Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz recently visited Japan to take part in the official test for the 2014 Coca-Cola Zero Suzuka 8-Hours. Schwantz, who last year finished third at Suzuka riding for Team Kagayama, is part of the Yoshimura Suzuki Shell Advance Legend Racing Team and will ride alongside his 1986 Suzuka 8-Hour partner Satoshi Tsujimoto and Suzuki Moto GP test rider Nobuatsu Aoki.

The Texan also visited Suzuki headquarters in Hamamatsu prior to the test and was met by Representative Director and Executive Vice President, Mr. Yasuhito Harayama and Suzuki MotoGP R&D staff at Suzuki Plaza adjoining the main office, where Schwantz talked about his enthusiasm for the upcoming Suzuka 8-Hour event at the end of this month.

Said Schwantz: “In the Suzuka 8-Hour race in 1986, I finished third with Tsujimoto. I remember that he and I managed fairly similar lap-times, and as we were both fast, we were good enough to win. But so many things happen in a long race like Suzuka and it didn’t quite happen. Now it is good to be back together again after 28 years.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi rode impressively this afternoon to take fifth during an unpredictable race at the Assen TT. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo briefly led the race, but later fell back after a tyre change, finishing in 13th place.



There was uncertainty before the start of the Dutch GP, with the riders already on the starting grid when the race was delayed due to the rainy conditions. It was finally declared a wet race and two extra sighting laps were given.



Rossi initially went out on slicks but decided last-minute to change to wets after the warm-up lap. Though this meant he had to start the race from pit lane, the setback didn’t hold him back for long and he was quick to move up the order, reaching 13th by lap three. At the end of lap six chaos ensued again as the track started to form a dry line and half of the riders came into the pits for another tyre change. Rossi dived into the pits with the first group, rejoining the race in tenth position. He was quick to find a good rhythm and closed the gap of 2.325s to Pol Espargaro, Carl Crutchlow, Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl over the next six laps. The Doctor then only took another three laps to move up to fifth place. He was consistently closing on Aleix Espagaro in fourth, but there were not enough laps, leaving him to hold fifth at the line.



Teammate Jorge Lorenzo had a good start, the Spaniard moving up from ninth to sixth in the first lap. Having found a good wet pace, he threatening to break into the top five when changing weather again disrupted the race. Lorenzo made the change to a dry bike and having returned in 17th was able to move up several positions to 13th by the flag.



After yet another thrilling race in Catalunya a fortnight ago the team Movistar Yamaha MotoGP arrive in Assen. The last round saw Valentino Rossi fight a hard battle for a well-deserved second place and Jorge Lorenzo displayed his trademark ‘Por Fuera’ pass for the delighted Spanish crowd. Both riders are keen on another chance to show their fighting spirit at the TT Assen this Saturday.



Rossi looks forward to continuing his battles during the eighth round of the championship staged at one of his most successful circuits. The Italian, who currently holds second place in the championship standings, has won at the TT Circuit Assen a total of eight times, six of these victories being in the MotoGP class.


Teammate Lorenzo also has a good track record at the TT circuit, which is considered to be "the cathedral" of motorcycling. The Spaniard has won at this circuit four times in total across all MotoGP Championship classes (125cc, 250cc and MotoGP). Lorenzo will try to push this total up to five with some help of the small set up changes made during the post-Catalunya IRTA Test and subsequent private Aragon test to improve the acceleration and the stability of his bike.

Go behind the scenes of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup with Ride the Future video

Saturday 14 June and Sunday 15 June 2014 saw the third and fourth races of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup take place at Zhuhai International Circuit in Zhuhai, China. The 22 young Asian riders were put through their paces during this weekend as they were faced with their first double race event of the season.

Episode Three (8mins58secs) goes behind the scenes with local rider Yuanhang Chen showing how he prepares before a race and how he handles the pressure and expectations of racing in front of his home crowd, as he turns his potential into performance. The episode also takes a closer look at the Norrodin brothers, and how the young Malaysian siblings cope with competing against each other in the Shell Cup.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi put in a stunning ride this afternoon to secure second on the podium in the GP Monster Energy de Catalunya.

Teammate Jorge Lorenzo threatened briefly in the early race laps before settling into fourth position, which he held to the line.

The Doctor started his Catalunya attack well, shooting from fifth to third into turn one from the start and then almost immediately into second behind his teammate Lorenzo. With 22 laps to go he made a decisive move for the lead and began a run at the front that was only broken towards the end of the race.

With seven laps remaining he was passed by both Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa in turns one and two, the two riders then almost immediately sitting up and raising hands for a yellow flag. Rossi took advantage of this and passed the two for the lead, holding it for a lap before Marquez passed again on turn two. With four laps remaining Pedrosa also made the move, dropping Rossi to third until the final lap. As the last corners came, Pedrosa made contact with Marquez, running wide and allowing Rossi back through to claim second on the podium, just 0.5 seconds behind Marquez.

After an incredible showdown in Mugello in front of Valentino Rossi’s home crowd, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP now return to Spain for this Sunday’s Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya to battle in front of Jorge Lorenzo’s local fans.

