Japan MotoGP 2016

Ben Spies can win before end of 2010

14 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Ben Spies can win at least one of the remaining six MotoGP races remaining in his impressive rookie campaign. That’s the bold prediction of American legend Kevin Schwantz, who has worked closely with...

Loris Capirossi ruled out of Aragon race

13 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Loris Capirossi will miss this weekend’s Motorland Aragon MotoGP race having failed to recover from a hand injury suffered in Misano earlier this month. The veteran Italian severed a tendon in his...

Yamaha boss: ‘I would release Rossi to test Ducati’

13 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Yamaha boss Masao Furusawa has said his personal preference is not to block Valentino Rossi from testing for Ducati in Valencia in early November. But the senior race boss, who was influential in...

Fonsi Nieto relives Indy op nightmare

13 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Fonsi Nieto has revealed he wept uncontrollably after he nearly died following surgery in Indianapolis last month. The 31-year-old broke his left foot in a Moto2 qualifying crash in Indianapolis but...

Dani Pedrosa expects Ducati success for Valentino Rossi

13 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

In-form Spaniard Dani Pedrosa has backed Valentino Rossi to be a big success in 2011 when the Italian completes a switch to Ducati. The nine-times world champion will quit Yamaha at the end of the...

Valentino Rossi looks to match Spaniard's speed

10 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi has conceded Spanish duo Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo are simply too good for him at the moment. The Italian finished in a distant third place in Misano last weekend but was once...

Honda move no distraction, says Casey Stoner

10 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Casey Stoner has scoffed at suggestions that his early decision to sign for Honda has been prime factor in his failure to win a race in almost a year. The Australian agreed to quit Ducati and move to...

India set for MotoGP in 2012

10 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

India could be added to the 2012 MotoGP world championship calendar. A new circuit in Greater Noida has been added to the 2011 Formula One calendar subject to homologation. And bosses at the Jaypee Group Circuit are also keen to host a MotoGP race in the future and could be on the calendar as early as 2012 – the first season for the new 1000cc four-stroke rules. International Race Teams...

Motegi deadline for 2011 Moto2 entries

10 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Teams wishing to participate in the 2011 Moto2 world championship will have to apply for their places by the start of next month’s Japanese Grand Prix at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit. The 250cc...

Factories reject more winter testing

10 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Plans to test in Jerez and Phillip Island during the 2011 MotoGP pre-season have been thrown out by the Motorcycle Sport Manufacturers Association. Proposals submitted last month in Brno saw an...

Scott Redding: ‘It still hasn’t sunk in yet.’

09 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Scott Redding aims to make a track return in Valencia next Monday as the British teenager struggles to come to terms with the tragic death of Shoya Tomizawa in Misano. The Japanese rider died after...

Parents and team pay tribute to Shoya Tomizawa

09 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

The grief stricken parents and Moto2 team of Shoya Tomizawa have issued a statement paying tribute to the talented Japanese rider. The 19-year was fatally injured in a three-rider incident during last...

Nicky Hayden aims to justify new Ducati deal

09 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Nicky Hayden aims to prove the doubters wrong after he recently inked a new two-year deal with Ducati. The 2006 world champion will partner Valentino Rossi in Ducati’s factory squad for 2011 and...

Ducati switch easier for Valentino Rossi than 2004

09 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Winning at Ducati next year will be easier for Valentino Rossi than when he joined Yamaha back in 2004. Rossi’s current factory Yamaha team boss Davide Brivio reckons Rossi’s task will be less complex...

Valentino Rossi tests at Motorland Aragon

08 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Reigning world champion Valentino Rossi has been riding a production Yamaha R1 to familiarise himself with the new Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain today. The new track will host its first MotoGP...

Toni Elias to get LCR Honda chance?

08 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Toni Elias and Alex de Angelis could be thrown a MotoGP lifeline if Randy de Puniet joins Suzuki’s factory squad in 2011. LCR Honda boss Lucio Cecchinello is waiting to find out if de Puniet will quit...

Loris Capirossi silent on Aragon return

08 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Loris Capirossi has made no mention of his chances of being fit for the Motorland Aragon MotoGP race after a successful operation on his badly damaged right little finger. The veteran Italian is a...

Shoya Tomizawa

07 September 2010 by Tom Taylor

I just wanted to use your site and publication to pass on my thoughts and simpathies to the family, friends and team members of Shoya Tomizawa. Although I have never even ridden pillion on a motorbike I have enjoyed watching most forms of motorsports for as long as I care to remember, Moto 2 this season – in my opiniton has been the most exciting, unpredictable and fiercley contested form of...

Shoya Tomizawa had signed 2011 deal in Misano

07 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Shoya Tomizawa had signed a new Moto2 contract for 2011 just hours before he was tragically killed in a crash during the Misano Grand Prix. The emerging Japanese talent had agreed to stay with the...

Loris Capirossi unlikely to be fit for Aragon MotoGP

07 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Factory Suzuki rider Loris Capirossi is a major doubt for the next round of the 2010 MotoGP world championship at the new Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain. The veteran Italian underwent a successful...

MotoGP pays tribute to Shoya Tomizawa

06 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

The MotoGP world has paid tribute to Shoya Tomizawa after the Japanese rider was fatally injured in a crash during Sunday’s Misano Moto2 race. He was fighting for his first podium finish since the...

Shoya Tomizawa death stuns Alex de Angelis

06 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Alex de Angelis has spoken of his shock and sadness after he was involved in a sickening Moto2 crash at Misano yesterday that killed Shoya Tomizawa. The Italian hit Tomizawa after the Japanese rider...

Dani Pedrosa devastated by Shoya Tomizawa’s death

06 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Misano MotoGP winner Dani Pedrosa said his fourth success of 2010 meant nothing following the tragic death of Shoya Tomizawa in the earlier Moto2 race. Pedrosa has cruised to a dominant victory in the...

Scott Redding escapes serious injury

06 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

British rider Scott Redding escaped serious injury in the horrific Moto2 crash in Misano yesterday that claimed the life of emerging Japanese star Shoya Tomizawa. Tomizawa lost control of his Suter...

Cal Crutchlow signs Tech 3 Yamaha MotoGP deal

06 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

British rider Cal Crutchlow has signed a two-year MotoGP deal with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad. As MCN first reported over a month ago, the 24-year-old will join Herve Poncharal’s French-based...

Misano MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa strolls to easy win

05 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Dani Pedrosa claimed a routine start-to-finish victory in another uninspiring MotoGP race at the Misano circuit this afternoon. Pedrosa romped to his second win in a week with a crushing fourth win of...

Misano MotoGP: Shoya Tomizawa dies after Moto2 accident

05 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Shoya Tomizawa, winner of the first ever Moto2 race in Qatar back in April, has died from injuries he suffered in a crash during the Misano Grand Prix today. The Japanese rider was fighting in the...

Misano MotoGP: Bradley Smith just misses podium

05 September 2010 by Matthew Birt

Bradley Smith just missed a heroic 125GP podium in Misano this afternoon by 0.284s after a brilliant late fightback from the British rider. Smith’s podium hopes look dead and buried as he slipped...