Honda’s Joan Mir believes Ducati has given rivals a «reality check» in Sepang
Joan Mir and Luca Marini feel Honda has improved its MotoGP bike across the board over the winter, but they concede that the Japanese manufacturer still faces the same gap to Ducati as last year. Following a strong end to its 2025 campaign, Honda has managed to unlock more pace in the off-season, with Aleix […]
Mercedes rivals push for intervention over F1 engine loophole
Under the new Formula 1 power unit regulations, discussion about the compression ratio flared up even before a single wheel had turned with the 2026 machinery. The ratio between cylinder volume with the piston at the bottom of its stroke and at the top was 18:1 under the previous regulations, but has been reduced to […]
Esapekka Lappi thought his WRC career was over, but he’s back
Esapekka Lappi is surprised and excited to make his World Rally Championship return at Rally Sweden after admitting he thought his top-level rallying career was over. The two-time WRC event winner will rejoin Hyundai next week, which will mark the first round of a part-time programme. He previously contested a full-season programme with the Korean […]
How Ducati sent a warning to its MotoGP rivals at Sepang test
There were widespread smiles in most MotoGP garages when 2026 testing got under way – leaving Yamaha aside due to reliability issues with its new V4 engine – but this all changed on Thursday. Ducati got serious and left its rivals thinking more about 2027 than the upcoming season. And that was with reigning world […]
The balancing act the new F1 cars will expose in qualifying
One of the biggest learning curves of the new Formula 1 regulations has been the increase and required management of electrical energy, an area where drivers could be exposed in the early rounds if they fail to optimise deployment. Almost all the drivers have detailed the challenge of where and when to deploy F1’s new […]
Alex Marquez fastest on final day as Yamaha returns
Alex Marquez ended MotoGP’s Sepang pre-season test at the top on Thursday, as Yamaha returned to action after resolving its recent engine concerns. Gresini rider Marquez set a best time of 1m56.402s on his factory-spec Ducati GP26, comfortably eclipsing Joan Mir’s Wednesday benchmark of 1m56.874s. His effort was also just a fraction shy of the […]
Brown «would love» Indy 500 reunion with Alonso
Fernando Alonso has an open invitation to return to the Indianapolis 500 whenever he’s ready, courtesy of McLaren CEO Zak Brown. The Spanish driver, who is currently preparing for the 2026 Formula 1 season with Aston Martin and its new power unit partner Honda, hasn’t competed at Indy 500 since 2020, which was held behind […]
«Angry» Toprak Razgatlioglu losing motivation after struggling in Sepang MotoGP test
Toprak Razgatlioglu admitted he is “angry” and losing motivation after struggling to get up to speed with his MotoGP bike in the Sepang test. Reigning World Superbike champion Razgatlioglu has been accumulating miles in official pre-season testing in Malaysia over the past two weeks, gathering vital information for his highly anticipated MotoGP debut with Pramac. Although […]
Kalle Rovanpera co-driver Jonne Halttunen lands Toyota rally management role
Toyota has named Jonne Halttunen, former co-driver to Kalle Rovanpera, as project manager for the brand’s move into the American Rally Association (ARA) National Championship this year. The Japanese marque announced plans to contest the championship last year with its newly developed GR Corolla RC2 rally car, which will be piloted by Toyota’s World Rally […]