Category: MotoGp

Marc Marquez took victory at Aragon for the MotoGP race, ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa and Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo, in an action packed race – which also saw the return of Valentino Rossi from injury.

The race got underway and immediately, Jorge Lorenzo took the lead, with Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi in behind. Quickly, Rossi got passed his teammate and set off after the Ducati rider, who had an 0.8s lead by the end of the first lap. Marc Marquez had a difficult start and was in 5th place, behind the second factory Ducati, Andrea Dovizioso.

Maverick Vinales dropped back in the early stages, becoming mired in a battle for 5th with Dani Pedrosa, Aleix Espargaro, Mika Kallio, Cal Crutchlow, Johann Zarco, Pol Espargaro and Andrea Iannone. The front four escaped and were all within a second of each other.

On lap nine, Marquez tried an outrageous manoeuvre on Valentino Rossi at the turn 12 bus-stop, however, he narrowly missed colliding with the Italian and had to let the brakes off, running up the inside of Jorge Lorenzo before going off track and rejoining back in fourth. It was a very close call!

Karel Abraham was the first crasher of the race, at turn eight – similar to his teammate Alvaro Bautista yesterday. Karel was up and OK. This marked the Czech’s first retirement since the French Grand Prix at Le Mans in May. It also highlighted that Karel and Aragon don’t get on, as he only has one points-scoring finish to his name, with 9th in 2012.

Marquez hit 2nd place on the 12th lap, taking Rossi in the final bend, keeping a tight inside line whereas Valentino opted for a fast, sweeping run up over the hill and down the start/finish straight. Marquez held on. It was at this point where we realised two things: Marquez’ pace wasn’t an issue after his 2nd row qualifying and that Valentino Rossi’s valiant effort was coming to an end, as he start to fatigue, now that the second half of the race was underway.

Cal Crutchlow crashed on lap 16, seven laps from home. He had just been passed by a struggling Johann Zarco. Crutchlow started fourth on the grid and was 10th when he crashed out of proceedings. It was Crutchlow’s fourth retirement of the year and also meant that he didn’t capitalise on taking Danilo Petrucci’s 7th in the championship, as the Italian failed to score a point.

On the same lap, we saw our first change of leader. Marquez dive-bombed Lorenzo into the turn 12 bus-stop, going wide initially but cutting back to retain the advantage. Going into turn 16, Lorenzo used the power of the Ducati and took the lead back momentarily, before Marquez cut underneath him and got the inside line through turn 17 and across the line. The cheers of the Spanish fans told us that Aragon really is Marc Marquez territory.

Also on the 16th lap, Dani Pedrosa passed Valentino Rossi, after passing Dovizioso and Vinales in previous laps. Pedrosa now had around a second of clear track ahead of him before he would be able to mount a challenge on 5-time champion, Jorge Lorenzo. Pedrosa had preserved his tyre and whilst Marquez was too far ahead he did catch Jorge, setting the fastest lap in the process.

Pedrosa passed Lorenzo at the bus-stop, replicating his teammate’s move on the Ducati ace a few laps previous. Pedrosa held his line and romped away from Lorenzo. It was now a Repsol Honda 1-2. That is how it remained until the end, with Marquez holding off Pedrosa’s late surge and Jorge Lorenzo’s Ducati. It was the first 1-2 for Honda at the Aragon Grand Prix since Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa in 2011, as well as Ducati’s first podium at Aragon since Cal Crutchlow in 2014.

Valentino Rossi, despite his most determined efforts, was pipped by teammate Maverick Vinales, as the two factory Yamahas finished 4th and 5th. Aleix Espargaro and Aprilia took 6th, highlighting once more that the Aprilia’s is very user-friendly with tyres. Andrea Dovizioso was pummelled back to 7th and now trails Marquez by 16 points in the championship going to Japan, whilst Alvaro Bautista was the best privateer Ducati, finishing in 8th. Johann Zarco salvaged 9th and Pol Espargaro emerged from the shadow of test-rider and wildcard, Mika Kallio, to complete the top 10.

