MotoGP

The forecasted rain stayed away for the crucial 45-minute FP3 session, though only Joan Mir’s Suzuki replacement Danilo Petrucci had made an improvement on the combined order after the first 25 minutes of running. VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini led the way in the early stages on the individual FP3 timesheet with a 1m31.018s, which stood

The Honda rider is in the third grand prix weekend of his comeback from a fourth major operation on his right arm, with the six-time MotoGP champion’s physical condition seemingly improving all the time. Having qualified on pole in the wet last week in Japan and finishing the dry race fourth, Marquez topped FP1 at

The double MotoGP race winner is making his return to the series with Suzuki as 2020 world champion Mir continues to recover from the ankle he broke in Austria in August. Petrucci last rode a MotoGP bike in Valencia last year on his farewell race on the Tech3 KTM, before embarking first on a Dakar

During the Aragon GP weekend at the start of September, reports emerged from India that MotoGP was eyeing a race at the Buddh International Circuit – former host of the country’s Formula 1 grand prix – from 2023. Dorna Sports chiefs Carmelo and Carlos Ezpeleta travelled to India after the Aragon round to sign a

The Italian’s run of five-successive podium finishes came to an end last weekend at Motegi when he crashed on the final lap trying to pass championship leader Fabio Quartararo for eighth place having qualified down in 12th. Bagnaia’s race was compromised by wet weather hitting qualifying, with the Ducati rider suffering a mystifying lack of

The Honda rider made his MotoGP comeback at the Aragon GP, but only lasted one lap following two collisions. Qualifying on pole in the wet last week in Japan, Marquez went on to finish fourth in his first full race since the Italian GP back at the end of May. Marquez said after the Motegi

The calendar is set to extend well beyond its current run of 20 races after Dorna Sports recently announced plans for a grand prix in India last week. This followed on from an announcement that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding to bring MotoGP to Saudi Arabia in the next few years. MotoGP

Quartararo has endured a largely difficult second half to the 2022 season on the underpowered Yamaha package. With its difficulties in being able to overtake, Quartararo was unable to minimise the damage of a long lap penalty at Silverstone – leaving him eighth – while he could only muster fifth at Misano and eighth last

The double MotoGP race winner scored his first front row start in the premier class when he qualified third in Japan. Leading briefly on the opening lap before being shuffled back to third, Binder passed Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin in the closing stages to take second to equal his best result of the 2022 season.

The LCR Honda rider suffered lacerations to his fourth and fifth fingers on his right hand in his race-ending collision with Marc Marquez in the Aragon Grand Prix. He underwent treatment on the Monday before the Japanese GP, which he finished in 20th place, having struggled with a “glove full of blood” during Friday practice.

The three-time MotoGP race winner is in the second of his six-race stint replacing the retired Andrea Dovizioso at RNF Racing Yamaha. Crutchlow qualified down in 23rd and lost further ground off the line at Motegi when a bike alarm sounded warning him of a low front tyre temperature coming out of the last corner

Suzuki will bow out of the MotoGP world championship for a second time at the end of 2022, citing financial reasons and a change in market trends for its decision. Its last home appearance at the Japanese Grand Prix proved disastrous, however, with Alex Rins retiring due to a slow puncture on his front tyre

The Australian started from seventh on the grid, but immediately leapt up to third on the opening lap before taking the lead on the third tour of 24. Miller then romped away to a lead of over five seconds at one stage to tally up his first win of the 2022 season and the fourth

Mir, the 2020 MotoGP world champion, has been out of action since breaking his ankle in a lap one crash at the Austrian Grand Prix in August. Sitting out the Misano round, Mir attempted to ride at Aragon but withdrew after Saturday and sat out last weekend’s Japanese GP too. FEATURE: Petrucci’s Dakar odyssey It

Mir, the 2020 MotoGP world champion, has been out of action since breaking his ankle in an opening-lap crash at the Austrian Grand Prix in August. Sitting out the Misano round, Mir attempted to ride at Aragon but withdrew after Saturday and sat out last weekend’s Japanese GP too. It was thought he would return

