Phil Young and Achim Hofstadter are performance specialists. Not unusual in a speed-obsessed world like Formula One, where everyone is constantly working for more power, more pace and more traction.
A Michael Schumacher win in the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring was more or less expected, but it was Takuma Sato who very much shared the glory with the six-time World Champion in Germany after a mesmerising performance in his BAR-Honda.
by Peter McLaren In an added twist to the thorny issue of who gets factory Honda machinery, the satellite Camel Honda team has today announced that Max Biaggi will receive Repsol backing for the rest of the season.
Makoto Tamada may carry the hopes of the Honda and the Japanese sporting nation on his shoulders, but it seems such pressure does little to change his positive attitude to grand prix racing and life in general.
Surprise British TV audience figures for last weekend have shown that the Misano round of the World Superbike championship beat the opening round of the MotoGP world championship, in terms of outright viewer numbers.
by Peter McLaren Valentino Rossi's superb victory at Welkom may mark the start of a new era in MotoGP, where the recent emphasis upon exotic technology is replaced by a realisation that, however great the machine, it's the rider that's most important.
by Peter McLaren Alex Barros and Nicky Hayden have cast doubt on the assumption that, as factory Honda riders, they will have a significant machinery advantage this season - Hayden believing such comments from fellow RCV competitors could simply be 'an excuse'.
The Phakisa circuit, a stand-alone facility near Welkom in the South African gold fields, is a flat and frequently dusty track, ringed by a speed bowl designed for CART-style car racing.
by Peter McLaren Long time Yamaha rider Shinya Nakano has revealed that his new Kawasaki isn't as far away from the former race-winning YZR-M1 as some expected, and is actually better in some areas.
by Peter McLaren The third pre-season launch on Thursday at Barcelona, and attended by Crash.net , was by the Kawasaki Racing Team, who unveiled their new 'potent' ZX-RR racer with which Shinya Nakano and Alex Hofmann will carry team green honours this season.
Yamaha launched its 2004 MotoGP effort with an action-packed ceremony in the centre of Barcelona this afternoon [Thursday] as Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Carlos Checa were joined by Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3 team-mates Marco Melandri and Norick Abe to unveil their race mach
Paul Radisich is heading into his sixth season in the V8 Supercar championship. With a wide range of motorsport experience behind him including a spell in the British Touring Car Championship during its heyday, Paul is piloting the Triple Eight Betta Electrical Ford Falcon BA this year.
The decision to include the names of both the Gauloises and Fortuna tobacco brands as title sponsors of the four Yamaha MotoGP machines could leave the outfits facing criticism for excessive tobacco advertising.
With the Renault F1 Team having completed the raw carbon monocoque for the R24 (see previous stories), the time has come to make the final transformation and apply the full race livery.
WilliamsF1's FW26 created a stir when it was unveiled at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo on Monday, but some Formula One insiders believe that its radical-looking front end treatment may not be as big a step forward as the team may want its rivals to believe.
There is no doubt that Honda was the manufacturer to beat in 2003, winning all but one of the sixteen rounds while its riders took the top three positions in the championship, but exactly how far ahead was the awesome RC211V?
Ever since Valentino Rossi's two-year Yamaha deal was confirmed, speculation has grown as to whether the Japanese manufacturer is planning to build an entirely new machine for the Italian, perhaps without their traditional inline four-cylinder engine.
Crash.net can confirm that four of the six Repsol Honda team members directly responsible for running Valentino Rossi have left to join the Italian in his new adventure at Yamaha - with nine-times world champion crew chief Jerry Burgess heading the list.
A Yamaha source has told Crash.net that Alex Barros is expected to stay with the team in 2004, despite the Brazilian being hunted by Honda to replace Valentino Rossi alongside predicted future star Nicky Hayden.
It now looks certain that Honda will block any attempts by Valentino Rossi and Yamaha to get the Italian onto their M1 before his HRC contract ends on 1/1/2004, thus reducing Rossi's input into next year's machine considerably.
Following yesterday's announcement that Valentino Rossi would be joining Yamaha, Mick Doohan - HRC's general manager of racing - has given a multiple world champion's insight on the biggest shake-up in the premier-class for over a decade.
Max Biaggi's first season as a Honda RCV rider came to a disappointing end as the double 2003 race winner limped home in fourth place at Valencia - after suffering from a lack of engine braking.