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

Rabat undergoes successful surgery for broken collarbone

25 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Rabat undergoes successful surgery for broken collarbone

Tito Rabat has undergone successful surgery on the left collarbone that he broke in Mugello on Saturday. His surgery was performed at the Hospital Universitario Dexeus in Barcelona by the highly...

Yamaha engines set for Japanese analysis

24 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Yamaha engines set for Japanese analysis

The failed engines of both Valentino Rossi will now be sent straight back to the firm’s Japanese R&D headquarters for a detailed analysis to identify the cause of the problems, according to Yamaha...

Mugello test hit by heavy rain

24 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Mugello test hit by heavy rain

A test for the Moto2 and Moto3 classes on Monday at Mugello, following on from Sunday’s race at the Italian circuit, ended up a washed out affair, after heavy rain saw many of the field pack up rather...

Baz to undergo surgery tomorrow

24 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Baz to undergo surgery tomorrow

Loris Baz will go under the knife tomorrow morning in Geneva to fix the bones in his foot that were broken in Sunday’s Mugello round of MotoGP. The Frenchman sustained fractures on the second, third,...

Riders for Health closes down UK operations

23 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Riders for Health closes down UK operations

Official MotoGP charity Riders for Health have closed down their UK operations, shuttering their Northamptonshire offices and cutting staff. The charity has cited increasing costs as the reason for...

The world according to Maverick Viñales

23 May 2016 by MCN

The world according to Maverick Viñales

He’s impressed the MotoGP world so much that next year will see Maverick Viñales jumping from Suzuki’s factory MotoGP squad to sit alongside Valentino Rossi at Yamaha. But what’s his outlook on life,...

Crutchlow happy to take race finish

23 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Crutchlow happy to take race finish

Cal Crutchlow says he’s happy to have finished Sunday’s Mugello MotoGP race, despite issues plaguing him from the opening laps. However, after a difficult start to the season on the hard-to-ride Honda...

‘Great shame’ for Rossi in front of home crowd

23 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

‘Great shame’ for Rossi in front of home crowd

Valentino Rossi has described the ‘great shame’ of yesterday’s MotoGP race in front of his home crowd in Mugello, as a blown engine took him out of contention for his first win at the track since...

Lorenzo wins incredible Mugello battle as Rossi DNFs

22 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Lorenzo wins incredible Mugello battle as Rossi DNFs

Jorge Lorenzo has taken an incredible race victory in Mugello, holding off a late charge from Marc Marquez to take the victory in the run to the chequered flag by only 0.065. Lorenzo and Rossi were...

Zarco wins chaotic Moto2 battle

22 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Zarco wins chaotic Moto2 battle

Johann Zarco has got his hopes of retaining his Moto2 world title back on tracks after taking a victory over Lorenzo Baldassarri in a frantic two-part race at Mugello. Pole man Sam Lowes was an early...

Binder wins one of closest races in Grand Prix history

22 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Binder wins one of closest races in Grand Prix history

Brad Binder has taken his third successive victory in one of the closest races in Grand Prix history, taking the victory despite the top five finishing it separated by only a tiny 0.077...

Lowes cruises to Moto2 pole at Mugello

21 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Lowes cruises to Moto2 pole at Mugello

Sam Lowes has cruised to his third Moto2 pole position of the 2016 season, taking the top spot from Takaaki Nakagami in Mugello after controlling the session from the front. Lowes finished 0.047 ahead...

Rossi comes from nowhere for Mugello pole

21 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Rossi comes from nowhere for Mugello pole

Valentino Rossi has burst from outside the top six to take his first pole position for his home race at Mugello since 2008, after an impressive lap in the closing stages of qualifying at the Italian...

VR46 take Moto3 one-two for home race

21 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

VR46 take Moto3 one-two for home race

The Team Sky VR46 duo of Romano Fenati and Andrea Migno have taken a one-two on the grid for their home race in Mugello, after a series of penalties saw the grid for the race moved around. Second...

Rossi unveils Mugello special helmet

21 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Rossi unveils Mugello special helmet

Valentino Rossi has unveiled his now-customary Mugello special edition helmet in this morning’s FP3 session, rolling out the special all-yellow helmet in front of the home crowds as has become his...

Dovi hindered by old neck injury

21 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Dovi hindered by old neck injury

Andrea Dovizioso has spent the opening sessions of his home MotoGP race at Mugello hindered by an old injury, after tweaking the same part of his neck that he injured back in his 250GP...

Zarco finds form to start weekend on top

20 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Zarco finds form to start weekend on top

Reigning Moto2 world champion Johann Zarco has found the form that’s been missing from his performances in recent weeks to top the opening day of practice for the championship’s first trip of 2016 to...

No shocks as Iannone the fastest at Mugello

20 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

No shocks as Iannone the fastest at Mugello

Andrea Iannone was an unsurprising fastest man on the opening day at Mugello, making the most of Ducati’s recent tests at their local circuit to finish the day nearly half a second faster than world...

