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

Zarco leaves it late to top times

25 June 2015 by Steve English

Zarco leaves it late to top times

A last gasp lap from Johann Zarco saw the championship leader steal the top spot at the end of the opening day of practice at Assen. Zarco has been in great form of late and on his 24th lap of the...

Pedrosa fastest as Honda show signs of improvement

25 June 2015 by Steve English

Pedrosa fastest as Honda show signs of improvement

Are Honda back? That will be the question asked after day one of the Dutch TT with Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez leading the timesheets but it’s so competitive at Assen this year that it’s hard to...

Dutch domination for Kent on day one

25 June 2015 by Steve English

Dutch domination for Kent on day one

Danny Kent continued to lead the way in Moto3 after the Englishman was fastest in FP2 ahead of Romano Fenati and Jorge Navarro. Fabio Quartararo looks to be back on form after a quiet Catalan Grand...

Lowes looks ready to kick some Assen!

25 June 2015 by Steve English

Lowes looks ready to kick some Assen!

Sam Lowes left it until the last minute but his confidence ahead of this weekend’s Dutch TT looks to be justified after the Speed Up rider set the fastest time of the morning at Assen. Lowes spent...

Classic added to Silverstone schedule

25 June 2015 by Steve English

Classic added to Silverstone schedule

Silverstone’s MotoGP meeting will hear two-strokes once again after the circuit announced that they will have two classic races as part of their “festival of speed and entertainment.” The circuit made...

Rossi sets the pace in Dutch dash

25 June 2015 by Steve English

Rossi sets the pace in Dutch dash

Valentino Rossi was fastest in FP1 at the Dutch TT with the Italain leading the way from Marc Marquez. The reigning world champion’s day didn’t start well after he crashed early in the session after...

Kent dominates in opening practice

25 June 2015 by Steve English

Kent dominates in opening practice

Danny Kent had a strong start to his Dutch TT with the Englishman leading the way in opening practice by over six tenths of a second. Kent was fastest for almost the entire session and by the...

Marquez explains chassis switch

24 June 2015 by Steve English

Marquez explains chassis switch

Honda’s decision to revert back to the 2014 chassis for this weekend’s Dutch TT offered a glimpse into their struggles this year but Marc Marquez is hoping that it will be the spark that ignites his...

New frames for Yamaha riders in Assen

24 June 2015 by Steve English

New frames for Yamaha riders in Assen

Yamaha will race at this weekend’s Dutch TT with one new chassis available for both Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. The new chassis, as revealed in today’s MCN, was developed to improve the corner...

Marquez to start Assen weekend with 2014 chassis

24 June 2015 by Steve English

Marquez to start Assen weekend with 2014 chassis

Repsol Honda confirmed today that Marc Marquez will use a 2014 chassis this weekend at the Dutch TT. The Spaniard briefly tested with the frame at the post Catalan Grand Prix test before a rain shower...

Fresh doubts of Czech race, ticket sales suspended

23 June 2015 by Steve English

Fresh doubts of Czech race, ticket sales suspended

The future of the Czech Grand Prix look bleak after tickets for August’s race were officially suspended by the Brno circuit. With policital infighting in the Czech Republic about who should pay for...

BT Sport to hike price for MotoGP viewers

22 June 2015 by Simon Patterson

BT Sport to hike price for MotoGP viewers

BT Sport are set to hike the price British fans will pay to watch MotoGP on the channel, with the end of free-to-watch GP coverage for BT customers coming with the introduction of a £5 per month...

Parkes on Michelin duty for Yamaha at Aragon

16 June 2015 by Steve English

Parkes on Michelin duty for Yamaha at Aragon

Broc Parkes was called into testing duties for Yamaha today with the Australian working with the Japanese manufacturer today in Aragon. Parkes was at the Spanish track to test Michelin tyres and due...

Marquez explains Sunday's crash

16 June 2015 by Steve English

Marquez explains Sunday's crash

When Marc Marquez crashed out of the Catalan Grand Prix he was lucky not to take Jorge Lorenzo with him into the gravel trap at turn ten. The Spaniard’s were leading the race at the time of the...

Wet test leaves unanswered questions for Honda

15 June 2015 by Steve English

Wet test leaves unanswered questions for Honda

After a miserable weekend for Honda, where Dani Pedrosa finished on the podium but was 20s behind Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez crashed out of the race, losing a day of testing because of bad weather...

Suzuki and Yamaha move on to test at Aragon

15 June 2015 by Steve English

Suzuki and Yamaha move on to test at Aragon

After seeing the rain play havoc with team’s schedules for today’s test in Montmelo both Yamaha and Suzuki will decamp to Aragon to test later this week. Yamaha will test on Tuesday with Suzuki using...

Rain costs Espargaro valuable time in test

15 June 2015 by Steve English

Rain costs Espargaro valuable time in test

Today’s post Catalan Grand Prix test was marred by difficult conditions and it was the exact opposite of what Pol Espargaro needed after a difficult weekend as he continues to search for the form...

Catalunya MotoGP: Lorenzo takes fourth consecutive victory

14 June 2015

Catalunya MotoGP: Lorenzo takes fourth consecutive victory

Jorge Lorenzo’s resurgence continued as the Spaniard dominated to take victory in Catalunya ahead of team-mate Valentino Rossi. The result sees the gap at the top of the championship close to just one...

