Reigning World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea is ready to begin the defence of his crown Down Under after a strong pre-season for the Kawasaki rider. The Northern Irishman made history in 2016 by becoming the first British rider since Carl Fogarty in 1999 to claim back-to-back WorldSBK titles, and comes into the new season as […]
The second winter test ahead of the 2017 MotoGP World Championship concluded last week at Phillip Island after three more days of intense running. The picturesque 2.7-mile Australian venue is a totally different beast to the Sepang International Circuit and, as a result, many riders and teams found new issues to overcome while also continuing the development of […]
Austrian manufacturer KTM has expressed its interest in expanding its presence on the MotoGP grid by supplying motorcycles to a satellite team from next season, according to motorsport.com. KTM make their premier class debut this year as a full factory effort having been hard at work developing the RC16 since late 2015. Former Tech 3 […]
Reigning World Supersport champion Kenan Sofuoglu will miss the first two rounds of the 2017 season to undergo surgery on his right hand. He hopes to be back for the third round of the year in Aragon at the end of March. The Turkish rider broke a bone in his hand during a Supermoto training […]
Kawasaki Racing Team’s Joanthan Rea ended the two-day Phillip Island World Superbike test top of the time sheets from Ducati’s Marco Melandri. Reigning world champion Rea didn’t turn too many laps during yesterday’s running because of the weather, but was still pleased with how his ZX-10RR was working. The Northern Irishman made use of the […]
KTM CEO Stefan Pierer branded Japanese manufacturer Honda as its ‘most hated competitor’ during the Austrian team’s 2017 launch event in Austria today. KTM Factory Racing unveiled their livery for their MotoGP, Moto2 & Moto3 teams at the launch today at their new headquarters in Mattighofen, and it was whilst talking about their upcoming intermediate […]
The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team has unveiled its 2017 livery for its MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 efforts in a presentation at the Austrian marque’s base in Austria. KTM make their premier class debut as a full factory effort in 2017 having previously supplied engines to the Roberts outfit for the first half of […]
The World Superbike and Supersport fields kicked off their final preparations for this weekend’s opening round of the season at Phillip Island with the first of two days of testing at the Australian circuit. The day was partly affected by a spot of rain early on, but conditions improved for the afternoon’s session. With the […]
MotoGP rookie Jonas Folger capped off the Phillip Island test in a stunning fourth place following three highly productive days of running on his Tech 3 Yamaha YZR-M1. The German rider was on impressive form throughout the week, finishing inside the top 10 in every session. From Wednesday to Friday, Folger improved on his lap time […]
Gresini Racing Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro says the RS-GP will leave Phillip Island ‘at a good overall level’ after a productive three days of testing in Australia. The Spanish rider put 65 laps on the Aprilia today as he sought to further improve his feeling on the bike. Happy enough with its performance over a race […]
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez ends the Phillip Island test a happy man after Honda made a breakthrough with their new ‘big-bang-style’ engine on Friday. HRC introduced an updated version of the ‘big-bang-style’ motor in Sepang, but the traction problems of 2016 were still prevalent due to the electronics not working properly with the engine. Honda […]
Ducati Corse’s Jorge Lorenzo ended the Phillip Island test having made a step forward in adapting to the Desmosedici, but admits that ‘something is still not right’ during cornering. The five-times world champion has spent all of 2017 trying to adapt his riding style to suit the Ducati after discovering the bike to be more […]