Kallio in turn finished 11th, whilst Iannone struggled to 12th – although he finished as top Suzuki. Jack Miller was 13th and top independent Honda, with Britain’s Scott Redding behind him in 14th. Esteve Rabat made it a double point-scoring finish for the Marc VDS squad, taking 15th and the final point of the day.

The championship now takes a two weekend sabbatical before returning to the Land of the Rising Sun – Japan. Motegi beckons next on the calendar but unlike last year, Marc Marquez can’t wrap the series up at this meeting. The top five are the only riders that have a mathematical chance of the championship going into the closing stages of a phenomenal season of Grand Prix racing.

Top 5 Championship Standings

1.) Marc Marquez        224

2.) Andrea Dovizioso 208

3.) Maverick Vinales  196

4.) Dani Pedrosa          170

5.) Valentino Rossi     168

Image by: MotoGP

Round 14 of the MotoGP championship beckons this weekend and the venue for the occasion is the MotorLand Aragon circuit, in Alcaniz, Spain. The third of four Spanish rounds, Aragon has become a Marc Marquez heartland since he stepped up to the premier class in 2013 and the capacity crowd will want to witness their man take victory, for what would be a fourth time. Keeping the Spaniard honest is Andrea Dovizioso – joint championship leader, Maverick Vinales – just 16 points back and also Dani Pedrosa, who is a distant fifth in the championship.

Marc Marquez is at the head of the championship, courtesy of having more 2^nd places than Andrea Dovizioso, as both have four wins. The Spaniard has taken three wins at Aragon – two in the premier class and one in Moto2. The five-time champion won at the circuit last season and in 2013 but when Marc hasn’t been winner, he’s been a crasher. The 24-year-old has never won back to back races at same Spanish circuit in consecutive seasons so that will be yet another record he will want to smash. Honda have won at Aragon a total of four times and will also hope to become the first manufacturer to make it five at the track.

Andrea Dovizioso took a steady 3^rd at Misano, his sixth podium of the season. The last time Dovizioso took six podiums in a season was 2012 on the Tech 3 Yamaha and if he manages to make the podium this weekend, it’ll be the first time since 2011 that he has had seven in a year. Dovi has just one podium to his name at Aragon, back in 2012 and his best result for Ducati at the track is a 5^th in 2015. Ducati in turn haven’t won at Aragon since 2010 and their last podium at the circuit was with Cal Crutchlow in 2014. 31-year-old Dovizioso has shattered records this year for Ducati and will hope to continue doing so into the forthcoming weekend.

Maverick Vinales has had a slightly subdued season since his wins in Qatar and Argentina. Vinales was off the podium yet again at Misano, where he finished 4^th, limiting the damage that Marquez and Dovizioso have done to him. Vinales was fourth at Aragon on the Suzuki last year and won at the circuit in 2014 for the Pons Kalex team in Moto2. He has two other podiums in Moto3 too. Yamaha have won at the circuit twice – in 2014 and 2015. Vinales needs points and must take some off either Marquez or Dovizioso this weekend. If he is behind them for another meeting, one would have to think it’d take a monumental effort to get to the head of the championship again. Having said that, as hard as it may be, it is far from impossible.

The man stealing all the headlines into Aragon is 4^th placed Valentino Rossi, who announced that he will attempt to ride during FP1 on Friday morning this weekend. That will make it just 22 days after initially breaking his leg. The Doctor has made the decision to come back at a circuit where he has struggled at in the past. He has been third on three occasions – 2013, 2015 and 2016 – but they are his best finish. Rossi has never qualified on the front row at Aragon either so in a normal, healthy condition, this circuit was never going to be his favourite. If we dare talk about a win for Valentino, then he would be the second oldest rider to win two GPs in a premier class season, after Leslie Graham. Will Valentino show one his most determined rides ever to salvage something out of this weekend?

