Valentino Rossi admits he is not ‘strong enough’ to fight for the MotoGP win at Phillip Island on Sunday after qualifying seventh. The eight-time Phillip Island race winner across all three classes had to contest Q1 after rain in third practice denied him the chance to improve on 12th from a tricky Friday. Rossi eased through Q1 […]
Marco Melandri grabbed his first World Superbike pole since 2011 and his first for Ducati after dipping underneath the Jerez lap record to pip champion Jonathan Rea. Laptimes came in thick and fast on the initial race-tyre run, with Rea setting a benchmark of 1m40.200s, which was immediately bettered by SP1 pacesetter Leon Camier and […]
Mattia Pasini stormed to a fifth pole of the 2017 Moto2 season after edging Marcel Schrotter in qualifying at Phillip Island. A brief light shower at the start of qualifying saw pitlane empty, but no times were set as conditions deteriorated quicker than thought. Mercifully, the rain fall abated soon after and the track soon […]
MotoGP championship leader Marc Marquez took pole for the Australian Grand Prix, while title rival Andrea Dovizioso struggled to 11th. Despite the wet start to the day for third practice, conditions had improved significantly by the time qualifying got underway. Marquez spent his first stint in Q2 providing unintended assistance to Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone and […]
Jorge Martin notched up his eighth pole of 2017 after topping a rain-interrupted Australian Grand Prix Moto3 qualifying, while championship leader Joan Mir completed the front row. Marinelli Snipers’ Romano Fenati latched onto the back of championship rival Joan Mir for the opening minutes of the session, and utilised the tow from the Leopard rider […]
French tyre manufacturer Michelin has announced it will remain as MotoGP’s sole tyre supplier through to 2023 after agreeing a new five–year deal with series owners Dorna Sports. Michelin returned to grand prix racing as sole supplier to the premier class in 2016 having last graced the grid in 2008, taking over from Japanese firm […]
Jonathan Rea brushed off an early fall at the Aspar corner to end Friday in World Superbikes at Jerez fastest of all from team-mate Tom Sykes. Newly-crowned triple world champion Rea dominated proceedings in this morning’s opening session, posting a 1m40.291s to six tenths clear of the rest. Conditions remained dry and bright for the […]
Jorge Lorenzo says the problems which left him 11th in practice for the Australian MotoGP are down to a difficulty in finding a balance between rear grip and front contact. The Ducati rider was eighth in the first 45–minute session at Phillip Island, and was only able to improve on his laptime in the afternoon […]
Newly-crowned World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea obliterated the field in a frantic first practice session for the Jerez round. Conditions were dry but cool for the first session on the newly-resurfaced Jerez circuit, and it was triple WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea who set the early benchmark. The Kawasaki rider shot to the top of the […]
Takaaki Nakagami dominated proceedings on a crash-strewn Friday at Phillip Island to lead the combined timesheets in Moto2. Nakagami was in imperious form in the opening session, the Japanese rider over half a second clear of Mattia Pasini in second spot. The Honda Team Asia rider went top of the pile in the early stages […]
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was the surprise pacesetter at the end of Friday in MotoGP at Phillip Island ahead of championship leader Marc Marquez. Marquez did not run the softer tyre in the first session, so headed out on track at the start of second practice with it and immediately went top with a 1m29.810s. The Honda […]
Championship leader Joan Mir ended the first day of running at Phillip Island in the Moto3 class fastest of all ahead of Aron Canet. Sky VR46’s Nicolo Bulega led the morning session with a 1m38.582s at Phillip Island despite a fall at the Honda hairpin, while Motegi winner Romano Fenati suffered a big highside at […]