Honda

Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost says his Formula 1 team expects to make a “step in performance” from its closer ties with Red Bull in 2019. 

Honda F1 technical director Toyoharu Tanabe has his role tweaked ahead of providing power units to both Red Bull and Toro Rosso for 2019 with a chief engineer reporting to him from each team.

Andrea Dovizioso feels trying to accurately gauge Honda’s pace at the start of 2019 pre-season testing is impossible due to Marc Marquez and Cal Crutchlow returning from their respective operations while Jorge Lorenzo is out injured.

Cal Crutchlow says his ankle feels “better than expected” when riding his LCR Honda MotoGP bike but concedes when off it he feels “like I’ve been hit by a bus every morning”.

UPDATE: We can now see that the switch does indeed lower the rear of the bike for the race start...

Jorge Lorenzo says he won’t be 100% for his return at the final MotoGP pre-season test in Qatar while he is bracing for tough opening rounds in his Repsol Honda debut campaign.

Marc Marquez has conceded he didn’t think he would be fit enough to ride on the final day of the Sepang MotoGP test after suffering an inflammation to his recently-operated left shoulder.

  Marc Marquez says Honda is working on finding a balance between power and control with its new engine specification at the Sepang MotoGP test but concedes his progress is hampered by his shoulder recovery.

Cal Crutchlow has likened his task at the first MotoGP test of 2019 to “learning to ride again” after the Englishman climbed aboard a motorcycle for the first time since his terrifying first corner fall at Phillip Island 104 days ago.

- Valentino Rossi responds to Yamaha teammate Maverick Vinales’ joke about beating him by saying he hopes to be fighting for the title with the Spaniard come the season-ending showdown in Valencia ( Marca

Marc Marquez’s physiotherapist says “orders” were made to have all of his bikes dismantled so he didn’t get tempted to ride during his shoulder surgery recovery period.

Marc Marquez has thrown his leg over a motorcycle for the first time for almost two months since his left shoulder surgery but says he’s still feeling “problematic” pain after riding a mini bike.

World Superbike technical director Scott Smart has his say on the Jonathan Rea factor, the pros and cons of the shaken-up race weekend format and the changes at Honda.

Having stepped into Honda’s factory team during the 'reign' of his country’s inaugural 500cc world champion Wayne Gardner, five-time world champion Mick Doohan knows a thing or two about competing alongside – not to mention beating and outlasting - a heavyweight team-mate.

Renault remains optimistic the 2019 Formula 1 regulation tweaks could provide it an opportunity to shake-up the pecking order despite the sizeable gap it needs to bridge this winter.

Valentino Rossi’s ranch has inspired Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah to create his own ranch near Barcelona ( Marca )

David Johnson will partner Ian Hutchinson to form the Honda Racing rider line-up for the 2019 International Road Racing season.

Toro Rosso has stolen a march on its Formula 1 rivals by announcing its STR14 car launch date for February 11 th which means the team will be the first to reveal its 2019 challenger.

Unofficial times from day two of the Jerez World Superbike test

Moriwaki-Althea Honda are not in testing action at Jerez. BMW WorldSBK Team only used transponders for the final hour of track action. 1. Stefan Bradl GER HRC MotoGP Test Team 1m 39.152s 60 laps*

Jorge Lorenzo is hopeful of being close to full fitness by the time the 2019 MotoGP season rolls around on March 10th after a “very stupid” training crash fractured his left scaphoid and threw his preseason plans up in the air.

Ahead of his first MotoGP outing of 2019 Marc Marquez has admitted the recent surgery performed on an injured left shoulder was “more complicated than expected” and revealed doctors’ prognosis of a recovery time is as long as four months.

Dani Pedrosa says he was turned down for the Honda test rider role due to his size compared to the rest of its MotoGP riders ( Marca )

HRC director Tetsuhiro Kuwata sees new signing Jorge Lorenzo as a ‘true champion’ for taking on the challenge by joining Repsol Honda but doesn’t expect working processes within the team to alter at the reigning MotoGP world champions.