Bradley Smith got his first chance to experience the unique Corkscrew section at Laguna Seca recently when he rode a Yamaha R1 to learn the technical and challenging California track ahead of his first MotoGP race there in July. Smith flew out to take part in a Yamaha Champions Riding School and the two-day experience gave the Oxfordshire rider the ...
- Motorcycle Sport
- MotoGP
- 16 April 2013
Cal Crutchlow’s expectation management skills went into overdrive again in Qatar tonight after the British rider finished second in the opening MotoGP practice session under the Losail International Circuit floodlights. After topping the timesheets in the last test winter test session in Jerez last month, Crutchlow has been tipped to be a consistent podium threat in his third premier class ...
- Motorcycle Sport
- MotoGP
- 04 April 2013
Valentino Rossi made a brilliant return to Yamaha’s factory MotoGP squad in Malaysia today, the nine-times world champion ending the first day of 2013 pre-season testing with the fourth quickest time. Rossi showed a disastrous two-year spell with Ducati has not blunted his confidence or skills and the 33-year-old topped the timesheets for a period in the early part of ...
- Motorcycle Sport
- MotoGP
- 05 February 2013
In the sixth part of MCN’s exclusive series of Stoner memories, Lucio Cecchinello, who gave Stoner his first Grand Prix ride and big break into MotoGP in 2006, talks about their time together. “We played a big part in the early story of Casey when we worked with him for one season in 125s, two in 250s and one in ...
- Motorcycle Sport
- MotoGP
- 05 January 2013
Jorge Lorenzo has come a long way since he was a carefree and crash-happy MotoGP rookie in 2008. Eager to show he was a natural successor to Yamaha’s incumbent number one Valentino Rossi, Lorenzo spent almost as much time in the Clinica Mobile as he did on the podium in a bone-crunching first season. So when he got his hands ...
- Motorcycle Sport
- MotoGP
- 01 January 2013
Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo’s relationship will not be dominated by the friction and animosity that existed between the pair between 2008 and 2010. Rossi’s return to Yamaha’s factory MotoGP squad in 2013 has inevitably sparked talk of a renewed bitter rivalry with former foe Lorenzo. In their previous three-year spell together they had numerous on and off track clashes ...
- Motorcycle Sport
- MotoGP
- 19 December 2012
Valentino Rossi criticised new Moto2 world champion Marc Marquez after the hard riding Spaniard was involved in more controversy on the opening day of practice for the final round of 2012 in Valencia this afternoon. Marquez collided with Simone Corsi in the second free practice session in an incident that resulted in the Italian rider falling heavily. Marquez immediately went ...
- Motorcycle Sport
- MotoGP
- 09 November 2012
There would have been a time in the past when Dani Pedrosa would have crumbled in conditions as bad as those that severely disrupted yesterday’s Malaysian Grand Prix. But with rain lashing down to provide the toughest conditions imaginable, Pedrosa buried his wet weather jinx in emphatic fashion to claim a first ever Grand Prix victory in the rain. Pedrosa ...
- Motorcycle Sport
- MotoGP
- 22 October 2012
Valentino Rossi believes World Superbikes needs a major technical revamp to use more production-based machinery in the future. But the nine-times world champion has urged Dorna, which now controls World Superbikes after the recent acquisition of Infront Motor Sports, not to dumb down the technical rules too much to take away the skill and fascination of riding in WSB. Now ...
- Motorcycle Sport
- MotoGP
- 16 October 2012
Casey Stoner has criticised Valentino Rossi’s swift return to Yamaha after the Italian legend recently confirmed he will quit Ducati after a disastrous two-year stint with the Bologna factory. The 33-year-old has been a shock failure to perform on board a factory Desmosedici and will return to Yamaha next season to partner bitter Spanish rival Jorge Lorenzo. When Rossi arrived ...
- Motorcycle Sport
- MotoGP
- 15 August 2012