Dani Pedrosa occupies 5^th in the championship, seven points behind the Italian veteran. Pedrosa won at the circuit back in 2012 and had a strong ride to 2^nd at the circuit in 2015, battling with Valentino Rossi on the final lap. A podium for Dani would see it be his seventh of the season, the first time since 2014 that he has achieved that many. Pedrosa has taken pole at the previous two Spanish rounds this season and won at Jerez so he clearly has no issues about performing in front of a home crowd. With five races to go, Pedrosa needs to slash the 49-point gap to the leaders to be in with a chance of the championship and that must start at Aragon. Like Vinales, it is far from over but it’s going to be tough.

Sixth place in the championship belongs to top rookie, Johann Zarco. The Tech 3 Yamaha rider has been a revelation this season but he has never won at Aragon – one of the few circuits he looked despondent with in his Moto2 championship years. His only podiums at the circuit come from 2011 in Moto3 when he finished 2^nd and in 2014 on the Caterham-Suter in Moto2, where he finished 3^rd. There has never been a French winner at Aragon across all three classes and in dodgy weather, I wouldn’t put it passed Zarco to atleast threaten that particular statistic. Tech 3’s best premier class result at Aragon is a third place by Andrea Dovizioso in 2012.

Danilo Petrucci in 7th will be looking for his first ever back-to-back podiums and Pramac Ducati’s first back-to-back podiums since 2008, with Toni Elias at Brno and Misano. Petrucci has only had one point scoring ride at Aragon, with 11th place back in 2014. He is 15 points behind Johann Zarco.

Cal Crutchlow is top Brit in 8^th. The double GP winner has one podium to his name in GP racing at the circuit, on a Ducati in 2014. His best result for Honda was 5^th last year. Crutchlow will be looking to finish his 8^th consecutive race this season in the points.

9^th place is Jorge Lorenzo, who still seeks his first win for Ducati after crashing out in Misano. Having led his first laps, Jorge can now progress further with the bike at a circuit he loves. He is the only rider to win at Aragon from outside of the front row in 2014 and dominated proceedings in 2015 too. A 2^nd last year fires him up for what should be a successful weekend.

Jonas Folger is 10^th in the championship, making Yamaha the only manufacturer with four bikes in the top 10. Folger never achieved a Moto2 podium at Aragon but he did manage a third place back in 2012 in Moto3. He will be looking to become the first ever German to win at the Aragon venue.

Image: Honda Pro Racing

Andrea Dovizioso hailed his fourth victory of 2017 as “the perfect race”, as the Italian moves to the top of the standings ahead of Ducati’s home race at Misano.

Having been part of the leading group for 17 laps, Dovizioso passed fellow countryman Valentino Rossi into Stowe corner with three laps to go.

“I’m so happy about Sunday’s victory, my fourth this year, because every race we win is different from the others and this means that we are really strong and can fight for the championship”, began Dovizioso, who delivered Ducati’s 37th victory in Grand Prix racing.

“It was a really tough race because all of our rivals were on top form. Today Marquez was unlucky, but we did the perfect race because, even though we were probably not the quickest outright. We were able to interpret the race in the best possible way and go on to win”, he continued.

“This means that the work we did during the weekend was excellent, and so was my race strategy because I managed to get into the right position at the right time. This year, every race is a story in itself and the tyres are always a key factor. We are very focused on our working method which is producing results”, he concluded.

Dovizioso’s win made it the first time since Casey Stoner in 2009 that a Ducati rider has won four races in a single year.

Valentino Rossi celebrated his 300th premier class start with his 190th premier class podium at Silverstone on Sunday and whilst saying it was a “good weekend”, the Italian said that he and his team “have to do better” if they stand a chance of victory.

“I‘m satisfied because it was a great race for me. I was able to ride really well after a great start and I stayed in front and rode on the limit without making mistakes, so I enjoyed it a lot for 17 laps”, began the Italian – who led the majority of the British Grand Prix.

