Motorcycle Sport & Racing News

Cal Crutchlow storms to front row, Stoner on pole

Cal Crutchlow storms to front row, Stoner on pole

Cal Crutchlow will start from the front row of the grid for the third time in the opening five races of 2012 at Catalunya tomorrow having qualified his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine in third...

Moto3: Maverick Vinales claims home pole position in Catalunya

Spaniard Maverick Vinales will start his home Moto3 race tomorrow from pole position after topping the qualifying timesheets in scorching hot conditions at the Catalunya track near Barcelona. A lap of 1.52.160 secured Vinales his second successive pole of 2012 by 0.268s, with Malaysian Zulfhami Khairuddin claiming a brilliant second on the grid. French GP winner Louis Rossi completed the front row...

Isle of Man TT: Cummins out of today’s Superbike TT race

Isle of Man TT: Cummins out of today’s Superbike TT race

Conor Cummins has just withdrawn from today’s six-lap Superbike TT race. The Manxman suffered two broken fingers in his right hand at the North West 200 just over a week ago. Cummins has practiced on...

Isle of Man TT blog: Superbike form guide? No chance for the betting man

Isle of Man TT blog: Superbike form guide? No chance for the betting man

We got back to hotel last night after practice had been curtailed by two incidents:  a crash at Ballaugh that left oil on the course, and a huge oil spillage at the top of Barregarow. There had been...

Shane Byrne to test Paul Bird’s MotoGP bike at Catalunya

Shane Byrne will test the Paul Bird Motorsport Aprilia ART machine at Monday’s MotoGP test at the Catalunya circuit near Barcelona. The British Superbike title contender will offer his thoughts on the bike, with James Ellison struggling with a severe chatter issue again. The Cumbrian was 20th fastest on the opening day yesterday (Friday) and was over two seconds slower than Randy de Puniet, who...

Isle of Man TT: Friday Practice - Final Qualifying Session Cut Short

Isle of Man  TT: Friday Practice - Final Qualifying Session Cut Short

With the beautiful weather returning to the Isle of Man once more, expectations were high going into the final evening’s practice session on Friday but it all came to nothing as an oil spill left the...

Casey Stoner: Unfazed by Practice Pace

Casey Stoner: Unfazed by Practice Pace

Reigning world champion Casey Stoner is confident he will be battling for pole position in Catalunya tomorrow, despite finishing the opening day of practice down in a lowly sixth position. The...

Cal Crutchlow: ‘I’m not afraid of riding the Ducati’

British rider Cal Crutchlow says he would have no fears about trying to tame Ducati’s notoriously finicky Desmosedici if the Bologna factory offered him a 2013 MotoGP deal. Crutchlow’s impressive performances in 2012 have seen him linked with a move to Yamaha’s official factory squad next season. The 26-year-old though is also likely to be the subject of Honda and Ducati interest having claimed...

Jorge Lorenzo: ‘My priority is to stay with Yamaha’

Jorge Lorenzo: ‘My priority is to stay with Yamaha’

Jorge Lorenzo has again insisted his number one priority is to renew his contract with Yamaha, as speculation about the Spaniard’s future continues to be a major talking point in the MotoGP...

Catalunya MotoGP: Lack of Rear Grip Worries Rossi

Catalunya MotoGP: Lack of Rear Grip Worries Rossi

Valentino Rossi Valentino Rossi came crashing back down to earth with a bump today after the Italian ended the opening day of practice at the Catalunya circuit down in a disappointing 12th...

Catalunya MotoGP: Lorenzo on top after first day

Catalunya MotoGP: Lorenzo on top after first day

Factory Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo set the fastest time of the first day at Catalunya, with a 1.42’099 in the second free practice session in sunny conditions. San Carlo Gresini Honda rider Alvaro...

Isle of Man TT: Anstey and Rutter set the pace

Isle of Man TT: Anstey and Rutter set the pace

After the excitement of the previous night’s first 130mph+ lap, it was the veteran competitors that showed the young pretenders the way in Thursday’s qualifying session for the 2012 Isle of Man TT...

Nicky Hayden eager to evaluate Ducati upgrades in Catalunya

Nicky Hayden eager to evaluate Ducati upgrades in Catalunya

Nicky Hayden says he can’t wait to see if new technical upgrades to his Ducati GP12 machine will reap immediate rewards when practice starts for the Catalunya Grand Prix tomorrow (Friday). The...

Cal Crutchlow gets brake upgrade for Catalunya

Cal Crutchlow gets brake upgrade for Catalunya

Cal Crutchlow will race in this weekend’s Catalunya MotoGP round in Spain with the latest spec 2012 Brembo front brake calipers and pads having backed down on his refusal to buy them out of his...

Win British Superbike tickets with WD-40!

Win British Superbike tickets with WD-40!

MCN and WD-40 Specialist are giving one reader the chance to win a VIP day for themselves and a guest at Oulton Park International British Superbikes on July 8. The competition is to celebrate the...

Improved acceleration focus for Yamaha in test double-header

Improved acceleration focus for Yamaha in test double-header

Yamaha will focus on improving acceleration and grip on corner exit when Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies test a host of YZR-M1 updates in Catalunya and Motorland Aragon next week. The pair will evaluate...

Yamaha: No extra pressure on Ben Spies

Yamaha: No extra pressure on Ben Spies

Yamaha has denied that Texan Ben Spies is under increasing pressure to improve his results as he goes in search of his first top six finish of a troubled 2012 world championship campaign in Catalunya...

Chaz Davies doubts Casey Stoner will step out of retirement

Chaz Davies doubts Casey Stoner will step out of retirement

Chaz Davies doubts that close friend Casey Stoner will return to racing once the reigning world champion retires from MotoGP at the end of the 2012. Stoner stunned the racing world earlier this month...

