If Marc Marquez wins his eighth premier class title in Portimão, he will draw level with Giacomo Agostini. Jorge Lorenzo sees him as the best rider of the modern era, Ducati calls Qatar a key race, and Valentino Rossi gets people talking with a fresh dig.
Marc Marquez has revealed his heart rate after the Qatar Grand Prix: for almost half an hour he rode in the highest exertion zone, ending at 190 beats per minute. While the MotoGP leader pushed himself to his limits, Maverick Viñales is openly questioning his career after the weekend in Lusail.
At EICMA 2026, Kove presented the European version of the 650RR, a supersport bike with a newly developed 645 cc four-cylinder engine. The first bikes are to be delivered in the second half of 2027, one year after the market launch in China.
With the Fang 01, Indian electric motorcycle maker Ultraviolette is showing a helmet that looks more like science-fiction armour than a classic full-face helmet. The concept is one of three helmet studies, and whether any of them will go into production is still open.
In the riders’ championship Marc Marquez can hardly be stopped any more, but the MotoGP manufacturers’ standings are still wide open. After the Qatar Grand Prix, Aprilia is just eight points behind Ducati, with a budget considered the smallest of all five factories.
Decisions on new closures and restrictions for motorcycles are usually made once the season is over. On the B500, near Oberhof and at the Sudelfeld, such decisions are due in the coming weeks.
In the Außerfern region, further roads could soon be closed to motorcycles with a stationary noise level above 95 decibels, as the Tyrolean state parliament reviews an extension of the ban. Ironically, the justification is motorcycles that are avoiding the existing closures.
Italy has issued new rules for underride protection on crash barriers, which is meant to protect fallen motorcyclists from posts and edges. A single serious accident can trigger an obligation, but designers and road operators may opt out with a justification.
