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MotoGP Preview of the Andalusian GP – Is Marc Marquez Making a Heroic Return or a Massive Mistake?

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On Thursday, June 27th, 2013, Jorge Lorenzo took a flying lap around a soaking wet Assen during FP2, and hit a patch of water at Hoge Heide, the blisteringly fast right-left flick before the Ramshoek and the GT chicane.

The Spaniard hit the ground hard, breaking his left collarbone. Trailing Dani Pedrosa in the championship by 7 points, Lorenzo decided to fly back to Barcelona for surgery.

Lorenzo flew to Barcelona on Thursday night, had his collarbone plated in the Dexeus Institut that night, and spent Friday morning recovering. Friday evening, Lorenzo was on a plane again, on his way back to Assen, and contemplating riding.

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MotoGP

Arm Surgery Successful for Marquez – Crutchlow & Marquez Aiming for Czech GP Return

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It was a busy day at the Dexeus clinic in Barcelona, as both Marc Marquez and Cal Crutchlow went under the knife to fix injuries picked up at the opening round of the season at Jerez.

Marquez broke his right humerus in a fast crash at Turn 3 during the race, while Crutchlow fractured his left scaphoid in a crash during warm up. Surgery was successful for both riders, with no complications reported.

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MotoGP

Putting Together the Final Pieces of the 2021 MotoGP Rider Lineup

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It was a busy day for MotoGP rider announcements, this Monday. Three riders were confirmed in teams, with a fourth confirmed as leaving. The announcements were hardly a shock, but there was room for the odd raised eyebrow or two.

At Honda, there was the expected reshuffling to make room for Pol Espargaro in the Repsol Honda squad, the Spaniard offered a two-year deal alongside Marc Marquez. This bumped Alex Márquez down to the LCR Honda team, with a two-year contract as compensation.

Alex Márquez may have lost his ride in the factory team before a wheel has turned in the 2020 MotoGP season, but at least he is now assured of three seasons in the premier class to prove himself.

If there was a surprise in the announcements, it was that Cal Crutchlow was being released to make room for Alex Márquez.

The Englishman has been a valuable asset in the development of the Honda RC213V, his feedback highly rated, and he is a firm favorite in the LCR squad, bringing a lot of media exposure to the satellite team.

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MotoGP

Pol Espargaro to Repsol Honda; Alex Marquez Moves to LCR Honda; And Crutchlow to…Aprilia?

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As the MotoGP Championship gears up for its first race of the 2020 season this coming weekend, we get a bevy of announcements from Jerez, Spain.

The first item is that Franco Morbidelli will be continuing with the Petronas Yamaha squad, signing a two-year contract with the satellite Yamaha team. This surprised no one.

More surprising was the silence about the future of Valentino Rossi, as the Italian is expected to announce his move to the Petronas Yamaha garage this week. However, The Doctor may have held his tongue because of the news that was coming from the Honda contingency.

Confirming the paddock rumors, HRC announced that it had signed Pol Espargaro to the Repsol Honda squad on a two-year deal, thus displacing Alex Marquez from the factory-backed team before the Spaniard had turned a single racing wheel with the Japanese manufacturer.

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Podcast

Paddock Pass Podcast #148 – Silly Season Starts

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Episode 148 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one dives into the rapidly evolving silly season in the MotoGP paddock.

As such, this episode sees David Emmett, Steve English, and Neil Morrison on the microphones, sharing their news and perspectives on what is going on inside grand prix racing.

At the core of the show is the rumor that Pol Espargaro will be headed to the Repsol Honda garage for the 2021 season, replacing Alex Marquez in the factory team.

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MotoGP

Why HRC Signing Pol Espargaro Could Cause Marc Marquez to the Leave Repsol Honda Team

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The rumors had been doing the rounds for some time, but last night, things came to a head. Multiple media outlets were reporting that Pol Espargaro has signed a deal to ride for Repsol Honda in 2021.

The most interesting facet of this was that several outlets had independent sourcing, making this look highly credible. Information I have seen also confirms this.

Though an agreement seems to have been reached, there are still some hoops to jump through. Speaking to Spanish daily AS.com, Espargaro’s manager Homer Bosch said negotiations with Honda, KTM, and Ducati were still going on.

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Rumors

Is Honda About to Drop Alex Marquez for Pol Espargaro

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For the past 24 hours, the internet has been blowing up over multiple reports that HRC is about to drop Alex Marquez from its factory MotoGP team, and replace him with Pol Espargaro in the Repsol Honda squad.

The news has been covered by Sky Sport Italia, Autosport, Motorsport, and The Race, and those reports have led to an interesting rebuke (of sorts) on by HRC’s Alberto Puig on the MotoGP.com website.

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Dirt

Watch Toni Bou Show Us How to Do This Social Distancing Thing

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I am pretty sure that 26-time world champion (indoor and outdoor) Toni Bou is a Spanish god, walking around with us mere mortals, because the factory-Honda trials rider does things on a motorcycle that surely no actual human can perform.

In fact, I would go on to say that trials riding is perhaps the most impressive thing you can do on a motorcycle, and within that sport, Toni Bou is the undisputed Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T.).

Of course, with Europe on lockdown now because of the coronavirus, getting out and riding trials is a bit tougher to do, but Toni has improvised an easy way to train while he is stuck at home.

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