January

Dakar: Final Result – Despres secures fourth Dakar win of illustrious Rally career, Watt 34th, Younger makes the finish

Dakar: Final Result – Despres secures fourth Dakar win of illustrious Rally career, Watt 34th, Younger makes the finish

Cyril Despres won the 2012 Dakar to claim his fourth win of the torturous 9000km race. The Frenchman beat longstanding rival and factory KTM team-mate after what has been one of the closest and hard...

Dakar stage 13 – Despres hones in on fourth Dakar win as Coma gets lost

Dakar stage 13 – Despres hones in on fourth Dakar win as Coma gets lost

Cyril Despres has just 29km of timed special between him and his fourth Dakar win after another dramatic day in Peru. The Frenchman who lost his advantage to team-mate Marc Coma on stage 12 of the...

Dakar Stage 12 – Coma fights back, Watt 35th overall, Younger battles on

Dakar Stage 12 – Coma fights back, Watt 35th overall, Younger battles on

Marc Coma rode the stage of his life to secure the stage victory and move back into the overall lead of the 2012 Dakar with just two stages remaining. The Spanish rider started the 12th stage in third...

2012 MotoGP line-up unveiled

2012 MotoGP line-up unveiled

The 2012 MotoGP world championship line-up has been unveiled with 21 bikes starting the new 1000cc campaign in Qatar on April 8. The grid will be split between a mixture of 12 factory prototype...

Three Brits to do battle in 2012 Moto2 series

Three Brits to do battle in 2012 Moto2 series

Scott Redding, Bradley Smith and Gino Rea will lead the British challenge in the 2012 Moto2 world championship. Redding is poised for his third attack on the 600cc four-stroke class and remains with...

32 bikes on inaugural Moto3 grid

32 bikes on inaugural Moto3 grid

A 32-strong field, including British duo Danny Kent and Danny Webb, will contest the inaugural Moto3 world championship in 2012. The 250cc four-stroke single-cylinder class replaces the 125cc...

Rossi gives Hayden a Ducati MotoGP pillion ride – on snow!

Rossi gives Hayden a Ducati MotoGP pillion ride – on snow!

Nicky Hayden experienced a career first in Italy yesterday when he took a pillion ride on a Ducati MotoGP bike with team-mate Valentino Rossi – on snow! The special ride took place during Ducati’s...

Dakar Stage 11 – Despres wins stage to extend overall lead, Watt 33rd

Factory KTM rider Cyril Despres moved a step closer to his fourth Dakar victory after winning stage 11 of the race and extending his lead over rival and team-mate Marc Coma. The 37 year old Frenchman secured the 534km stage win by 1m 39s from Spanish KTM rider Gerard Farres Guell as the event moved across the border of Chile in to Peru for the first time and now leads closest rival, Coma overall...

Ducati uncomfortable with Aprilia CRT project

Ducati uncomfortable with Aprilia CRT project

Aprilia’s decision to supply a new 1000cc MotoGP bike based on its RSV4 World Superbike machine is not in the spirit of new CRT rules introduced for 2012, according to senior Ducati boss Claudio...

Ducati coy on FTR link with new GP12

Ducati coy on FTR link with new GP12

Ducati technical boss Filippo Preziosi has again refused to confirm whether British chassis specialists FTR are heavily involved in the conventional twin spar aluminium frame that Valentino Rossi and...

Rossi and Hayden keen to check CRT performance

Rossi and Hayden keen to check CRT performance

Factory Ducati duo Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden are both keen to gauge the performance potential of the new production-based 1000cc MotoGP machines (CRT) in 2012. Nine of the 21 bikes that will...

MotoGP boss pledges cheaper bikes and closer racing in 2013

MotoGP boss pledges cheaper bikes and closer racing in 2013

MotoGP boss Carmelo Ezpeleta has laid out his vision for MotoGP in 2013 and beyond by pledging to get manufacturers to supply cheaper bikes while cutting the gulf in performance between factory...

