Valentin Khorounzhiy

MotoGP

Why Marquez at Ducati in 2025 is making more and more sense

Ducati was generally regarded as being somewhere between reluctant and uninvolved as Marc Marquez's move to satellite team Gresini played out. Everything that applied then remains valid now - but the spectre of Marquez in Ducati red is starting to add up

MotoGP

A MotoGP contender's intriguing 2024 divide

There was a clear divide between the lead Aprilia rider in Qatar and his two peers on the 2024-spec bike. That's in part down to Aleix Espargaro, but it's also about this year's Aprilia and what the manufacturer has set out to do

MotoGP

Is Bezzecchi's brave MotoGP 2024 gamble already failing?

Marco Bezzecchi made a crucial decision about his MotoGP future last year. The first round of the 2024 season provided a host of reasons to declare that decision was a needless, campaign-compromising own goal

Formula 1

These broken F1 careers should be a warning to Bearman

Ollie Bearman's magical Formula 1 debut has made him grand prix racing's star of the hour, a breath of fresh air amid a competitively stale start to the 2024 season. But that's no guarantee of anything as a couple of recent examples demonstrated all too well

MotoGP

Why the Qatar GP threat to Ducati collapsed at the last hurdle

Ducati looked more vulnerable than expected ahead of the Qatar GP. Then Pecco Bagnaia won with some ease, and Ducati locked out six of the top seven positions. Why couldn't its main rivals mount a challenge?

MotoGP

Least competitive Yamaha ever? Quartararo's grim verdict

Further from the front than ever and in even more trouble than Honda - that's Fabio Quartararo's assessment of Yamaha after the 2024 MotoGP opener

MotoGP

Bagnaia wins MotoGP opener but all eyes on Acosta and Marquez

While Pecco Bagnaia opened his MotoGP title defence with Qatar Grand Prix victory, it was rookie Pedro Acosta whose riding grabbed most attention in the 2024 opener

MotoGP

Marquez's first Ducati race was more ominous than it might look

Was Marc Marquez's fifth place in the Qatar MotoGP sprint on his Gresini Ducati race debut underwhelming or ominous? It's the latter, says Valentin Khorounzhiy

MotoGP

Why Ducati suddenly seems vulnerable in MotoGP 2024 opener

Ducati has spent a year being virtually unbeatable in MotoGP. But it nearly lost the Qatar sprint and could easily be defeated by two rivals - one of which now has "F1 car" handling - in the grand prix

MotoGP

Martin wins opening MotoGP sprint, Bagnaia misses podium

Jorge Martin won yet another sprint in the 2024 MotoGP opener in Qatar, as his old title rival Pecco Bagnaia was edged off the podium by an KTM and an Aprilia

MotoGP

Martin breaks lap record to claim pole for MotoGP opener

Pramac Ducati MotoGP rider Jorge Martin broke the Qatar lap record in the opening qualifying of the 2024 season after a feisty battle for pole

MotoGP

Marquez tops practice as rain forces Qatar GP schedule revamp

Marc Marquez led the way in the second Friday practice session of the 2024 MotoGP season opener in Qatar, as rain forced organisers to revise the weekend schedule.

MotoGP

Acosta steals the show in Martin-led first MotoGP practice of 2024

Jorge Martin led Aleix Espargaro and Pedro Acosta in the opening practice session of MotoGP's 2024 season.

MotoGP

This high-stakes MotoGP reinvention has big 2025 implications

Enea Bastianini has already arguably proven that he can fight for the title in MotoGP. What he hasn't proven is whether he can fight for the title in *this* MotoGP. And that's crucial to his future

MotoGP

MotoGP's major last-minute 2024 rule change explained

MotoGP has made an 11th-hour change to one of the most controversial new rules in the series mere days ahead of the opening race of 2024

MotoGP

Mir must relaunch his MotoGP career - or see it start to end

Joan Mir's 2024 has to serve as a re-launch of his MotoGP career - either that or the beginning of its end.

MotoGP

Will MotoGP's master of testing deception surprise again?

KTM's made a habit of looking much worse in pre-season MotoGP testing than it actually turns out to be when racing begins. So how does it really look coming into 2024?

Formula 1

Verstappen fastest in first 2024 F1 qualifying at Bahrain GP

Reigning Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen took pole position for the 2024 season opener in Bahrain, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc as his nearest rival

Formula 1

F1 drivers start 2024 season with vocal calendar rebellion

F1's most visible leading figures had little good to say about F1's ongoing calendar growth, during the first pre-weekend press conference of the year

Motorcycle racing

Six things we learned from World Superbike's 'new era' opener

WSBK has been pretty entertaining even with Alvaro Bautista, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea dominating the scene. But the 'new' World Superbike era started with none of them winning at Phillip Island - so how well does that bode for an open 2024?

