Alvaro Bautista clinches 2023 World Superbike title at Jerez
Bautista notched up his 25th win in 34 races in Saturday afternoon’s 20-lap contest, beating his nearest title rival Toprak Razgatlioglu by a margin of 1.195 seconds. With only Sunday’s two Jerez races to go, it means Bautista has an insurmountable 65-point lead with only 37 left on offer. The 38-year-old Spaniard becomes Ducati’s first […]
Martin ‘doesn’t have to get obsessed’ with beating MotoGP title rival Bagnaia
The Pramac rider converted pole to his fifth-successive sprint victory and seventh of the season to cut Bagnaia’s championship lead down to 18 points. Having started sixth, Bagnaia could do no more than seventh in the sprint, later blaming time lost at the start and being stuck behind a “useless” battle between Johann Zarco and […]
Bagnaia’s Thailand MotoGP sprint compromised by “useless” Zarco/Marquez battle
The championship leader’s points lead has been cut from 27 to 18 by Pramac’s Jorge Martin, after the Spaniard romped to his seventh sprint win of the year as Bagnaia was 4.1 seconds adrift in seventh. Bagnaia qualified sixth and says he “missed the start”, which dropped him to ninth on the opening lap before […]
Martin dominates sprint to cut Bagnaia’s championship lead
Martin converted pole to a fifth consecutive sprint victory in 2023 to bring his tally for the season up to seven, the Pramac Ducati rider 0.933 seconds clear of KTM’s Brad Binder at the chequered flag. Leading every lap, Martin came under no challenge as he romped away from the field, while Bagnaia struggled to […]
Martin smashes lap record, beats Marini to pole
Having been fastest at the track all through Friday, the championship contender carried that form into qualifying as he beat VR46 rival Luca Marini to the top spot by 0.138s. Martin was quick off the blocks in Q2, setting a rapid time of 1m29.491s just five minutes into the session, which was already enough to […]
Quartararo “can enjoy” riding again with alternate Thailand MotoGP tyre
To cope with the heat demands of the Buriram track, Michelin’s rear tyres feature a carcass that is slightly harder than normal. A similar tyre is always brought to Thailand and Austria, but was also used in India and Indonesia – where Quartararo was competitive and finished third in both grands prix. Quartararo secured direct […]
“Not easy” for Martin to see Thailand MotoGP tyre wear after Australia loss
The Pramac Ducati rider was on course to convert pole to victory in last Saturday’s grand prix at Phillip Island, but plummeted to fifth on the final lap as his soft tyre gamble backfired. It dropped him 27 points behind title rival Francesco Bagnaia coming to Thailand, with Martin fastest on Friday despite a crash […]
Honda MotoGP atmosphere hasn’t changed since departure announcement
The eight-time world champion has been with Honda for his entire MotoGP career, but has elected to quit with a year left on his current contract to join Gresini Ducati in 2024. Marquez won’t be able to bring any of his crew with him to Gresini aside from tyre technician Javi Ortiz, but says nothing […]
Martin tops tight second practice despite crash
The Pramac Ducati rider comes into the Buriram event 27 points adrift of factory Ducati counterpart Francesco Bagnaia after losing the victory in Australia last week on the final lap. With under half a second covering the top 18, Martin emerged as fastest of all with a final flying effort of 1m29.826s. However, he did […]