MotoGP

Valentino Rossi believes more than simply having a good test team, Yamaha needs to have a “serious” testing programme if it is to improve its troubled MotoGP challenger. Yamaha is the manufacturer with the most wins this season, having tallied up seven from the 13 grands prix run so far. But three of those have come from Franco Morbidelli on the 2019 ‘A-spec’ Petronas SRT M1, with the Italian currently the leading Yamaha rider in second in the standings following his Valencia Grand Prix win. Consistency has deserted those on the 2020 M1, with Fabio Quartararo only scoring one other top five finish outside of his wins, with the same going for Maverick Vinales outside of his Misano win and double Jerez podium. Rossi, who has just one podium to his credit in a year plagued by bad luck and a two-race COVID-19 layoff, believes one of the biggest issues Yamaha has had in understanding its 2020 bike is the absence of a European-based test team. “There is a basic problem, first of all,” Rossi began. “Until 2020, all the other teams had a very active test team that ran in Europe and with European riders like [Michele] Pirro, [Dani] Pedrosa and [Stefan] Bradl. “Yamaha, on the other hand, does not have the team. There was only the one that ran in Japan with the Japanese test drivers. “But the biggest problem isn’t even that, it’s that he ran on tracks that have nothing to do with the European ones.” Yamaha did set up a European test team with ex-Tech3 rider Jonas Folger last year, but scrapped it for 2020 to have a unified test team combining the European and Japanese parts of the race squad – but operating out of Japan. When COVID-19 hit, Yamaha’s test plans with Jorge Lorenzo were completely ruined, with the Spaniard only ever riding the 2019 M1 four times this year – the last of which coming in Portugal last month ending with him four seconds off the pace. Lorenzo has been let go for 2021, with outgoing LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow taking on the role of Yamaha’s test rider. Rossi admits his first choice was Andrea Dovizioso, who was close to a deal before opting for a sabbatical instead, but welcomes Crutchlow’s arrival. “Yamaha needs to have a serious test team in Europe next year,” Rossi added. “I would have liked a lot if the test rider was Dovizioso, because he is a very fast, sensitive and highly experienced rider. “Crutchlow also raced up to this year, so if he has motivation he is one who can take the bike to the limit. “More than a test rider, you need a serious test team program.” Strong test teams have been thrust into the spotlight this season following KTM’s race-winning success, something in large part attributed to Pedrosa’s work with the marque since last year. Sylvain Guintoli’s work with Suzuki since 2017 has also been praised as a contributing factor in the Japanese manufacturer being in a position to win the 2020 title with Joan Mir.

Iker Lecuona’s rookie MotoGP campaign is over after his COVID-19 diagnosis forces him out of the Portuguese MotoGP; Mika Kallio to substitute for him. Mika Kallio will return to the MotoGP grid for the 2020 Portuguese MotoGP finale at Portimao after Tech 3 Racing confirmed Iker Lecuona will not be eligible to compete this weekend. The Spaniard tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the Valencia MotoGP, which as expected means he is also ruled out of the inaugural MotoGP race to be held at Portimao this weekend. It comes after Lecuona was forced to withdraw from the ‘Europa’ Valencia race a weekend before as a precaution when his brother came down with the virus. Despite this, Tech 3 Racing will be at full strength for the finale with KTM test rider Kallio called up to replace the Spaniard, whose absence means his rookie campaign ends here. “First of all, it‘s not an easy situation for the team and for Iker I’m sorry that he will have to skip this race as well. So, I’ll jump on the bike, which is not that easy at the moment, because I haven’t been on the bike not too often this year. “Obviously, it’s going to be interesting to see what my speed is and how I can learn the new track and many other things. Of course, the crew is new for me, so I have many things to learn. It’s a big challenge and we’ll go and do everything as best as possible. “It’s always an honor to race with a MotoGP bike and also being with Hervé and Red Bull KTM Tech3. I know them for a long time and it’s good to come back to racing, even if it’s only the last race of the season. “The finale is always a special moment for everyone and it’s always nice to be there with the best bikes and the best guys arounds, I always enjoy it a lot. We don’t have anything to expect there, we do our job and we will see where we end up. “When a rider puts the helmet on and the red lights turn off, I think the race mood will be there immediately. So, I think it’s going to be an interesting weekend.” Though Kallio has not competed in MotoGP full-time since 2010, the Finn has been kept busy in his role as KTM development rider to the extent 13 of his 45 career starts have come in wild-cards and stand-in stints with the Austrian firm.

