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

Moto2: Lowes needs to pull points back from Zarco

10 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

Moto2: Lowes needs to pull points back from Zarco

Sam Lowes says he’s going into this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix with one clear target – to pull back championship points form reigning Moto2 champion Johann Zarco. Zarco pulled clear of the chasing...

MotoGP: Engine upgrades for Aprilia in Austria

10 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Engine upgrades for Aprilia in Austria

The Aprilia RS-GP machines of Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl will have an improved engine specification for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, as well as an improved aerodynamic package to cope...

MotoGP: Red Bull Ring data ‘as precious as gold’ for Suzuki

10 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Red Bull Ring data ‘as precious as gold’ for Suzuki

The data gathered by the Suzuki MotoGP team at their two-day test before the summer break at the new Red Bull Ring will be ‘as precious as gold’ when the series returns to the Austrian track this...

MotoGP: Smith out to turn around season at Austria

09 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Smith out to turn around season at Austria

Bradley Smith says he’s out this weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix to turn around his season, after a difficult start to 2016 so far for the Tech 3 Yamaha racer. Coming after a long three week summer...

MotoGP: Marquez relaxed after summer break

09 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Marquez relaxed after summer break

Marc Marquez says he’s ready to get stuck back into the 2016 MotoGP season after making then most of his summer break to recharge his batteries. With a three-week break in the calendar since the last...

MotoGP: Aleix Espargaro reviews the first half of 2016

09 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Aleix Espargaro reviews the first half of 2016

Suzuki Racing sat down with Aleix Espargaro to talk MotoGP, Suzuki GSX-RR machine developments and his expectations for the rest of the season ahead of this weekend’s Red Bull Ring race in Austria.

MotoGP: Barbera ‘the Yamaha and Honda will struggle’

08 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Barbera ‘the Yamaha and Honda will struggle’

Hector Barbera says he’s expecting to see both Yamaha and Honda machinery struggle this weekend at MotoGP’s new venue the Red Bull Ring – and that he’s out to make the most of it on the Avintia...

MotoGP: Monster Tech 3 Yamaha heads to the beach

08 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Monster Tech 3 Yamaha heads to the beach

Where do MotoGP bikes go on holiday during the summer break? Well, if Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s latest video is to believed, they go to the same place as MotoGP racers do – to the beach!

Moto2: Forward Racing confirm Baldassarri and Marini for 2017

05 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

Moto2: Forward Racing confirm Baldassarri and Marini for 2017

Forward Racing have confirmed that they will retain the services of Valentino Rossi protégés Lorenzo Baldassarri and Luca Marini for the 2017 season, extending the pair’s deal for another year after a...

Moto2: Zarco ‘I have to be champion again’

03 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

Moto2: Zarco ‘I have to be champion again’

Reigning champion Johann Zarco says that he believes that he has to become the first every rider to retain the Moto2 championship – and says that knowing what the experience of winning was like last...

Silverstone MotoGP ticket offer

03 August 2016 by MCN Sport

Silverstone MotoGP ticket offer

With the Octo British GP in sight, you can still receive a 10% ticket offer thanks to Silverstone for the September 2-4 event. The offer gives a 10% discount for three-day adult admission and Sunday...

MotoGP: Hayden hoping for a tenth Rossi title

03 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Hayden hoping for a tenth Rossi title

2006 MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden says he’s hoping that 2016 will see Valentino Rossi lift his record tenth title in the premiere class. Speaking to MCN at the Suzuka 8 Hour, where the Honda...

MotoGP: Lowes continues Aprilia form

02 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Lowes continues Aprilia form

Sam Lowes has once again impressed on his second outing on the Aprilia RS-GP machine, after he was able to take to the track alongside his MotoGP rivals for the first time at last week’s Red Bull Ring...

Moto2: Forward Racing complete wind tunnel testing

02 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

Moto2: Forward Racing complete wind tunnel testing

Forward Racing have become the latest Moto2 team to take to the wind tunnel in an attempt to increase performance, as they use aerodynamic testing to utilise the best positioning on the bike for their...

Moto3: Binder ‘fighting for this was my goal’

01 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

Moto3: Binder ‘fighting for this was my goal’

Moto3 championship leader Brad Binder has admitted that despite doing his best to not focus on the fight to be world champion just yet, his season so far is going according to the pre-season plan he...

MotoGP: Stoner voices Red Bull Ring safety concerns

01 August 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Stoner voices Red Bull Ring safety concerns

While he might have enjoyed a successful test at the Red Bull Ring, Casey Stoner has been one of a number of racers to hit out at the safety aspects of the new circuit, saying that he believes that...

MotoGP: Honda set to struggle in Austria

29 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Honda set to struggle in Austria

Honda’s winning streak of recent rounds may well come to a end when MotoGP returns from their summer break to head to the Red Bull Ring next month, with MCN’s sources in the paddock suggesting that it...

Moto2: Zarco and Binder among riders sampling Red Bull Ring

28 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

Moto2: Zarco and Binder among riders sampling Red Bull Ring

Reigning Moto2 world champion Johann Zarco and Moto3 championship leader Brad Binder have been among a number of riders from the junior classes who have sampled MotoGP’s newest circuit this week. The...

Moto2: Who the hell is Luca Marini?

