Ducati set to drop Rinaldi, promote Bulega
Bulega, 23, is hotly tipped to make the step up to WSBK next year on one of Ducati’s two factory V4 Panigale Rs alongside reigning champion Alvaro Bautista. That would leave Rinaldi needing to find an alternative berth to stay on the grid, something that current Ducati title sponsor Aruba.it is thought to be keen […]
MotoGP’s Friday format tweak approved with immediate effect
The 2023 season has seen the MotoGP weekend format undergo one of its most radical changes ever with the introduction of sprint races at every round. This has led to the combined times at the end of Friday’s two practice sessions determining which riders progress directly to Q2 in qualifying and who has to face […]
Cal Crutchlow set for Japan MotoGP wildcard with Yamaha
Crutchlow made his MotoGP debut with the Tech3 Yamaha squad in 2011 having competed in World Superbikes with the Japanese marque. Scoring his first MotoGP podiums with Yamaha, Crutchlow moved to Ducati in 2014 before switching to Honda with LCR from 2015, with which he won all three of his grands prix. Retiring from racing […]
Bautista’s WSBK win streak finally broken after Imola crash
Bautista has been the dominant force in WSBK so far, winning 16 out of 18 races in the first six rounds of the year — including all feature races. But that run came to an end in the final race at Imola, where having gotten into the lead with a brilliant launch from second, he […]
Kawasaki decides against increasing rev limit of WSBK bike
Ahead of this weekend’s seventh round at Imola, Kawasaki was handed a 250rpm increase, the second time it has received a rev limit boost in the 2023 WSBK season. The Kawasaki ZX-10RR is now allowed to rev up to 15,100rpm, a jump from 14,600rpm at the start of the season. However, in a statement issued […]
Ducati hit with second World Superbike rev reduction
The Italian marque’s all-conquering V4 R Panigale will now only be able to rev to 15600rpm, instead of 15850rpm as previously. Ducati began the year at 16100rpm, but eight wins from the opening nine races of the year for Bautista prompted organisers to drop the V4 R by 250rpm from May’s Barcelona round. However, this […]
Vinales calls luckless first half of MotoGP 2023 «a nightmare»
After eight rounds of the 2022 season, Aprilia had scored a grand prix victory and four other podiums courtesy of Aleix Espargaro. At the same point this year, Aprilia has just two rostrums to its credit, with Vinales second in the season-opening Portuguese GP and Espargaro inheriting third at the Dutch GP following a track […]
Sam Lowes to join 2024 World Superbike Championship with Marc VDS
Lowes will ride the class-leading Ducati Panigale V4 R in the production-based category next year, joining his twin brother Alex Lowes, who recently signed a one-year contract extension with the factory Kawasaki team. It will bring an end to his nine-year stint in the Moto2 class, which has so far yielded 10 wins, 26 podiums, […]
Morbidelli “not daunted” by Yamaha being bottom of MotoGP standings
Both of MotoGP’s Japanese manufacturers, Yamaha and Honda, have endured difficult 2023 campaigns, with the former scoring just two podiums in the first eight rounds. Fabio Quartararo was third in the Americas Grand Prix and inherited that position in the Dutch GP sprint following a track limits penalty for KTM’s Brad Binder. Yamaha currently sits […]