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Mission Winnow Ducati has signed Danilo Petrucci for the 2020 MotoGP World Championship following a strong opening half to his maiden season with the factory outfit.

Petrucci made his debut this year with the squad after four seasons onboard the Ducati fielded by the Pramac Racing team and has immediately shown great form with three podiums, including a fantastic win at Mugello in front of a home crowd.

The Italian currently sits in third position in the world championship, eight points behind his teammate Dovizioso. The two Ducati Team riders have been the most competitive pair on track this season so far and lead the Team rankings with 224 points scored in total.

“I’m very happy to continue with Ducati for another year,” said Petrucci. “It was my goal ever since the beginning of this new chapter, because we immediately found great chemistry with the team. In this first half of the season we were able to progressively increase our competitiveness, taking two podiums and an unforgettable win.

“To renew our collaboration before the summer break makes me even more serene and confident about the future. Now I simply want to stay focused and continue to improve as a rider to achieve even better results on track. We’re third in the Championship, and we want to finish the season within the top three.”

Australian Jack Miller, who was previously linked to the seat, is understood to be signing on with Pramac Racing for 2020 aboard a Desmosedici GP20.

Multi-world champion Valentino Rossi has declared it’s currently ‘not a positive time’ after scoring his third consecutive DNF last weekend in Assen, although successive rounds in the championship have injected promise into the class veteran as the German grand prix looms this weekend.

The Italian fan-favourite has experienced a challenging campaign in the first eight rounds, and he’s eager to confirm his new-found settings that were unable to be put to complete use in The Netherlands.

“This is not a positive time for us,” Rossi admitted. “The end to the race in Assen was a real shame because I felt good after the warm-up, I was fast but instead ended up with another zero.

“The good thing is that now we go straight to the Sachsenring and we can immediately work on another GP weekend. It will be important to understand if the changes made for last Sunday’s race will also be positive at the Sachsenring this weekend. We will try to be competitive right from the start on Friday.”

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rider is currently fifth in the championship standings.

DesmoSport Ducati’s Mike Jones is confident he’s in the ‘best position to win’ this weekend at Morgan Park as the Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) resumes from an extended break.

The former premier class champion, who signed on with the Ducati for the remainder of the season ahead of The Bend, has been ultra consistent throughout the first three rounds, however an overall victory this year has so far eluded him.

Serving as somewhat of a ‘home track’ for not only himself and the DesmoSport team, Jones is adamant a positive test at the venue has positioned him strongly for this weekend’s two encounters.

“I really like racing at Morgan Park,” Jones stated. “We tested here recently with really positive results and it feels like we’re in a great position for this weekends racing. I’ve done a lot of laps here over the years, so I’m confident of a strong result and I love racing the Panigale FE.

“I’m constantly working on adapting my style as Ben and Paul work on improving the bike to find the best overall result and it’s paying off. Add to that having Troy Bayliss in the pit, and on the track in testing for even more feedback, I honestly believe we’re in the best position to win this weekend.”

The Queensland is ranked third in the championship standings, 10 points shy of points leader Bryan Staring (Kawasaki BCperformance).

Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista admits he was over confident throughout his last two appearances, resulting in a number of mistakes that saw his significant points lead slashed to just 16 in the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK).

The Spaniard, who went undefeated in the first four rounds aboard the all-new Panigale V4 R, has continued to win and score podiums, however a string of crashes have unravelled what was once a healthy advantage in the rankings.

“I have to learn from my mistakes of the last two rounds, because I think I was a bit over confident – now we just have to concentrate on the next round,” Bautista commented. “Donington Park is a track that I know quite well, but I’ve only raced there on smaller category bikes and never in MotoGP.

“The next two rounds at Donington, and immediately after at Laguna Seca, should be a bit different and interesting for us because they take place on two tracks where we don’t have any data with the Panigale V4 R. In any case our performance is quite high, so we’ll see if we can achieve the same level reached so far this season.”

The WorldSBK heads to Donington Park in Great Britain this weekend for round eight of the championship.

The inaugural FIM Enel MotoE World Cup will launch into action this weekend at the Sachsenring in Germany alongside round nine of the MotoGP World Championship.

After an incredible amount of hard work and dedication from all partners involved following the devastating fires in March, the electric-powered series is primed to commence with an 18-rider grid.

The Sachsenring hosts the history-making weekend – a tight and twisty track that should be a stunning venue for MotoE’s debut – with the machines having shown some impressive corner speed during testing.

In the race simulation in Valencia, it was Brazilian Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) who took victory, beating the man who’d taken the first E-Pole – Hector Garzo (Tech 3 E-Racing) – to the flag.

Finnish rider Niki Tuuli (Ajo MotoE) completed the podium, and all three have been consistently near the top of the timesheets in each testing. The fastest man overall in the Valencia test, however, was Bradley Smith (One Energy Racing), and he didn’t race. He was on MotoGP test duty in Barcelona as the simulation took place, so he’ll be one to watch when the lights go out.

Australian Josh Hook, piloting a Pramac Racing prepared Energica Ego Corsa MotoE, will be amongst the talented field as they chase the first-ever title in the division. Free practice kicks off on Friday, followed by E-Pole on Saturday and the first-ever race on Sunday.

