Peter McLaren

Peter McLaren's picture

Peter McLaren

MotoGP Editor

Peter has worked for Crash.net for almost 20-years, helping set up the website’s two-wheel coverage during the gap year of an Automotive (Mechanical) Engineering degree, then re-joining the company following the completion of his studies.

During his time covering MotoGP, Peter has seen 500cc two-strokes morph into 990cc, 800cc and now 1000cc four-strokes, followed the entire premier-class careers of Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo and watched the current generation of world champions Marc Marquez, Joan Mir and Fabio Quartararo emerge.

Peter’s academic background means he is particularly interested in the technical side of the sport, interviewing MotoGP’s engineering masterminds from Yamaha’s Masao Furusawa to Ducati’s Gigi Dall’Igna,

A chat with test rider Michele Pirro at the 2017 Sepang Shakedown test saw the term ‘salad box’ enter the MotoGP vocabulary while aerodynamics, electronics, ride height and holeshot devices are among the other technical topics to have captured Peter’s interest.

Memorable trackside moments include following the twists and turns of a thrilling but controversial 2015 season between Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo around the globe, plus Casey Stoner’s return to a Ducati MotoGP bike as a test rider and interviewing Nicky Hayden minutes after his final race win, in the WorldSBK class.

Standing on the inside of Stoner corner at Phillip Island, along the fearsome home straight at Mugello and Turn 3 at Sepang rank as Peter’s top MotoGP viewing picks, while a pillion ride around Silverstone with Neil Hodgson gave a first-hand insight into the extraordinary talents of world championship riders.

Peter’s own two-wheel adventures started with local BMX racing from the age of 5. Motocross and enduro bikes followed and, despite a terrible sense of direction, holiday time is often spent riding through the jungles of SE Asia.

Articles by Peter McLaren
MotoGP

By the MotoGP summer break, Franco Morbidelli was still within just seven points of Monster Yamaha team-mate Fabio Quartararo.

MotoGP

Among the last pieces of advice Marc Marquez gave to Honda before departing for Gresini Ducati was the need to increase engine performance if the RC213V is to fight for a MotoGP title again.

MotoGP

While Pol Espargaro isn’t ruling out a full-time MotoGP return in the future, he acknowledged that ‘one chapter is closing’ in his racing career.

MotoGP

Jorge Martin feels consecutive setbacks in Indonesia and Australia probably cost him the MotoGP World Championship to Francesco Bagnaia.

MotoGP

Fabio di Giannantonio began the Valencia season finale with a debut MotoGP victory under his belt from Qatar but still didn’t know if he had a job for 2024.

MotoGP

Enea Bastianini posted one of the surprises of the MotoGP season when, having failed to break the top six all year, he romped to victory in the Malaysian MotoGP.

Moto2

Sam Lowes closed a ten-year chapter in grand prix racing at Valencia.

MotoGP

Aleix Espargaro might be the oldest rider on the MotoGP grid and has never hidden his opposition to the ever-increasing calendar, but that doesn’t mean he intends to bow out at the end of 2024.

MotoGP

It’s not what the likes of Marc Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi will want to hear, but Gigi Dall’Igna predicts a bigger difference between the factory and year-old Ducatis for the 2024 MotoGP season.

MotoGP

Alex Marquez claimed he already knew what older brother Marc Marquez would say after his Ducati MotoGP debut.

MotoGP

The following tables show a breakdown of the official MotoGP spectator numbers for 2023 vs 2022.

Moto3

To alleviate the log jam effect of raising the minimum grand prix age limits to 18, some exemptions have been widened for 2024.

MotoGP

Although Fabio Quartararo felt Yamaha delivered some ‘really positive’ aero updates at the Valencia MotoGP test, he warned ‘we are still very far from the top guys’.

MotoGP

The 2023 factory spec Ducati won 13 MotoGPs, 13 Sprints, and finished first and second in the world championship with Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin.

MotoGP

After spending six years at his brother Valentino Rossi's VR46 team, in Moto2 and then MotoGP, Luca Marini makes a fresh start as a Repsol Honda rider in 2024.

World Superbikes

Andrea Iannone’s four-year ban for an anti-doping violation has officially expired.

MotoGP

Miguel Oliveira was one of the first in a long line of riders to be linked to Marc Marquez’s vacant Repsol Honda MotoGP seat for the 2024 season.

MotoGP

As the saying goes, a good compromise is when the various parties are dissatisfied with something, and that’s roughly the case with the new MotoGP concessions ranking.

MotoGP

Casey Stoner has revealed that MotoGP negotiations with Yamaha collapsed on two occasions leaving him “lost” with “no ride whatsoever”.

Moto2

After two seasons in Moto2, Sean Dylan Kelly will return to MotoAmerica in 2024 and make his debut in the Superbike class.

World Superbikes

Alvaro Bautista, who won 27 of 36 races en route to his second World Superbike crown, expects to struggle more in 2024.

MotoGP

Ducati has unveiled its 'Christmas surprise': Five different limited edition Panigale racing replicas inspired by the liveries of its top five riders in this year's MotoGP, WorldSBK and WorldSSP championships.

MotoGP

Francesco Bagnaia’s ability to handle the pressure enabled him to overcome a 'faster' Jorge Martin in the second part of the MotoGP season.

MotoGP

Aerodynamics was an obvious area of development for KTM at the Valencia post-season MotoGP test, but Jack Miller revealed there was also plenty of work going on under the skin of the RC16.

MotoGP

Instantly quick on his debut with the 2023 Aprilia, Raul Fernandez - and Trackhouse team-mate Miguel Oliveira - might yet have 2024 machines for the Sepang MotoGP test.