Fabio Quartararo admits he hasn’t had a good feeling on his Petronas SRT Yamaha since the Le Mans race last month after crashing out of the MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix. Quartararo was forced into a recovery ride when he ran off track at Turn 2 on the opening lap of Sunday’s race, before crashing out at Turn 6 on the ninth tour while running outside of the points. This compounded another difficult weekend at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit for Quartararo, in which he admits right now “we are not fast”. “The feeling since the Le Mans GP is not there, we are trying to work in the best way possible, we are not fast and we need to find a solution,” Quartararo said on Sunday. “I hope to find it in Portimao because we are missing speed and this is not normal. “When we arrive to a track like Jerez, Barcelona it was great straight away, but Misano and all the other tracks we are struggling way too much and I think we need to find a solution to be competitive like last year in every track.” Quartararo labelled his Friday at the Valencia GP one of the worst days of his season, after turning the M1 upside down and making no improvement with the set-up. In the eight laps he completed of Sunday’s race, he admitted his problems persisted and believes he now has to adapt himself to the bike’s issues instead of making major set-up changes. “We have been here for two weeks and in two weeks we have not made any improvement on the bike,” he added. “We try many things, but I think we need to go with our base and adapt. I need to adapt myself to the bike because we saw doing all these changes nothing was working. “So, I think the best is to go with our base. If we see that everything is going well in the position of the bike, of course we don’t change nothing. “If we see something strange, of course we change. But I think we just need to adapt ourselves to the bike and see what we can do.” Having led the championship for much of the season, Quartararo’s disastrous Sunday has dropped him to fifth in the standings and ended his slim championship hopes. Quartararo praised new world champion Joan Mir and the consistency he showed in 2020, which was something the Frenchman was missing. “For me, he did an amazing season,” he said of Mir. “The consistency he had, that’s why he won the championship because the consistency was amazing from race four to the end. “He deserves a lot this title because that’s what we were missing this year – consistency, to fight for much more podiums. “Apart from the three wins, we made zero podiums. You can’t win a championship this way, and I’m struggling a lot to know why we were like this. “Joan deserved the championship and big congratulations to him.”

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi engaged in the busy mid-pack fights in the early laps of the Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana. However, after all riders settled into their positions the race became a lonely ride for the Yamaha duo. They ended in 10th and 12th place respectively. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Maverick Viñales had to make up a lot of ground after a difficult opening lap at the Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana. The Spaniard put his head down and cruised to a top-10 finish. Valentino Rossi got a taste for battling on track for race positions again. Thanks to a strong start and a mid-race head-to-head with Cal Crutchlow, he secured 12th place today. Viñales had a tough start, dropping from a sixth-place starting position to 13th crossing the finish line for the first time, but he soon recomposed himself. Setting his fastest race lap on lap 4, the Spaniard settled into his position on track, with his team-mate in pursuit of him for a while. “The start was difficult, but I tried to concentrate, get the rhythm, and be better. Somehow I never really got that feeling that I had some races ago. But I did the maximum I could in the race, and now all we can do as a team is to try to understand what we can improve for the final round. The next race we ride in Portimão, which is a track I like, and we will try to go fast. We hope to have a bit more grip there so we can get a better result. “I want to say congratulations to Joan. He is a deserving winner of this year’s title.” Vinales said. However, after eight laps the Valencia GP became a lonely ride for Top Gun. With an over-3s gap to the rider in front of him and a 1s gap to the rider behind him, the Yamaha man focused on his rhythm. With multiple riders crashing out or running wide throughout the course of the race, Viñales ended in tenth place, 19.043s from first. Rossi was keen on getting in 27 race laps around the Valencia track, even if he had to battle in the busy mid-pack. He had a good start from 16th on the grid and skilfully manoeuvred his way through the chaos of the opening stages. Using his experience, he avoided all on-track drama and made up two places on the first lap in the process. At this level, coming back strong is something you have to do step-by-step. I needed this race, because last week I did just four laps. I had six consecutive zero-point results because of mistakes, a problem with the bike, and Covid-19. We know that here it’s difficult for me, because this is my worst track in my whole career. We tried everything. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of grip, but in the end we finished the race. I wasn’t fast enough, but I was consistent all the way to the end, and also physically I feel good. This is important. Now we hope we can feel better with the bike and the tyres in Portimão next week. We will try to be more competitive. “I think Mir deserves this championship. He is mature for his age and doesn’t make mistakes in crucial moments, so congratulations to him,” 9-time world champion Valentino Rossi said. He now found himself in 14th, chasing his team-mate. The duo together gained two more positions due to mistakes from other riders who got caught out by the slippery Ricardo Tormo track. With 19 laps to go, The Doctor lost some positions, but he wasn‘t going to let it slide. Though Francesco Bagnaia, who was one of the riders who slipped past, was out of his reach, Rossi was up for a sparring match with Cal Crutchlow. On lap 16, the Yamaha rider took over 13th place and soon created a gap. The remainder of the race was uneventful for the Italian. With one more rider crashing ahead of him, he crossed the finish line in 12th place, 19.717s from the front. The 2020 Rider MotoGP Title was decided after today’s race, so for the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team-mates there now only remains the fight for their final rankings. Viñales stays in fourth with 127 points, 44 from the top. Rossi remains in 15th place, with a 109-point gap to first. Yamaha is third in the constructor standings, and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP is in fifth position in the team classification. The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team extend their congratulations to Joan Mir for winning the Championship Title. For the final race of the season, the team will now travel to the Algarve International Circuit in Portimão, where next week’s Grandé Premio de Portugal will be held from 20-22 November.

