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Team boss Lin Jarvis told motogp.com that the three-time premier-class champion is due to return to action after his outing on the M1 during the shakedown earlier this week . "Basically we expect him to ride again tomorrow, that's our plan," said Jarvis. "Honestly Jorge's job here is no testing our bike for us, he's running our bike for him, to get him to up to speed, to get him feeling comfortable. "It's been three years since Jorge rode a Yamaha, so we want him to get completely comfortable on our bike. His real testing work begins probably in April." Lorenzo set the eighth-fastest time on the last day of the shakedown on Tuesday, completing 46 laps and ending up a little over a second off the pace of KTM's Pol Espargaro. Valentino Rossi said he had already received useful feedback from Lorenzo and is looking forward to the Spaniard being able to make a further contribution. "We speak a lot these days, we work together, and he said a lot of interesting … [Read more...] about Lorenzo to ride on final day of Sepang test

The 20-minute session was delayed by half an hour due to concerns over low track temperatures for the earlier Moto2 and Moto3 sessions in their original time slots. Once underway, top spot changed hands frequently, with Pramac’s Jack Miller, Ducati stablemate Danilo Petrucci, Marquez, Petronas Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, Alex Rins and Maverick Vinales all taking turns at the top of the timesheets. With 10 minutes of the session gone, Marquez fell from his Honda as he headed into the Turn 14 left, while Suzuki’s Rins had taken over at the head of the field with a 1m31.702s. Rins improved to a 1m31.622s, which stood as the benchmark until the closing moments, when Yamaha’s Vinales fired in a 1m31.569s to edge 0.015 seconds clear of the field. Marquez had quickly returned to the action on his second bike following his crash, and was up to second almost instantly. A final effort of 1m31.295s from Vinales put him 0.289s out of reach and looked to cement him … [Read more...] about Valencia MotoGP: Marquez brushes off crash to top warm-up

Pre-season testing should have gotten underway back in February, but the escalating COVID situation in Malaysia forced MotoGP to cancel this and confine all five days of running this winter to Qatar in March. High winds and dust greeted the field at the Losail International Circuit, with the sub-optimal conditions meaning just nine riders took to the track in the opening hour of running. Factory KTM rider Miguel Oliveira set the early pace with a 1m57.707s as he had his first taste of the new RC16. New Honda signing Pol Espargaro was one of the first on track as he began his learning process of the RC213V, with the six-time MotoGP podium finisher taking over top spot 10 minutes into the second hour with a 1m57.566s. By the end of Hour 2, Oliveira had returned to top spot with a 1m56.980s, while HRC test rider and Marc Marquez substitute Stefan Bradl topped the times after Hour 3. The German has been hard at work testing the 2021 RC213V in private tests already this … [Read more...] about Aleix Espargaro tops first MotoGP test in Qatar for Aprilia

Along with sustainability a key aim of Formula 1’s budget cap is to rein in the performance of the top teams by levelling the playing field. And yet in typical glass-full style Mercedes boss Toto Wolff sees the cap not as a hurdle for the Brackley team, but an opportunity to become even stronger. This sport has long been about spending power. It’s no coincidence that the teams that have dominated have had the biggest budgets, and until now, there has been no official limit to what they’ve been allowed to pump in. The 2021 FIA financial regulations, headlined by a budget cap of $145m, have changed all that. Many areas are excluded from that number, but it still represents a huge change of approach for Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari. All three have been busy shuffling staff into non-F1 projects, which explains why Ferrari has committed to a sportscar programme , and why Mercedes has been busy seeking customers for its Applied Science division. Read Also: … [Read more...] about How Mercedes could actually benefit from F1’s budget cap

Four rookies will start the 2021 campaign this month in Qatar (although Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori already has three races under his belt from last year), with a day of running at Losail ahead of the official test allowing them to experience their first laps on a MotoGP bike. Typically, Pramac’s Jorge Martin and Avintia duo Luca Marini and Enea Bastianini would have already had two days of running under their belts at the end of last season, but the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the traditional end-of-season two-day test at Jerez. Read Also: 2021 MotoGP pre-season Yamaha's toughest – Vinales Crutchlow can “make the difference” for Yamaha – Rossi Joining the test riders on track on Friday in Qatar for the shakedown, reigning Moto2 world champion Bastianini (below) was the fastest of the new crop with a 1m58.051s on his GP19 Ducati in fourth overall having managed 35 laps. Team-mate Marini was eighth fastest with a 1m58.376s, but encountered various … [Read more...] about Rookies react to first MotoGP outing in Qatar shakedown