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

Rossi ends row with Honda

01 February 2002

Valentino Rossi ended his contract row with Honda on Friday and signed a two-year deal to ride the four-stroke RCV. The 22-year-old Italian will fly to Japan tomorrow to officially sign and attend a...

Sauber GP project is revived

01 February 2002

SAUBER’S four-stroke GP project is definitely back on – and the bike could be tested again within six weeks. Development of the GP1, which was given its public debut by Niall Mackenzie in Malaysia...

GP noise limit raised to 125dB

01 February 2002

NOISE limits for the new four-stroke GP class have been raised to make the series more appealing to fans. There had been a concern that under the current limit of 113dB post-race (110dB pre-race),...

Checa tries latest M1 at Almeria

28 January 2002

Carlos Checa has been out on the latest version of Yamaha’s factory four-stroke YZR-M1 at Almeria this week. The Marlboro Yamaha rider evaluated new engine and suspension parts in his first outing...

Ducati to unveil GP engine

28 January 2002

Ducati will unveil details of the new four-stroke GP motor it will race in 2003 on Monday. The Italian marque will release computer aided images of the new engine, plus technical details about the new bike which has been under development since bosses announced at last year’s Spanish GP in Jerez that it would enter the four-stroke fray. Four-stroke mania is gathering more and more momentum with...

Honda confident Rossi will sign

21 January 2002

Valentino Rossi’s contract bust-up with Honda looks like drawing to an amicable conclusion, ending speculation that the reigning world champion might actually walk away to join a rival. Both parties...

McWilliams webchat; full transcript

21 January 2002

GP racer Jeremy McWilliams reckons NSR500 rider Daijiro Katoh will be the man to challenge Honda four-stroke rider Valentino Rossi for the title this season. Biaggi and Nakano will be the men...

Jeremy McWilliams: In his own words

21 January 2002

Flanker: Jezza, what are your thoughts of the up-and-coming season. Do you think you’ll win the title? JeremyMcWilliams: *laughs*. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I had a chance, and I was very encouraged after the first test. Especially lapping within the top four times over a simulated race distance. Genuinely we’re happy. I never thought we’d be so close so soon. I’d never ridden on...

Kawasaki’s four-stroke GP bike to debut this season

21 January 2002

Kawasaki’s new four-cylinder four-stroke GP bike will feature in selected races in this year’s GP world championship. The Japanese company announced on Tuesday morning that its new in-line four is...

Capirossi makes the most of Rossi’s absence

21 January 2002

Valentino Rossi’s no-show and dismal weather put a dampener on Honda’s latest GP test at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia on Monday. While rivals like Loris Capirossi and Alex Barros were making their...

Now Ukawa betters Rossi by almost a second

21 January 2002

Tohru Ukawa suffered another crash on the final day of Honda’s four-stroke test in Malaysia on Wednesday but it didn’t stop the Japanese rider from going almost a second under Valentino Rossi’s lap...

Aprilia’s four-stroke RS3 racer tested for first time

21 January 2002

Aprilia’s new four-stroke RS3 three-cylinder four-stroke GP bike was wheeled out for testing for the first time on Thursday at Jerez in Spain. Regis Laconi didn’t throw his leg over the new machine.

Morrison to ride for BMW GB in BoxerCup

21 January 2002

BMW GB has confirmed its team line-up for this year’s International BoxerCup – the one-make series that supports the MotoGP and World Endurance Championships. Current World Endurance Champion Brian...

Ukawa beats Rossi’s record in Sepang test

21 January 2002

Tohru Ukawa broke the Sepang lap record on Tuesday, day two of Honda’s latest test, as record holder Valentino Rossi sat at home waiting to resolve his contract dispute with Honda. Ukawa clocked a...

Suzuki to run four-stroke GP bike in home series, too

21 January 2002

A year ahead of schedule, Kenny Roberts got a ride on Suzuki’s new four-stroke GP bike when he tested the V4 XRE0 in Japan over the weekend. And his hopes of getting back to winning ways on it have...

Rossi in contract dispute with Honda

14 January 2002

Reigning world champion Valentino Rossi’s future with Honda has been thrown into doubt in a contract dispute with Japanese bosses. The world’s number one rider and the world’s biggest manufacturer are...

Roberts focuses on victory – no matter what he rides

14 January 2002

Former world champion Kenny Roberts says he doesn’t care what kind of bike he rides as long as it gets him back to beating rivals Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi in 2002. The 28-year-old American is...

New British four-stroke twin for GPs

14 January 2002

Maxsym Engine Technology Ltd have given a public debut to a concept parallel twin-cylinder motor named MC2, which it hopes will be raced in GPs in the season after next. Like Kenny Roberts’ Proton...

Honda 250 hits crisis before it’s raced

14 January 2002

Honda’s new development works 250 GP bike has hit a crisis before it has even been raced as the team it was to be run in this season teeters on the brink of collapse. The RS250R-W, which is due to...

McWilliams tries his 2002 KR3 for the first time

14 January 2002

Britain’s Jeremy McWilliams kicked off his 2002 MotoGP campaign in Jerez on Wednesday, getting his first chance to test Kenny Roberts’ Proton KR3. The Ulsterman joined new team-mate Nobuatsu Aoki and...

PlayStation is more than a game for Davies

07 January 2002

Most 14 year-olds spend hours on their PlayStation trying to register high scores but it’s a little more serious for British youngster Chaz Davies. He is currently spending hours with the controls in...

Pit stops and non-stop races for 2003

07 January 2002

Rain will no longer delay the start or cause races to be paused from 2003 in both GPs and WSB. Racers will be able to make pit stops to change tyres to match changing conditions. Or, of course, they...

Full GP entry lists for 2002 revealed

07 January 2002

The FIM has just announced the entry lists for the three MotoGP classes in 2002. They are listed in full right here. 125cc class: 1 Manuel Poggiali, RSM Gilera Gilera Racing Team 4 Lucio Cecchinello...

Four-stroke rivals head-to-head next month

01 January 2002

February 15 will be a landmark day in the future of GP racing because it’s the day when Honda’s RCV, Yamaha’s YZR-M1, Suzuki’s XRE0 and Aprilia’s RS3 will all clash on the track for the first...

World’s biggest GP round to become finale

16 December 2001

THE biggest GP of the year will now act as the final round of next year’s world championship. Valencia, which attracted over 200,000 fans over three days this year, will now be held on November 3...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Harada secures 500 ride

09 December 2001

Tetsuya Harada has finally secured his deal to ride a 500 in the 2002 world championship. The 31-year-old former world 250 champion will be run by Shell Advance team boss Jeff Hardwick but not under...

Laconi lands Aprilia GP four-stroke ride

09 December 2001

Regis Laconi will ride the gorgeous Aprilia four-stroke GP bike in next season’s world championship. It seems his one-off victory in last year’s final WSB round did him a truck load of favours. He may...

Capirossi’s first test scheduled

09 December 2001

Loris Capirossi’s works Honda 500 team have confirmed five pre-season tests for the Italian despite rumours that he is poised to make a surprise switch to Aprilia’s four-stroke effort. Capirossi, who...