducati confirm Valentino Rossi crew for Valencia test

Ducati confirm Valentino Rossi crew for Valencia test

Ducati has confirmed that all of Valentino Rossi’s crew have been released to work with the Italian when he makes his much-hyped Bologna factory debut in Valencia next month. Rossi was released from...

Qualifying cancelled after Estoril monsoon

Qualifying cancelled after Estoril monsoon

Strong winds and heavy rain that battered the Estoril circuit saw qualifying for all three Grand Prix classes abandoned this afternoon. Torrential rain started to fall shortly after midday and with...

Monsoon conditions cause havoc in Estoril

Monsoon conditions cause havoc in Estoril

Monsoon conditions that battered the Estoril track caused havoc this afternoon with qualifying for all three Grand Prix classes postponed. Torrential started to fall shortly after midday and gradually...

Biaggi sets the bar again at Aragon

Biaggi sets the bar again at Aragon

Max Biaggi saved his best until last by posting a blistering 1m.58.0s best lap during the final 30 minutes of the Aragon test today. The 2010 world champion had already posted a 1.58.2 to eclipse...

Kagayama at Croft

Kagayama at Croft

Yukio Kagayama at Croft BSB, 2010

Estoril MotoGP: Brits shine in Portugal monsoon

Estoril MotoGP: Brits shine in Portugal monsoon

Treacherous conditions at the Estoril circuit in Portugal this morning did little to deter British duo Scott Redding and Bradley Smith. Torrential rain and gusting winds battered the Portugal track...

Estoril MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo fastest in practice

Estoril MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo fastest in practice

New MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo continued his love affair with the Estoril track in Portugal today after he topped a rain-hit practice session.  The Fiat Yamaha rider logged a best time of...

Estoril MotoGP: First practice washed out

Estoril MotoGP: First practice washed out

Torrential rain and strong winds meant only eight full laps were completed in this morning’s MotoGP practicr session in Estoril. With practice restored to four sessions for the final two races of...

Casey Stoner aims to equal Wayne Rainey

Casey Stoner aims to equal Wayne Rainey

Casey Stoner reckons Jorge Lorenzo is the biggest hurdle standing in his way as he attempts to equal Wayne Rainey’s MotoGP victory tally in Estoril this weekend. New world champion Lorenzo is...

Valentino Rossi confident of victory challenge

Valentino Rossi confident of victory challenge

Valentino Rossi has backed himself to mount a victory challenge in Estoril this weekend as the Italian plots a successful conclusion to the Yamaha chapter in his glittering career. The 31-year-old is...

Loris Capirossi back at Ducati in 2011

Loris Capirossi back at Ducati in 2011

Loris Capirossi has confirmed he will make a return to Ducati in next year’s MotoGP world championship. The Italian veteran has signed a deal to join the Pramac Ducati squad, as had been widely...

Biaggi heads day two at Aragon, Haslam off the pace

Biaggi heads day two at Aragon, Haslam off the pace

Max Biaggi set the fastest lap time of the second day of testing at Aragon with a best lap of 1m 58.7. The 2010 WSB champion was the only man to lap in the 58’s and was able to do that both this...

Nicky Hayden: ‘No doubt Rossi can win at Ducati’

Nicky Hayden: ‘No doubt Rossi can win at Ducati’

Nicky Hayden told MCN in Estoril this afternoon that he’s keen to hear Valentino Rossi’s first impressions of Ducati’s factory MotoGP contender. And the American says he is no doubt that current Fiat...

Toseland finally confirmed at BMW

Toseland finally confirmed at BMW

As reported in MCN three weeks ago, James Toseland will ride for the BMW Motorrad Italia squad in 2011. The two time WSB champion signed a letter of intent at the final round of the championship at...

Colin Edwards to test Tech 3 Moto2 bike

Colin Edwards to test Tech 3 Moto2 bike

Colin Edwards will switch Grand Prix classes for a brief spell next month when he lends his vast experience to the Tech 3 Racing Moto2 project. The Texan is being lined up to test the French squad’s...

Bradley Smith in Tech 3 Moto2 talks

Bradley Smith in Tech 3 Moto2 talks

Bradley Smith will hold further talks with the Tech 3 Racing Moto2 squad in Estoril this weekend. MCN understands the 19-year-old British rider will negotiate with French team boss Herve Poncharal...

2011 TT to host Mountain course Centenary festival

2011 TT to host Mountain course Centenary festival

Next year marks 100 years of racing on the 37.73mile Mountain course and to celebrate the momentous landmark in motorcycle racing history, a ‘Milestones of the Mountain’ nostalgia festival has been...