Motorcycle Sport & Bike Racing News | MotoGP, World Superbikes & More

Haslam tries factory R7 but signs to return to GP 250s

16 December 2001

Leon Haslam has tested the factory Virgin Yamaha R7 British superbike but he is still going to sign his world 250 championship contract. Haslam will link up with fellow British rider Jason Vincent in...

Plater faces competition from WSB pair

16 December 2001

Steve Plater could secure the second berth in the fledging Renegade Racing Ducati British superbike team. But he faces competition from last year’s NCR Ducati WSB pairing Broc Parkes and Giovanni...

Plater signs to join Crafar at Virgin Yamaha

16 December 2001

Steve Plater will join Simon Crafar in the Virgin Yamaha squad next season. Team boss Rob McElnea swooped for the 31-year-old after losing James Haydon to Carl Fogarty’s Petronas WSB team. Plater...

Peanut smuggling

16 December 2001

Doesn’t look warm enough for shades

Double your luck

16 December 2001

Take two babes into the shower? It must be Christmas

GPs tune into pit-to-lid radio

16 December 2001

Formula One-style helmet radios could be seen in GPs for the 2003 season. The radios will allow riders to communicate with their team while out on the track. They are under development by American...

Rossi goes even quicker in final day of test

16 December 2001

Valentino Rossi signed off an unbelievable 2001 by going even faster on the final day of Honda’s four-stroke test at Phillip Island today. The Nastro Azzurro rider got his time down to 1.32.00 which...

Rossi beats lap-record pace in first Aussie session

16 December 2001

Reigning world champion Valentino Rossi might not be 100 per cent happy with Honda’s new four-stroke GP bike but he was still well under lap record pace on the first day of testing at Phillip Island...

Borrowed from a Gazelle

16 December 2001

She’s just heard she hasn’t got a seat by the emergency exit on the flight home.

Give us a smile!

16 December 2001

Our photographer didn’t know the Japanese for ” cheese ”

Superbike support classes to join Silverstone 200

16 December 2001

The British superbike supporting cast will be heading to Silverstone as part of the May 6 World Endurance round. Unlike the BSB round held there the previous month, the Endurance meeting will see the...

Try an off-road day with CAS Honda

16 December 2001

CAS Honda, the official Honda UK 250cc World Motocross championship team, is running motocross riding schools at Corby Trials Park. Courses cost £80 a day per rider, which starts at 10am and runs...

Jefferies, McGuinness, Moodie and Rutter for Formula One TT

16 December 2001

After the disappointment of 2001, Isle of Man race organisers are pulling out all the stops with the intention of making 2002 the best TT. Already they’ve lined up David Jefferies, John McGuinness,...

Elias admits he has to be fitter to move up to 250s

16 December 2001

Teenager Toni Elias says he needs to toughen up to cope with the extra power and weight of the 250 he’ll ride in 2002, compared to the 125 he came close to taking the title on in 2001. Elias, who...

Rain cut Hodgson’s test time

16 December 2001

Neil Hodgson’s first test of his 2002 Ducati was a washed out. The MCN Man of the Year was desperate to get on his Testastretta 998R and claw back some of the ground he’s already lost to Chris Walker,...

Yamaha boss searches for partner for Crafar

16 December 2001

Virgin Yamaha’s team-building plans have been thrown into turmoil by James Haydon’s decision to leave for Foggy’s WSB team. Team boss Rob McElnea was fully expecting the 28-year-old to line-up...

Borja returns to Ducati for 2002 WSB season

16 December 2001

Spaniard Juan Borja will be making a return to Ducati in 2002… but with a customer race bike rather than the works 996R he had in 2000. Borja will be racing for the De Cecco Ducati team – the same...

Check her furry cups

16 December 2001

How’s that for a warm front?

Aprilia lets us loose on Corser’s RSV

16 December 2001

Aprilia hasn’t exactly made a habit of letting anyone other than racers and factory testers on its works machinery, yet here I am, waiting to ride the bike that took Troy Corser to fourth in the World...

Whitham grinning after first test on 2002 R6

16 December 2001

Jamie Whitham has been given a first taste of his new 2002-spec Belgarda Yamaha R6 in a test at Cartagena in Spain. Riding with team-mate Paolo Casoli, the test gave Whitham a chance to put new...

Ukawa proves costly… as Rossi goes faster still

16 December 2001

Tohru Ukawa is already proving to be an expensive acquisition to Honda’s new four-stroke camp. He crashed on Thursday at the second day of HRC’s test at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia, hot on...

Nothing like him

16 December 2001

It was the shiney bra which cost her a place in the final of the Colin Edwards look-a-like competition

McWilliams signs to ride Roberts’ KR3

16 December 2001

Jeremy McWilliams signed his contract with Kenny Roberts on Monday to ride a Proton KR3 in next year’s world GP championship. ” I am really happy to have a rider like Jeremy on board, ” said...

Foggy reveals more about his new WSB bikes and team

09 December 2001

Carl Fogarty launched his new WSB team in Italy at the weekend, and revealed that up to 10,000 of the Foggy Petronas triples could be put into production. They will follow the first 75 very expensive...

Get’ em off!

09 December 2001

The MCN girls always want to reveal more.

Roberts to run two-stroke in 2002, four-stroke in 2003

09 December 2001

Kenny Roberts plans to launch a four-stroke GP bike for the 2003 season. The three-times world 500 champion, who runs the Proton team from Banbury in Oxfordshire, said he will continue running his...

Dressing up

09 December 2001

She must be a lion… she certainly ain’t a happy bunny

Paul Denning: In his own words

09 December 2001

Weebleswobble: Can the new 1000 realistically win in 2002? PaulDenning: We started working with the bike in May. The lap times have been better than the 750, so we’re looking forward to competing on a level playing field. The great thing about bike racing is that the rider is still one of the biggest parts of the equation And that’s the attraction for many. If our riders can get 100 per cent we...

The munch bunch

09 December 2001

Gotta chew, gotta chew, gotta chew

Who’s working who?

09 December 2001

Gum on gow. Start the gice mogogige… a gottle of gear, a gottle of gear, etc etc

Top dates for 2002 added

09 December 2001

We’ve already brought you the WSB and GP dates for 2002. Now we’re able to add dates for the World Endurance series, British Superbikes, motocross and events including the Isle of Man TT. Trials and enduro fans aren’t forgotten, either. And if you missed the WSB and GP dates before, don’t worry, we’ve repeated them. All dates are provisional. World Championship Grand Prix Round 1: April 7, Suzuka,...

Hold on tight

09 December 2001

Just after our picture was taken, she had a sneezing fit.

It’s showtime

09 December 2001

It had been a long time since there had been a full performance of Cabaret in the pitlane

Foggy targets Corser

09 December 2001

Troy Corser has been approached by Carl Fogarty to ride the new Petronas World Superbike. He hasn’t said yes to the offer yet because he’s still considering buying his job back at Aprilia. He told...

Heckles joins the Brits in WSB

09 December 2001

Liverpool rider Mark Heckles, 25, will ride a kit-bike Honda VTR SP-2 for the Rumi Honda team in WSB in 2002 in a one-rider team. The kit bike is a far cry from the uncompetitive kit-bikes that were seen in the BSB series in 2000 and are said to be on a performance level with the 2001 bike Colin Edwards had. A delighted Heckles who raced in the European superstock series on a Rumi Honda FireBlade...

Save up to £600 on British race meets

09 December 2001

Octagon season tickets are going on sale for 2002 covering all bike events held at Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Oulton Park , Silverstone and Snetterton. For £100 you can go to all 10 of the major bike...

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