Simon Patterson

MotoGP

KTM MotoGP exit 'plan' claimed - but it insists 2025 season is safe

KTM's MotoGP project continues to exist in a state of apparent uncertainty - both short- and long-term - even despite the future of the marque being secured for now

MotoGP

Marquez-Red Bull deal ends - but he won't switch to rival Monster

New Ducati MotoGP rider Marc Marquez will pause his long-time personal association with Red Bull when he moves to the factory team for 2025 - but won't become an ambassador for rival energy drinks firm Monster Energy

MotoGP

How Espargaro's new cycling gig fits in with key MotoGP role

Sometime MotoGP title contender Aleix Espargaro will join pro cycling team Lidl-Trek for the 2025 season - in addition to his role as Honda's new test rider.

MotoGP

F1 owner's MotoGP takeover plan hits a snag

Financial news agency Bloomberg has suggested there may be a hitch in the works for Formula 1 owner Liberty Media’s proposed takeover of MotoGP rights holder Dorna

MotoGP

MotoGP announces return to Brazil - but doubts are inevitable

MotoGP organiser Dorna has signed a deal to revive its Brazilian Grand Prix by taking the championship back to the Goiania International Racetrack Ayrton Senna

MotoGP

Every 2024 MotoGP rider ranked from worst to best

With the dust now settled on a thrilling 2024 MotoGP season who were the best and worst riders of the season? Simon Patterson delivers his verdict

MotoGP

11 top MotoGP prospects heading into 2025

Who will be the next generation of new stars in MotoGP? Here's our pick of the 11 best prospects on the grand prix feeder package

MotoGP

KTM crisis: Is its MotoGP future under threat?

KTM's finances are in worse shape than originally thought - so can its MotoGP programme really continue as is?

Motorcycle racing

Ex-MotoGP rider wins major court case over career-ending injury

Six-time British Superbike champion and former MotoGP racer Shane Byrne has won a High Court case against BSB organiser and British circuit owner MotorSport Vision, after he suffered career-ending injuries during a testing crash at Snetterton in 2018 that left him with a broken spine

MotoGP

MotoGP's 2025 team radio plan has a significant opponent

MotoGP’s plan to introduce Formula 1 style pit-to-bike radio in 2025 faces opposition from outgoing world champion Pecco Bagnaia

MotoGP

Solidarity Grand Prix 2024 MotoGP rider rankings

Jorge Martin is the 2024 MotoGP world champion but who actually did the best job on the day in the deciding Solidarity Grand Prix weekend?

MotoGP

Simon Patterson: Ducati proved me wrong about satellite teams

After years insisting that satellite teams couldn't win MotoGP titles, Simon Patterson explains how Jorge Martin - with the help of Ducati - proved him wrong in 2024

MotoGP

Where F1 boss Domenicali really fits into Liberty's MotoGP plan

Reports that Liberty will transfer Formula 1 chief Stefano Domenicali to MotoGP appear wide of the mark - but expect a big change in Dorna leadership nevertheless

MotoGP

The story behind Espargaro's 'stunt double' retirement surprise

You were probably surprised to see two Aleix Espargaros on track at the end of MotoGP’s Solidarity Grand Prix sprint. So was Espargaro. Here's the story behind the stunt

MotoGP

MotoGP's free-to-air UK TV gesture should be its template everywhere

MotoGP's new UK TV deal means all the sprints and two grands prix will be broadcast free-to-air from 2025. About time, says Simon Patterson, now make that happen everywhere

MotoGP

New MotoGP logo design leaks out ahead of unveiling

MotoGP’s new brand identity has leaked out ahead of its official unveiling at Sunday night’s championship prize giving

MotoGP

The advantage Bagnaia has in one-sided MotoGP finale

Ahead of the final MotoGP weekend of the season, Simon Patterson looks how are the two title contenders' demeanours are stacking up

MotoGP

Four things we learned as MotoGP's title showdown began

Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia will fight it out over their second-consecutive last-round title decider in MotoGP this weekend in Barcelona. Here's what we learned on Thursday

Motorcycle racing

BMW creates Isle of Man TT superteam for 2025

Imagine if Ducati had decided to pair Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin in its works MotoGP team. BMW's just done the road racing equivalent for its 2025 Isle of Man TT line-up

MotoGP

Every final round MotoGP title decider ranked

For the third time in three years, the MotoGP championship will be decided at the final round. We rank the six previous times it has happened

