The provisional calendar for the 2024 MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 World Championships was announced this morning but may still undergo changes: there are three rounds subject to contract.

The Portuguese GP is scheduled for March 22nd to 24th, as the second of the season and the first in Europe. However, it is still listed as subject to contract. The same applies to the Indian GP, planned for September 20th to 22nd.

Kazakhstan is set to make its debut from June 14th to 16th, but it requires the contract signing and also the homologation of the Sokol Circuit. The situation is similar for the reserve event, the Hungarian GP at the Balaton Park Circuit.

O conteúdo Three GPs on the provisional MotoGP calendar subject to contract aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Fabio Quartararo managed to return to the podium in MotoGP, securing third place at yesterday’s Indian GP. The Monster Energy Yamaha rider was in a battle with Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) for the second position until the end, and on the last lap, he even was in front of his rival… although he couldn’t hold him off.

The 2021 champion said in the press conference that in the final lap fight he could see the weak point in Yamaha’s performance: ‘It was really difficult, to be honest – especially the last lap. During the race I always had one second, one second and a half, two seconds gap to the front guys – Pecco and Jorge, because Marco was already very far away. But in the last lap I could really see where our weak point was. We have to work on that part and hopefully we can make a step next year, because it’s one thing we cannot really fight with them – we can hold the pace, but we cannot really fight’.

Regarding the battle with Martín on the final lap, Quartararo said: ‘The drive I had out of the turn five was super bad. I was spinning like hell; I was trying to control on the gas, but unfortunately I had nothing more on the tyre and with less grip and the power I couldn’t give a fight. Also going into the ten I had no confidence to lean fast. But I can be happy because Marco was really on another level, we knew it before the start. Jorge won the sprint race and at least we are getting a little bit closer. So, I think we can be pretty happy’.

O conteúdo ‘In the last lap I could really see where our weak point was’ – Fabio Quartararo aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Marco Bezzecchi had one of the best races of his MotoGP career at the Indian GP, winning with over nine seconds of gap over Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati).

Despite his overwhelming performance, the Mooney VR46 Racing Team rider assured that he was far from having an easy race: ‘It wasn’t easy, for sure. It was really, really though for the heat, for everything. But I felt good on the bike and after Saturday I was really motivated to bounce back because I think that also on Saturday I could have done a bit better. I don’t know how, but for sure better than fifth’.

According to Bezzecchi, he already expected to be overtaken at the start and reacted accordingly before taking the lead: ‘I started well, I knew Jorge and Pecco [Bagnaia] probably would pass me because they have something more in the start. So I kept myself calm and I tried to stay just close to them. Afterwards, once I’ve got the opportunity, I passed in front. I was a bit aggressive, but I had to do it. And then I just tried to make my pace, I tried to push managing the tyre on the best way that I could. I felt amazing on the bike, so I’m very, very happy’.

Asked what made the Buddh International Circuit to his liking, #72 answered: ‘It’s a track that honestly I liked since the first time I rode on it. It was cool for me everywhere because there were some hard braking, but also some fast parts, chicanes. And physically I felt better with the hand, so the changes of direction weren’t a problem anymore like in Misano. So, sector three was really fantastic to ride, but I really liked the hard brakings also and I tried to be focused on that part, because normally Pecco and Jorge – especially Pecco – make more the difference on that part. So this time I started the weekend thinking about making the gap on that part of the riding style. It was fantastic’.

O conteúdo ‘After Saturday I was really motivated to bounce back’ – Marco Bezzecchi aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Pol Espargaró made it to the end of the MotoGP Indian GP race, but in an exhausting round from a physical point of view, he had to slow down to accomplish it. The GasGas Tech3 rider finished in 13th place.

The Spanish rider described a state of extreme physical fatigue after the race: ‘I feel so tired. I believe same than my colleagues. But coming where I come from, these injuries, I don’t felt super good. I reach my maximum heart rate ever; I didn’t expect to do that and it was 198. I was shocked, I was surprised – I cannot reach that training at home with bicycle or whatever. So I believe it’s low oxygen and this track makes everything quite though. And also the heat’.