Espargaro came into Sunday’s Motegi race third in the standings and just 17 points from championship leader Fabio Quartararo. The Aprilia rider qualified ahead of Quartararo and Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia in sixth, but was forced to start the race from pitlane when an issue developed on the sighting lap to the grid which meant he

Quartararo led the standings by 10 points coming to Japan and leaves with a slightly healthier margin after a disastrous afternoon for his rivals. Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was only 16th after a mapping issue on the warm-up lap forced him to switch to his second bike, while Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia crashed on the last lap

The Italian endured a difficult race as front tyre pressure problems riding in the pack starting from 12th hindered his advance through the order. When he was able to rally in the latter stages, Bagnaia moved up to ninth and was hounding Yamaha’s Quartararo on the last lap when he made his unsuccessful overtaking attempt

Going without a win since last year’s wet French GP, Miller grabbed the lead on lap three and streaked away to his first victory of the season. It was a nightmare race for the three main championship contenders, as Fabio Quartararo and Bagnaia struggled for form while Aleix Espargaro was forced to change to his

Six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez will start Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi from pole, after topping a wet qualifying on Saturday. It marked his first pole in MotoGP since the 2019 Japanese GP – 1071 days ago – and the first big result of his comeback from a fourth major arm operation in

The Yamaha rider traditionally struggled in wet conditions on the M1, but was strong in March in the rain-hit Indonesian GP when he finished second – and was inside the top 10 in FP2 on Saturday morning at Motegi. But Quartararo could do no better than ninth, missing pole by 1.1 seconds. The Frenchman was

Track action at Motegi was paused as a thunderstorm forced the Moto2 Q2 session to be red-flagged 9m37s in. MotoGP was due to have a final 30-minute practice at 2:30pm local time, but that was cancelled following a delay of around an hour to the end of the Moto2 qualifying. As a result, MotoGP has

The Yamaha test rider and three-time MotoGP race winner is standing in for the retired Andrea Dovizioso at RNF for the final rounds of the 2022 season, having made his comeback at Aragon last week. Crutchlow has recent track experience at Motegi from his tests on the 2023 Yamaha, and spent much of Friday’s FP1

Nakagami suffered lacerations to his fourth and fifth fingers on his right hand in his race-ending collision with Marc Marquez in last weekend’s Aragon Grand Prix. Having had treatment on the Monday before coming to his home round at Motegi to ride, Nakagami was just under four tenths off the best pace in FP1 in

The 32-year-old won his first MotoGP race this season in Argentina having raced full-time in the class since 2012, after making his debut back in 2010. Since that Argentina win, Espargaro has scored five further podiums and is just 17 points from championship leader Fabio Quartararo after finishing third last weekend at Aragon. With just

This weekend marks the first Japanese GP to be staged by MotoGP since before the COVID-19 pandemic enveloped the world in 2019. But Moto2 squad Marc VDS’ preparations for this weekend’s 16th round of the 2022 season were hindered when a fire erupted in its garage on Thursday evening at Motegi. The pit box –

Not since the 2017 season has a MotoGP title battle gone down to the wire. In a thrilling year, Andrea Dovizioso pluckily kept his and Ducati’s outside hopes alive against Marc Marquez through to the final round in Valencia. Ultimately Marquez prevailed, and through 2018 and 2019 the Honda rider dominated. The COVID-delayed 2020 season

Ride height devices made their way onto the MotoGP grid in 2018 when Ducati introduced a rear holeshot device onto Jack Miller’s Pramac Ducati to help with starts. This developed the following year into a device that could squat the rear of the Ducati during a lap, before it further evolved this into a front

The announcement was made by Dorna chief Carmelo Ezpeleta and sporting director Carlos Ezpeleta at a press conference in Delhi on Wednesday, along with key members of race promoter FairStreet Sports. The planned races will take place at the Buddh International Circuit on the outskirts of the capital, the same 5.125km circuit that previously hosted three

The Aprilia was expected to be in contention for victory coming to Aragon having taken some of the Italian marque’s best results of a season in previous years. But two crashes on Friday and a difficult FP3 forced Espargaro into Q1, though he managed to sail through that session into Q2 and qualify a solid