Dorna Sports announced there will be a MotoGP test at Argentina’s Circuito Internacional Termas de Rio Hondo in July to allow teams to prepare for the track’s expected addition to the 2014 MotoGP calendar.

Argentina was actually supposed to join the MotoGP tour this season, but the round was scrapped because of a dispute between the country and Spain after the Argentine government seized control of a Repsol subsidiary. Repsol is, of course, a prominent sponsor of several teams including Honda‘s factory team.

A number of teams will take part in the test, which will take place July 1-5 following the TT Assen in the Netherlands. Dorna has not said which teams will take part in the test, only stating representatives of Ducati, Honda and Yamaha will be taking part. MotoMatters however reports the Repsol Honda factory team, the LCR Honda team as well as the factory Yamaha team will not be present. Continue Reading »

Yamaha announced it will offer a leasing arrangement for its YZR-M1 engines to teams interested in racing in the MotoGP World Championship. The Japanese manufacturer has signed a leasing arrangement with MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports to supply engines for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Racing teams will be able to lease a Yamaha M1 engine on a per-year basis for their own race bikes. Teams will be free to develop their own chassis or use a chassis from suppliers such as FTR or Suter. Yamaha will not provide any additional engine development on leased engines, so teams will be responsible for their own engine improvements.

Full details including pricing will be released shortly, but interested parties can contact either Dorna or Yamaha for more information. Continue Reading »

With the 2013 MotoGP season officially underway, Motosport.com has taken this opportunity to launch its interactive timeline as part of the site. Here, fans and enthusiasts worldwide can learn more than just the hard facts about each race. Continue Reading »

 

In order to use footage from a Dorna-sanctioned MotoGP test session — say, for marketing or promotional reasons — a team must receive approval from Dorna. The process is tedious, and even if permission is granted, there are strict limitations as to what the material may or may not be used for. So when Honda decided to conduct its own private test (which Yamaha also joined), at the Circuit of the Americas, it was free from any and all Dorna mandates.

Rest assured, Honda took full advantage.  Continue Reading »

The 2013 MotoGP season kicks off this weekend at the Grand Prix of Qatar, and like many of you, we can’t wait to see how this season plays out. There are a number of plot twists this year, with Rossi, Marquez, Pedrosa and Lorenzo all grabbing headlines. Here, we’ll highlight the top 10 storylines to watch this year.

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In this Alpinestars-provided video, Dani Pedrosa sits down and answers some questions from fans in a new series A-Stars calls “Ask Me Something.” The premise is simple: users submit their questions via social media, and the athlete answers the popular or unique submissions in front of a film crew.  Continue Reading »

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Some MotoGP teams including Repsol Honda, LCR Honda and the Factory Yamaha squads tested at the Circuit of the Americas track in Austin, Texas to gather crucial data leading up to the race there April 19-21. Ride along with Dani Pedrosa and his Honda RC213V as he takes you around for a lap of America’s world-class racetrack.  Continue Reading »

 

In case you haven’t heard, at the recent MotoGP test at the new Circuit of the Americas (CotA) track, 1993 500cc world champion Kevin Schwantz was unceremoniously removed from the property. In protest to this rude (and in our opinion unwarranted) treatment of a motorcycling icon, a group of motorcycle racing enthusiasts have organized the FreeKevin34 movement, culminating in the FreeKevin34  weekend, April 19-21, the same weekend as the CotA round of MotoGP. Continue Reading »

Fox Sports Media Group announced it has signed a new multi-year agreement with Dorna Sports for the U.S. broadcasting rights to the MotoGP World Championship. The agreement will see the 2013 season continue to air on Speed before the channel gets rebranded as Fox Sports 1 on Aug. 1. The series will then air on the new channel.

The future of televised motorcycle racing in the U.S. was left in some doubt when Fox announced it would replace Speed with Fox Sports 1. The new channel focuses on more non-racing sports, securing rights to air UEFA Champions League soccer, Major League Baseball and UFC. The announcement followed news of the World Superbike Championship moving from Speed to the BeIN Sport Network, leaving some to wonder if Speed would also lose MotoGP.

Speed will air the first nine rounds of the 2013 MotoGP championship, including the April 21 Grand Prix of the Americas and the July 21 U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. The subsequent rounds, starting with the Aug. 18 Indianapolis Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will air on Fox Sports 1. Continue Reading »

Yamaha officially launched its 2013 MotoGP factory team, revealing the new livery for riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi and their YZR-M1 prototypes.

The new livery returns to a predominantly blue design with white elements compared to last year’s design which was more predominantly white. The livery also features a modern interpretation of Yamaha‘s speed block design.

Rossi’s M1 features his iconic #46 in his traditional yellow while Lorenzo’s M1 features a red #99 instead of the #1 he earned as the 2012 MotoGP champion. Lorenzo wore the #1 plate in 2011 after winning the 2010 title. Lorenzo says he was excited to use the #1 plate after winning his first MotoGP title but the following season was not as successful, with his point total dropping from an all-time record of 360 points to 260 in 2011. Lorenzo still finished second that season to Casey Stoner but he says he won two titles with #99 and his fans know him best with that number. Continue Reading »