Jorge Lorenzo backs India MotoGP bid

Jorge Lorenzo backs India MotoGP bid

Former world champion Jorge Lorenzo has thrown his support behind plans to stage a MotoGP race in India in the future after he visited the Buddh International Circuit. The Spaniard was in India to...

Dakar stage ten - Bort takes historic Husqvarna win, Despres and Coma separated by 21 seconds overall

Dakar stage ten - Bort takes historic Husqvarna win, Despres and Coma separated by 21 seconds overall

Speedbrain Husqvarna Rally rider Joan Barrda Bort took a historic victory for the Husqvarna in stage 10 of the 2012 Dakar today. The 28 year old Spaniard who is only competing in his second ever Dakar...

Ducati braced for challenging recovery in 2012

Ducati braced for challenging recovery in 2012

Ducati boss Filippo Preziosi has conceded the Bologna factory faces a huge challenge to try and compete with Japanese rivals Honda and Yamaha in the 2012 MotoGP world championship. Valentino Rossi and...

Ducati cagey on GP12 changes

Ducati cagey on GP12 changes

Ducati technical guru Filippo Preziosi did a great job of revealing very little about the radical new GP12 Desmosedici that Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden will debut when winter testing kicks off at...

GBmoto field Quigley and Palmer in BSB

Luke Quigley joins Tristan Palmer in the GBmoto Honda BSB team for this year.  Both are very respected superstock racers and could become the new breed of superbike star – their careers regenerated by the 2012 BSB regulations that will curb horsepower and ban the majority of electronic rider aids to produce bikes that demand a lot more throttle control and smart tyre conservation. Those are the...

Dakar stage nine - Despres fights back to win stage and lead overall, Watt up to 41st

Dakar stage nine - Despres fights back to win stage and lead overall, Watt up to 41st

Following his nightmare on stage eight of the race where he got bogged down in mud, Cyril Despres bounced back in spectacular fashion on stage nine of the event.  The Frenchman led throughout the...

New 1000s not a throwback to 2006, warns Nicky Hayden

New 1000s not a throwback to 2006, warns Nicky Hayden

Nicky Hayden has warned fans not to expect a throwback to the spectacular racing and tyre smoking slides of the 990cc MotoGP era when the new 1000cc world championship gets underway in Qatar on April...

Nicky Hayden confident on Sepang test fitness

Nicky Hayden confident on Sepang test fitness

American Nicky Hayden is confident he will be fit to make his debut on Ducati’s new GP12 when winter testing resumes at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia on January 31. The American is currently...

Valentino Rossi cautious on Ducati future

Valentino Rossi cautious on Ducati future

Valentino Rossi has no plans to quit MotoGP at the end of 2012, but insists it is too early to say whether he will commit his future to Ducati after this season. Rossi endured a nightmare debut...

Valentino Rossi optimistic new Ducati will be competitive

Valentino Rossi optimistic new Ducati will be competitive

He may have only seen a virtual version of Ducati’s new GP12 machine on a computer in Bologna, but Valentino Rossi is confident the radically revamped Desmosedici will help him compete for victories...

No GP12 unveiling at Ducati team launch

No GP12 unveiling at Ducati team launch

The centrepiece of Ducati’s lavish MotoGP team launch in the picturesque Madonna di Campiglio ski resort will be conspicuous by its absence this week. The new GP12 Desmosedici will not be officially...

Dakar Stage 8 - Coma takes control as Despres gets stuck in mud, Watt up to 41st

Dakar Stage 8 - Coma takes control as Despres gets stuck in mud, Watt up to 41st

Marc Coma overturned Cyril Despres’ stranglehold on the 2012 Dakar by winning stage eight of the event – his 20th stage victory of his distinguished career. Coma led from start to finish to end the...

