#racing

For the fourth time in five premier class seasons, Honda’s remarkable Marc Marquez stands on the cusp of a championship. His win in Australia last week left him with a short to-do list this week in Malaysia: 1) Try to finish no worse than second. 2) Try to finish ahead of Andrea Dovizioso. 3) If both #1 and #2 fail, lose to Dovizioso by seven points or less. Otherwise, he will have to return to Valencia in two weeks for some kind of decider. Probably the best thing for #93 would be to euthanize this title chase Sunday under the cover of darkness, many time zones removed from home, setting up a triumphal fait accompli return to Spain. We couldn’t disagree more.

Honda triple MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez survived a crowded, snappish, paint-trading lead group today for the win that now makes the 2017 championship his to lose. With Yamahas everywhere, and guys like Johann Zarco and Andrea Iannone bouncing around like pinballs, it was just another picture-perfect Phillip Island grand prix. The confounding Valentino Rossi somehow finished second today, teammate Maverick Viñales third. But having both factory Yamahas on the podium felt like a small achievement on the same day the team’s faint hopes for a championship came to an end.

For the second time this season, Factory Ducati #1 Andrea Dovizioso and Repsol Honda prodigy Marc Marquez gave us a late-race knives-in-a-phonebooth duel, a ten-point spread in the standings at the top of the heap at stake. And for the second time this season, Dovizioso prevailed in what was almost a carbon copy of the first win, a last lap exchange of fortunes in Austria. Now it’s Two for the Road, as the two “blessed” riders in this year’s championship, separated by 11 points, seem destined to square off in Valencia.

Once again MotoGP embarks on its annual Darwinian excursion through some of the world’s most exotic time zones for what is laughingly called The Pacific Swing. As if it were a square dance and not a grueling test of mettle and metal. One week at Honda’s glowing home crib, one on the windswept tundra of the south Australian coast, and one in the autoclave of Sepang. Can Honda’s Marc Marquez seize his fourth MotoGP title on this chaotic cruise, or will he leave things dangling for the Valencia finale?

Motorcycle luminary Roland Sands has long dreamed about bringing motorcycle racing to the heart of mainstream suburban SoCal, and the culmination of his work goes off this Saturday in a unique collision of moto and surf culture at Bolsa Chica beach, just north of Huntington Beach and south of Long Beach. Its promoters promise “a wave-shredding, fuel burning, hard-rocking extravaganza.”

There’s no denying that Supermoto is one of the most intriguing forms of motorcycling. It combines the best of motocross, flat track and road-racing. The light weight, speed and agility of a dirt bike paired with the glue-like traction of road-racing slicks can make any Average-Joe feel like a MotoGP superstar. Add professional skills into the mix and you’ve got yourself one helluva two-wheeled spectacle.

Retired racer and Dorna‘s MotoGP race direction representative Loris Capirossi recently completed a private test of the Saroléa SP7 electric race bike to judge its candidacy for the spec bike for MotoGP’s upcoming electric class.

Honda’s Marc Marquez recovered from an error early in the race to win the dramatic third of four Spanish rounds, #14 in Aragon. Following his blown engine in Britain and his win in the rain at Misano, the young Catalan wonder now has momentum heading into the three-races-in-three-weeks hell of the Pacific flyaway. The podium celebration, also featuring teammate Dani Pedrosa and exiled Ducati pilot Jorge Lorenzo, took us back to the old days of 2013. The prospect of settling the championship in Valencia, however, dimmed somewhat.

Sunday’s Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón de MotoGP is unlikely to have a momentous impact on the 2017 championship standings. Honda’s Marc Marquez and Ducati pilot Andrea Dovizioso, playing cat and mouse at 200 mph and tied at present, will head for the Pacific flyaway rounds separated by, at most, 25 points. The man in jeopardy of losing touch is factory Yamaha prodigy Maverick Viñales. A crash this week could put him some 40 points behind the leader – whoever it is – with four rounds to go, not a good place to be, even on a YZR-M1.

Motorcycle related video games are few and far-between, which is why MO tries to let its readers know whenever we see a new release on the horizon. So start exercising those thumbs and be sure to stock up on plenty of Mountain Dew because the good folks at THQ Nordic and Rainbow Studios are finalizing their newest game from the MX vs. ATV series that will be ready for release in early 2018. The game will be available for your PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC’s.

With the short attention spans of today’s society, speedway racing seems like it would be a perfect motorcycle sport to hook new fans. Here’s a great example of the intense, bar-to-bar action on display in the pro ranks, this heat from the FIM GP event in England earlier this year. So much action packed into less than two minutes of battle! Anyone who thinks GP and Superbike riders get sideways while racing will need their sideways-angle calculator recalibrated.

Magnificent Marc Marquez put on a last lap for his career highlight reel in beating a plucky Danilo Petrucci and conservative Andrea Dovizioso to the flag in a wet Tribul Mastercard GP San Marino e Riviera di Rimini. In doing so, he rained on Ducati’s parade, tied series leader Dovizioso for the championship lead heading to Aragon, and reminded those of us who watch racing how exceptionally gifted he truly is.

Triumph has released an update on the development of its Moto2 engine, showing for the first time a prototype undergoing tests at the Ciudad del Motor de Aragon circuit. Triumph is set to replace Honda as the sole engine supplier for the Moto2 World Championship in 2019, using a motor based on the 765cc Inline-Three powering the Street Triple RS.

MotoGP turns its sights on stunning San Marino once again, returning this weekend for Round 13 minus Valentino Rossi, who, as everyone knows by now, badly broke his leg in a training accident last week. Ducati pilot Andrea Dovizioso, perhaps the Italian erede apparente, leads the now diminished 2017 chase pursued by three Spaniards. He and the two youngsters, Marc Marquez and Maverick Viñales, can only feel relieved that the yellow 800-pound gorilla has left the room. Dani Pedrosa, the fourth challenger, his prospects now marginally improved, hangs in contention by a thread.

MotoGP Madness descends upon the British Midlands this weekend as Round 12, the two-thirds mark of the 2017 season, arrives. Repsol Honda prodigy Marc Marquez maintains his lead in the series at 16 points, but only 35 points separate the top five riders. A single mishap for #93 and it’s anybody’s season. But Marquez was down by 37 points after Mugello, and has gained 53 points on the field in the last five rounds. His pursuers need to evacuate or get off the pot if they want to Let Valencia Decide.