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

Marquez: Yamaha were faster during the race

16 September 2015 by Steve English

Marquez: Yamaha were faster during the race

“I think nobody expect that in a race you can change twice and win the race,” said Marc Marquez after winning at Misano. Having been on the wrong side of the flag to flag coin last year at Aragon,...

Lottery of Misano leaves Cal frustrated

16 September 2015 by Steve English

Lottery of Misano leaves Cal frustrated

The “lottery” of Misano left Cal Crutchlow finishing 11th after one of the most incredible races in MotoGP history. With the majority of the field making two bike changes in the flag to flag race...

Pedrosa missed pit signal for four laps

16 September 2015 by Steve English

Pedrosa missed pit signal for four laps

Dani Pedrosa’s chances of podium finish at Misano ended midrace when the Spaniard missed a pit signal on his pitboard for four consecutive laps. The Repsol Honda rider had been running in the top four...

Lack of patience hurts Lorenzo

15 September 2015 by Steve English

Lack of patience hurts Lorenzo

Jorge Lorenzo said that a lack of patience cost him dearly in Italy after crashing out of the San Marino Grand Prix on his first lap on slick tyres on a drying track. He had made the decision to pit...

Rossi and Lorenzo talk 23 point title gap

15 September 2015 by Steve English

Rossi and Lorenzo talk 23 point title gap

The MotoGP title momentum has shifted once again towards Valentino Rossi. After finishing fifth at his home Grand Prix at Misano, the Italian stretched his lead over championship rival, Jorge Lorezno,...

Rossi: I had too much to lose

15 September 2015 by Steve English

Rossi: I had too much to lose

Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix turned into a lottery with Valentino Rossi eventually extending his title lead over Jorge Lorenzo to 23 points. Having fought back to the front of the lead group as rain...

Marquez wins, Smith and Redding on the podium

13 September 2015 by Steve English

Marquez wins, Smith and Redding on the podium

Misano produced a thrilling race with Marc Marquez taking the win ahead of Bradley Smith and Scott Redding. Spits of rain as the race started provided riders with challenging conditions but an early...

Zarco on the verge of Moto2 title after Misano win

13 September 2015 by Steve English

Zarco on the verge of Moto2 title after Misano win

Johann Zarco took a major step towards the Moto2 world champion by dominating at Misano and leaving him on the verge of claiming a first world title. The Frenchman led throughout the race and with...

First career win for Bastianini, Kent sixth

13 September 2015 by Steve English

First career win for Bastianini, Kent sixth

Misano could be a pivotal race in the Moto3 world championship with Danny Kent struggling to a sixth place finish and his chief title rival, Enea Bastianini, winning the race. It was the Italian’s...

Oliviera moves to Moto2 with Leopard for 2016

13 September 2015 by Steve English

Oliviera moves to Moto2 with Leopard for 2016

Miguel Oliviera has signed to race for Leopard Racing in next year’s Moto2 championship. The Portuguese rider, who claimed his first Grand Prix win at Mugello this year, will join Leopard for their...

Confident Kent expecting a battle in Italy

12 September 2015 by Steve English

Confident Kent expecting a battle in Italy

Danny Kent claimed his fifth consecutive front row start and despite trailing Enea Bastianini by three tenths of a second the championship leader is confident for tomorrow’s race. “Our aim was to be...

Redding misses out on Q2 but looking stronger

12 September 2015 by Steve English

Redding misses out on Q2 but looking stronger

A mistake on his final lap of qualifying cost Scott Redding the chance of making it through to the Q2 shootout. The Marc VDS rider lost the front through the fast corners that cost the lap and despite...

Lowes feeling confident despite third row start

12 September 2015 by Steve English

Lowes feeling confident despite third row start

Sam Lowes qualified seventh on the grid for tomorrow’s San Marino Grand Prix and afterwards the Englishman was in high spirits despite running six tenths of a second off the pace of Johann Zarco.

Sixth pole of the year for Zarco

12 September 2015 by Steve English

Sixth pole of the year for Zarco

Johann Zarco will start from pole position at tomorrow’s San Marino Grand Prix with the Moto2 championship leader taking his sixth pole of the season. Zarco edged Alex Rins by just two thousands of a...

Pole for Lorenzo in Italy

12 September 2015 by Steve English

Pole for Lorenzo in Italy

Jorge Lorenzo claimed his third pole position of the year at Misano after a superb performance from the Spaniard. Lorenzo, who won from pole in both Jerez and Brno, carried an advantage of one tenth...

Espargaro and Crutchlow make it through to Q2

12 September 2015 by Steve English

Espargaro and Crutchlow make it through to Q2

Aleix Espargaro and Cal Crutchlow made it through to Q2 after an exciting opening qualifying session of the afternoon. Both riders narrowly edged out Scott Redding with the Marc VDS rider missing out...

Lorenzo shades Marquez in final practice

12 September 2015 by Steve English

Lorenzo shades Marquez in final practice

Jorge Lorenzo continued to set the pace in FP4 but the gap to the Honda’s dwindled with Marc Marquez coming closest to Lorenzo’s pace ahead of Dani Pedrosa. Lorenzo completed 14 laps and looked strong...

