MotoGP Features

A dream came true for British Superbike star Bradley Ray at Sepang on Sunday when he got half-an-hour on a Suzuki GSX-RR MotoGP bike around the Malaysian Grand Prix venue.

Having stepped into Honda’s factory team during the 'reign' of his country’s inaugural 500cc world champion Wayne Gardner, five-time world champion Mick Doohan knows a thing or two about competing alongside – not to mention beating and outlasting - a heavyweight team-mate.

Dani Pedrosa kept his cards close to his chest, but it was well known that the 31-time MotoGP winner was in discussions with the new Petronas-backed Sepang Yamaha team after losing his Honda seat to Jorge Lorenzo.

With Ducati being the first MotoGP team to present its 2019 line-up it created a platform to send out a statement of intent and a few warnings to its rivals.

During the 2014 season, MotoGP development was broadly grouped into three areas - engine, chassis and electronics. But the appearance of winglets on the front of the Ducati during 2015 pre-season testing kicked off a 'fourth dimension' of performance; aerodynamics.

With pre-season testing preparations being finalised and targets being drawn up for the 2019 MotoGP world championship, Crash.net looks over what key objectives each manufacturer will be desperate to get right.

Of the four rookies in MotoGP this season, Joan Mir is the least experienced, with just a single year in Moto2 and total of three seasons in grand prix under his belt.

Having celebrated sixth in the MotoGP championship, three podiums and two pole positions with Johann Zarco during its final season with Yamaha, Tech3 dropped to the tail of the timesheets during the start of its new partnership with KTM.

Valencia - not only the scene of the year’s final grand prix, but a place that offers scope for reflection. There a long, arduous season grinds to a close. And as it does, performances, strategies and relationships from the 18 previous rounds can be judged with some distinction.

Not long after 15.30 on a rainy autumn afternoon outside Valencia, the curtain came down on one of modern grand prix racing’s more distinguished careers. Come the evening of November 18 th , Dani Pedrosa was reflecting on the last of his 289 grand prix in a stellar 18-year career.

A new year welcomes in a brand-new season of MotoGP and naturally everything is to play for with familiar faces in new places, teams at crossroads and a couple of new eras which begin in 2019.

With the Christmas almost here and the racing world taking a rest, it is the perfect time to look back on the year and pick out some of the highlights of the year.

The opening MotoGP test at Sepang in January took place without a Malaysian rider and certainly no sign of a Malaysian team.

When Johann Zarco shot from fourth on the grid to lead after just a few corners of his very first MotoGP race, many had to pinch themselves to believe what they were seeing.

Repsol Honda pulled off the biggest upset of the 2018 MotoGP silly season by reaching an agreement with Jorge Lorenzo, just before his breakthrough debut Ducati victory.

Nicolas Goubert, executive director of the new FIM MotoE World Cup, has pledged that the new electric bike class will be able to race flat-out from start to finish during its inaugural 2019 season.

Ducati Corse general manager Gigi Dall’Igna feels that, following Dani Pedrosa's retirement, it would be appropriate to reconsider a combined rider and bike minimum weight for MotoGP.

With Tech3 joining KTM, only two of the six MotoGP manufacturers will be without a satellite team in 2019. The factories in question, Suzuki and Aprilia, have opposing views on the importance of such a project.

Marc Marquez won his fifth MotoGP title in 2018, but official season statistics show that he also fell 23 times along the way, once again more than any other premier-class competitor.

Monday at Valencia was a time for Ducati Corse general manager Gigi Dall’Igna to weigh-up the 2018 MotoGP season and look ahead to 2019, which starts with testing on Tuesday.

Johann Zarco makes no excuses when accepting his fade during the middle chunk of the MotoGP season but upon his final Monster Yamaha Tech3 bow the exciting French rider reflects on his opening chapter in the premier class with pride.

The 2018 Independent MotoGP teams will run two MotoE riders next season, while the participating Moto2 and Moto3 teams will have a single MotoE entry.

Rewind 27 years, ahead of the first-ever Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix and the world was a very different place.

MotoGP Race Director Mike Webb has explained the reasoning behind Freddie Spencer’s appointment as the Chairman of the FIM Stewards Panel for 2019, stating the respect commanded by the American will compliment the experience and understanding of racing incidents that he brings to the role.