MotoGP Features

By Peter McLaren James Toseland is looking forward to Valentino Rossi signing a new contract with Yamaha - since he believes it will help his own MotoGP prospects.

On a day when Honda officially confirmed that its pneumatic-valve engine will not be ready for the opening rounds of the 2008 MotoGP season, Nicky Hayden provided the factory with a welcome boast by taking last season's spring-valve design to the top of the Saturday timesheets, with a qual

By Peter McLaren Yamaha has extracted five more horsepower - or 'ponies' as engineering general manager Masao Furusawa calls them - from its YZR-M1 since the end of last season, but believes another three or four will be needed for the 2008 Qatar season opener.

By Peter McLaren Masao Furusawa, Yamaha's general manager of Engineering Operations, likes listening to Kawasaki's new screamer engine - but says the even-firing design will never again power a Yamaha MotoGP bike.

By Peter McLaren Nicky Hayden still doesn't know which type of engine he'll be using at the 2008 MotoGP season opener, in Qatar on March 9, but suspects it could be last year's spring-valve design.

By Peter McLaren Yamaha caught some by surprise when its 2008 YZR-M1 appeared with the option of a pneumatic-valve engine at Sepang - but at present that development is only available to the factory Fiat team of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.

By Peter McLaren

Wins, Podiums, Poles and Fastest Laps. The stats that matter most.

The 2006 season - when technical problems, accidents, injuries and Nicky Hayden combined to end Valentino Rossi's five-year reign - was seen as something of a freak occurrence which, paddock wisdom assured, would be quickly corrected during 2007.

Valentino Rossi may not have won a MotoGP race since September's Portuguese Grand Prix, but the Italian was back on the top step of the podium on Sunday - at the Monza Rally Show (pictured).

By Peter McLaren Despite finishing second in the 2007 world championship with Dani Pedrosa, Honda is gambling on an all-new RC212V to try and regain the MotoGP crown - but at present it's slower than last year's bike.

By Peter McLaren

Race 1 Japan/2002/Suzuka The first MotoGP race saw three different manufacturers on the podium with Valentino Rossi (Honda) winning from Akira Ryo (Suzuki) and Carlos Checa (Yamaha).

Title rival Valentino Rossi threw everything he had at Stoner during the Shanghai event - but it was the Italian who eventually cracked, missing his braking point for the hairpin with six laps to go and leaving the 21-year-old Ducati star to take his third win from four starts.

Abe is reported to have collided with a truck, while riding a motorcycle near the city of Kawasaki, after it made an 'illegal' U-turn in front of him.

By Peter McLaren Team Roberts held mid-season discussions with MV Agusta about the possibility of running a factory WSBK outfit next year, but the Italian factory - whose planned partnership with Foggy Racing was recently scrapped - seems to be backing away from the series.

Rossi, then driving a Michelin backed Peugeot, had posted the 25th fastest time during a short opening stage in Cardiff, but was caught out by the slippery Welsh forests early the next morning - in what was the first real stage of the rally - when his 206 slowly slid off the road on a tight left

Plans to host MotoGP's first ever night race at the 5.4km Losail circuit, on March 9, 2008, were announced last month - but the estimated cost was avoided.

During this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix it was officially announced that the desert track will be floodlit next season - confirming the reality of an idea first evaluated in 2006, when Kenny Roberts Jr, Loris Capirossi and Valentino Rossi rode street bikes around the circuit under football-st

MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden hasn't had the easiest of starts to his title defence, sitting sixth in the standings after round two of 18.

Spanish star Dani Pedrosa will be chasing his first MotoGP victory in front of his home fans at Jerez this weekend, a circuit where the talented 21-year-old has already tasted success in the 250cc class.

Part one of the Yamaha technical presentation detailed how the YZR-M1 has evolved since its 2002 racing debut, and part two will now concentrate specifically on the 2006 machine.

The end of the 2006 MotoGP season also marked the last ever race for the 990cc prototypes, including Yamaha's YZR-M1, with new 800cc engine regulations being introduced for next season.

Although it is possible for Nicky Hayden to clinch the 2006 MotoGP World Championship in Portugal this weekend, the most likely scenario is that the title chase will go all the way to the final race in Valencia.