Asked whether the Indian round was the hardest physical challenge he has faced since returning from injuries, Espargaró replied: ‘Every race track you have a little bit, but this one is really extreme. I felt weak. In the race I felt I lost a lot of time by being weak on physical condition. Maybe in another places no, but here I needed to drop a lot my lap time: I was in 1m46s high/1m46.8s, while I think I could be in 1m46.4s, 1m46.5s, 1m46.3s – something like that. It was the first time I really felt that I needed to drop, otherwise I wouldn’t finish the race. But it’s part of the improvement; I need to keep working and for sure in the next races or in preseason I’ll have more time to come back in my normal state’.

O conteúdo ‘I needed to drop a lot my lap time to finish the race’ – Pol Espargaró aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The MotoGP Indian PGP ended with a retirement for Aleix Espargaró. While he was battling for the top five positions, with less than ten laps to go, his Aprilia suffered technical problems.

Visibly frustrated, the rider admitted that the RS-GP often experiences issues with hot weather: ‘I don’t know. The bike stopped, it’s a shame. Every time it’s really hot we suffer; it’s not the first time, it’s something we have to improve. The bike was boiling, it was very difficult to ride. The bike was competitive, but it was difficult due to the heat’.

Despite the outcome, Espargaró was happy with his performance, thinking he could grab the fourth place: ‘I was good. I think I was riding really, really well, really fast in 1m45s high. I had more rear tyre than Brad [Binder] and Joan [Mir], so I think the fourth place was quite ok to take it. But the bike stopped’.

Afterwards, the Spaniard said the gearbox was fine: ‘The gearbox was working, but it doesn’t matter. The bike just stopped, with no power’.

Asked if there is something Aprilia could do to improve these problems, Espargaró answered: ‘This is a very good question, but we were not able to improve. The last two, three seasons was always the same – I would say even four seasons. It has always been very tricky for us on the hot conditions and with this amount of fairing, aero, it’s even worse. So, we have to improve because it isn’t just the rider that suffers, but also all the bike suffers when it is hot like this’.

The rider from Granollers also stated: ‘Every season is the same when we go overseas. Hopefully they can do something, but it will be difficult because there isn’t so much time’.

O conteúdo ‘The bike was boiling, it was very difficult to ride’ – Aleix Espargaró aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Exciting times lie ahead in the final stretch of the MotoGP season. The title fight is wide open after Francesco Bagnaia retired from the main race at the Indian GP.

The Italian rider from Ducati still leads the championship with 292 points. His margin over Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) has narrowed to just 13 points after the Spaniard finished second in yesterday’s race. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/Ducati) won the race and is now 44 points behind the leader.

At the same time, the Italian has built a more solid margin over the fourth-placed rider, which remains Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM). Despite the retirement, Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) remains in fifth, now only three points ahead of Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac/Ducati).

After returning to the podium, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) is just three points away from the top ten, maintaining his 11th place as the top Yamaha rider.

MotoGP World Championship standings:

O conteúdo Francesco Bagnaia’s DNF leaves the MotoGP World Championship wide open with seven rounds to go aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

After Sunday’s long race, Maverick Vinales was pleased with his performance and that of his team, despite finishing only in 8th place.

“Top Gun Maverick” stated in a debrief that he was able to unleash greater braking potential by “taking off” the rear wheel of the asphalt when he braked his Aprilia:

– Less, much less. (Contact of the rear wheel with the ground) It’s weird. But it is what it is. Normally with the Aprilia you can brake very late and never lift the rear, today we provoked the lift from the rear. So I was able to brake 10 meters later, lift the rear and then stop the bike a lot more. So it’s fantastic, I love that feeling. And it was something I asked for many, many times. We were lucky that here we weren’t starting third, fourth or fifth, where you can’t bet like that. But we made that bet and I think we can take a lot from this weekend.

However, the Spanish driver does not lose focus and knows that there is still a lot of work ahead, and a lot to understand about his RS-GP:

– I think it’s the tyre that’s harder and makes things harder for us. But we have something on the bike that, for example, in Montmeló gives us an advantage, but in others it is more negative than the rest and we need to understand what it is, because we don’t know yet. Maybe with today’s data, we can begin to understand more things.

