Suzuki's strong pre-season form and pace leading up to the Qatar Grand Prix set unrealistic hopes for the MotoGP season opener, Maverick Vinales admits.Starting his second season in the premier class, and year two of Suzuki's return, Vinales topped two days of pre-season testing and then qualified on the front...

Suzuki will evaluate the second, fully-seamless version of its gearbox during Qatar Grand Prix practice, before making a call on whether it makes its MotoGP race debut this weekend.The Japanese manufacturer's off-season work has included joining the other factories in using a seamless gearbox, the absence of which was one...

Maverick Vinales says he must "keep his feet on the ground" about Suzuki's MotoGP prospects in 2016, despite setting the fastest time of the Phillip Island test.The Spaniard topped Thursday's second day of running and his 1m29.131s was not beaten on Friday, when Vinales was second to Marc Marquez.During his...

The Suzuki MotoGP team ran a seamless gearbox in its GSX-RR for the first time during this week's private test at Sepang.The Japanese manufacturer completed two days of running at the home of the Malaysian Grand Prix, with Maverick Vinales joined by test riders Takuya Tsuda and Nobuatsu Aoki.Aleix Espargaro...

Bradley Smith believes the first front row start of his MotoGP career proves Yamaha's 2014 tire woes have been overplayed.Two-time champion and Factory rider Jorge Lorenzo grew increasingly despondent and outspoken about this year's revised Bridgestone compounds during the pre-season, claiming that they put Yamaha at a distinct disadvantage to...

Jorge Lorenzo admits he occasionally felt helpless competing against Honda and rookie Marc Marquez during his title-defending 2013 MotoGP campaign.The Yamaha rider said his collarbone injuries, coupled with Honda's superiority in previous races, meant victory was a lost cause even when he was riding at his best.And while that situation...

Marc Marquez is confident Honda will benefit from improvements found in MotoGP testing at Misano as it bids to counter Jorge Lorenzo and Yamaha's recent resurgence.In addition to Lorenzo's back-to-back wins in the UK and Italy, Yamaha has been buoyed by the successful introduction of its seamless gearbox, which helped...

Marc Marquez insists Yamaha's seamless gearbox will not be a significant game-changer in the 2013 MotoGP title race despite the dominant nature of Jorge Lorenzo's victory at Misano.The rookie championship leader said his own mistakes, coupled with Lorenzo's excellent early pace, had allowed the Yamaha to escape. While he conceded...

Valentino Rossi says the seamless gearbox Yamaha introduced for this weekend's MotoGP race at Misano is a 'fantastic' development.The technology was seen by both Rossi and teammate Jorge Lorenzo as a key upgrade in order for Yamaha to close its current gap to the works Hondas.After Yamaha confirmed it would...

Yamaha will run its long-awaited seamless gearbox in this weekend's MotoGP race at Misano.Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi have made repeated calls for Yamaha to incorporate the technology in order to close the current gap to Honda, which introduced a seamless gearbox earlier this year.While Yamaha has previously tried the...