2003

Year: 2003

Month: ALL

Kiyonari to join Gibernau in MotoGP

06 May 2003

Reigning Japanese Supersport champion Ryuichi Kiyonari has been selected as Sete Gibernau’s new team-mate in the Gresini Racing Telefonica Movistar team. Gibernau was chosen as the replacement for the...

Ducati duo first and second on grid for Jerez

06 May 2003

The Ducati duo of Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss have taken first and second places on the grid for tomorrow’s MotoGP race at Jerez in Spain. Capirossi topped the time sheets with a 1:41.993s, 10...

Sombre mood for Welkom GP

22 April 2003

This weekend’s second round of the MotoGP world championship at the Phakisa Freeway in Welkom, South Africa, will not have the usual celebratory atmosphere. Instead the sport will collectively bow its...

Rossi takes provisional pole at Welkom

22 April 2003

Valentino Rossi has continued his dominance at the Welkom GP by taking the provisional pole at the end of the first qualifying session. The factory Honda rider – who was wearing a black armband in...

Gibernau honours Kato with pole

22 April 2003

Sete Gibernau offered a fitting tribute to his team-mate Daijiro Kato by taking the pole position at the second round of the MotoGP championship in Welkom, South Africa. Gibernau continuously improved...

Burns’ WCM fails FIM inspection

22 April 2003

Chris Burns’ GP dream has been dealt another blow this weekend after his Harris WCM machine was banned from taking part in the South African GP. An FIM technical team inspected the R1-derived...

McWilliams fifth fastest on two-stroke at Welkom

22 April 2003

Jeremy McWilliams has taken his two-stroke Proton KR3 to the fifth fastest time in the first practice session at the Welkom MotoGP on what is potentially the last appearance of a two-stroke bike in...

Gibernau honors Kato with Welkom win

22 April 2003

Sete Gibernau took the win at the second round of the MotoGP world championship as a fitting memorial to his late team-mate Daijiro Kato. The start of the race was delayed by 50 minutes after Kenny...

Kato succumbs to injuries

15 April 2003

Daijiro Kato, the former 250cc World Champion, has died in hospital in Japan. Kato passed away at 00:42 local time today, Sunday April 20, in the Yokkaichi Central Hospital. Kato, 26, had been in a...

Mugello test for Ducati GP team

15 April 2003

Ducati is continuing its policy of getting closer to the public after opening the gates to its latest private test at the Mugello circuit in Italy this week. More than 500 fans watched Ducati riders...

Ukawa releases statement on Kato

08 April 2003

The Camel Pramac Pons team have issued a statement to the press on behalf of rider Tohru Ukawa, which mysteriously retracts his earlier statements about the crash which seriously injured Daijiro...

Kato stable, Gibernau to race on

08 April 2003

Daijiro Kato showed some signs of improvement yesterday but is still in a critical condition after his accident at the first round of MotoGP on Sunday, in Suzuka, Japan. With the rider making it...

Kato shows slight improvement

08 April 2003

Daijiro Kato is still in a serious condition after his horrific crash in the early stages of the first MotoGP race on Sunday. The hospital has not made any official statement but it is known that the...

Rossi grabs provisional pole

01 April 2003

The first round of the MotoGP world championship kicked off the struggle for supremacy with Italian rivals Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi finishing the opening qualifying session separated by just 0.2s on Friday. The morning’s free practice saw Ducati rider Loris Capirossi topping the time sheets with a time of 2:04.604, 0.02s ahead of Valentino Rossi. All that changed for the qualifying session...

Capirossi crashes, Rossi goes quickest

01 April 2003

Valentino Rossi topped the time sheets at the final pre-season IRTA test at Suzuka, beating his own lap record with a 2:04.17s. There were a number of crashes throughout the test, including Ducati’s...

Rossi tops first GP qualifying session

01 April 2003

First official practice and qualifying for the opening round of this season’s MotoGP championship has just finished in Suzuka, Japan Valentino Rossi has provisionally qualified on pole with a time of...

Rossi wins at Suzuka

01 April 2003

Reigning Champion Valentino Rossi staked his claim to this year’s MotoGP world championship title with an impressive win at the first round in Suzuka, Japan, today. The Italian stormed away from the...

Delayed Roberts V5 launched in London

25 March 2003

Kenny Roberts finally unveiled his all-new V5 MotoGP contender in London last week. The world launch, attended by celebs including Tara-Palmer Tomkinson and the Royal Family’s Ralph Little, was also...