Catalunya MotoGP: Zarco snatches win

14 June 2015

Catalunya MotoGP: Zarco snatches win

Johann Zarco snatched victory from reigning Moto2 champion Tito Rabat on the final lap to extend his lead at the top of the championship to 44 points. Eager to regain the lead, Rabat ran wide towards...

Catalunya MotoGP: Kent victorious

14 June 2015 by MCN

Catalunya MotoGP: Kent victorious

Danny Kent has taken his fourth victory of the season, crossing the line 0.35secs ahead of pole sitter Enea Bastianini to extend his championsip lead to 51 points. Kent is now the first Brit to take...

New ten year contract for Qatar

14 June 2015 by Steve English

New ten year contract for Qatar

Dorna has today announced that they have extended their agreement with Qatar by a further ten years for the desert race to continue to host the season opening race under the lights of the Losail...

Lorenzo leads way in warmup

14 June 2015 by Steve English

Lorenzo leads way in warmup

Jorge Lorenzo has been anointed the pre-race favourite by his rivals and his pace in the morning warmup was another indication of what to expect from him in this afternoon’s 25 lap race with the...

Zarco quickest ahead of competitive Moto2 race

14 June 2015 by Steve English

Zarco quickest ahead of competitive Moto2 race

Johann Zarco continued his dominance of this weekend’s Catalan Grand Prix by leading the way in warmup ahead of this morning’s Moto2 race. The Frenchman has been in sensational form all weekend and...

Navarro fastest in warmup

14 June 2015 by Steve English

Navarro fastest in warmup

Jorge Navarro was fastest in the morning warmup with the Spaniard leading the way by a tenth from Efren Vazquez and Niccolo Antonelli. Danny Kent was fourth fastest and having qualified second he...

Can anyone stop Lorenzo today?

14 June 2015 by Steve English

Can anyone stop Lorenzo today?

Aleix Espargaro may have given Suzuki their first pole in eight years yesterday but there’s little doubt amongst the MotoGP field as to who the favourite is for today’s Catalan Grand Prix. A straw...

Zarco claims Moto2 pole

13 June 2015 by Steve English

Zarco claims Moto2 pole

Johann Zarco will start from pole position in tomorrow’s Catalan Grand Prix after the Frenchman continued his blistering form to set the pace from Jonas Folger and Tito Rabat. Sam Lowes saved a high...

Espargaro gives Suzuki first pole since 2007

13 June 2015 by Steve English

Espargaro gives Suzuki first pole since 2007

Aleix Espargaro gave Suzuki their first pole positive since the 2007 Dutch TT with the Spaniard thrilling the home crowd with a stunning lap. With Maverick Vinales second fastest it was a terrific day...

Pedrosa and Iannone make it through to QP2

13 June 2015 by Steve English

Pedrosa and Iannone make it through to QP2

Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Iannone made it through to the QP2 shootout after both riders gambled on only making one run in the QP1 session. With only the top two riders making it through from the 15...

Iannone fastest but Marquez and Lorenzo looking strong

13 June 2015 by Steve English

Iannone fastest but Marquez and Lorenzo looking strong

Andrea Iannone was fastest in FP4 but as ever the times that matter in the final practice session aren’t the headline grabbing single lap times but rather the long run pace of riders. Iannone’s race...

First pole for Bastianini

13 June 2015 by Steve English

First pole for Bastianini

Enea Bastianini claimed the first pole position of his career today in Montmelo with the Italian over a tenth of a second faster than a late charging Danny Kent. While the rest of the field were...

Impressive speed from Corsi in Moto2

13 June 2015 by Steve English

Impressive speed from Corsi in Moto2

Having endured a difficult start to the Moto2 season, including crashing out of his home race two weeks ago, Simone Corsi bounced back to set the pace this morning ahead of Moto2 qualifying. The...

Has Suzuki's pace worried the rest of the MotoGP grid?

13 June 2015 by Steve English

Has Suzuki's pace worried the rest of the MotoGP grid?

Suzuki’s engine upgrades for this weekend have given the Japanese manufacturer a boost ahead of the Catalan Grand Prix and both Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro have been able to make use of the...

Vinales fastest with Pedrosa, Iannone and Redding missing cut

13 June 2015 by Steve English

Vinales fastest with Pedrosa, Iannone and Redding missing cut

In the all important FP3 session Suzuki’s engine upgrades saw Maverick Vinales set the pace with Aleix Espargaro also in the top three. The Suzuki now has much more power than before, almost as much...

Bastianini quickest ahead of Moto3 qualifying

13 June 2015 by Steve English

Bastianini quickest ahead of Moto3 qualifying

This morning’s Moto3 session saw Enea Bastianini set the pace with a slender advantage to Migeul Oliveira and Niccolo Antonelli. The leading trio were comfortably faster than the rest of the field...

Cortese fastest in Moto2

12 June 2015 by Steve English

Cortese fastest in Moto2

Sandro Cortese was fastest on the opening day of Moto2 practice in Montmelo with the former Moto3 world champion marginally outpacing Johann Zarco with Alex Rins, Sam Lowes, Thomas Luthi, Tito Rabat...

Espargaro fastest as Suzuki debuts new engine

12 June 2015 by Steve English

Espargaro fastest as Suzuki debuts new engine

A new engine in the Suzuki has given them a much improved performance in a straight line and even though the powerplant still trails its rivals Aleix Espargaro was able to set the pace at his home...