Aztec GP race team robbed

Aztec GP race team robbed

Aztec GP development and preparation was delivered a blow overnight on Friday, when thieves struck, breaking in to the workshop at Turweston. The team told MCN; “It would appear that part of the wall...

Guy Coulon to crew chief for Andrea Dovizioso

Guy Coulon to crew chief for Andrea Dovizioso

French engineer Guy Coulon will work as Andrea Dovizioso’s MotoGP crew chief in the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad in 2012. The Italian rider had initially wanted former Team Roberts and Suzuki crew...

Dakar Stage 7 – Coma closes down on Despres as Dakar reaches mid way point, Watt up to 42nd

Dakar Stage 7 – Coma closes down on Despres as Dakar reaches mid way point, Watt up to 42nd

Marc Coma won the seventh stage of the 2012 Dakar to close on overall race leader Cyril Despres. Coma now trails his team-mate by 7m 48s as the race reaches its half way point. In what was another...

Dakar Stage 6 cancelled due to poor weather

Dakar Stage 6 cancelled due to poor weather

Stage six of the 2012 Dakar has been cancelled following heavy snow and rain in the Andes mountain range on the Argentinean – Chile boarder. The competitors were due to cross the Paso de San...

Dakar stage 5 – Despres wins stage to stretch overall lead, Watt up to 46th, Pickering out of race

Dakar stage 5 – Despres wins stage to stretch overall lead, Watt up to 46th, Pickering out of race

Frenchman Cyril Despres secured his second stage victory to extend his overall lead of the Dakar. The factory KTM rider spent the day racing with team-mate and arch rival Marc Coma with the two men...

Andrea Dovizioso to undergo surgery on broken collarbone

Andrea Dovizioso to undergo surgery on broken collarbone

Andrea Dovizioso has joined Nicky Hayden on the MotoGP pre-season injury list after he broke his right collarbone while training on a motocross bike in Italy yesterday (Thursday). The Italian is now...

Dakar Stage 4 - Coma takes second stage win, Despres leads overall, Watt upto 43rd

Dakar Stage 4 - Coma takes second stage win, Despres leads overall, Watt upto 43rd

Marc Coma bounced back from his navigation error, yesterday to win the 326km day fourth stage of the 2012 Dakar. Having lost a massive 13m 03s the 35 year old Spaniard attacked the stage hard from the...

Dakar Stage 3: Coma mistake gives Despres Dakar edge

Dakar Stage 3: Coma mistake gives Despres Dakar edge

Cyril Despres, already a winner in San Juan on the Dakar’s last visit in 2010, won yesterday’s stage, taking advantage of a major navigational error by Coma to take the lead in the general standings.

Top Brit Sam Sunderland out of Dakar

Top Brit Sam Sunderland out of Dakar

Sam Sunderland the 22 year old, Dubai based Brit has been forced to retire from the 2012 Dakar. The Team Honda Europe rider who claimed a stunning seventh place finish on stage one of the event saw...

Dakar Stage 2 - Coma wins stage two to take control of overall standings

Dakar Stage 2 - Coma wins stage two to take control of overall standings

Marc Coma secured an impressive stage victory on day two of the 2012 Dakar to move into the lead of the overall race standings. The factory KTM rider completed the 487km liason stage before entering...

Dakar Stage 1 - Lopez leads. British rider Sam Sunderland claims stunning seventh

Dakar Stage 1 - Lopez leads. British rider Sam Sunderland claims stunning seventh

Chilean rider Francisco Lopez claimed the early lead of the 2012 Dakar after setting the fastest time onboard his factory Aprilia in Argentina. The 36 year old completed the short 57km special stage...

Argentinean rider Jorge Boero killed on stage one of 2012 Dakar

Argentinean rider Jorge Boero killed on stage one of 2012 Dakar

Jorge Boero from Buenas Aires in Argentina crashed 55KM into the 57KM opening stage of the 2012 Dakar and subsequently suffered a cardiac arrest. The 38 year old was treated by helicopter medical...