“I think this is a good way to celebrate my 300th race in MotoGP‘s premier class. There remains a bit of frustration, because I knew on the last laps I would suffer a bit with the degradation of the rear tyre, but I think this weekend we improved a lot”, he continued.

Yamaha’s main problem has been rear tyre grip in the latter stages of races, which has so far plagued them at Jerez, Catalunya and again in Austria.

“We‘re still not at the top, we have to do better if we want to try to win, but it was a good weekend”.

Valentino closes in on the championship lead, from 33 points behind to just 26, as he heads to his home race of Misano in two weeks time. Yamaha recently completed a “successful” one-day test at the circuit.

Andrea Dovizioso has taken his fourth win of the 2017 MotoGP season in a scintillating British Grand Prix at Silverstone, which saw Cal Crutchlow finish fourth, Valentino Rossi lead for the majority of the race and Marc Marquez retire with a suspected engine failure.

Into turn one on the first lap, Valentino Rossi led and instantly pulled away from the chasing pack. Marc Marquez and Cal Crutchlow were in behind, whilst Dovi and Maverick Vinales battled it out over fourth and fifth. Jorge Lorenzo was also a fast starter, occupying sixth.

By the end of the first two laps, Rossi had a lead of over a second. Whilst Vinales was able to get to second, he was only able to close Valentino down in the final sector, with the gap hovering at around 0.8 seconds.

An early retirement was Britain’s Sam Lowes, having crashed his Gresini Racing Aprilia. The former World Supersport champion leaves MotoGP at the end of the season to join the Interwetten Moto2 team, who currently field Tom Luthi. Teammate Aleix Espargaro also retired later on.

With seven laps to go, Valentino Rossi had been virtually caught by the chasing quartet which consisted of Dovizioso, Marquez, Vinales and home-hero, Cal Crutchlow. However, approaching Stowe corner, Marc Marquez suffered a suspected engine failure as a cloud of smoke billowed from the factory Honda. A rare occasion to see a HRC machine blow up, with one other notable incident being in 1998, in World Superbikes with Aaron Slight suffering similar fate in the closing stages at Monza.

Dovizioso moved through to take the lead at Stowe with three laps to go. Rossi initially trying to fight with his fellow countryman but having to settle for 2nd. Then, later in the lap, Maverick Vinales powered ahead his 38-year-old teammate going into Brooklands.

Despite the Yamaha duo’s best efforts, they were forced to stay as they were as Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso took his second consecutive victory, his fourth of the year. Vinales and Rossi completed the podium with Crutchlow fourth. It was Valentino Rossi’s 300th premier class start and he celebrated it with his 190th premier class podium. Dovizioso gave Ducati their 37th victory in MotoGP.

The Italian now leads the series as MotoGP heads to Ducati’s backyard at Misano, some 85 miles away from the manufacturer’s home city of Bologna. Valentino Rossi also heads home, as the nine-time champion lives just 10 miles away from the Misano circuit.

Top 5: Championship Standings after 12 races

1.) Andrea Dovizioso,  Ducati,    183

2.) Marc Marquez,     Honda,       174  +9

3.) Maverick Vinales, Yamaha   170  +13

4.) Valentino Rossi,    Yamaha,  157 +26

5.) Dani Pedrosa,        Honda,      148 +35

The home of black pudding. The home-ground for a pint of Marston’s Pedigree and fish and chips. The only place in the world where you spend most of your life on the phone, making complaints, or queuing to make a complaint. The land of which Barry Sheene was born on, yet the land of which many a famous rider left us on. It is time for the British Grand Prix. The most iconic race of all time, steeped in history on both positive and negative gradients. The Silverstone circuit hosts its eighth consecutive British Grand Prix in 2017 and whilst the Circuit of Wales was a white elephant, the British entourage has never been better, with three lions seeking home pride.