Joan Mir has won the 2020 MotoGP championship, ending a 20-year wait for Suzuki, as Franco Morbidelli won a last-lap Valencia Grand Prix thriller from Jack Miller.Mir is the first new MotoGP champion since Marc Marquez in 2013 and becomes the first rider to win the crown in Moto3 and the premier class, after coming home a safe seventh in at Valencia. Miller got the better run into Turn 1 off the line, but ran wide and allowed Morbidelli to come back through, while his SRT teammate Fabio Quartararo went off at Turn 2 after running out of room in the braking zone. This dropped Quartararo down the order, with his race lasting until lap nine when he crashed at Turn 6 having once again dropped out of the points, completely ending his championship hopes. Mir navigated the opening lap safely, putting his Suzuki into 10th while Suzuki teammate Alex Rins had leaped up from 14th to seventh. Morbidelli engaged supremely consistent pace in the opening laps to quickly build a buffer over the chasing Miller and KTM of Pol Espargaro. By lap seven his lead stood at seven tenths, with Morbidelli opening that gap up to 1.2s by the 13th tour. Then the SRT rider’s lead started to come down, with Miller getting to within a second by lap 18 and continuing to eat into Morbidelli’s advantage over the next few tours. With five laps to run, Miller was just three tenths behind Morbidelli, though the Italian responded in turn to get his lead back up to half a second. Miller nailed his run out of the final corner to use the brute power of the Pramac Ducati to pass Morbidelli into the first corner at the start of the final lap, and just about held on despite running wide. Morbidelli threw his Yamaha back up the inside of Turn 2, with Miller retaliating at Turn 4 – though this was once again countered with a daring raid on the inside of Turn 5 from Morbidelli. The Italian clung on by 0.093 seconds on the run to the chequered flag to score his third win of the 2020 season, with KTM’s Pol Espargaro a distant third. Alex Rins was fourth on his Suzuki, but it wasn’t enough to delay Mir’s coronation. Rins beat Brad Binder (KTM) and the Tech3 of Miguel Oliveira. Mir pipped Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso to seventh, with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales rounding out the top 10. The final points were taken by Pramac’s Francesco Bagnaia, Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi, Cal Crutchlow on the LCR Honda, Stefan Bradl (Honda) and Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci. Takaaki Nakagami crashed out late on at the final corner attempting to take third from Espargaro, while Joahnn Zarco fell from his Avintia Ducati on lap six. Not since Kenny Roberts Jr. in 2000 has Suzuki won the riders’ title in the premier class, with Mir becoming just the sixth Suzuki rider in history to be crowned MotoGP world champion.

