Latest MotoGP News

FIM President Jorge Viegas On Iannone Doping Ban: "Everything Will Be Published After The CAS"

Submitted by David Emmett on

Since the announcement on Wednesday that Andrea Iannone's suspension for violating the FIM doping code had been reduced to 18 months, there have been questions surrounding the verdict. In interviews and press releases, Iannone himself, his lawyer, and Aprilia had all contended that he had been found innocent of intentionally ingesting drostanolone, a banned exogenous anabolic androgenic steroid. The International Disciplinary court of the FIM, the CDI, had accepted Iannone's claim that he had accidentally ingested the substance by eating contaminated meat, Iannone and his entourage told the media.

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Dorna Announce Financial Support Package For MotoGP Teams

Submitted by David Emmett on

Dorna has announced a financial support package for the Grand Prix teams. The independent MotoGP teams are to be given money for the months of April, May, and June, and payments are also to be made to the Moto2 and Moto3 teams.

Though no amounts are mentioned in the press release, Spanish daily AS.com is reporting that each of MotoGP's private teams - Petronas Yamaha, Red Bull KTM Tech3, Reale Avintia Ducati, Pramac Ducati, LCR Honda, and the Gresini Aprilia squad (still technically an independent team) - is to be given an amount of €250,000 per month for the three months of April, May, and June, with this amount to be paid whether any racing happens or not.

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Another One Down - Le Mans MotoGP Race Postponed Until Further Notice

Submitted by David Emmett on

The COVID-19 outbreak continues to wreak havoc on the 2020 MotoGP calendar. Today, Dorna announced that the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, due to be held on 15th-17th May, has been postponed until further notice.

As happened with Jerez, no new date for Le Mans has been announced. MotoGP, like all other international sports, faces a huge problem in putting together a calendar, in the face of uncertainty over how long restrictions on travel and events will continue. In large parts of Europe, the target date is currently April 30th, but that date looks likely to be extended. Despite positive signs that the spread of the disease is slowing, it is very far from being under control.

The postponement of Le Mans now makes Mugello the first race on the provisional calendar. But with the COVID-19 outbreak still widespread in Italy, the chances of the Mugello round taking place on the weekend of May 31st look slim.

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Andrea Iannone Handed 18-Month Doping Ban By FIM CDI, Will Appeal To The CAS

Submitted by David Emmett on

The International Disciplinary Court of the FIM has reached a decision at last. Andrea Iannone has been found guilty of having a banned substance in his bloodstream, and suspended from competition for 18 months. The ban is backdated to December 17th, 2019, meaning that Iannone will be eligible to compete from the 16th June 2021.

The ban of 18 months is a reduction from the maximum allowed by the rules of 4 years, and an acknowledgement that Iannone did not ingest the banned substance - anabolic steroid drostanolone - with intent. According to a press release from Aprilia the court accepted that drostanolone ended up in Iannone's urine sample due to food contamination.

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Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta: "We Will Reschedule Races When We Know When The Season Can Start"

Submitted by David Emmett on

There is a desire for certainty in these uncertain times. Everyone involved in motorcycle racing is wondering what happens next, and when we will be able to start racing again. News websites are filled with countless interviews, news articles, and opinion pieces full of theories as to what the next race may be.

If there is one person in a position what the race might be, it is Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna, and the man who heads the organization which runs both the MotoGP and WorldSBK championships. Spanish sports daily AS.com spoke to Ezpeleta to find out where motorcycle racing stands in 2020.

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Jerez MotoGP Round Postponed - Calendar Updates Put On Hold

Submitted by David Emmett on

The start of the MotoGP season has been delayed once again. Today, Dorna and the FIM announced that the Spanish Grand Prix, to be held at Jerez on May 3rd, has been postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The postponement affects the MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3 classes, as well as MotoE. It also means the loss of the official IRTA test scheduled for the Monday after Jerez.