Marc Marquez leads the championship on his Repsol Honda, having not been off the rostrum since Mugello in June. He’s not been lower than second in the last four races, making him a worthy series leader. However, he isn’t having it all his own way, with Andrea Dovizioso beating him in a last corner shoot out in Austria. Is Marc rattled by the fact that he – the most determined of all racers – was forced to be second best? He comes to a circuit at which he knows well. Since stepping up to the premier class, he has finished, 2nd (2013), 1st (2014) and 4th (2016), whilst crashing out in 2015 from 2nd. He has taken three pole positions, with last year being the first year he wasn’t fastest after Saturday qualifying. Will his top three consistency be on show again this weekend or will Andrea Dovizioso chip away into a frail points advantage?

Dovi is 2nd in the championship, 16 points down on the five-time champion. The Ducati ace powered to victory last time out in Austria, taking his third of the year. The last rider to do that on a Ducati was Casey Stoner back in 2010. However, it is the first time since Stoner in 2008 where Ducati have got to the halfway mark in the season and still looked like genuine contenders. The Italian has had three podiums at Silverstone before and apart from 2013, he has finished every race in the top six whilst riding a Ducati. He was the British Grand Prix winner in 2009 at Donington Park; will he repeat his performance at Silverstone?

Maverick Vinales – despite enduring a poor run of form – is third in the championship, 24 points off leader Marquez. Vinales comes to Silverstone with happy memories from last year, with it being the venue for his first ever premier class race win – and thus far, Suzuki’s last. Vinales hasn’t won since the French Grand Prix, after a titanic scrap with teammate Valentino Rossi. The Spaniard has never had back to back sixth places so if he does finish 6th, it’ll be the first time. A podium on Sunday would be his 10th in the premier class. He only has one other win to his name at Silverstone and that was back in 2012 on the FTR Honda in Moto3.

Valentino Rossi will be making his 300th premier class start this weekend, a phenomenal achievement that no one else has been able to reach. It will be his 353rd across all classes and his 201st for Yamaha. The Italian’s form at Silverstone isn’t the greatest – one win in 2015 is all he has to his name in terms of victories. However, he hasn’t finished off the podium there since 2014. Rossi is the winner of eight British GPs, more than any other rider. To make it nine would be a big ask but not impossible. Since returning to Silverstone, Yamaha have won four races whereas Honda just two, so the bike clearly likes the fast direction changes the circuit has to offer. A recent test in Misano also looked promising so will we see a Yamaha battle at the top? Valentino has endured his worst spell in Europe since 2013, where – like this year – his only podium and win came at Assen. Rossi has to win again but will this round be the round he does it?

Dani Pedrosa lies 5th in the championship, 35 points off teammate Marquez and two down from Rossi ahead. Pedrosa has finished the last three races on the podium, meaning he could be a threat come race day. He hasn’t had four consecutive podiums in Europe since 2013, between Jerez and Catalunya so another podium would correct that stat. Pedrosa has never won at Silverstone and his only other premier class British Grand Prix win was in 2006, his rookie season. Dani is still very much in the championship hunt and a win, coupled with misfortune for those ahead, would place the plucky Spaniard right in the mix once more. His last podium at Silverstone came back in 2013, so whilst current form suggests a strong challenge, his recent circuit form suggests otherwise. We will only find out on race day.

Johann Zarco continues to impress in 2017, setting the fastest lap of the race and a new lap record at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. The Frenchman comes to Silverstone, having been disqualified last season, despite taking a win the year before. In 2014, he was 4th and qualified on pole so Silverstone definitely seems like a circuit Zarco likes. The reigning double Moto2 champion could do with another top six, as his 5th in Austria was his first top six since Catalunya. If he carries on beating the factory Yamahas, you have to wonder if Zarco will be given the factory bike for next year, whilst remaining in Tech 3. He’s doing the business and at the end of the day, he’s a top rider. Could Silverstone be another Zarco success story?

