Britain's Scott Redding has revealed he didn't go back to Moto2 after his MotoGP exit as he would have had to pay for a ride. The former Honda, Ducati and Aprilia man believes it is insane that riders are taking money to the grand prix paddock and said he refused.

“For people to even get into racing now - how many people are paying to ride? This is world championship racing. Regardless if it's Moto3, Moto2, MotoGP. It's why I didn't go to Moto2. I will never ride for free, because it's my job, and I definitely ain't going to pay.

“And I ain't going to pay two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand, to ride, for a season or two seasons. It's ludicrous, it's insane. But there's someone that will come along and do it.”

He also managed to tear some ligaments in his ankle while out training on his crosser:

Former WorldSBK king Carl Fogarty believes Jonathan Rea didn't make the most of his two chances in MotoGP seven years ago. Fogarty said Rea rode sensibly but didn't set the world on fire. Probably, Foggy, because Nakamoto-san had told him not to crash, so what other choice did he have?

Mick Doohan is very enamoured with Marc Marquez. The former 500cc king believes Marquez would still win if he switched to another manufacturer because it's more about the rider than the bike. "I think there were seven Hondas on the grid at one point in my era because everyone said they needed a Honda, but there was still only one winner," said the Australian.

Johann Zarco says he is bolstered by Jorge Lorenzo's Ducati performance and gives him heart when he looks at the laptimes managed so far on the works KTM. Zarco has so far struggled with the RC16 but still very much believes the pace is there.

"We must remember when Lorenzo went on the Ducati, it took a long time to adapt, and when you saw him win, it looks like he was winning like he was on the Yamaha, not a big difference compared to Yamaha. It means working on the bike to give the feeling to the rider is the main key," he sobbed.

KTM chief Mike Leitner reckons the inclusion of Dani Pedrosa in the test team will lift the whole operation despite being the same height as a Jawa and weighing eight stone wet through. "One thing is absolutely clear: especially with his size and especially with his weight he had to work very precisely to be competitive against others. This is actually, for me, a very positive sign for a test rider," said Leitner.

“When I worked with him history showed me many times that, let’s say, those stronger, or taller or heavier riders took over bikes from him, and were always immediately fast."