Splendid Isolation
There are many things that fans love about MotoGP: The banshee wail of the worlds fastest racing motorcycles; The thrill of watching the best motorcycle racers in the world scrap it out in tough, race-long battles; The extraordinary levels of skill required to put in an inch-perfect lap, and knowing that nobody could have […]

Rain Of Terror
It’s been a long winter. It’s been five and a half months since the MotoGP bikes burnt rubber in anger on a race track, with only the amuse-bouche of the official IRTA Test at Jerez two weeks ago to still MotoGP fans’ hunger. And with the winter test schedule curtailed as part of […]

MotoGP faces the 2009 season assailed from all sides. On the sporting front, they face a rejuvenated and growing World Superbike series, as well as a Formula One season full of intrigue and - gasp - overtaking; On the financial front, budgets are shrinking as sponsors tighten their purse strings to deal with the global […]

The Party’s Over
There are lots of reasons to go to a MotoGP race. If your aim is to see the best riders in the world test their skill, bravery and machines to the limit on a technical track, then you go to Mugello in Italy, or Phillip Island in Australia. If your reason for going […]

End Of An Era
There is always something bittersweet about the Valencia round of MotoGP. The final race is at once both apogee and perigee, zenith and nadir, as befits the culmination of any experience which marks its fans as deeply as MotoGP does. The last chance to party with fellow fans, and the last chance […]

Under The Weather
Motorcycle racing - in case you hadn’t noticed - is an outdoor activity. And despite the Herculean efforts of the organizers to attempt to control as many aspects of the sport as possible in the name of safety, cost and spectacle, that still leaves motorcycle racing at the mercy of the elements.
That does […]

We’ve Been Here Before
As the MotoGP circus wings its way across the Strait of Malacca towards Kuala Lumpur, it will be as if they were also traveling back in time. For at last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, there was only one subject of discussion, and that was the possible consequences of introducing a […]

Art Of Racing
Ever since the long-lamented 990cc bikes roared into the sunset at the end of 2006 to be replaced by the 800cc machines, MotoGP has suffered a crisis of confidence. That final year of competition with the large capacity bikes produced some of the most exhilarating racing ever seen, yet after the introduction of […]

A Southern Romance
There can hardly be a greater contrast between Motegi, the track where MotoGP spent last weekend, and Phillip Island, where they are headed next. Motegi is pretty much a state-of-the-art facility, with spacious pit garages, excellent spectator facilities and an air-conditioned press area. Phillip Island, on the other hand, is like a trip […]

The Top Step
Standing on the cusp of a championship is a strangely perilous position. You see the title within your grasp, you can almost touch it, taste it, but you know you have just a little bit more work to do before it is finally yours. It should be relatively easy. All you need to […]