Bleakness of Honda MotoGP woes laid bare after Barcelona sprint
After the four Hondas occupied the final four spots on the timesheets at the end of Friday’s running in Barcelona, Marquez offered a moment of relief as he managed to get into Q2. The eight-time world champion shadowed KTM’s Jack Miller as a reference to produce a time good enough for second, though he later […]
Bagnaia “scared” of 2009 Rossi/Lorenzo repeat with Vinales in Barcelona sprint
One of the most famous moments in MotoGP history, Rossi snatched victory from Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo at the last corner of the 2009 Catalan GP with a daring overtake. In the 2023 Barcelona sprint, having faded from pole to eventual winner Aleix Espargaro, Bagnaia had to defend hard to keep the sister Aprilia of Vinales […]
Espargaro ‘felt like I lost’ after qualifying before Barcelona MotoGP sprint win
Espargaro topped both of Friday’s sessions at the Barcelona track on his Aprilia, while the Italian marque was also fastest in third practice and Q1 courtesy of RNF’s Miguel Oliveira. Having set a new lap record on Friday, Espargaro couldn’t carry this through into Q2 and was beaten to pole by Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia. He […]
Espargaro defeats Bagnaia in sprint, Quartararo 18th
A year on from losing a podium on home soil for miscounting how many laps he had remaining, Espargaro made up for it by beating world champion Bagnaia by just under two seconds. Strong all weekend at Barcelona, Espargaro ran fourth on the opening lap having dropped from second on the grid but would take […]
MotoGP riders “not relaxed” about lack of info on India track improvements
For the first time in its history, MotoGP will race in India later this month after a deal was struck to host the event last year. MotoGP will race at the Buddh International Circuit, which was formerly constructed to host the Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix, doing so from 2011 to 2013 before it dropped […]
Ex-MotoGP and BSB champion team owner Paul Bird dies aged 56
A brief statement from the PBM team said Bird died earlier on Friday having been hospitalised with illness. «PBM is deeply saddened to announce the sudden passing of Paul Bird, the team owner of Paul Bird Motorsport. «Paul Bird died earlier today at the age of 56 following a short time in hospital with illness. […]
Why Aprilia is “on another level” after Friday at the MotoGP Catalan GP
Aleix Espargaro topped both sessions on Friday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, heading factory Aprilia team-mate Maverick Vinales. The double grand prix winner set a new circuit lap record on his way to top spot in FP2 with a 1m38.686s, beating the existing record he set on his way to pole last year at the […]
Espargaro tops Friday as Japanese manufacturers embarrassed
Having led an Aprilia 1-2 at the end of first practice in Barcelona on Friday, Espargaro carried on his strong home form to top the second session by 0.362 seconds from team-mate Maverick Vinales. Crucially, Espargaro got this lap in before a late yellow flag for Luca Marini’s stricken VR46 Ducati caused havoc for many […]
Espargaro on top as Marquez crashes in FP1
The 11th round of the 2023 season marks the beginning of a frantic run in to the end of the year over the next 10 events, with the Catalan GP the first of a back-to-back with Misano. Espargaro – who last year lost a podium after miscounting how many laps he had remaining, and who […]