O conteúdo ‘It was something I asked for many, many times’ – Maverick Vinales aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Japanese bikes seem to have discovered something at the Indian Grand Prix that had been missing until then. However, Joan Mir cannot indicate where Honda improved significantly to achieve one of the best results of the season.

Still, Mir says Misano’s tests were more important than what appeared to the press:

– It’s a bit of a mystery. For sure Marc (Marquez) has taken a big step. He managed to be a little bit stronger than the other weekends, but for me, we were the ones who were able to take a big step to be at his level. Of course, the Misano tests were important, not so much because of the position, but because I was able to do a lot of laps. And if you see the last few laps of the test, I was very fast on used tyres and that means we understand something there. That I got the confidence back. And when we got to a whole new track, we probably had the ability to adapt faster than the others and we were quick right away.

The #36 also stated in a debrief after the long race that, despite everything, he expected to be a little faster in the race, something that was not possible due to the problem he had in the rear tire:

– We were able to be fast and improve all weekend, something I didn’t expect. I expected to be fast on Friday, but yesterday we managed to qualify very well. That was pretty good. Then in the warm up we showed good pace and in the race we were fighting for the position I expected. I honestly expected a little more, but with this problem (…)

O conteúdo ‘I honestly expected a little more’ – Joan Mir aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Monster Energy Yamaha finished the Indian Grand Prix with an excellent combined result from its pair of riders, Fabio Quartararo was 3rd and Franco Morbidelli – who will move to Prima Pramac Ducati in 2024 – was 7th in Sunday’s long race.

In a season that has been quite complicated for the Japanese team, Morbidelli stated in a debrief that this was a good result for him and for the team:

– It was good, it was good. A positive race for us. The team deserves this 3rd and 7th place. I was able to regain a lot of positions, after starting a lot behind, and I was enjoying it, I’m happy. I wanted to thank my mechanics and the team. (…) I opted for the hard tyre, which for performance is a bit worse, but in the middle of the group it was working a bit better. So in the end, where I started from, it was a good choice.

The Italian Brazilian rider also said that he cannot understand completely what happened to the Japanese bikes this weekend, and that he believes that Yamaha is in fact improving and not the competitors stagnating:

– I don’t know. I can’t even tell you what happened to the Japanese bikes this weekend, why they were so much better this weekend, but I accept it. (…) I like to think it’s Yamaha that’s improving.

O conteúdo ‘The team deserves this 3rd and 7th place’ – Franco Morbidelli aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Aprilia didn’t have an easy weekend with the first-ever Grand Prix in India. Alexi Espargaró was forced to give up Sunday’s long race and Maverick Vinales was put off track at the first corner, still managing to stay in the race, finishing in 8th position.

Despite this, in debrief, the #12 showed that he was pleased to have achieved a good recovery after some changes in the settings of his bike, stating that it is a good sign to be on the pace of the top five, even in an unfavorable weekend:

– Yes, I was put out on the first corner and came in last. But then the recovery was very good, so I’m happy. This weekend we never found a good feeling on the bike, but in the warmup we changed the set-up a lot, to something we had never explored and we wanted to race like this to understand. I honestly had the best feeling of the weekend during the race, so it’s something to learn. You know I always say we must be positive. At the end of a very, very bad weekend, we were eighth, but potentially without going of track we had made the top 5. On a bad weekend, that’s fantastic. We got it right a little late in the set-up, but you know, new track … But I’m happy, there was something very positive about the bike I experienced today, especially on the brakes.

Asked what wasn’t working on his Aprilia, Maverick Vinales was clear, again stating that he was happy despite the less positive result:

– Just struggling a lot with the rear end on the brakes. But in the warm up we changed the bike a lot and I wanted to race with that, I wanted to bet on it because I know that if I run with a new setup you can always understand something. We understand that this way I can brake later and that’s fantastic, because in Japan you must brake late. Even if the result is not what I like or where I think we can be, it is very positive because we found something in the brakes, which in the test we could not find.

O conteúdo ‘Without going of track we had made the top 5’ – Maverick Vinales aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.