Tag

riders

Browsing

The official announcement that Alex Rins has signed a two-year deal with the LCR Honda team means that the 2023 MotoGP grid is now officially half full. The factory Yamaha, KTM, and Aprilia seats are all confirmed, as is the Gresini Ducati team.

There has been official confirmation of one side of the Repsol Honda, Ducati Factory, and LCR Honda teams.

Does that mean that the remaining 11 seats are still wide open? Not all of them. There are some which are sure bets, while others are still very much open.

When we talk about shrinking grid sizes, it is usually MotoGP that gets the bulk of our scrutiny; however, some concern is starting to be generated over how large the field will be for the World Superbike Championship next season.

While there were 23 bikes on the starting grid at Phillip Island in 2012, for 2013 that number could well be 19 or less at the season-opener. While there are a number of factors for the smaller grid, it is no small coincidence that WSBK is short the same number of bikes that Effenbert Liberty Racing fielded last season.

World Superbike riders have begun establishing a safety commission to have a stronger voice in providing safer conditions for racers in the series. Though other top-tier racing series have long had a body specifically to promote the safety of riders and drivers, it seems that the timing of the race at Donington Park this season has moved the riders to join forces. They met first during the official test in Portimao a month ago and met again this week during the testing at Phillip Island.

Despite being the media-magnet that he is, Valentino Rossi has always lacked an official website of his own. Web going motorcycle racing fans have had to suffice themselves with the plethora of fan sites out there, including the Official Valentino Rossi Fan Club site. But, all these sites missed one thing, Rossi himself.

That’s all about to change. Rossi has teased the web with his upcoming site. Call it: The Doctor 2.0, valentinorossi.com. The site has been under development for the last 3 months, but just from the look of the splash screen, it would seem we can expect that usual antics from the outgoing Italian rider once it has officially opened its doors.

jamie-hacking-wsbk-miller

All signs seem to point to Jamie Hacking replacing the injured Makoto Tamada at World Superbike’s stop at Miller Motorsports Park later this month. In fact, Hacking would be replacing Sheridan Morais, the reigning South African Superbike champion, who is currently filling in for Tamada at WSBK’s round at Kyalami. Tamada is still recovering from having a metal plate inserted in his hand after sustaining a wrist fracture at . While the news is not official, Hacking hinted at it when talking to Roadracing World, saying “there’s a possibility I might do it.”