27 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

Moto2: Who the hell is Luca Marini?

It’s not always the step up in racing to be a member of one of the famous dynasties of the sport like a Dunlop or a Haslam… so imagine how it must feel to be the half brother of one Mr Valentino...

MotoGP: Final video of Rossi series released

27 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Final video of Rossi series released

Monster Energy have released the final video in their five-part series paying tribute to Valentino Rossi, opening the doors on behind the scenes in the life of MotoGP’s biggest star. You can watch the...

MotoGP: Crutchlow silences the critics

27 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Crutchlow silences the critics

Cal Crutchlow has silenced his critics by taking a stunning debut MotoGP podium of the 2016 season at Sachsenring, using the wet conditions and his tyres to his advantage to return to the winners’...

MotoGP: Cecchinello ‘We needed that finish’

26 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Cecchinello ‘We needed that finish’

LCR Honda team boss Lucio Cecchinello admitted to MCN after last Sunday’s German Grand Prix that after a difficult start to the 2016 season for them, Crutchlow’s podium during Sunday’s race couldn’t...

Opinion: Rossi screw-up ends title chances?

26 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

Opinion: Rossi screw-up ends title chances?

To call Sunday’s MotoGP race an unmitigated disaster for the factory Movistar Yamaha duo of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo would perhaps be understating just how much the to hugely experienced...

MotoGP: Marquez ‘intermediates don’t exist to us’

25 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Marquez ‘intermediates don’t exist to us’

While the gamble to switch straight from full wets to slicks – and forego Michelin’s new intermediate option tyres – eventually proved to be the move that won last weekend’s German Grand Prix for Marc...

MotoGP: Michelin rush tyres to meet Sachsenring challenges

25 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Michelin rush tyres to meet Sachsenring challenges

Michelin have once again shown the level to which they’re prepared to push in MotoGP after rushing special tyres from their headquarters in southern France to the Sachsenring after conditions changed...

MotoGP: Rossi calls for introduction of race radios

25 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Rossi calls for introduction of race radios

One of the calls Valentino Rossi made in the aftermath of last week’s disastrous German Grand Prix for him was for the potential introduction of ship-to-shore communications as used extensively in the...

Moto2: Technical report confirms rider error as cause of Salom crash

22 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

Moto2: Technical report confirms rider error as cause of Salom crash

A technical report compiled by independent experts and released today by MotoGP Technical Director Danny Aldridge has confirmed the cause of the tragic incident in which Luis Salom lost his life...

MotoGP: Rossi ‘Red Bull Ring is very particular’

22 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Rossi ‘Red Bull Ring is very particular’

Valentino Rossi has described MotoGP’s latest circuit in Austria as ‘very particular,’ after the nine-time world champion spent two days on track testing at the Red Bull Ring. The scene of his first...

MotoGP: Suzuki make vital progress at Red Bull Ring test

22 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Suzuki make vital progress at Red Bull Ring test

The Suzuki MotoGP squad of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales made vital progress at this week’s test at MotoGP’s scenic new track in Austria, after experimenting with a number of electrical...

Moto3: Germany ‘neither good nor bad’ for title leader Binder

21 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

Moto3: Germany ‘neither good nor bad’ for title leader Binder

Sunday’s German round of the 2016 Moto3 championship was ‘neither good nor bad’ for title leader Brad Binder, after he managed to keep his cool in tricky conditions to take some valuable championship...

MotoGP: Iannone ends Austria test on top as Ducati continue to dominate

20 July 2016 by Oli Rushby

MotoGP: Iannone ends Austria test on top as Ducati continue to dominate

Ducati continued to dominate as the two-day MotoGP test at Austria’s Red Bull Ring drew to a close today, with Andrea Iannone taking charge at the top of the timesheets from team mate Dovizioso. It...

MotoGP: Rossi admits higher than sixth unlikely

20 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Rossi admits higher than sixth unlikely

Valentino Rossi has admitted that he thinks even finishing higher than sixth in Sunday’s MotoGP race at Sachsenring, where he eventually finished eighth, was unlikely, after struggling in the second...

MotoGP: Kallio confirms KTM wildcard at Valencia

20 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Kallio confirms KTM wildcard at Valencia

KTM MotoGP test rider Mika Kallio has confirmed rumours that the series’ newest manufacturer will make a wildcard appearance at the final round of the 2016 season at Valencia, ahead of their debut...

MotoGP: Ducati dominate Red Bull Ring test as KTM impress

19 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Ducati dominate Red Bull Ring test as KTM impress

Ducati have lived up to expectations of MotoGP’s new circuit in Austria suiting the Desmosedici by dominating the opening day of testing at the Red Bull Ring. Locking the top four spots, it was Andrea...

MotoGP: Day of Champions tickets now on sale

19 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Day of Champions tickets now on sale

Tickets are finally on sale for Day of Champions, MotoGP’s annual and much anticipated charity fundraiser held annually at the British round of the series at Silverstone. Seeing all the top riders...

MotoGP: Lost knee slider costs Smith the chance to fight

19 July 2016 by Simon Patterson

MotoGP: Lost knee slider costs Smith the chance to fight

Bradley Smith was left unable to push as hard as he believed that he was capable of during Sunday’s German MotoGP race at Sachsenring, after an opening lap collision with Yonny Hernandez left him...