MotoGP

Why Ducati's replaced Iannone for MotoGP 2024 finale

It's Ducati test rider Michele Pirro who'll race VR46's second bike at the Barcelona MotoGP season finale this weekend. That's a pragmatic choice - but the alternatives include a rider fans will have been clamouring to see again, and a former Valentino Rossi protege

MotoGP

Malaysian Grand Prix 2024 MotoGP rider rankings

Simon Patterson ranks the whole MotoGP field's performances after a Malaysian Grand Prix weekend that might've finally settled the 2024 title fight

MotoGP

What actually triggered terrifying Sepang MotoGP crash

The terrifying crash that interrupted MotoGP's Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang was triggered by a seemingly innocuous sequence of events through the first two corners

MotoGP

Barcelona to replace Valencia as MotoGP 2024 finale

MotoGP has settled on the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona as its new 2024 season finale venue following the cancellation of the Valencia round.

MotoGP

The weakness that's costing Bagnaia the 2024 MotoGP title

If Pecco Bagnaia does go on to lose the 2024 MotoGP title fight, it will be underperformance in the half-distance sprint races that will be responsible for his defeat

MotoGP

MotoGP won't race in Valencia, eyeing other 2024 finale options

MotoGP will turn to one of several fallback options to host its 2024 season finale, having accepted that it cannot race in flood-hit Valencia.

MotoGP

MotoGP champion Bagnaia 'not willing' to race in Valencia finale

Reigning MotoGP champion Pecco Bagnaia says he is willing to effectively forfeit his shot at the 2024 title rather than take part in a Valencia finale

MotoGP

How in-doubt finale changes MotoGP title fight at Sepang

The crisis in Valencia is set to loom large over MotoGP's Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang - also, even if it is very "secondary", in a sporting sense.

MotoGP

'Would be a mistake' - Riders on MotoGP finale amid Valencia floods

The fate of the MotoGP 2024 season finale in Valencia is a "secondary" matter amid deadly flooding in the area, riders have acknowledged.

MotoGP

Flooding damages MotoGP's Valencia circuit - season finale in doubt?

The final round of the 2024 MotoGP season may well be in doubt after Spain’s Valencia region was hit this week with severe flash flooding that has tragically left over 50 people dead and caused extensive damage to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo

MotoGP

Iannone returns to MotoGP changed - if not redeemed

Valentino Rossi's VR46 Ducati team has settled on Andrea Iannone as its Malaysian Grand Prix stand-in for regular rider Fabio Di Giannantonio - ending Iannone's five-year MotoGP hiatus in the process

MotoGP

Thai Grand Prix 2024 MotoGP rider rankings

MotoGP's two 2024 title protagonists each landed a metaphorical blow on the other during the Thai Grand Prix weekend - and mathematically made it a two-horse race with two rounds to go

MotoGP

Unzipped suit and penalty trick - Marquez's Thai GP controversies

Marc Marquez's Thai Grand Prix was already ruined by a crash - but there was still enough time for a controversial run to the finish.

MotoGP

Acosta's verdict on his growing MotoGP DNF streak

Pedro Acosta's Thai Grand Prix sprint crash means he hasn't scored - or finished - in MotoGP's last five races.

MotoGP

How Martin exploited MotoGP's track limits rules to defeat Bagnaia

MotoGP championship leader Jorge Martin went right up to the limit of the series' track limits rules to inflict a key defeat on title rival Pecco Bagnaia in the Thailand Grand Prix sprint

MotoGP

What Aprilia's wing-less bike experiment told MotoGP

A wing-less experiment carried out by Raul Fernandez and his Trackhouse Aprilia team in Australia offered a glimpse of an alternate MotoGP - one many (but not all) would prefer

MotoGP

KTM financial blows hint at looming motorsport cuts

KTM's increasingly difficult financial situation is surely going to have an impact on its motorsport programmes, reckons Simon Patterson

MotoGP

A rider's theory for one of Honda and Yamaha's biggest MotoGP woes

Why did Honda and Yamaha struggle so badly with tyre temperature at Phillip Island? One rider has a good idea

MotoGP

Australian Grand Prix 2024 MotoGP rider rankings

The epic charge to Australian Grand Prix victory might make top spot in Simon Patterson's MotoGP rider rankings a bit predictable - but there are plenty of surprises too

MotoGP

How Bezzecchi-Vinales crash also injured a third MotoGP rider

MotoGP was lucky to avoid a more dramatic outcome from the huge Australian Grand Prix sprint collision between Maverick Vinales and Marco Bezzecchi at Phillip Island’s first corner - with Bezzecchi and Vinales not alone in being affected