Rabat sets the pace in Misano

12 September 2015 by Steve English

Rabat sets the pace in Misano

Tito Rabat, Johann Zarco and Alex Rins look set for a thrilling battle for pole position at Misano after the trio finished final practice comfortably faster than the rest of the Moto2 field. Rabat,...

Lorenzo fastest, Ducati shining at home

12 September 2015 by Steve English

Lorenzo fastest, Ducati shining at home

Jorge Lorenzo set the pace in the all important FP3 session with the Spaniard leading the way by two tenths from Marc Marquez. Lorenzo was consistently able to find that margin in the third sector of...

Kent fastest in final practice

12 September 2015 by Steve English

Kent fastest in final practice

Danny Kent and Brad Binder led the way in final practice at Misano with the duo almost two tenths faster than Niccolo Antonelli. Romano Fenati was fourth fastest with Kent’s chief title rival, Enea...

Rabat fastest in Misano

11 September 2015 by Steve English

Rabat fastest in Misano

Last year Tito Rabat dominated the Moto2 race at Misano and on the opening day the reigning world champion was once again the class of the field to lead the way by over a tenth of a second from...

Lap record for Lorenzo in Misano masterclass

11 September 2015 by Steve English

Lap record for Lorenzo in Misano masterclass

Jorge Lorenzo was underneath lap record pace at Misano with the Spaniard ending the first day of practice fastest ahead of the factory Hondas of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa. Lorenzo sported winglets...

Kent: We made a big step on our last run

11 September 2015 by Steve English

Kent: We made a big step on our last run

Danny Kent made a big step forward on his final run of the day at Misano to vault to the top of the timesheets. The Englishman has been in superb form all year but with the racing taking place in the...

Kent fastest in Misano

11 September 2015 by Steve English

Kent fastest in Misano

Having finished seventh in this morning’s opening practice Danny Kent bounced back to set the pace in the second session of the weekend. The Leopard Racing rider ended the day almost two tenths faster...

2016 MotoGP calendar announced

11 September 2015 by Steve English

2016 MotoGP calendar announced

The 2016 MotoGP calendar has been released today with the FIM announcing that Indianapolis has been dropped from the calendar to be replaced by Austria. The opening race of the season will once again...

Corsi leaves it late to top FP1 at Misano

11 September 2015 by Steve English

Corsi leaves it late to top FP1 at Misano

Simone Corsi left it late but the Italian topped the timesheet at Misano by just 0.015s from Moto2 championship leader, Johann Zarco. The Forward Racing rider set his time on his final lap with Jonas...

Laverty unsure about 2016 plans

11 September 2015 by Steve English

Laverty unsure about 2016 plans

Eugene Laverty’s future in MotoGP is still uncertain despite holding a two year contract with the Aspar Honda squad. Despite the contract the team has made little secret that they are searching for...

Marquez and Lorenzo lead the way

11 September 2015 by Steve English

Marquez and Lorenzo lead the way

Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo were comfortably the fastest riders at Misano this morning with Michele Pirro impressively third fastest after using a soft rear tyre at the end of the session. Dani...

Bastianini leads the way after FP1

11 September 2015 by Steve English

Bastianini leads the way after FP1

Enea Bastianini ended the opening practice session fastest and with Danny Kent over one second off the pace in seventh the home crowd were left in high spirits about the prospect of an Italian victory...

Espargaro assesses "fantastic" Misano surface

10 September 2015 by Steve English

Espargaro assesses "fantastic" Misano surface

Aleix Espargaro raved that the “new surface is fantastic” at Misano with the Spaniard having been one of the few riders to sample the track prior to this weekend’s race. Having tested at Misano in...

Summer test a help for Bridgestone at Misano

10 September 2015 by Steve English

Summer test a help for Bridgestone at Misano

Having tested at Misano over the summer Bridgestone will know what to expect from this weekend’s Grand Prix at the resurfaced Italian venue. Shinji Aoki, Bridgestone’s motorcycle manager, outlined...

MCN Plus - Rossi isn’t bad but was Hailwood better?

10 September 2015 by MCN

MCN Plus - Rossi isn’t bad but was Hailwood better?

July 1965, Mike Hailwood wins his last 500cc world title Mike Hailwood’s name is always at the forefront of any discussion about who is the greatest bike racer of all time. Usually it’s between...

You won't believe the grid for Rossi's dad's 500GP debut

06 September 2015 by MCN

You won't believe the grid for Rossi's dad's 500GP debut

It was a big day for more than one big name when Rossi Snr first lined up on a very crowded 500 GP grid – and prepared to show his future son the right way to make a premier-class debut. he 30-strong...

Folger to join Cortese at Intact

03 September 2015 by Steve English

Folger to join Cortese at Intact

Intact GP today confirmed that Sandro Cortese and Jonas Folger will team up next year in an all German lineup for the Moto2 squad. The team had been in discussions with Stefan Bradl about the German...

Racers' Flags Are Chequered First

01 September 2015 by Michael Scott

Racers' Flags Are Chequered First

There was a most unfamiliar reflection in the puddles of Silverstone. An increasingly real chance that Britain is on the brink of celebrating another motorcycle World Champion, after yet another...

Kent cruises to home win

30 August 2015 by Simon Patterson

Kent cruises to home win

Danny Kent has cruised to a Moto3 win – and extended his championship lead further – after taking a win by almost nine seconds from Jakub Kornfeil as many of his title rivals crashed out. Kent managed...