Unlike previous races, however, a new date for the Jerez round has not been announced. This reflects the reality of an ongoing, fast-moving situation, in which Dorna is dependent on too many external factors to be able to draw up a schedule which is likely to hold up over the next few months. Until the course of the global pandemic becomes clearer, any calendar is provision at best.

For a deeper dive into the problems facing Dorna as they attempt to assemble a new calendar, see this article posted last night.

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Coronavirus Update: The Challenges Facing MotoGP And WorldSBK In 2020 And Beyond

Submitted by David Emmett on

No news is good news, at least as far as the current outbreak of COVID-19, or the coronavirus is concerned. And for thirteen days – nearly two whole weeks – we went without a change to the calendars of either the WorldSBK and MotoGP calendars. Given the speed at which the world has changed over the past two weeks, that is almost an eternity in normal time.

The same could not be said for other motorsport disciplines. For two weeks, we have been inundated with cancellations and postponements. The Le Mans 24 Hours Endurance motorcycle race has been postponed until August. The Daytona 200 and Daytona TT flat track races were postponed until October. The Merzouga Rally has been canceled, the route of the Silk Way Rally changed. The Isle of Man TT was canceled, Supercross and MXGP had rounds canceled and postponed.

The TT wasn't the only iconic event to be canceled. F1 canceled Monaco, probably the most prestigious race on its calendar, and postponed the races at Zandvoort and Barcelona, joining the Bahrain, Vietnam and China races in being pushed back to the second half of the year. The Le Mans 24 Hours car race was put back until September.

Changing day by day

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Filling The Gap: Dorna Announce Virtual Race With Top MotoGP Riders, Free Access To Videopass Content

Submitted by David Emmett on

With on-track racing a distant prospect for the foreseeable future, Dorna is acting to fill the hole created by the COVID-19 outbreak. Today, they announced that on Sunday, March 29th, they will be holding a virtual race around Mugello using the official MotoGP video game.

The race is to start at 3pm CET, and will feature some of the top MotoGP riders playing the game. Valentino Rossi, Maverick Viñales, Fabio Quartararo, Alex Rins, and Marc Marquez have all signed up for Sunday's virtual race.

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Engine And Aerodynamics Homologation Backdated To Qatar

Submitted by David Emmett on

As we reported yesterday, based on reports by Italian website GPOne.com, engine and aerodynamics development is to be frozen. But it appears that the story was wrong in at least one respect: engine homologation will not be taken from this week, but be backdated to Qatar.

What this means in practice is that the factories will have to submit engine designs for homologation as they were intending to use them at Qatar. Honda had already done this, having submitted engines for homologation at the season opener at Qatar, at which the MotoGP class was not present. But the bikes and engines were, as were a few key staff. The other factories did not submit their engines at Qatar, but have now sent sample engines to Dorna for homologation.

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MotoGP Engine And Aerodynamics Development To Be Frozen This Week

Submitted by David Emmett on

Engine and aerodynamics development in the MotoGP class is set to be frozen this week. Under normal circumstances, engine and aerodynamics development for factories without concessions is only frozen on the Thursday before the first race, but the COVID-19 outbreak means that we are a very long way from anything resembling normal circumstances.

Engine development was due to be frozen before the opening round at Qatar on March 8th, but the rapid growth of coronavirus cases in Italy caused the Qatari government to ban entry to Qatar for all Italian citizens, rendering it impossible for the MotoGP class to go ahead at the Losail International Circuit. Fortunately for race fans, the Moto2 and Moto3 riders were already in the country for a test, and the opening round could go ahead.

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Tech Briefs: Chatter, Or When Harmony Overwhelms A Motorcycle

Submitted by Steve English on

Jack Miller, Ducati, Misano 2019 MotoGP round

If you eavesdrop on a rider and his team debriefing in a garage during a session you’ll invariably hear a comment about chatter. It’s the oldest enemy for a rider because it robs confidence. With the bike moving underneath them they can’t open the throttle and the problem exaggerates the longer it continues.