Lorenzo is next up in the championship. A 4th place last time out wasn’t too shabby but he was well off the winning time. The Spaniard has three victories at Silverstone, with the last one coming in 2013. Lorenzo also knows that he has to beat Andrea Dovizioso to remind Ducati why he was employed. Lorenzo was the last Spanish rider to win a race at the British GP on an Italian bike – 250cc, Aprilia, Donington Park, 2006.

Tech 3 rider Jonas Folger is eighth, having won the Moto3 race in 2011. The German retired from only his 2nd race at the Red Bull Ring and will want to be resurgent this weekend. A German rider has never won the British Grand Prix, nor have they ever scored a podium there. Then again, first time for everything, right?

Britain’s Cal Crutchlow is 9th in the championship. The British GP pole-sitter from last year had a terrible Austrian race but always goes well at Silverstone. A fine 2nd last year and being taken out whilst running 4th in 2015 are highlights that Crutchlow thrives on home glory. Crutchlow is riding a vintage Castrol Honda livery this weekend, unveiled by none other than New Zealander, Aaron Slight.

Completing the top 10 in the championship is Danilo Petrucci, who took his first ever podium at Silverstone in 2015. Despite two podiums, four DNFs – including last time out in Austria – have landed him further down the table than he would’ve hoped. Silverstone knowledge will be key for Danilo come Sunday.

Alvaro Bautista’s season has been a strange one. With the exception of COTA, every race he has finished has been in the top 10. On the other hand, he has crashed out five times. 11th in the championship, Bautista has bags of pace but crashes just a bit too often. He took his first ever premier class pole position at Silverstone in 2012 and for the last two seasons, has finished the British GP in 10th, riding an Aprilia. Keep your eyes peeled for Bautista the Bowling Ball.

Aleix Espargaro’s Aprilia was off the pace in Austria, being caught up in turn one shenanigans that landed him at the back of the field. The Spaniard forced his way through to 13th place, his worst finish of the year. Since 2013, Aleix has finished the British Grand Prix inside the top 10 and has yet to not score points at all in the premier class in Blighty.

Jack Miller has had an OK year, but of late, has gone off the boil. The Marc VDS Honda rider had his best result of 6th at Assen but is yet to get a top 10 since then. He has already signed a deal to join the Octo Pramac Ducati team for next year, so the pressure is off in terms of delivering results. Miller has never had a top five at the British Grand Prix since joining the paddock in 2012 and is yet to score points in the premier class at Silverstone.

Loris Baz is fighting to stay in the GP paddock and he’s fighting hard. The Frenchman is 14th in the championship and has had three top 10 results. A 9th last time out in Austria will propel him to hopefully remain in Grand Prix. He knows Silverstone well, taking a win in WSBK back in 2013. He is yet to score points at Silverstone in MotoGP.

Scott Redding’s first ever win came at the British Grand Prix – albeit at Donington Park. However, he has also done the business at Silverstone too, winning the 2013 Moto2 race. He crashed twice last year but finished 6th in 2015 and 10th the year before. Up until joining MotoGP’s premier class, he was yet to finish outside the top five at home.

Andrea Iannone occupies 16th in the championship and his season doesn’t look like it will get any better. The flamboyant Italian has a best result of 8th in the premier class at Silverstone but had never had a podium at the track prior to that. Suzuki won at the circuit last year, but given the struggles of the manufacturer this year, how much of last years success was down to the bike and how much was down to the rider?

Karel Abraham will remain in the paddock for another season with the Aspar Ducati team. Karel comes to the British GP with happy memories, including a row two qualifying performance back in 2011. The same year, he finished 7th in the race – his best result at Silverstone. Abraham has been doing a solid job in 2017, having not retired since Le Mans.

Tito Rabat has had a better season in 2017 but it hasn’t been good enough for Marc VDS to retain his services for another year. Yet to have a top 10 this season, Rabat has failed to score points in the last three races. It may well be an uphill struggle from here on in and who knows where he will be riding next year? The good news is that every British GP since 2010 has seen Tito score points, so the odds are evening themselves out.

