There are a lot of things that can be said about the latest-generation Ducati Panigale V4. Out of all these things, one thing is for sure; we love it. A LOT. So, what is Ducati’s plan to make their first-ever full production V4 superbike even more special? By coming with 12 special editions! (more…)
Jorge Lorenzo once again gave Ducati something to regret about after he won the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya in flawless style. The Spaniard won the race by over four seconds to secure his second consecutive win.
Hammer it home @lorenzo99! 🔨#CatalanGP pic.twitter.com/RhFacfK6QQ
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 17, 2018
Marc Marquez came home in second place to extend his championship lead, while Valentino Rossi secured third place for the third race in a row.
It was not all smooth for Lorenzo, he messed up the start which let Marquez take the lead into the first corner. Andrea Iannone of Suzuki Ecstar too made a fantastic start and slotted into second place on the opening laps, pushing Lorenzo back to third place.
Lorenzo had pace and grace and kept his composure to get past Iannone and Marquez into turn one on the second lap. From there on he simply disappeared ahead and opened a comfortable lead.
His Ducati team mate Andrea Dovizioso found himself in a comfortable third place behind Marquez, but the Italian ran out of luck and crashed out on lap nine – his third DNF of the season which put another massive dent in his title aspirations.
Rossi inherited third place after Dovizioso crashed out, but by then the leaders had already opened up a 3.2 second gap. The gap between the two up ahead though remained under one second for most of the race but Lorenzo looked impervious, setting 1:40.0 second lap after lap. In the end though, Marquez simply could not respond and eventually finished 4.479 seconds behind from Lorenzo, who now draws level on points with teammate Dovizioso in the championship standings.
Another podium for @ValeYellow46 👏
Three-in-a-row for the Doctor!#CatalanGP pic.twitter.com/AkuWGQtamk
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 17, 2018
Rossi came home in a lonely third place but made it yet another podium finish to remain second in the standings, with Cal Crutchlow of LCR Honda Castrol enjoying a fantastic ride to finish as top independent rider in fourth place. The Brit was locked in a battle with Dani Pedrosa but got the better of the Spaniard. Dani rounded out the top five.
Maverick Vinales opening lap woes continued, with the rider finishing the first lap down in P10 after starting fourth. The Spaniard later managed to salvage sixth at the end of the race, holding off Johann Zarco, but the two traded blows throughout the race.
Danilo Petrucci crossed the line in eight place, with fellow Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista finishing seven seconds further back in ninth place.
Despite a brilliant start, Iannone slipped back and the Italian came home in tenth place. Pol Espargaro picking up his fourth straight P11 finish, with Scot Reding and Karel Abraham were the only other riders to finish the race in P12 and P13 respectively.
Bradley Smith went up to as high as eight place on the opening laps of the race, but was taken out by Takaaki Nakagami on lap 14, both riders are okay.
Mika Kallio of Red bull KTM Factory Racing, Tom Luthi and Aleix Espargaro and Xavier Simeon also crashed out early in the race. All riders are okay.
Malaysian Hafizh Syahrin was enjoying a good race and looked like he could earn a top 10 finish, but he crashed on the exit of turn four.
Alex Rins difficult weekend continued in the race, and the Spaniard retired on lap 12. Jack Miller and Tito Rabat both had to retire their bikes too with Rabat’s Ducati catching fire.
That famous @lorenzo99 leap off the top step of the podium! 🙌#CatalanGP pic.twitter.com/rDYoUfFAA3
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 17, 2018
The next race in the calendar is set to take place at the classic Assen circuit, where Lorenzo will be looking to extend his championship points and Marquez will be looking to keep Rossi at bay. Rossi is currently in second place in the standings, but the Doctor has often been the master of the TT Circuit Assen.
Image credits: MotoGP.com
After weeks of speculation and rumours about the future of Jorge Lorenzo, the hammer has dropped and it is officially official, the triple motogp world champion will be joining the Honda MotoGP works team.
While Malaysians slept, the wheels of negotiation were turning through the night and though this was supposedly done before Lorenzo secured his first win with Ducati, it seems like the Japanese manufacturer has secured the services of Lorenzo for at least two years.
Just hours after announcing that Pedrosa will be dropped from the team for 2019, the news bout Lorenzo joining Honda broke. And though Honda has not officially announced it as yet, but sources out of Europe are confirming it as true. The agreement between rider and team is reported to be at about 4 million Euros a year.
There are also rumours that Lorenzo was not the first choice for the team, but as other top riders like Johan Marco, Andrea Dovizioso and even Joan Mir of Moto2 all signing for other teams, the choice was obvious. The only other top rider that was available was Lorenzo and the choice was clear.
Earlier rumours about Lorenzo signing for a satellite Yamaha team in 2019 were supposedly true, read our report here, but no current team has been firmed up as a satellite Yamaha team for 2019. The project was backed by Petronas and Monster, and again reports suggest that the team could still happen, probably lead by Marc VDS Honda’s Franco Morbidelli.
More news as it develops.
It is officially official, the works Honda MotoGP team has informed its long time rider Dani Pedrosa that his contract will not be renewed for 2019.
Some say the writing was already on the wall considering his poor start to the 2018 season where Dani currently sits 12th in the championship while his teammate Marc Marquez leads it.
Though not exactly shocking, the news is as sad as it comes considering Dani has only ever raced for Honda powered machinery throughout his race career. He won the 2003 125cc title as well as the 2004 and 2005 250cc titles with Honda. Dani has been with the HRC MotoGP team since 2006.
There is no immediate news on his replacement as yet, but there are some whispers about Honda poaching Jorge Lorenzo. That seems unlikely since the Spaniard, whose contract with Ducati is coming to an end at the end of this season, looks set to be joining a Petronas and Yamaha backed satellite team.
But the temptation of racing on a bike that has proven to be nearly unbeatable in the right hands for the past few seasons may prove to be too much. Never say never.
It was a race of epic proportions yesterday in Mugello, Italy. As hundreds of thousands gathered for the Gran Premio D’Italia Oakley on Sunday, the lights went off with their hometown hero, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) leading the pack from pole position. (more…)
There have been many rumours going around the MotoGP paddock but this particular news might be the biggest one yet, especially to fellow Malaysians. It seems that there might be a possibility of Malaysia running its own MotoGP squad after all in 2019 as a Yamaha satellite team. (more…)
It was an ultra-dramatic MotoGP race last night at the HJC Helmets Grand Prix de France. Many events unfolded which resulted in Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez winning his third race of the season and equalising the number of premier class wins to Casey Stoner’s total of 38. (more…)
This year’s Spanish GP certainly did not disappoint the hundreds of thousands of fans congregating at the Circuito de Jerez. In front of his home crowd, Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda secured his second win of the year and also the championship lead with a very significant gap. (more…)
Remember last year’s MotoGP round in Austria? It was the 11th round of the season where Jorge Lorenzo performed brilliantly throughout the race leading the first 11 laps before crossing the chequered flag in fourth. All eyes were on him and his Ducati Desmosedici GP17 which looked brilliant with his devil-inspired Shark Race-R Pro. (more…)
The latest rumour circulating the MotoGP paddock (besides the #TermasClash between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez in the Argentina GP) revolves one particular Spaniard rider, Jorge Lorenzo. It seems that Suzuki is already started working on a plan to get the three-time MotoGP world champion to join them for the 2019 season. (more…)
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