Honda’s Alex Marquez has escaped with a bone marrow edema in his left hand following his violent crash in qualifying for the Valencia Grand Prix on Saturday. Marquez suffered a vicious highside in the opening stages of Q1 at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit at the Turn 11 right-hander, landing heavily on his backside. Despite being slow to get to his feet, Marquez did get back to his Honda garage to take his second bike – though only completed an outlap before calling time on his session. He was taken to hospital for checks, where he was diagnosed with a bone marrow edema in the capitate bone of his left hand. Marquez will ride in the warm-up session on Sunday before taking a decision to race. “It was not an easy day today at all,” Marquez, who qualified in 20th, said. “First the conditions were very difficult, never fully dry and never fully wet. When it came to Q1 I knew I had to push even if it was still risky, I was pushing very hard for a better lap time and unfortunately I had a really big crash. “I came down very hard on my hip and lower back, after a minute I was able to get back and I tried to go out on the second bike but when the adrenaline wore off, it was clear I could not do another lap. Now we just have to see what the pain is like tomorrow.” KTM’s Brad Binder was directly behind Marquez when he crashed and says he was lucky to avoid being struck by the errant RC213V. “It was quite hectic,” said Binder. “It bit him so quickly, he was so early in the corner and that was a good indication that there was possibly a little bit of water down. I was really lucky that I decided to make a little left turn. If I just… It seemed it was already behind me and I decided to go left anyway. “I think the bike would have probably landed on my handlebar or at least at the side of me, so I was quite lucky to walk away from that one with no issues. It was quite sketchy.”

Cal Crutchlow will join Yamaha as its official test rider for the 2021 MotoGP season, the Japanese manufacturer announced on Friday morning. The Brit has been searching for a new berth since losing his factory Honda-backed LCR ride earlier this year to Alex Marquez, with a rumoured switch to Aprilia’s factory squad not coming to maturity. Crutchlow instead chased a test role with Yamaha amid suggestions that current tester Jorge Lorenzo would part ways with the organisation following this season. His appointment has subsequently been confirmed on Friday morning just after opening practice for the Valencia Grand Prix, Yamaha’s statement also confirming the exit of Lorenzo and its disappointment that “external circumstances held this partnership back from realising their mutual objectives.” Crutchlow will get his first taste of the ’21-spec M1 during MotoGP’s shakedown test at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia in mid-Feburary, while a possible wildcard outing could be on the cards “if deemed beneficial to the testing programme.” “First and foremost I would like to say ‘welcome back’ to Cal,” said Yamaha Managing Director Lin Jarvis. “He spent three seasons with us in the Monster Energy Yamaha Tech3 team before moving on to gain a further seven years of experience with two of our main competitors. “This wealth of experience, coupled with Cal’s honest no-nonsense approach, will surely benefit us greatly as we strive to improve our YZR-M1 bikes with a full testing programme next year.” Crutchlow’s switch to a testing role brings his near-decade run as a race rider in MotoGP to an end, having secured three victories in this time-all with current outfit LCR Honda-collecting a further 16 podium finishes with the Tech 3, factory Ducati and LCR teams. He has scored a best championship result of fifth, coming in ’13 in his final season with the Tech 3 Yamaha squad. Prior to his MotoGP graduation Crutchlow won the World Supersport title on Yamaha machinery in ’09, before spending a single season with the manufacturer in the World Superbike series the following year-bagging 3 wins on his way to fifth in the standings. Lorenzo meanwhile was set to compete in this year’s Catalan GP at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya before the event was postponed as a result of Covid-19, while the banning of any wild-card appearances by Dorna for the rest of the restarted campaign ruled him out of competition for the rest of the year. Cracks in the relationship between the two parties started to emerge after Yamaha elected not to replace Valentino Rossi-who had contracted Covid-19- with Lorenzo for the Aragon double-header, a venue Lorenzo loves. Jarvis says it was “regrettable” that Lorenzo was unable to carry out Yamaha’s planned test programme as a result of the restrictions Covid has placed on the working world in ’20, but thanked the Mallorcan for the “many years of collaboration with Yamaha.” “Of course, we had planned and hoped for a strong programme this year with Jorge,” continued Jarvis. “Unfortunately, our Factory Test Team soon had to put their plans on hold as the Covid-19 pandemic started and continued to influence 2020 from March onwards. “It’s regrettable that we have not been able to carry out our testing programme and realize our goals. “We wish Jorge all the best in his future endeavours, and we thank him for his many years of collaboration with Yamaha.”