First outing for KTM GP bike

18 March 2003

125cc riders Arnaud Vincent and Roberto Locatelli have finally ridden their new KTM GP bikes for the first time after delays in construction forced them to miss both of the pre season IRTA tests at...

Schwantz returns to racing

18 March 2003

Kevin Schwantz is returning to full time professional racing with the launch of the AMA Red Bull Supermoto championship. The 1993 500 GP champion retired from professional racing in 1995 with an...

Melandri Struggles, Checa goes fastest

11 March 2003

Ducati brought four Desmmosedici’s to Catalunya yesterday, March 13, to join the Honda Pons, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Proton, and WCM teams at the circuit for a packed session ahead of the official...

Waldmann quits WCM

11 March 2003

Ralf Waldmann has quit the Harris WCM MotoGP team saying it is too late in his career for him to make the move from two-stroke to four-stroke bikes. The German rider rode the bike for the first time...

Rossi pays tribute to Sheene

11 March 2003

Valentino Rossi led the tributes to the late Barry Sheene at the IRTA MotoGP test on Sunday with a specially commissioned helmet design. The reigning MotoGP champion took the opportunity to make two...

Capirossi hits 204mph on Ducati GP bike

11 March 2003

Loris Capirossi clocked a record-setting 203.9mph and set the fastest lap at the weekends IRTA tests in Catalunya. For a full report on the weekend’s activity, see this week’s issue of MCN, out March...

Valencia MotoGP tests

11 March 2003

Both Suzuki and Honda Pons had to cut short their test sessions at Valencia after rain kept them in the garage. But the weather cleared this week allowing the 250 and 125 bikes to take to the...

Suzuka revamped for MotoGP test

04 March 2003

Suzuka, one of the two MotoGP circuits in Japan, has been altered with a new tighter corner and additional chicane. The changes at ‘130R’ corner and ‘Casio Triangle’ chicane are designed to improve...

Proton V5 not ready for Catalunya

04 March 2003

Jeremy McWilliams and Nobuatsu Aoki are likely to be testing on their old 500cc two-stroke machines at the Moto GP Winter Test in Catalunya. The Proton 990cc V5 four stroke is so far behind in its...

Two weeks out for injured Melandri

25 February 2003

Fortuna Yamaha rider Marco Melandri fell victim to rain at the Second IRTA MotoGP test in Estoril on Wednesday. He low-sided on the circuit’s uphill chicane. The result was a dislocated shoulder that...

Barros tops final day of GP tests

25 February 2003

The wind played a big part in the last day of MotoGP testing at Jerez on Sunday with a number of riders coming off when caught by sudden gusts. Alex Barros managed to put in the top time of the day,...

Kato beats Rossi in Honda test

18 February 2003

Daijiro Kato put in the fastest time at Honda’s two-day test in Sepang, a tenth of a second faster than Valentino Rossi. Kato recorded a best of 2:02.8 on the second day, Thursday. But Rossi wasn’t...

Rain hinders MotoGP test

18 February 2003

Day two of the official MotoGP test at Jerez has been badly affected by rain. Most riders risked the circuit, but no-one was able to improve their times, leaving Alex Barros as the fastest rider so...

THQ launches Moto GP 2 racing game

11 February 2003

THQ has launched the latest incarnation of its motorcycle racing game Moto GP. Moto GP 2 is being launched for Xbox and will provide the player with the ability to race against sixteen other riders on...

Gardner retires from racing

11 February 2003

Former World 500cc champion Wayne Gardner is retiring from racing. He quit bikes in 1993 to take up car racing and his most recent efforts have seen him driving a factory Toyota Supra in the All-Japan...

Checa beats Biaggi’s best

11 February 2003

Carlos Checa beat Max Biaggi’s pole-setting time at Catalunya in his latest test of the factory Yamaha Moto GP bike this week. Despite a crash on Monday that left him with a just few bruises, Checa...

Final race colours for Ducati

11 February 2003

These are the first pictures of the new Ducati Desmosedici V4 Moto GP bike in its final race decals. The bike was on show today at the bikes official launch alongside the leathers that riders Troy...

Negotiations ongoing for Donington

04 February 2003

Race fans will find out if Donington Park is to undergo a multi-million pound facelift by the end of this month. Negotiations between a consortium looking to buy out the 19-year lease to promote...