Both Rossi and Lorenzo will aim to continue their stunning form from Mugello at the Catalunya circuit, a track both riders are fond of. Rossi brings his current front running pace to a circuit that has seen him record no less than six Grand Prix victories in the premier class.

Teammate Lorenzo has been focusing further on improving his physical condition and maximising the Yamaha YZR-M1’s potential with the aim to make this race in Montmeló his third consecutive Catalunya Grand Prix victory in a row, something only Rossi has achieved.

The Cataluyna circuit is known as one of the most atmospheric races on the calendar, drawing record crowds. The track opened in 1991 and has hosted the Catalunya Moto Grand Prix since 1995. One of the most memorable races witnessed at the track remains the famous battle between Lorenzo and Rossi in 2009.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo made a stunning return to form today, taking second place in the Gran Premio d’Italia after an epic battle with rival Marc Marquez.

Teammate Valentino Rossi made good on a challenging 10th position grid start to take a well deserved third place podium finish for his 300th Grand Prix appearance.

The drama started before the first corner for Lorenzo as the riders bunched over the crest off the start line. He was quick to recover and fought his way through the first turn to close down and pass Andrea Iannone for the lead.

Having secured the front Lorenzo then proved he was back on form, delivering lap after lap of perfect lines with Marquez in pursuit. Even with less than 0.3 of a second between them it wasn’t until the last seven laps that Marquez was able to make a move. An incredible Spanish duel then began with the two trading places numerous times, Lorenzo always able to answer any attack from Marquez with a response of his own. The two took it to the wire, Marquez entering the last straight slightly ahead and able to hold it to the line, leaving Jorge in second, just 0.121seconds behind.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi has taken his second consecutive second place finish in the 2014 MotoGP Championship at the Le Mans circuit in France for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France.

The Doctor enjoyed one of the most exciting races of the season so far having fought from his fifth place grid position start to lead the race in the early laps. Quickly into third position, Rossi was then able to hunt down and out-manoeuvre rivals Stefan Bradl and then race leader Andrea Dovizioso to take the lead with 25 laps remaining. The nine-time world champion rode to the limit and had increased the lead to nearly a second before chasing rider Marc Marquez began to close in. With 16 laps to go Rossi ran wide into the last chicane, allowing Marquez past. He tucked in behind and was able to keep a gap to third place to the line, taking his third podium finish of the year with second place.

Teammate Jorge Lorenzo endured a tough Le Mans race. Starting from sixth on the grid, he was firmly placed in the hectic mid-pack for the opening lap in seventh position. The double premier class world champion was able to make passes on first Alvaro Bautista and then fellow Yamaha rider Bradley Smith to secure fifth position with 24 laps to run. He then spent some laps switching between fifth and sixth as he was first passed by Marquez, then recovered ground by Dovizioso before allowing Bautista back past again. A fifth place looked possible as he passed Bradl with 13 laps remaining but it was not to be as Dani Pedrosa was able to make a move four laps later, relegating him to sixth at the line.

After a short rest from the grueling early season schedule, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP now heads to France for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France at the historic Le Mans circuit this Sunday.

Both Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo will be keen to put last year’s difficult race behind them and return to more familiar winning ways at the classic French track.

Traditionally the French GP delivers good results for both with Rossi claiming three premier class victories and one 125cc GP win and Lorenzo claiming three premier class wins and one 250cc GP victory.

Rossi will be looking to make best use of the new chassis for the hard braking areas whilst Lorenzo will be focused on a set up that allows him to keep as much corner speed as possible on the tight chicanes and hairpins between the short straights.

Monster Yamaha Tech3 riders Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro are aiming to fly high this weekend at the team's hugely anticipated home race for round 5 of the 2014 MotoGP World Championship.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi put in a stunning effort today to take the second step on the podium for the Gran Premio de España at the Jerez circuit in Southern Spain. A record crowd of 117,000 people were present to witness the Doctor’s fight for his second podium honours of the season in extremely hot conditions with track temperatures reaching 50 degrees.

Starting from fourth on the grid the nine-time world champion had jumped to third by the first corner and second swiftly after as he chased down race leader Marc Marquez. Two laps of tense drama then followed with the two rivals swapping leads as they pushed each other to the limits. Marquez emerged the front-runner as the race settled with Rossi following close behind. The Italian was unable to match the race leader’s pace but was able to stay ahead of the chasing riders. As the last laps ran down Dani Pedrosa closed in to challenge for second but with the gap dropping to just two tenths of a second Rossi held on for a well deserved second place.

Teammate Jorge Lorenzo’s 200th Grand Prix race had a less than perfect start as he dropped from second to fifth off the line. The local hero was quick to recover, taking two positions to slot into third behind Rossi and join the drama filled opening laps. With 16 laps to go Lorenzo was still able to maintain a half second gap to his teammate in front however the distance began to slowly increase as his grip levels began to drop dramatically. With six laps remaining he could no longer hold off following rider Pedrosa, dropping to a lonely fourth place that was his to the line, nearly 20 seconds ahead of Andrea Dovizioso in fifth.