Fabio Quartararo admits Friday at the MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix was “one of the worst days of the season” after finishing 16th fastest on his Petronas SRT Yamaha. Quartararo’s championship hopes are all but gone following an early crash last weekend in the European GP, with his points deficit to Suzuki’s Joan Mir now standing at 37. The Frenchman struggled throughout the European GP weekend and once again scrabbled for form on his M1 in Friday practice, making “big changes” to his bike but having no impact on his feeling – something that’s never happened to him before, he claimed. “Actually, it was one of the worst days of the season for me,” Quartararo said. “Today we have tried many things on the bike and normally when you try many things, you feel a different feeling on the bike – better, worse. “But we made big changes and the feeling was exactly the same, and this has never happened. So, we will go in an extreme way tomorrow, because worse than that, it’s difficult. “And today, we were slow even with new tyres. So, this is something we need to change and tomorrow we will go in an extreme way we never did in both years in MotoGP.” Quartararo says his team tried different engine maps, suspension settings front and rear, and ride height adjustments, but admits he is worried as none of it yielded any improvement. When asked if he was worried, he replied: “Yeah, a little bit, because normally we know why we have a problem, not this problem because it’s the first time we have it – and I would say that normally when we change the bike we feel it. “Either positive or negative, I go in and say ‘the bike is worse’, or better or something happens. And today, with all the changes that we make, it was exactly the same. So, I’m a bit worried because I will go out with a bike that I never really ride, and it will be difficult.” Quartararo admits his lack of understanding of a problem on the bike is one of the main problems with the 2020 M1. He added: “Last year, on normal days, you can adapt to the bike, but this year the margin is so small to be fighting for victories or fighting for the points and this is something that is tough to understand and difficult. “At other races it’s also difficult because everybody improves, but actually right now it doesn’t improve, and normally when you make big changes, like we did today, you feel it and you come into the box and say it’s worse, I have this feeling. “But today was the same and this is probably the main problem; first you get lost really easily but it’s difficult to also understand. The problem I have today is the first time I have it, but also the first time I experienced that, making big changes and feeling nothing. It’s a bit difficult to understand.”

Fabio Quartararo distances himself from reports that he asked to return to his 2019-spec Yamaha M1 on the back of inconsistent form that has hampered his 2020 MotoGP title challenge. Quartararo has distanced himself from reports that suggested he has requested a return to the 2019-specification Yamaha M1 in the wake of indifferent form that has all-but-scuppered his 2020 MotoGP title challenge. The Frenchman has topped the podium on three occasions in 2020 aboard the satellite Petronas SRT-run, but factory manufactured Yamaha M1 more than any other rider but has become mired in wildly inconsistent form at critical moments, not least in Valencia last weekend when he crashed out on the opening lap. His issues – after such a strong start to the year – have raised questions about Yamaha’s development direction, with Quartararo exhibiting similar peaks and troughs of form that have hampered Maverick Vinales’ challenges in recent years. He admits it has been a frustrating period, saying the slumps in races are betrayed more by the fact the Yamaha is excellent on fresh tyres and can qualify well even when the bike doesn’t feel all that strong underneath him. Using the example of Suzuki, which in contrast has a lower qualifying average but shines in race conditions, Quartararo says it has become ‘all or nothing’ in terms of success and failure for Yamaha. “The grip is something important for us because in qualifying when we put on a new tyre everything comes easier. The best example is Aragon, I was struggling all weekend and we put a new tyre on and we improved nearly two seconds, but our competitors less. “The grip is really important and we have the condition that we are struggling, but the consistency… when the bike is good we are fighting for victories and podiums, but then it is all or nothing. “We need to find something in the middle so we can fight in every race, maybe not always for victories, but we need to find a good way to be there in all races. For Suzuki this is the key for them to be on top and we need to take this.” Referencing reports he wants to return to his 2019-spec Yamaha M1, which itself was a hybrid of the at-the-time current spec bike and the 2018 machine, Quartararo insists he was instead requesting returning to some elements that made that machine so competitive for him “I didn’t ask for the 2019 bike but I said the bike of last year had some positives that if we can bring to the 2020 bikes would be really good. “I haven’t talked too much with Maverick about next year but what I hear about his comments is that we have quite similar problems, so it would be great to see what we can do for 2021. We can’t do many things but changing a few things we can improve.”

Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi has been cleared to race in this weekend’s Valencia Grand Prix after returning a second negative COVID-19 test. Rossi was forced to miss the Aragon double-header last month after catching the virus between the French and Aragon Grands Prix. Having initially tested positive again last Tuesday, Rossi cleared the other tests he had to take and was able to take part in the European Grand Prix last weekend. However, on Tuesday having returned home to Italy Rossi tested “positive with a very low viral load” and was recommended by doctors to take another two tests. The first one take on Wednesday returned a negative result on Thursday, with his next one taken this morning also returning negative. Rossi has now been cleared to take part in this weekend’s Valencia GP alongside his crew after they cleared all the relevant tests. Earlier on Thursday, a source from Yamaha confirmed the Japanese manufacturer would not be lining up a replacement for Rossi this weekend should he have been unable to race. Last week Yamaha put American World Superbike rider Garrett Gerloff on standby to replace Rossi if he was to miss the European GP. As Rossi wasn’t cleared to ride in time for Friday’s practices, Yamaha put Gerloff on the bike for both sessions. The American impressed the team, including Rossi, after ending the day just 1.5 seconds off the pace on the combined timesheets. Yamaha will still be missing members this weekend, after five team personnel – including team manager Massimo Meregalli – were forced into quarantine last week when one of Maverick Vinales’ crew tested positive for COVID-19. This followed on from last month when six members of Yamaha were forced to quarantine ahead of the French GP when one tested positive for COVID-19. Rossi’s first race back since the French GP last weekend ended after just five laps owing to a technical issue. It continued a rotten streak for the Italian, who hasn’t seen a chequered flag since the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano at the start of September. Tech3 rider Iker Lecuona has also been cleared to ride this weekend from Saturday after being forced to miss the last race when his brother tested positive for the virus.

Monster Energy Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi has tested positive for Covid-19 yet again just a week after he tested negative. All this is following his layoff from the MotoGP track for two rounds after he tested positive for the virus back in October, he missed the Aragon double header as he caught the virus between the French and Aragon MotoGP. The 41-year-old rider had tested positive for the virus on Tuesday last week at home, but another test on Thursday turned out negative as he was cleared to head for the Valencia MotoGP where he still underwent another PCR test. After passing the PCR on the Friday of the European MotoGP, Rossi was able to continue racing from Saturday onwards. Rossi had been replaced by American WorldSBK rider Garett Gerloff for the Friday’s FP1 and FP2. Rossi’s race however did not last for more than five laps as he experienced a mechanical issue meaning the 41-year-old has not seen a chequered flag since the Emilia Romagna GP. This means that Rossi’s participation in this weekend’s Valencia MotoGP is in doubt after the positive Covid-19 test back in Tuesday. He will need to undergo another test which will determine if he will participate in this weekend’s race. With the final round of the 2020 MotoGP season coming in just over a weeks time in Portugal, Rossi could as well miss the race as the Yamaha rider. There are a lot of questions about Rossi’s latest Covid-19 results and the PCR tests he tested negative last Friday before he was allowed to enter the Ricardo Tormo Circuit and whether he was still positive without knowing it or was re-infected after the Sunday’s race. Scientists are still trying to discover how the virus works as there are several cases of re-infection worldwide in the recent months. The pandemic has affected the Yamaha factory team as five crew members were forced into quarantine since one of Maverick Vinales’ crew tested positive for the virus. This was also after six Yamaha team members who were forced to isolate ahead of the French MotoGP. Yamaha named Gerloff as Rossi’s his official standby replacement for the European GP, and the American will remain ready to take over should Rossi test positive once more. However, if Rossi has tested positive a second time, then more members of Yamaha may be forced into isolation, depleting its track numbers further

Ducatti rider Andrea Divizioso has officially announced that he will be taking a sabbatical from MotoGP come 2021. The 15-time MotoGP winner announced during the Austrian MotoGP back in August that he will not be renewing his contract with the Ducatti works team for 2021. The Italian however also admitted that he did not have a plan B although he said that his fully focus back then was on the championship title fight. Rumours have been going around that Dovizioso was holding talks with KTM, Yamaha and Honda over the position of a test rider as it is well understood that he was about to close a deal with Yamaha to test the M1 in 2020. Dovi will now be able to put focus on his passion for motorcross racing come 2021, as it will help him to keep fully fit for staging a comeback to MotoGP in 2022 if he gets a ride. On his Instagram handle, the Italian wrote, “Over the last few months, I have received several offers to work as a test rider in developing MotoGP projects and I am grateful for the consideration received by the manufacturers.” “However, I have decided not to make any commitments and to remain free from formal agreements for now. “I have an immense passion for racing. I still have the ambition to compete and fight to win. I will return to MotoGP as soon as I find a project driven by the same passion and ambition that I have and within an organisation that shares my same objectives, values and working methods. “Now I am focused on finishing the world championship in the best possible way, and I have already started developing some projects with my partners.” Numerous contracts will be up for renewal in 2022, though a 36-year-old Dovizioso may struggle to find a place despite his prior achievements. Dovizioso was linked to an Aprilia race seat for 2021 though it is understood he never considered the Italian marque a realistic option. It is understood outgoing LCR rider Crutchlow had a pre-agreement in place with Aprilia – though has been linked to a Yamaha test role but it is now understood that agreement was one of intent and it expired in mid-October. It is unclear what Dovizioso’s sabbatical will do to Jorge Lorenzo’s prospects of remaining with Yamaha in 2021 in a test rider role, with the triple world champion also admitting recently Aprilia was an option.

