world championship 2006 season review MotoGP is the pinnacle of racing competition. Sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme and run by Dorna, MotoGP pits the world’s best riders against each other on the best from the biggest manufacturers in the industry.

how does motogp work? There are seventeen races spread across the world in the MotoGP championship. Each race is a set number of laps per track (usually Jerez Losail Circuit Circuit Shanghai Circuit Le Mans de Catalunya Assen 03/26/06 - Jerez de la Frontera, 04/08/06 - Losail, 04/30/06 - Istanbul, 05/14/06 - Shanghai, 05/21/06 - Le Mans, 06/04/06 - Mugello, 06/18/06 - Barcelona, Spain 06/24/06 - Assen, the 20-30), with no pit-stops allowed. Teams consist of two riders winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts supported by a manufacturer (such as , ). Teams Capirossi 45m 57.733s 25 25 43m 22.229s 25 27 Melandri 41m 54.065 25 45 Pedrosa 44m 07.734s 25 57 Melandri 44m 57.369s 25 79 Rossi 42m 39.610s 25 65 Rossi 41m 31.237s 25 90 Hayden 42m 27.404s 25 144 Pedrosa 46m 2.108s 20 20 Hayden 43m 23.129s 20 36 Stoner 41m 54.265 20 41 Hayden 44m 09.239s 20 72 Capirossi 44m 59.298s 20 79 Capirossi 42m 40.185s 20 99 Hayden 41m 35.746s 20 119 Nakano 42m 32.288s 20 57 arrive at each circuit on Thursday, practice on Friday, qualify (by Hayden 46m 7.729s 16 16 Capirossi 43m 23.723s 16 41 Hayden 41m 59.523s 16 52 Edwards 44m 22.368s 16 35 Pedrosa 44m 59.638s 16 73 Hayden 42m 40.345s 16 99 Roberts Jr 41m 40.411s 16 44 Pedrosa 42m 34.929s 16 102 lap times) on Saturday, and race on Sunday. The winning rider is Elias 46m 7.868s 13 13 Gibernau 43m 26.867s 13 13 Rossi 42m 0.274s 13 40 Hopkins 44m 26.999s 13 20 Stoner 45m 02.863s 13 65 Pedrosa 42m 41.617s 13 86 Hopkins 41m 44.702s 13 40 Stoner 42m 34.959s 13 78 Melandri 46m 17.28s 11 11 Stoner 43m 29.804s 11 21 Elias 42m 0.652s 11 32 Stoner 44m 30795s 11 52 Hayden 45m 03.078s 11 83 Gibernau 42m 42.680s 11 44 Edwards 41m 53.785s 11 60 Roberts Jr 42m 35.482s 11 55 awarded twenty-five points, second place receives twenty, and : Capirossi 1m 41.248s fastest lap: Rossi 1m 57.305s record fastest lap: Elias 1m 52.877s record fastest lap: Pedrosa 1m 59.318s record fastest lap: Rossi 1m 35.087s fastest lap: Capirossi 1m 50.195s fastest lap: Hayden 1m 43.048s record fastest lap: Hayden 1m 37.106s so on. At the end of the season, the rider with the most points is record: Rossi 1m 40.596s prev. record: Hayden 1m 57.903s prev. record: Melandri 1m 53.111s prev. record: Barros 2m 13.716s record: n/a record: Biaggi 1m 50.117s prev. record: Rossi 1m 43.195s record: n/a crowned World Champion for that year. Championships are also top speed: Pedrosa 179.4 mph top speed: Pedrosa 205.2 mph top speed: Pedrosa 179.4 mph top speed: Tamada 213.6 mph top speed: Stoner 185.9 mph top speed: Stoner 207.5 mph top speed: Stoner 207.5 mph top speed: Pedrosa 188.2 mph awarded for the highest placing manufacturer and team. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Laguna Seca Automotodrom Brno Sepang Circuit Motegi Estoril Comunitat Valenciana 07/02/06 - Donington, Great Britain 07/16/06 - Sachsenring, 07/23/06 - Salinas, California; USA 08/20/06 - Brno, 09/10/06 - Sepang, 09/17/06 - Phillip Island, 09/24/06 - Motegi, 10/15/06 - Estoril, 10/29/06 - Valencia, Spain winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts winners time pts total pts Pedrosa 44m 54.878s 25 127 Rossi 41m 59.248s 25 143 Hayden 45m 04.867s 25 194 Capirossi 43m 40.145s 25 151 Rossi 43m 07.829s 25 25 Melandri 44m 15.621s 25 193 Capirossi 43m 13.585s 25 205 Elias 46m 08.739s 25 106 Bayliss 46m 55’415s 25 25 Rossi 44m 58.742s 20 118 Melandri 41m 59.393s 20 134 Pedrosa 45m 08.053s 20 160 Rossi 43m 45.047s 20 163 Capirossi 43m 08.678s 20 20 Vermeulen 44m 25.320s 20 86 Rossi 43m 18.673s 20 224 Rossi 46m 08.741s 20 244 Capirossi 46m 56’734s 20 229 Melandri 44m 58.894s 16 114 Hayden 41m 59.514s 16 169 Melandri 45m 15.796s 16 159 Pedrosa 43m 48.157s 16 176 Pedrosa 43m 11.692s 16 16 Rossi 44m 26.147s 16 204 Melandri 43m 21.963s 16 109 Roberts Jr 46m 08.915s 16 126 Hayden 47m 04.645s 16 252 Stoner 45m 00.654s 13 91 Pedrosa 41m 59.555s 13 140 Roberts Jr 45m 16.808s 13 79 Roberts Jr 43m 54.945s 13 92 Hayden 43m 13.609s 13 13 Gibernau 44m 26.236s 13 82 Gibernau 43m 23.297s 13 93 Edwards 46m 09.603s 13 117 Pedrosa 47m 07.480s 13 215 Roberts Jr 45m 04.474s 11 66 Capirossi 42m 08.012s 11 118 Vermeulen 45m 32.306s 11 57 Melandri 43m 55.170s 11 161 Gibernau 43m 17.130s 11 11 Hayden 44m 26.315s 11 225 Hayden 43m 25.529s 11 236 Tamada 46m 27.158s 11 92 Melandri 47m 11.721s 11 228

