Marc Marquez wins Spanish MotoGP

Marquez takes Aragon ahead of Lorenzo and Rossi

The Honda ace is now further ahead in the world title fight

Marc Marquez has ended MotoGP's amazing sequence of producing eight different race winners in a row, to take victory in the Aragon MotoGP.

Some Marquez magic was required in the early going after the Repsol Honda star dealt with a huge moment when he almost dropped his bike on lap three while trying to run away from the field. He slipped down to fifth before fighting his way back to the front, overtaking Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi with 12 laps remaining.

It was Marquez’s fourth win of 2016.

As the laps ran down, team-mates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo battled over second place, which ultimately went in Lorenzo's favour when the Italian ran wide after making a pass with two laps to go.

Suzuki’s Maverick Vinales led in the early stages before placing fourth.

With four races remaining, Marquez has now moved 52 points clear of Rossi in the title race. “It was an important victory, but nothing is finished yet. I said yesterday that something can always happen in a race, and it was a miracle that I didn’t crash today when I almost lost it in turn 7. That was when I decided to relax a little and go back to my mentality from practice of riding precisely and braking in the right places. All this made for a more entertaining race, with many overtaking moves at the start, and a second part in which I was able to open a gap to Valentino, which was important. He had gone several races gaining points on us, and we wanted to stop that trend, because otherwise it would boost his morale and perhaps create doubts for us.”

The Ducati camp had a shocker at Aragon, the best of the Italian bikes being that of Andrea Dovizioso in 11th.

The first world champion of 2016 was crowned at Aragon when topping a brilliantly impressive campaign this season, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) moved out of points reach in the Moto3 championship after a fighting second to Jorge Navarro, the South African being the first from that country to win a grand prix world crown in any class since Jon Ekerold won the 350cc title in 1980.

In Moto2, Britain’s Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) took a stunning win, converting pole position into a dominant Sunday performance. Alex Marquez and Marc VDS teammate Franco Morbidelli filled the minors.

Aussie Jason Doyle charges to speedway title lead

Doyle and Holder score Down Under one-two in Sweden

Aussie ace Jason Doyle is the first to admit that at the start of 2016 no-one gave him much of a chance of winning the FIM Speedway World Championship. He was a gritty yet unfashionable rider amongst a field of stars.

But after heading home a huge Aussie one-two at the Swedish round in Stockholm on Saturday – amazingly his third grand prix win in a row - the Newcastle-born racer has charged to the lead in the world championship.

Doyle has surged to a five-point advantage in the GP series after leading home NSW’s Chris Holder, a former world champion.

“I still have a long way to go, but to win three GPs in a row is unbelievable,” said Doyle, whose modest ways contrast with his serious on-track aggression.

Just two rounds remain including the finale in Melbourne, and Doyle is in blistering form. The best form of his life.

He is intent on continuing to silence his doubters all the way to the title decider at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium, where he’ll have a huge home crowd urging him on, hopefully, to the title.

“Anything is possible,” Doyle told the official GP website. “I had no pressure on myself when I first came into the world championship. Going into this year, no-one was giving me the opportunity to become world champion. It might happen and it might not. But right now, the dream is still alive.”

Next weekend’s penultimate round in Torun, Poland, will be crucial for Doyle with wily American superstar Greg Hancock just five points back and stung by his recent slump.

The final at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium is set for October 22. By rights, the joint should be packed.

Early V8 Supercars join Muscle Car Masters

Brock VP heads the early 1990s V8s at SMP

Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore V8s from the early 1990s era of the two-make 5.0-litre touring car and V8 Supercar competition are now considered old enough to be part of the wildly popular Muscle Car Masters show held annually at Sydney Motorsport Park, and this year set for October 29-30.

Some historically significant cars from the era will take to the circuit in a range of spirited demonstrations, among them and maybe the most interesting of all being the 1993 Mobil 1 Racing Commodore VP formerly driven by Peter Brock.

Other machines set to tweak old memories of a couple of decades ago include cars built and raced by Perkins Engineering, Glenn Seton Racing, Tony Longhurst Racing and John Faulkner Racing – in all around 20 cars are expected to be on track.

Former ‘Castrol Cougar’ Melinda Price is due to drive an ex-John Briggs Supercheap Auto Falcon while Glenn Seton’s 1997 Australian Touring Car Championship-winning Ford Credit Falcon EL is also due on-track in the hands of owner Noel Willoughby.

Further cars competing in the Australian 5.0-Litre Touring Car Association sessions will be revealed closer to the event date, including a few recently restored machines that have not been seen publicly for some years.

The 2016 Muscle Car Masters will feature an all-star racing line-up of Historic Group A and C Touring Cars in the Heritage Touring Cars class, Australian Trans-Am, Group N Historic Touring Cars and Group S as well as a new Sports Racing Car Invitational demo category featuring ‘big banger’ sports cars, sports sedans and Can-Am machines.