Isle of Man TT: McGuinness hits 130 before mist calls a halt to practice

Isle of Man TT: McGuinness hits 130 before mist calls a halt to practice

Competitors were met with considerably different conditions for the third night of practice at the 2012 Isle of Man TT Races powered by Monster Energy and although dry, the temperature was down on the...

Isle of Man TT blog: Cameron Donald’s supercross charge

Isle of Man TT blog: Cameron Donald’s supercross charge

There I was, in the gym at 7.15am this morning – stupidly had a 15-minute lie-in and missed the doors actually opening – giving it max on the rower, listening to Manx Radio. And there was some chat of...

Meeting Lorenzo

Meeting Lorenzo

A picture of my son, Jonathan with Jorge Lorenzo at Silverstone during last year’s MotoGP before the rain came.

Chad's TT 2012 blog - preparing the bike

Chad's TT 2012 blog - preparing the bike

MCN Senior Road Tester Adam ‘Chad’ Child is racing at the Isle of Man TT 2012 this year, fulfilling a lifetime’s ambition. After completing his first practice laps of the circuit on Saturday May 26...

Isle of Man TT blog: Mackman gives Norton V4 it’s tentative first TT lap

Isle of Man TT blog: Mackman gives Norton V4 it’s tentative first TT lap

112.36mph. By Senior TT standards that’s not fast. But it was a landmark for Stuart Garner’s Norton team as Ian Mackman completed the all-new V4’s first lap of the 37.73 Mountain course. I know there...

Isle of Man TT: McGuinness and Donald up the ante

Isle of Man TT: McGuinness and Donald up the ante

Competitors were met with yet another dry, sunny evening for the third practice session of the 2012 Isle of Man TT Races with conditions described as dry and clear all the way around the course,...

Chad's TT 2012 blog - the paddock

Chad's TT 2012 blog - the paddock

MCN Senior Road Tester Adam ‘Chad’ Child is racing at the Isle of Man TT 2012 this year, fulfilling a lifetime’s ambition. After completing his first practice laps of the circuit on Saturday May 26...

Isle of Man TT: McGuinness sets the pace with 128mph practice lap

Isle of Man TT: McGuinness sets the pace with 128mph practice lap

A dry, sunny evening met the competitors for Monday evening’s practice session with conditions described as good all around the course. Riders were again warned of wet tar at Guthrie’s whilst the...

Isle of Man TT blog: McGuinness throws the gauntlet down

Isle of Man TT blog: McGuinness throws the gauntlet down

So there I was, sat in my hotel room at around 10 yesterday morning crashing out the MCN back page bits and bobs from Snetterton BSB. We’d just jetted into Ronaldsway from Birmingham (always sounds...

Miller WSB Race 2: Melandri wins after epic battle with Rea, Davies fourth

Miller WSB Race 2: Melandri wins after epic battle with Rea, Davies fourth

Despite being delayed for over an hour, the second race at Miller was well worth the wait. After a brilliant race long battle,  Italian Marco Melandri claimed a hard fought victory ahead of Jonathan...

Miller WSB Race one: Checa takes convincing win ahead of determined Melandri

Miller WSB Race one: Checa takes convincing win ahead of determined Melandri

Carlos Checa continued his unprecedented run of form at the Miller Motorsports Park round with a brilliant race one win. The 39 year old Spaniard had to fight hard at the beginning of the race with...

Chad's TT 2012 blog - the first laps

Chad's TT 2012 blog - the first laps

MCN Senior Road Tester Adam ‘Chad’ Child is racing at the Isle of Man TT 2012 this year, fulfilling a lifetime’s ambition. On Saturday May 26 Chad completed his first laps on the closed circuits...

Miller WSB Warm-up – Sykes leads the way from Checa in morning warm-up

Miller WSB Warm-up – Sykes leads the way from Checa in morning warm-up

In sunny conditions Tom Sykes set the fastest time of this morning’s warm-up session at Miller with a best time of 1.49.080. The factory Kawasaki rider topped the time sheets ahead of Carlos Checa,...

Norton announces Santander TT partnership

Norton announces Santander TT partnership

Norton Motorcycles has joined forces with Santander to sponsor Norton for this year’s senior TT. The Norton SG1 (pictured) will race in the senior TT on June 8, in Santander livery. The SG1, which...

WSB Miller Superpole – Smrz backs up qualifying pace with impressive Superpole win

WSB Miller Superpole – Smrz backs up qualifying pace with impressive Superpole win

Liberty Racing Effenbert Ducati rider Jakub Smrz secured a brilliant Superpole win with an impressive lap in the final seconds of the session. The Czech rider has been on stunning form all weekend...

Snetterton BSB: Laverty clinches first race win of season

Snetterton BSB: Laverty clinches first race win of season

Samsung Honda rider Michael Laverty took his first victory of the 2012 campaign in the second race at Snetterton after starting from pole position. Laverty led from start to finish after a good start...

Snetterton BSB: Hill takes race one victory

Snetterton BSB: Hill takes race one victory

Reigning BSB champion Tommy Hill took his second race win of the 2012 season onboard his Swan Yamaha at Snetterton today. Hill’s team-mate last year, Michael Laverty – now on a Samsung Honda – secured...

Miller WSB Q1 – Smrz on top as Ducati’s dominate

Miller WSB Q1 – Smrz on top as Ducati’s dominate

Czech rider Jakub Smrz powered his Liberty Racing Ducati to provisional pole position for the sixth round of the World Superbike Championship at Miller Motorsports Park in America. The 29 year old was...