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A Ray of Hope? Plans Being Made for Jerez Doubleheader – July 19th

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There are signs of hope that the start of the 2020 MotoGP season is drawing near.

According to reports in the Diario de Jerez, the journal of record for the city of Jerez and surrounding regions, Dorna is set to hold a virtual meeting with the city council of Jerez and the regional government of Andalusia to discuss plans to start the MotoGP season at the Jerez circuit, with two races to be held on consecutive weekends, on July 19th and 26th.

There are still a lot of hurdles to be crossed before the racing can happen, but the hope is that with the COVID-19 outbreak starting to ease off in Spain, with the number of daily new cases at about a third of the level it was at the peak of the pandemic, and daily deaths a quarter of what they once were, the health authorities will start to ease the severe restrictions in Spain.

If the current pace of improvement continues, the situation could look much more positive in two months’ time.

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MotoGP

Both the Mugello & Barcelona MotoGP Rounds Are Postponed

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Another week, another motorcycle race postponed, with no date set for rescheduling. This week it is the turn of the Mugello and Barcelona rounds of MotoGP, scheduled to take place on May 31st and June 7th respectively.

Today, the FIM, IRTA, and Dorna announced that the Italian and Catalunya rounds of MotoGP have been postponed, and no new date has been set for them to take place.

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Bikes

360° Video: Marc Marquez Riding the Honda CBR1000RR-R

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We take a break from today’s chicanery to bring you a quick distraction: Marc Marquez riding the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP around the Catalunya track, in a 360° video format.

The video comes from Honda’s initial photo and video shoot for the unveiling of the new CBR1000RR-R, but that doesn’t make it any less cool.

For the maximum experience, watch the video on your phone. The IMU on your smartphone should pick up your movements, and change your field of view as you “look” around the bike as its on track. 

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WSBK

2020 WorldSBK Calendar Reshuffled Because of the Coronavirus

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The novel coronavirus outbreak is touching all forms of motorcycle racing. After MotoGP had to change its calendar twice in the past two days, the WorldSBK series has also had to change its plans. With the Spanish round at Jerez scheduled for the end of the month, that became untenable.

So the Jerez round of WorldSBK has been pushed back to the end of the year, and is due to be held on the weekend of October 25th.

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MotoGP

Jorge Lorenzo Will Race in MotoGP as a Wildcard in Catalunya

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MotoGP fans who were missing their doses of Lorenzo Land should be happy with this latest announcement from the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team, as Jorge Lorenzo has been confirmed to race at the Catalan GP.

The Spanish test rider for the Yamaha MotoGP squad will be a wildcard entry for the Catalunya race, an idea that was first floated when Lorenzo signed with the factory outfit last year, thus not making this too big of a surprise.

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WSBK

What to Watch for at the Jerez WorldSBK Test Right Now

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Testing resumes today at Jerez for the WorldSBK class. At least, it will if the track dries out enough to make conditions usable. Heavy overnight rain has soaked the track, and more rain is expected over the next two days.

The WorldSBK field will be hoping for dry track time for a lot of reasons, not least because it will be the first time that the Honda CBR1000RR-R will be seen at a public test.

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Reviews

What It’s Like to Ride a MotoE Electric Race Bike, A Review

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I have been lucky in my career to ride some of the finest one-off electric motorcycles ever created. I was the first to ride the Mission R street bike from Mission Motors, and first of two journalists to swing a leg over the Isle of Man winning MotoCzysz E1pc.

I was the first to ride the Alta Redshift SM prototype, back when the company was still called BRD Motorcycles, one of only a handful of souls can lay claim to riding the Lightning LS-218 around a race track, and one of the first to swing a leg over the Energica Ego.

Coming to the Valencia track in Spain, I knew though that I would be adding another one of these special machines to my list, as Energica had invited Asphalt & Rubber to ride its MotoE race bike, the day after the Valencia GP.

Five flying laps on the Energica Ego Corsa is all that we would get this day at the Spanish track, which didn’t include our out-lap and in-lap, which I have to admit disappointed me.

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast #123 – Valencia GP

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Episode 123 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one is another MotoGP show, as we finish the season with the final stop on the calendar, the Valencia GP

Of course, this means that we see Neil Morrison and David Emmett on the mics, as they are our MotoGP Championship reporting duo for the 2019 season.

As you can imagine, there is a lot to talk about on this episode, as the Spanish round started with the startling news that Jorge Lorenzo would be retiring at the end of the season.

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MotoGP

Tuesday MotoGP Summary at the Valencia Test: Making Premature Conclusions

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What conclusions can we draw from the first day of testing for the 2020 season? Not much, other than a lot of factories have brought a lot of new parts.

And it really does feel like a lot of new parts, with new chassis for KTM, Yamaha, Honda, Ducati, new engines all round, and a host of other bits and pieces in preparation for the new season. New riders, too, with Brad Binder, Iker Lecuona, and Alex Márquez all moving up to MotoGP for 2020.

It is particularly tempting to jump to early conclusions about the rookies. There is a clear pecking order, an easy way of deciding who is adapting quickly, and who is taking their time. By that measure, Iker Lecuona is the man to beat, the Red Bull Tech3 KTM rider finishing just under 1.5 seconds off the leading gaggle of Yamahas at the test.

Brad Binder, in the factory Red Bull KTM team, is just under 2.4 seconds behind quickest rider Fabio Quartararo, while the latest addition to the class, Alex Márquez, was last, 2.7 seconds slower than the Petronas Yamaha rider, and nearly 2.2 seconds slower than his brother Marc.

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