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Qatar MotoGP 2016

No more testing, the 2016 MotoGP championship finally gets underway at the 3.3 mile floodlit Losail circuit, with all signs pointing towards reigning champ Jorge Lorenzo as the man to beat.

The factory Yamaha rider set an incredible 11 laps under the lap records over the winter, while his team-mate and rival Valentino Rossi only managed one.

Will Marquez finally click with the new Honda, control ECU and Michelin tyres, or will he just be an occasional annoyance for the title contenders? And let's not forget th surprise of winter testing - wunderkid Maverick Vinales, who pushed Lorenzo all the way in testing in just his second year on the Suzuki.

Year: ALL

First glimpse of MZ GP motor

15 April 2002

First glimpse of MZ GP motor

This is the engine MZ will take into the MotoGP series and which will power the firm’s first superbike. The 90° V4 is already running on the test bench, though so far the firm has only revealed this...

Get GP results on your mobile

15 April 2002

Get GP results on your mobile

Welkom, South Africa is over 5500 miles away, but you can keep bang-up-to-date with this weekend’s GP qualifying news and race results simply by signing up for the latest text messaging service from...

Capirossi leads qualifying in South Africa

15 April 2002

Capirossi leads qualifying in South Africa

Loris Capirossi again blew away the myth that the new generation four-strokes would cruise to this year’s new MotoGP world championship after he comfortably stuck his two-stroke Honda NSR500 on...

Rossi on pole in South Africa

15 April 2002

Valentino Rossi starts as a red-hot favourite for tomorrow’s South African GP at Welkom after a commanding display saw him grab pole position this afternoon. The 23-year-old Italian wasn’t bettered after he’d beaten Loris Capirossi’s provisional pole time from yesterday within seven minutes of today’s final qualifying getting underway. He would improve his time on a further five occasions to show...

World Ducati Weekend debut for GP bike.

15 April 2002

World Ducati Weekend debut for GP bike.

SEE Ducati’s new four-stroke GP missile in the flesh at the World Ducati Weekend in Misano, Italy, on June 14-16. So far only two images of the 990cc V-four bike have been released and this will be...

Poggiali snares provisional Suzuka pole

01 April 2002

Poggiali snares provisional Suzuka pole

REIGNING world champion Manuel Poggiali drew first blood at a sun-drenched Suzuka today when he grabbed provisional pole for Sunday’s opening 125 GP. The Italian was 0.2s faster than Spanish teenager...

Capirossi blasts to Suzuka provisional pole

01 April 2002

Capirossi blasts to Suzuka provisional pole

LORIS CAPIROSSI struck a blow for the supposedly old generation two-strokes as he beat Valentino Rossi and the new RCV to provisional pole position at Suzuka this afternoon. Most people expected the...

Rossi gives Honda RCV pole on Suzuka debut

01 April 2002

Rossi gives Honda RCV pole on Suzuka debut

Valentino Rossi shrugged off his second crash in two days to give the new Honda RCV four-stroke a dream debut in Suzuka today when he grabbed pole position for the historic first MotoGP race. The...

Battaini surprise fastest in 250s

01 April 2002

Battaini surprise fastest in 250s

ITALIAN Franco Battaini was the surprise provisional pole qualifier in the opening 250 qualifying session of 2002 at the Suzuka circuit in Japan today. He pipped fellow works Aprilia rider Fonsi Nieto...

Rossi takes four stroke to victory at Suzuka

01 April 2002

Rossi takes four stroke to victory at Suzuka

Valentino Rossi has begun his first season on a four stroke with victory at Suzuka. The four strokes took the first four places, as Rossi was followed home by Suzuki’s Akira Ryo, Yamaha’s Carlos Checa...

Rossi: two strokes can beat me

25 March 2002

Rossi: two strokes can beat me

Valentino Rossi has been beaten in testing for the second time this year by a two-stroke NSR, and he reckons it won’t be the last time. Daijiro Katoh was again the man. His best lap of 2:04.40 was...

Aprilia GP team meets the world

25 March 2002

Aprilia GP team meets the world

In a glittering ceremony at the firm’s Italian HQ, has Aprilia revealed the final look of its four-stroke Grand Prix contender and team. Company chief Ivano Beggio introduced the gorgeous RS3 ‘Cube’...

Kawasaki GP prototype tests chassis at Suzuka

25 March 2002

Kawasaki GP prototype tests chassis at Suzuka

Kawasaki’s four-stroke GP machine prototype debuted a new aluminium twin-spar chassis at the Suzuka tests. On the day that the factory unveiled concept images of the new ZX-RR machine(see right)...

Roberts: Help me win or I’m off

18 March 2002

Roberts: Help me win or I’m off

Kenny Roberts will quit Suzuki if its new GSV-R four-stroke is not competitive this season. He told MCN: ” If I have to get on a more competitive bike in 2003, that is what I’ll do. I want to be back...

2002-03-25

18 March 2002

2002-03-25

KAWASAKI has just released the first pictures and early details of its new four-stroke GP machine. The factory has confirmed that the bike, called the ZX-RR Ninja, will be an in-line four-cylinder...

Katoh edges out Rossi in Suzuka test

18 March 2002

Katoh edges out Rossi in Suzuka test

THE four-strokes won’t have it all their own way in the new Moto-GP class if Daijiro Katoh’s performance was anything to go by on the last day of Honda’s Suzuka test. He edged out Valentino Rossi on...

MCN Sport magazine out now

11 March 2002

MCN Sport magazine out now

Don’t miss MCN Sport’s latest issue. It’s out nowand comes complete with our greatest ever season preview, Rossi’s go-faster secrets and why James Toseland is fitter than David Beckham. And on top of...