But what exactly is chatter? It’s a harmonic imbalance created by vibrations and frequencies on a motorcycle. Man and machine need to be in perfect harmony to go racing but sometimes it’s the imperfect harmony of frequencies can upset everything for them.

"The word chatter gets used a lot, but a lot of the time, it's not strictly accurate," says former Moto2 crew chief and technical expert Peter Bom. "It's applied to everything which shakes and vibrates, but in the original sense, chatter was caused by the front or rear tyre (or both). Improved tyre construction has eliminated a lot of what used to be called chatter."

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Dorna Press Release: Carmelo Ezpeleta - Dorna Working To Ensure Modified Calendar Is Only Consequence Of COVID-19 Outbreak

Submitted by Press Release on

Dorna today issued the following press release, containing a letter from CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, concerning their ongoing plans for the 2020 season:

Letter from Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta
Friday, 20 March 2020

Dear all,

Today, the OR Thailand Grand Prix was set to be getting underway in Buriram; the race weekend that was meant to be the second of the season. The entire MotoGP™ paddock and family was supposed to be doing what we love the most: racing. We would have loved to watch the riders from each category fighting it out on track and delighting us to another last corner battle like we’ve come to expect from Buriram.

We would have loved to see the many international members of the paddock back hard at work for our fans; both those who travel from all over the world to join us trackside in Thailand and those who, like they do every race weekend, follow us faithfully from every corner of the globe.

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Coronavirus: The State Of Play, What Happens Next, And Why

Submitted by David Emmett on

The outbreak of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has wreaked havoc on many things: public health, international transport, the global economy, and much more. But as MotoMatters.com is a site about world championship motorcycle road racing, we are concerned above all on the effect it has had on the MotoGP and WorldSBK seasons. As of Friday 13th March 2020, Dorna and the FIM had postponed the Buriram, Austin and Argentina rounds of MotoGP, and the Jerez round of WorldSBK, and were forced to cancel the MotoGP class at the season opener at Qatar.

Things have changed so fast over the past two weeks that it is almost impossible to keep up. As Twitter racing wit SofaRacer put it, "A month ago, the state of Marc Márquez’ shoulder was the big talking point of the season. Halcyon days." Since then, a small, contained outbreak of a new flu-like disease has gone from a curiosity in a remote location far from any traditional racetracks to a global pandemic, sweeping through the racing heartlands of Italy and Spain.

Pace of change

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2020 MotoGP Calendar Updated Version 3 - Argentina Postponed To November, Triple Header To Close The Season

Submitted by David Emmett on

The MotoGP calendar has been changed again due to the ongoing outbreak of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. This time, it is the Argentina round of the series, due to be held in Termas de Rio Hondo on April 19th, which has been postponed. The race has now been set for November 22nd, the date Valencia was moved to in yesterday's updated calendar, with Valencia now slated for November 29th.

Moving the Argentina race became almost inevitable, after the Argentine round of MXGP at Neuquen was rescheduled last night. With more and more countries imposing travel restrictions on Italians - Malaysia will be imposing a ban on Italian passport holders, and anyone who has been in Italy in the last 14 days from this Friday, March 13th - organizing events for a sport with such a significant Italian component has become nigh-on impossible.

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2020 MotoGP Calendar Updated Again - Austin Postponed To November, Valencia Moved A Week

Submitted by David Emmett on

The ongoing outbreak of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has forced yet another change to the MotoGP calendar for 2020. Due to the restrictions on movement imposed in Italy, in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus, the US round of MotoGP at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, has been postponed until November.

The MotoGP paddock will gather in Austin on November 15th, instead of April 5th. November 15th was originally the date planned for the final round of MotoGP in Valencia, but to make way for Austin, Valencia has been pushed back a week, and will now be held on the weekend of November 22nd.

That means that as of today, March 10th, the MotoGP class will kick off their season at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit in Argentina on April 19th, with the paddock returning to Europe two weeks later for Jerez.

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