Catalunya MotoGP 2016

Year: ALL

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...

British 125 champ moves to GPs

04 February 2003

Who would have thought that it would be a footballer that would provide the break for a British rider to make the jump in to GPs. But that is exactly what has happened to 21-year-old Chris Martin. The...

Biaggi and Ukawa get Camel colours

28 January 2003

MotoGP team Honda Pons will be sponsored by tobacco brand Camel cigarettes for the next three years. The Camel Pramac Pons team are fielding Max Biaggi and Tohru Ukawa this year, both riding the...

MotoGp Test round-up

21 January 2003

Both Honda and Ducati have just finished testing at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, so here is how it went. MCN’s Matthew Birt has been out in Malaysia, and you’ll be able to read his full, exclusive...

Burns and Waldmann team up for MotoGP

14 January 2003

Chris Burns and GP veteran Ralf Waldmann have been announced as the riders for the Yamaha-based Harris WCM. Waldmann hasn’t raced full-time in GPs since 2000, but holds the dubious distinction of...

Top F1 designer joins Proton KR

07 January 2003

Formula One designer John Barnard has joined Proton KR as technical director. Barnard has worked for teams throughout Formula One, including McLaren, Ferrari, Benetton, Arrows and Prost. Successes...

Rossi tips Ducati for 2003

01 January 2003

MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi predicts Ducati rider Loris Capirossi will be a major threat in 2003. Capirossi has beaten lap records at Jerez and Phillip Island in testing. On the final day of...

Rossi faces bomb terror

16 December 2002

It’s hard to believe, but Valentino Rossi is under police protection after he was named in a message included with a letter bomb. The message mentioned Rossi because of his links with Honda MotoGP...

Capirossi stuns in Ducati test

02 December 2002

Ducati’s MotoGP squad will be waking up this morning sore from the volume of back-slapping doled out at Jerez yesterday. Loris Capirossi blazed around the Spanish circuit in a time that would have put...

Casey Stoner takes factory 125 ride

02 December 2002

Teenage Aussie ace Casey Stoner has taken the offer of a factory 125cc Aprilia ride for 2003. He said: ” It’s pretty exciting news to get just before Christmas. I’m really looking forward to getting...

The R1 built to take on Rossi

02 December 2002

This is the British-built bike that’s going to take on the world in next year’s MotoGP championship. Top tuning squad Harris, based in Hertford, will design the machine, based on a heavily-modified...

Ukawa to partner Biaggi at Pramac

25 November 2002

West Honda Pons has just confirmed that Tohru Ukawa will partner Max Biaggi on its V5 RCV in 2003. Ukawa, who rode for the factory Repsol Honda effort alongside Valentino Rossi, finished thrid overall...

Edwards’ bruising Aprilia debut

18 November 2002

Colin Edwards and Noriyuki Haga began their pre-season tests on the Aprilia RS3 yesterday at the Spanish circuit of Jerez, with Edwards marking his debut with a crash. The reigning WSB champ was...

Rossi’s rally starts today

11 November 2002

Valentino Rossi’s Rally of Great Britain gets under way today. The reigning MotoGP champion will be tackling the tough Welsh forests from around 8pm this evening. Click on the links on the right to...