Andrea Iannone’s MotoGP career is on the verge of an end after the appeal he filed to have his anti-doping ban overturned was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and in turn increased the ban to four years. Iannone had been suspended from competing by the FIM towards the end of last year after he tested positive for a banned steroid during the Malaysian MotoGP weekend. The Italian’s ban had also been upheld after a FIM hearing back in March, but he claimed to have ingested the banned substance accidentally through contaminated food. Both Aprilia and Iannone appealed this ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sports(CAS) after believing that acquittal of other athletes for the same offence in the past would also apply in their case. CAS, however, rejected the appeal following a thorough review of the evidence and upheld the World’s Anti-Doping Agency’s bid to have the ban increased to four years which is the maximum ban period beginning 17th December 2019. CAS also confirmed that Iannone’s MotoGP race results from 1st November 2019 were disqualified officially. The CAS panel rejected the appeal as Iannone had not provided the necessary evidence to back up the contaminated meat claim because he did not specify the exact type of meat he ate that lead to the contamination. Also, Iannone and his experts couldn’t provide substantial evidence suggesting there was an issue of meat contamination with Drostanolone, the substance that he tested positive for. All this lead to his ban being upheld. Aprilia was in support of Iannone through the doping allegations and had even expressed to retain him for the 2021 MotoGP season if his ban was overturned. However, now Aprilia has to look for another rider to join Aleix Espargaro for 2021. It is believed that Cal Crutchlow has an eye for the seat as he had a pre-agreement with Aprilia as the team admitted last weekend that test rider Bradley Smith is also an option. Iannone is a one time race winner having raced for Suzuki, Ducatti and Aprilia since 2013.

Suzuki’s Joan Mir took his maiden MotoGP victory in a dramatic European Grand Prix to put one hand on the title, after a crash for Petronas SRT’s Fabio Quartararo. Of the top six in the standings ahead of the first Valencia race, Mir was the only won yet to win a grand prix in 2020, but his first – making him the ninth winner of the year – has given him a 37-point lead to put the title within sight. Poleman Pol Espargaro got the holeshot into Turn 1 ahead of Alex Rins on the sister Suzuki, with Takaaki Nakagami holding third off the line on the LCR Honda. Quartararo leaped up to ninth from 11th on the opening lap and was looking to get ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro at the Turn 8 left-hander when both slid off their motorcycles. The Frenchman was able to remount at the back of the field, some 15 seconds adrift of the pack, and salvaged two points through misfortune for others but his title hopes are all but over now, with his deficit to Mir to 37 points. Rins scythed past Espargaro at the Turn 11 right-hander on the second lap, with Mir copying the move two tours later. Rins absorbed the pressure from his teammate behind for a number of laps, with Espargaro just about staying in touch. A mistake for Rins on the run into Turn 11 on lap 17 opened the door for Mir to come through into the lead, with the number 36 immediately opening up a gap of half a second. From this point, Mir took total control of the race and continued to extend his advantage over Rins, coming under no threat through to the chequered flag. Rins held onto second to give Suzuki its first 1-2 in grand prix racing since 1982, but is now 37 points behind Mir in the championship, equal on points with Quartararo – though the latter holds second owing to his greater number of wins. Espargaro completed the podium on the KTM, with Nakagami overhauling Tech 3’s Miguel Oliveira in the latter stages to claim fourth, while Jack Miller was sixth on the Pramac Ducati. Brad Binder recovered from the long lap penalty he was forced to take as punishment for wiping out Miller at Aragon last month to finish seventh and edge a lead in the rookie of the year battle. Andrea Dovizioso was eighth on the factory Ducati, though was lucky not to be wiped out by a crashing Honda of Alex Marquez at Turn 1 on lap 24 having just overtaken the Spaniard. The top 10 was completed by Avintia’s Johann Zarco and the sister works Ducati of Danilo Petrucci, with Franco Morbidelli the first Yamaha in a lowly 11th as his gamble to run the hard front and rear tyre seemingly backfired. Stefan Bradl on the Honda followed him home, while Maverick Vinales recovered from his pitlane start to 13th on the works Yamaha ahead of a distraught Quartararo. Valentino Rossi’s first race since returning from COVID-19 ended on lap five with a technical issue with his Yamaha, while there were crashes for Pramac’s Francesco Bagnaia, LCR’s Cal Crutchlow.Aleix Espargaro never remounted from his lap one crash, while Avintia’s Tito Rabat was forced to retire with an issue.