HRC test rider Stefan Bradl has been called into Repsol Honda as Jorge Lorenzo’s replacement for round nine of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship at the Sachsenring in Germany this weekend.

Lorenzo crashed heavily during the opening practice session at Assen last weekend, resulting a fractured T6 and T8 vertebrae while forcing him out a minimum of two grand prix.

“I’m very excited to join the Repsol Honda team in Germany,” said Bradl. “It’s a special race for me as my home race, obviously I am very sorry for Lorenzo and I wish him the fastest recovery possible and to come back strong.

“I am glad to be able to help the team and HRC, let’s see what this weekend brings. We have been working well with Honda and I am grateful to them for this opportunity.”

Bradl will join reigning champion and points leader Marc Marquez for his second appearance of 2019 after finishing P10 in Jerez, with the German having two top-five finishes to his name at the Sachsenring while riding a Honda in 2012 and 2013.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Johann Zarco surprisingly withdrew from the Dutch grand prix last weekend just 10 laps into the encounter, the Frenchman ultimately succumbing to severe arm-pump.

Zarco anticipated the Assen circuit to be demanding on his forearms, and despite his best efforts to manage it, he experienced a loss of feeling with the bike, prompting him to pull in for his own safety.

“It is a hard track for all the riders I think and I got this problem, which I was able to control the last two years and this year not,” Zarco explained. “The good thing was the first 10 laps and to be able to catch the others with pace and be able to overtake as a racer.

“We are working a lot and changing the bike a lot to give me this feeling or possibilities to improve. After 10 laps I did a few mistakes. I had the feeling I was not holding the bike any more and before something bad happened I had to stop.”

In what has been a challenging year, Zarco is positioned 17th in the championship rankings with 16 points to his name as the MotoGP series heads to the Sachsenring in Germany.

Australian fan-favourite Jack Miller has expressed frustration following a difficult outing at the Dutch GP, explaining the Michelin tyre offering has limited his performance over the last two rounds.

The Pramac Racing ace piloted his Ducati Desmosedici GP19 to P9 after starting from the fourth row, where he was unable to utilise Michelin’s soft option on the rear, and instead, was forced to be equipped with the hard offering and settle into a ‘steady’ race pace.

“10 seconds between Petrucci and myself is not good enough – I’m not happy with that,” Miller told Crash.net. “But I didn’t feel comfortable. We needed some points today – I managed to do that – I never lost a position over the race so I’ll take it.

“I’m not happy at all. I made my thoughts clear to the guys in blue and to other people, just to see what’s actually going on here because it’s two races in a row that we can’t use the soft at all – no way.

“Three laps and the thing’s done – well, the tyre life’s there and the weight’s there. In theory you can make the race distance. But your race pace is going to be all over the place. So it’s go with the stable, steady hard option.”

“You’re going that slow into the corner that when you come out in third gear it’s almost too long. It doesn’t want to pull it. You’re already feeling it coming around on you. You feel it and think, ‘That’s me – that’s all I got.’ So it’s frustration for the whole race. You’re riding to a number, to a lap-time. That’s all you can do.”

The Queenslander is currently ranked eighth in the championship standings as the series heads to the Sachsenring in Germany this weekend.

Australian Josh Brookes admits he struggled to make things click at Knockhill’s fifth round of the 2019 Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB), however he was able to salvage valuable points to retain third in the series rankings.

The Be Wiser Ducati rider started the weekend strongly in the opening practice sessions, however a P15 qualifying result followed by an 8-4 scorecard ultimately left the former champion dissatisfied with the weekend’s efforts.

“To be honest, I’m glad to be leaving Knockhill as it hasn’t been a great weekend and I’m disappointed for the whole team as everyone’s been working hard and putting in as much effort as always,” Brookes explained.

“It just hasn’t clicked for me this weekend and although it started well on Friday, it came to a halt after that and we never really progressed with our pace stuck at that level. The weather made it tough although it was the same for everyone, but we made some small improvements for the second race and salvaged a half decent result with fourth.

“I wish we were going to Snetterton straightaway to clear my head but it’s been a good circuit to me in the past and I’m confident the Be Wiser Ducati will work well there so I’ll be looking to bounce back strongly and get back to the front.”

The British Superbike Championship now heads to Snetterton on 19-21 July for round six of the 12-stop series.

Starting from the front row, a regretful mistake in the opening laps of Sunday’s MotoGP encounter at Assen saw Alex Rins’ hopes of a promising result come crashing down.

The Team Suzuki Ecstar rider braked heavily into turn nine with 24 laps still to go, losing the front end to ultimately rule him out of the eighth round in the MotoGP World Championship.

“I did a really good start, and I was riding with a lot of confidence,” Rins commented. “But then, on the exit of turn eight, the front came up a little bit more than usual and then I braked really hard getting into turn nine and I lost the front immediately.

“It was a real shame because I was doing well, with a good rhythm and good pace. I’m sure I would have stayed with the front riders. The good news is that I’ll be back on the bike in less than a week, at Sachsenring, and I’m really excited.”

The Spaniard is ranked fourth in the championship standings as the series heads to the Sachsenring this weekend in Germany.