IRTA test: Rossi leads the way

11 March 2002

IRTA test: Rossi leads the way

18,000 fans turned out to see Valentino Rossi dominate the IRTA GP test at the Catalunya circuit near Barcelona at the weekend. It was the first clash between the new four-stroke title contenders and...

Rossi & co head-to-head this weekend

04 March 2002

Rossi & co head-to-head this weekend

Valentino Rossi will clash with his major GP rivals on Saturday in the first meeting of all the new four-strokes at the Catalunya circuit near Barcelona. The reigning world champion though will be...

Just how good is Rossi?

04 March 2002

Just how good is Rossi?

With the big GP tests coming up at Barcelona this weekend, Valentino Rossi remains THE man to beat this season. But what gives him the edge? We’ve got all the datalogging info to reveal exactly where...

McCrae firm signs up schoolboy Chaz

01 March 2002

McCrae firm signs up schoolboy Chaz

British teenager Chaz Davies has been signed by a new sports management company run by former world rally champion Colin McRae. The 15-year-old, who will ride a kitted Aprilia in this year’s world 125...

Riba quits WSS to take Criville ride

01 March 2002

Riba quits WSS to take Criville ride

Spanish World Supersport star Pere Riba has quit his Honda team to take Alex Criville’s vacant works Yamaha GP slot. It was confirmed on Friday morning in Spain that negotiations between Riba and team...

Criville up all night to solve fainting fits

25 February 2002

Criville up all night to solve fainting fits

Alex Criville will be locked in a room and made to stay awake for over two days in a bid to pinpoint the cause of the fainting fits which forced him to take a break from GPs this season. One of the...

First blood to two-strokes at GP test

18 February 2002

First blood to two-strokes at GP test

Yamaha’s supposedly ” best ” bike, in the hands of its ” best ” riders, was left trailing in the wake of Gary McCoy’s two-stroke at Valencia’s opening ITRA test. In fact, McCoy’s YZR (a full 14kg...

McCoy faces race to be fit

18 February 2002

McCoy faces race to be fit

TOP GP rider Garry McCoy has been flown by private plane to Austria for a specialist assessment on a double break of his right leg. The Red Bull Yamaha 500 rider was airlifted from Estoril in Portugal...

Criville: I’ll be back… I hope

18 February 2002

Criville: I’ll be back… I hope

Former world 500 champion Alex Criville’s ” retirement ” will be short-lived, if he can win his battle against fainting fits. Criville revealed his decision to pull out for at least six months, on...

Davies, 15, makes GP test debut

18 February 2002

Davies, 15, makes GP test debut

Chaz Davies clocked the 29th fastest time on day one of the 125cc IRTA tests at Valencia, which conclude on Tuesday. British schoolboy Davies, 15, only completed 27 laps but managed a respectable time...

Harada crashes in testing

18 February 2002

Harada crashes in testing

Honda rider Tetsuya Harada’s 2002 world championship preparations have suffered a massive blow after he highsided his NSR500 and broke a collarbone in tests at Estoril. The former world 250 champion...

Details of Ducati GP bike emerge

18 February 2002

Details of Ducati’s GP V4 four-stroke are emerging and there is now confirmation that a road bike based on it " is in the plans " . First pictures of the race bike are expected to emerge in three to four weeks. They will show a Ducati unlike any other. The bike is currently being wind-tunnel tested to ensure optimum efficiency. It will have a long nose, a minimalist five-tube trellis frame and be...

Roberts’ test feedback inspires next XRE0

11 February 2002

Roberts’ test feedback inspires next XRE0

Suzuki is already working on the next generation of its XRE0 four-stroke engine based on feedback from Kenny Roberts and Sete Gibernau current winter testing at the Eastern Creek circuit in...

Suzuki & Kawasaki four-strokes have it all to do

11 February 2002

Suzuki & Kawasaki four-strokes have it all to do

SUZUKI and Kawasaki look to have their work cut out to catch Valentino Rossi and the Honda V5 this season… or the next. All three factories tested at Sepang last week, and while Rossi and the RCV were...

£10m Rossi THREE seconds under lap record

11 February 2002

£10m Rossi THREE seconds under lap record

VALENTINO ROSSI and the new Honda RCV four-stroke have gone an incredible THREE SECONDS faster than lap record pace in tests at Sepang, Malaysia. The reigning world champ’s unprecedented performance...

Criville announces retirement

11 February 2002

Criville announces retirement

Former world 500 champion Alex Criville is retiring from racing. Criville, who became Spain’s first world 500 champion in 1999, was expected to hold a press conference during the second day of the...

Ducati reveals plan for V4 engine

04 February 2002

Ducati reveals plan for V4 engine

Ducati has broken with its V-twin tradition with its proposed GP engine: It’s going to be a V4. And while company bosses were giving little away when they released the news at 3pm CET on February 4,...

First pictures: Kawasaki’s GP four-stroke

04 February 2002

First pictures: Kawasaki’s GP four-stroke

KAWASAKI’S new four-stroke GP bike has tested at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia – and this early prototype is said to have a lot in common with the firm’s ZX-7R superbike. Underneath the fairing is a...

MZ unveils ‘250bhp’ V4 GP bike

04 February 2002

MZ unveils ‘250bhp’ V4 GP bike

THESE are the first pictures of MZ’s contender for the new four-stroke MotoGP series. At the bike’s launch in Leipzig, Germany, the firm announced that a version of the bike’s 250bhp, 90-degree V4...