Yamaha is under investigation for allegedly running illegal MotoGP engines during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend at Jerez. Yamaha’s early season was overshadowed by reliability issues with its engines, after Valentino Rossi and Petronas SRT’s Franco Morbidelli were forced out of the Spanish and Andalusian GPs due to broken motors. The analysis carried out at the time attributed the problems to a faulty batch of valves from a secondary supplier. Due to the engine freezing rules, Yamaha could not unseal its engines to fully rectify this although did request on safety grounds to do this to the Manufacturers’ Association, but withdrew the request soon after. Since Jerez, it is understood Yamaha riders have been running with their engines slightly turned down to avoid any repeat issues. Not all engines in each of Rossi, Morbidelli, Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo’s allocation featured the offending valves. Now Yamaha is being investigated for running an engine with valves not in the sample engine submitted to MotoGP technical direction for homologation pre-season. Yamaha removed its request to the MSMA after the other marque’s asked for documentation from the valve supplier confirming a manufacturing error. A sanction could have massive repercussions on Yamaha’s championship hopes, with Quartararo, Vinales and Morbidelli all currently within 25 points of standings leader Joan Mir on the Suzuki with three rounds to go. Quartararo won the opening two Jerez rounds, with Vinales trailing him in both, with Quartararo, Vinales and Morbidelli winning four more races between them – making Yamaha the most successful manufacturer this season. All Yamaha riders have unsealed their five allocated engines this season, though Vinales appears to be struggling the most having put the most mileage on his fourth and fifth engines. Should he be forced to unseal a sixth engine in the final three races, Vinales will be forced to start from pitlane.Yamaha is yet to comment on the investigation. News of this investigation compounds what has been a tough period for Yamaha, with Rossi currently sidelined due to COVID-19 and unlikely to race in this weekend’s European Grand Prix. He is set to be replaced by Yamaha World Superbike rider Garrett Gerloff.

Tech 3 MotoGP rider Iker Lecuona will miss this weekend’s European Grand Prix due to forced quarantine in Andorra after his brother and assistant tested positive for COVID-19. Lecuona tested negative for the virus on Tuesday, but his brother whom Lecuona lives with in Andorra tested positive. Due to legislation in Andorra, Lecuona has been forced into quarantine for the next 10 days despite testing negative for the virus himself. He will undergo a test next Wednesday, the results of which will determine if he is able to start next weekend’s Valencia Grand Prix. Tech 3 won’t replace him for this weekend’s first Valencia race. “We are very sad to announce that Iker Lecuona won’t be participating in the Gran Premio de Europa this weekend,” Tech 3 team boss Herve Poncharal said. “So far, he’s been tested negative, but his brother, who is also his assistant is positive and therefore the Andorran authorities have called him ‘contact case’. He will have another test today, but even if it’s negative again, he’s got to stay in quarantine without moving from his home in Andorra for 10 days.” “The plan is to have another test next Wednesday and if this one is negative as well, he will be able to travel to Valencia and participate in Valencia II.” “This is very unfortunate, everybody was very careful. We are deeply sorry for that. We just hope that Iker will keep negative on the next tests and that we can see him next week here.” “Don’t forget, this is his home grand prix and him and the team were expecting so much from these two races, that it’s a real pity. But with how the world is at the moment, unfortunate things like this are happening.” “Again, we hope everything will be back to normal next week, of course, he won’t be replaced for this event, therefore the whole Red Bull KTM Tech 3 team will concentrate on our sole rider, Miguel Oliveira.” Lecuona made his MotoGP debut at Valencia last year in place of the injured Miguel Oliveira. The Spaniard may be the second rider forced to miss this weekend’s race due to COVID-19, after Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi returned a positive PCR test on Tuesday. Yamaha is yet to reveal if the test he took on Wednesday returned negative, but have lined up American World Superbike rider Garrett Gerloff to take his place should Rossi be ruled out again having missed the Aragon double-header.