Valencia, Spain

2021 Valencia Moto2 FP1 Result: Augusto As The Lead Fernandez

By Zara Daniela | Fri, 12/11/2021 - 11:08

Rain was an unexpected surprise on Friday morning in Valencia and although it had stopped by the time the intermediate class took to the track, the asphalt was left soaking wet and it encouraged quite a few off-track adventures. Augusto Fernandez managed to avoid any of that on his way to prime position in FP1, the Spaniard taking over from Joe Roberts for the final couple of minutes. The American lost out by only two hundredths of a second, with Hector Garzo taking third despite a late crash at turn 11.

2021 Valencia MotoGP FP1 Result: Lecuona Delights The Locals

By Zara Daniela | Fri, 12/11/2021 - 09:55

An already cool morning turned wet just before the start of the first practice session for the premier class, but despite the unexpected rainfall, riders were eager to head out and test the conditions. And they definitely did that, Iker Lecuona topping the first session on home soil by a tenth of a second after a hairy moment at turn 13. Jack Miller also spent a couple of minutes in the limelight but crashed on the wet paint at turn 1 right after taking top spot and soon got demoted to second.

2021 Valencia Moto3 FP1 Result: Guevara Leads Binder

By Zara Daniela | Fri, 12/11/2021 - 08:56

The circus returned to Valencia after another challenging season and the crowd got a first opportunity to celebrate their compatriot as the brand-new champion in the lightweight class. Despite the achievement, Pedro Acosta did not feature as heavily in FP1 as the very dark cloud cover that shed a few drops towards the end of the session. The rain started with Izan Guevara at the top of the timesheets, half a tenth ahead of the much-talked-about Darryn Binder and Andrea Migno. Filip Salac in fourth was two tenths of a second behind the leader and another tenth ahead of Acosta.

Valencia MotoGP Thursday Round Up: The Last Chance, And The Fondest Of Farewells

By David Emmett | Thu, 11/11/2021 - 23:40

It is a strange weekend, the last race of the season. For all intents and purposes the season is already over, the championship is done, officially in MotoGP and Moto3, and as good as in Moto2 – Raul Fernandez can't afford to throw in the towel, but he has to win the race, and the chances of Remy Gardner finishing lower than 13th are pretty small. But not zero, of course, which is why they will line up on Sunday.

The constructors' championship was settled at Portimão last week, and the odds of Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli outscoring Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller by a combined 28 points on Sunday is pretty low (but again, not zero), which will hand the team title to the factory Ducati Lenovo squad.

So why are we bothering to race at Valencia? Well, apart from the contractual obligation – Dorna has promised TV broadcasters 18 races, Valencia has a contract to host a grand prix, and sponsors have backed teams on the basis of a full season, not knocking off early just because the title is wrapped up.

Why are we here?

Marc Marquez Out Of Valencia Race And Jerez Test Due To Recurrence Of Eye Problems

By David Emmett | Tue, 09/11/2021 - 11:45

Marc Marquez' terrible run of injury problems continues. Today, the Repsol Honda team announced that it wasn't just concussion which Marquez suffered in a training crash before Portimão, but that he also appears to have damaged a nerve in his right eye. As a result, Marquez is having problems with diplopia, or double vision.

Those problems are a recurrence of the issue Marquez suffered back in 2011, when he crashed during practice at Sepang on a patch of water after marshals failed to wave the yellow flag. That crash cost Marc Marquez the 2011 Moto2 title, and a long period of uncertainty. The Spaniard required surgery on his right eye, a weakening of the muscle to try to correct the problem.

2022 Provisional MotoGP Calendar Released: 21 Races In 35 Weeks

By David Emmett | Wed, 06/10/2021 - 16:04

The 2022 MotoGP calendar will feature a total of 21 races, starting in Qatar on March 6th and finishing exactly 8 months later in Valencia. The 2022 calendar sees further expansion of the number of races, as Dorna add new circuits and new countries to the schedule. For the Kymiring in Finland, that had originally been planned for 2020, but the pandemic put paid to that happening, either in 2020 or 2021. And the Mandalika Resort circuit on Lombok in Indonesia had been added to 2021 as a reserve circuit, but will now be raced on at the start of next season.

MotoGP 2021 Calendar: Austin And Argentina Dropped, Portimao And Qatar Double Header Inserted

By David Emmett | Fri, 22/01/2021 - 13:29

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to disrupt the MotoGP calendar. The second and third rounds of MotoGP, at Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina on April 11th and at the Circuit Of The Americas on April 18th have been officially postponed. In their place, Qatar will host back-to-back races at the Losail International Circuit on March 28th and April 4th, and reserve circuit Autódromo do Algarve at Portimao will host a race on April 18th.

Though officially only postoponed, the Argentina and Austin rounds are almost certain to be canceled, a move which had long been expected. The logistical and cost challenges of organizing races in the Americas, added to the spread of Covid-19, especially in the Austin area, were always going to pose problems for the two races, and it had long been rumored they would be replaced.

Valencia Moto2 & Moto3 Review - Neil Morrison On A Moto2 Thriller, Diggia's Downfall, Lowes' Fortitude, And The Vicissitudes Of Airline Seats

By Neil Morrison | Thu, 19/11/2020 - 22:42

Joan Mir wrapped up the MotoGP title with a round to go. But the junior classes will go right to the wire after two dramatic encounters at the Valencian Grand Prix. Moto2 produced its best race of the year, Moto3 its biggest winning margin of the year. Here, we look at last weekend’s big talking points in the junior classes.

Chaos reigns in vintage finale

As fun and open as Moto2 has been this year, a race wasn’t decided on the final lap (Jorge Martin’s controversial penalty at the Styrian GP aside) from round 1 to round 13. Here, it would have been hard to conjure up more drama if events had been penned by a Hollywood scriptwriter.

Once European GP winner Marco Bezzecchi hit the front on lap five, it was hard to see a way back from his pursuers. But by Sunday lunchtime the wind had picked up considerably from the morning, making the Moto2 machines nervous and twitchy. “With the wind, I really struggled,” said Bezzecchi. “The bike was very nervous, I had little grip.” This surely played a major part in the nature of the top five: just 0.8s covered first to fifth after 25 laps.

As did Di Giannantonio. He and Bezzecchi had more than a second in hand over the pursuers with five laps remaining. But the Speed Up man’s two moves pushed them wide, allowing the rest back into play. It was a finale to remember.

Guest Blog: Mat Oxley - Back to the future: the story of second-hand MotoGP bikes

By Mat Oxley | Wed, 18/11/2020 - 21:36

On Sunday Franco Morbidelli proved that an old motorcycle can sometimes be better than a new motorcycle. And he’s not the first to do that

There’s been so much talk about Yamaha’s 2019 and 2020 YZR-M1s in recent weeks that this may be a good time to look into the joys of second-hand MotoGP bikes.

Fabio Quartararo, Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales can’t revert to 2019 M1s due to MotoGP engine regulations but you can be sure they would if they could, because the 2019 M1 chassis seems to be better balanced than the 2020 version.

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