Formula 1

What's this F1 team actually called - and what should it be?

Visa Cash App RB has received more quizzical mockery than most Formula 1 team rebrands. The team's defence/explanation of it is somewhat laudable, but not exactly clear

MotoGP

Title favourite or underdog? How Marquez really looks before Ducati debut

With pre-season MotoGP testing complete, we have a much clearer picture of where Marc Marquez stands as he prepares for his competitive debut on a Ducati

Formula 1

Four things Hamilton's revealed about Ferrari switch - and one he hasn't

Lewis Hamilton has spoken at length to the media for the first time about his switch to Ferrari in 2025. Here's what he revealed - and something that still doesn't quite make sense

Formula 1

What happened on final morning of pre-season F1 testing

Ferrari Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz remained on top as 2024 pre-season testing entered its final phase on the third day of three in Bahrain

Formula 1

All you need to know about 2024 F1 testing day one

Reigning Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen dominated the opening day of 2024 pre-season testing in Bahrain for his Red Bull team

MotoGP

Winners and losers from 2024 MotoGP winter testing

MotoGP's 2024 pre-season is over and some riders and teams can go into the Qatar Grand Prix bursting with confidence. Others, not so much

MotoGP

MotoGP pre-season testing ends with monster Bagnaia lap

Reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia demolished the lap record at Qatar's Lusail circuit as MotoGP pre-season testing concluded for 2024

MotoGP

What went down on first day of final MotoGP pre-season test

Reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia set the pace on the first day of the two-day Qatar test that concludes the 2024 MotoGP pre-season.

Formula 1

Ferrari signing Hamilton isn't the slam-dunk upgrade you might think

Ferrari ditching Carlos Sainz for F1's most successful driver ever Lewis Hamilton has been widely accepted as a guaranteed upgrade. It's not - instead, it's more of a risk/reward move

MotoGP

Marquez on Honda's progress since his exit: 'Unbelievable'

Marc Marquez admits he has been "amazed" by how much past employer Honda has improved its MotoGP bike for 2024.

MotoGP

'F***ing slow' - MotoGP testing's most unpleasant surprise so far

Augusto Fernandez's preparations for his second MotoGP season could've started far better than they did in testing at Sepang, not least because his rookie team-mate showed him up. While KTM's preaching line-up stability, there's not enough leeway for his season to start like his the test went

MotoGP

Honda's shock 'Repsol Light' livery fits muted new era

In recent years, every Repsol Honda MotoGP launch would be a 'bike reveal' in the same way that closing your eyes on the sofa and immediately opening them again is a 'living room reveal'

MotoGP

Reality check or mirage? How to read Marquez's second Ducati test

After being the unquestionable leading man on his first appearance on a Ducati MotoGP bike, Marc Marquez took on more of a supporting role second time around

MotoGP

Acosta is shortcutting his path to MotoGP superstardom

The weight of expectation on Pedro Acosta before he's even made his MotoGP debut is sizeable. It might even be impossible to live up to, but Valentin Khorounzhiy says that shouldn't matter

MotoGP

What we learned from first 2024 MotoGP test

Whether it's Marc Marquez finding his feet at Ducati, a really impressive rookie or some big teams still struggling, the first pre-season 2024 MotoGP test offered up plenty of storylines. Here's what we learned

MotoGP

Ducati dominant as MotoGP's Sepang test wraps up

Reigning MotoGP champion Pecco Bagnaia set the latest premier-class lap record at Sepang on the third and final day of the 2024 pre-season test at the track

MotoGP

Ducati's 2024 innovation may be a 2025 line-up hint

Ducati's 2024 MotoGP aero direction is pleasing Pecco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini but not Jorge Martin. And it's not the only fresh hint that Martin might prefer to look elsewhere for 2025

MotoGP

Lap record smashed on second day of Sepang MotoGP test

Ducati factory rider Enea Bastianini set the new MotoGP Sepang lap record on the second day of the first pre-season test.

MotoGP

Hamilton's F1 moves are a template for a MotoGP giant

Yamaha needs to prove to Fabio Quartararo that it's worth sticking with in MotoGP, so it might seem odd that it's citing Lewis Hamilton's F1 moves away from McLaren and Mercedes as part of its pitch. But it's those rival efforts to sign Hamilton it reckons it can learn from

MotoGP

Crash ends Fernandez's Sepang MotoGP test early

Trackhouse Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez has joined Franco Morbidelli on the sidelines for the remainder of the three-day MotoGP pre-season test at Sepang