2011

Wayne Gardner backs Ben Spies to star in 2011

11 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Former world champion Wayne Gardner has backed Ben Spies to emerge as a major threat to Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa’s domination of MotoGP in 2011. The top quartet,...

Nicky Hayden seeking more consistency

11 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Nicky Hayden reckons he’s still got to find a more consistently fast pace to mount a regular podium challenge in the 2011 MotoGP world championship. Hayden made a drastic improvement in his second...

Suzuki boss expects brutal racing in MotoGP

11 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Factory Suzuki boss Paul Denning reckons MotoGP fans will be treated to some ‘brutal’ racing in 2011, with competition in the 17-rider field stronger than it has ever been. Many expect a seven-rider...

Honda buoyed by internal competition

11 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

The fierce internal competition between Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli is a major positive for Honda in 2011, says HRC boss Livio Suppo. Honda hasn’t won the premier...

Honda has no big advantage, says Dani Pedrosa

10 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Dani Pedrosa has denied that Honda will start the 2011 MotoGP world championship in Qatar with a big technical advantage over Yamaha and Ducati. The new Honda RC212V has been the dominant bike in...

MCN’s BSB pre-season testing blog: Viva Espana - the final day

10 March 2011 by Gary Pinchin

There’s no such thing as downtime for the technical staff in a professional race team. Even on a disgusting wet, cold day in the middle of nowheresville Spain, when the track’s too slippery for the...

Suzuki unveils new 2011 GSV-R

10 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

This is the new factory Suzuki GSV-R that Alvaro Bautista will race in the 2011 MotoGP world championship. Sporting a striking blue livery inspired by Troy Lee Designs in the colours of title sponsor...

Re-live classic MotoGP races on British Eurosport

09 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

MotoGP fans will be able to re-live some of the best races of the modern era in a special series of ‘Best Battles’ to be screened on British Eurosport during 2011. British Eurosport will screen a...

Andrea Dovizioso expects to mount title challenge

09 March 2011

Andrea Dovizioso believes he can mount a serious threat to win the 2011 MotoGP world championship. The Italian has been in impressive form during the winter testing campaign with the new factory Honda...

Valentino Rossi’s best mate unveils Moto2 squad

09 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi’s lifelong best friend Alessio ‘Uccio’ Salucci unveiled the new Moto2 squad he is helping run in 2011 in Milan yesterday (Tuesday). Salucci helped show off the new Speed Master Team...

MCN BSB blog: First day at Guadix

09 March 2011 by Gary pinchin

After driving down from Cartagena to Guadix yesterday and kicking around the town, having a lazy afternoon, today it was back to business as usual – or so we had hoped. Guadix is a beautifully...

Casey Stoner against extended Qatar MotoGP weekend

08 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Casey Stoner says he is against the new format for the season opening night race in Qatar, with the schedule extended to four days for 2011. Five pratice sessions will take place on Thursday night...

Casey Stoner predicts wide open title fight

08 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Casey Stoner says he’s expecting the 2011 MotoGP world championship fight to be a wide open contest. The Aussie has made an impressive switch to the Repsol Honda squad for the new season and he...

Ben Spies won't be fazed by Jorge Lorenzo threat

08 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Ben Spies won’t be fazed at all by having current MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo as his team-mate in 2011, according to former team boss Herve Poncharal. Spies hasn’t been defeated by a team-mate...

Yamaha more united without Valentino Rossi

08 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Yamaha will attempt to win a fourth successive MotoGP crown in 2011 as a much more united force, according to new factory rider Ben Spies. Following the departure of talisman Valentino Rossi to...

Alvaro Bautista: 'I'm better off alone'

08 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Alvaro Bautista reckons it will be more beneficial for him to operate as the lone rider in Suzuki’s factory MotoGP squad for 2011. The Spaniard will be Suzuki’s single entry this year following the...

Norton continuing MotoGP talks for 2012

07 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Norton continues to be in regular contact with Dorna about a potential 2012 entry in the new 1000cc MotoGP class. But Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta said there was still no guarantee that the legendary...

Rossi's potential tough to gauge, says Colin Edwards

07 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi’s true potential on Ducati’s new factory GP11 will be difficult to fully understand until the Italian has regained 100 per cent fitness. That’s the view of Colin Edwards as Rossi...

Honda desperate for final 800cc glory

07 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Honda bosses have admitted failure to win the final 800cc MotoGP world title in 2011 would be a massive disappointment. HRC hasn’t seriously challenged for an 800cc world title since the class was...

Scott Redding: 'I'm ready to bang fairings again.'

07 March 2011 by Matthew Birt

Scott Redding says he can’t wait for the cut and thrust of competition again having completed his Moto2 world championship preparations in Jerez yesterday (Sunday.) The 18-year-old ended the...

MCN BSB blog: Cartagena and Calafat times

07 March 2011 by Gary Pinchin

Tommy Hill wound up fastest in the four-day test here with a 1:32.9 on the Swan Yamaha but Josh Brookes second and Michael Laverty – each just one tenth of a second further back and Shane Byrne just...

Simpson and Tonus take big gold in Little Silver

07 March 2011 by Paul Harris

The Maxxis British Championships took the gate for the first time in 2011 at Little Silver near the bottom end of the M5. Shaun Simpson made a great impression making his UK debut in the 450 class for Honda, scoring a Toni Cairoli (2-2-2) to take the overall on one of his rare domestic forays. Jason Dougan passed Brad Anderson early on to lead ahead of Simpson and Stephen Sword in race one, but...

Villopoto makes breakthrough at Daytona

06 March 2011 by Paul Harris

It’s been a long time coming, but as the clock ticks over into the second half of the AMA Supercross championship, someone has finally had a decisive break. Ryan Villopoto went to Daytona hanging onto his slender series lead, but by the time he left the Speedway, the lead was out to 23 points – a margin just two points shy of a full win. Given how close the battling has been between the five...