Pol Espargaro had his Austrian Grand Prix cut short, to give him his fourth retirement of the year. Having said that, the last finish he had was 9th and KTM’s first ever top 10. Espargaro’s recent GP history shows DNFs for the last two seasons and a 6th in 2014. His last British GP podium was in 2012, where he won ahead of Scott Redding and Marc Marquez. Will Silverstone turn orange on Sunday?

He was 10th in last years standings but currently, Hector Barbera ranks 20th in the championship. A dire season – mainly due to Avintia Ducati’s continuous front end problems – has resulted in a disastrous run of form for the Spaniard. If he fails to score points on Sunday, it will be the first time since the Avintia Kawasaki CRT days of 2014 where he’s endured five non-point-scoring rides (Indianapolis-Aragon). His best result at Silverstone since joining the premier class in 2010 is a 10th, in 2012. He was 14th last year and 13th in 2015.

Alex Rins is 21st in the championship – albeit missing five races and only scoring points in two others. The Spanish rookie finished 16th in Austria, despite looking a lot more at home on his Suzuki. Last year’s British GP was one of his worst finishes in the year, with 7th. A 2nd in 2015 and a win in 2014 do suggest that not all is lost. Riding a Suzuki that has won at Silverstone may give Alex the confidence he needs to score more points on race day.

Bradley Smith is 22nd and heads to his home race in need of points. Rumours suggest that Bradley may be out of a ride for next season, with KTM reporting to bring in Mika Kallio. Smith hasn’t scored points in the 2nd half of the season and was only 18th in KTM’s home race last time. The 26-year-old missed last year’s British GP but was 7th in 2015. His last podium at the circuit came in 2011 on a Tech 3 Moto2 bike.

Sam Lowes brings up the rear of the MotoGP table (as far as full-time entrants go) and goes into his home round with an uncertain future. Lowes goes well at Silverstone, finishing in the top 7 on two occasions in Moto2, although he was taken out of the race last year by Johann Zarco. Lowes finished 2nd in a World Supersport race in 2013, having been knocked off whilst leading by Kenan Sofuoglu on the last lap. Lets hope that Sam can add to his points tally on Sunday to prove to team bosses that he has what it takes to remain in MotoGP.

Now that you are equipped with all the facts and stats for Sunday, you can head off and digest the atmosphere of race day. Will Valentino Rossi shine once more or will Marc Marquez reign again? Could Andrea Dovizioso continue his fighting spirit and tackle the Silverstone circuit or will Maverick Vinales be Top Gun for a 2nd season at the British Grand Prix. All that really matters though is that it is the British Grand Prix and it’s being hosted in a country famed for good food. Double egg and chips anyone?

@MotoGPKiko

The Twin Ring Motegi circuit, which hosts the Japanese MotoGP and previously the Pacific Motorcycle Grand Prix, will remain on the calendar until at least 2023 following a new deal between the circuit and Dorna.

The contract will be enabled from 2019 onwards, to celebrate what will be the 20th anniversary of the circuit being on the MotoGP calendar. It is one of the most popular circuits for fans, as viewing areas often allow you to see over a great amount of the track.

It has seen many great races and iconic moment, such as Marquez’ crowning in 2014 and 2016, as well as Valentino Rossi’s in 2008. It was also the venue where Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo had their last real head-to-head battle, back in 2010. The circuit was also host to the last Japanese premier class winner, with Makoto Tamada on a Camel Honda for Sito Pons’ team back in 2004.

Carmelo Ezpeleta said, “We are delighted to announce this contract renewal with a place that is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The Twin Ring Motegi is the home track of Honda and the Japanese GP is the home Grand Prix for major manufacturers such as Yamaha and Suzuki, who are main players in the MotoGP class; some of the most important at the pinnacle of the championship. We will continue the event and make further efforts, together with Mobilityland, to enhance the value of the MotoGP™ series.”

The 2017 Japanese Grand Prix takes place on the 13th-15th of October.