Ono tops the opening day at Mugello

20 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Ono tops the opening day at Mugello

Japanese rider Hiroki Ono has finished the opening day in Mugello a surprise at the top of the time sheets, making the most of a track where he’s performed well in the past to finish the day a quarter...

Marquez and Lorenzo issued with Mugello bodyguards

20 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Marquez and Lorenzo issued with Mugello bodyguards

Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo have been supplied with bodyguards for this weekend’s MotoGP race in Mugello, as tensions between the duo and Valentino Rossi’s home fans remain high. Appointed by...

Unhappy Espargaró left out in the cold

19 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Unhappy Espargaró left out in the cold

Aleix Espargaró has expressed his discontent at seemingly being left out in the cold by his Suzuki MotoGP team, after they signed new rider Andrea Iannone before even opening negotiations with the...

Coaching the gods (Part 2)

19 May 2016 by MCN

Coaching the gods (Part 2)

‘We are looking for thousandths of a second’ he man who started all this was Roberts, who mentored three-time 500 world champion Rainey from the moment he first sat on a road-race bike in the early...

Let the British GP entertain you

19 May 2016 by MCN News

Let the British GP entertain you

Rick Astley and Stoosh confirmed for Silverstone MotoGP. Early bird weekend tickets available just £65 Paid promotion: The entertainment for this year’s British GP is hotting up, with the headline...

Andrea Iannone to join Suzuki on two-year deal

19 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Andrea Iannone to join Suzuki on two-year deal

Andrea Iannone will join Suzuki’s MotoGP squad from 2017, signing a two-year deal with the factory squad after Ducati confirmed earlier this week that they would not be renewing his current...

Viñales to partner Rossi next season at Yamaha

19 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Viñales to partner Rossi next season at Yamaha

Maverick Viñales has been confirmed at Valentino Rossi’s partner for the next two years at Movistar Yamaha, with the team confirming the news only minutes after his Suzuki squad announced that the...

Confirmed: Viñales to leave Suzuki for 2017

19 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Confirmed: Viñales to leave Suzuki for 2017

It has been confirmed that Maverick Viñales will leave the Suzuki MotoGP team for the 2017 season, in a press release issued this morning by the Japanese manufacturer. The news comes after the Suzuki...

Iannone: ‘Finally we are going to Mugello!’

18 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Iannone: ‘Finally we are going to Mugello!’

Andrea Iannone says he’s delighted to finally be returning to Mugello, a track where he enjoyed the best weekend of his career last year, taking both pole position and the runner-up spot in the...

More upgrades for Aprilia at home round

18 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

More upgrades for Aprilia at home round

Aprilia will bring new upgrades to a Grand Prix weekend for another time, as they continue to make progress with the brand-new RS-GP machines of Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista. Speaking ahead of...

Viñales riding high on Le Mans emotions

18 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Viñales riding high on Le Mans emotions

Maverick Viñales says he’s still riding high on a wave of emotion after taking his first MotoGP podium ten days ago in Le Mans – and that it gives him even more motivation to go into this weekend’s...

Coaching the gods (Part 1)

18 May 2016 by MCN

Coaching the gods (Part 1)

‘We are looking for thousandths of a second’ ider coaches are now omnipresent in MotoGP, but what do they do – and does Valentino Rossi really need a tutor to teach an old GOAT new tricks? Luca...

Confirmed: Dovi to partner Lorenzo at Ducati next year

17 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Confirmed: Dovi to partner Lorenzo at Ducati next year

Ducati have confirmed that Andrea Dovizioso will remain with the squad for 2017, winning the battle with teammate Andrea Iannone to become Jorge Lorenzo’s teammate for the next two years. The news was...

Misano test for Lowes slowed by crash

17 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Misano test for Lowes slowed by crash

Sam Lowes has had his progress at a private test at Misano yesterday halted after a crash in the afternoon left his Federal Oil Kalex machine with extensive damage. However, despite the damage to the...

Miller out to make amends for Le Mans crash

17 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Miller out to make amends for Le Mans crash

Jack Miller is out to make amends for his Le Mans crash this weekend at Mugello, as he heads to one of the most impressive track son the MotoGP calendar finally ready to put his pre-season motocross...

Pedrosa set to rack up 250 Grand Prix starts

17 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Pedrosa set to rack up 250 Grand Prix starts

Newly re-signed Honda rider Dani Pedrosa is set to rack up an impressive 250th Grand prix start this weekend at Mugello. And, with the pressure of negotiating his future behind him, he says he’s ready...

Confirmed: Dani Pedrosa to remain with Repsol Honda for two more years

16 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Confirmed: Dani Pedrosa to remain with Repsol Honda for two more years

Repsol Honda have confirmed that Dani Pedrosa will remain with the Repsol Honda team for a further two years, despite widespread media rumours that the Spaniard would leave that he end of the season...

Grand Prix Commission bans Moto3 winglets immediately

16 May 2016 by Simon Patterson

Grand Prix Commission bans Moto3 winglets immediately

The Grand Prix Commission, MotoGP’s top rule-making body, have elected to move forward the ban on winglets in the Moto3 class, moving forward the rule change initially set to come into place at the...