fastest lap: Pedrosa 1m 28.714s fastest lap: Pedrosa 1m 23.355s record fastest lap: Pedrosa 1m 23.168s record fastest lap: Capirossi 1m 58.157s record fastest lap: Capirossi 2m 02.127s record fastest lap: Rossi 1m 30.917s fastest lap: Rossi 1m 47.288s record fastest lap: Roberts JR 1m 37.914s fastest lap: Capirossi 1m 32.924s record record: Gibernau 1m 23.705s prev. record: Gibernau 1m 23.705s prev. record: Edwards 1m 23.915s prev. record: Rossi 1m 58.787s prev. record: Hayden 2m 02.993s record: Melandri 1m 30.332s prev. record: Capirossi 1m 47.968s record: n/a prev. record: Melandri 1m 33.0433s top speed: Pedrosa 173.7 mph top speed: Stoner 177.2 mph top speed: Vermeulen 159.6 mph top speed: Roberts Jr 190.5 mph top speed: Capirossi 195.8 mph top speed: Gibernau 205.9 mph top speed: Gibernau 188.9 mph top speed: Hayden 204.9 mph top speed: Capirossi 197.7 mph

what makes a motogp bike a motogp bike? Most racing championships, like World Superbike or British Superbike, use produc- tion model motorcycles that anyone can walk into the dealer and buy. A MotoGP bike bears no relation to these. Built specifically for racing, these bikes are maintained to maximize their performance (no muffler, no lights, no mirrors, hard seat). Costs are highly guarded, but rumor puts a pair of Honda RCV-211V’s (as ridden by 2006 World 8 Champion ) at between three and three and a half million dollars for a 9 10 one season lease. 12 3 final championship standings 11 5 6 15 Rider Country Team Points 1 aerodynamics 7 Nicky Hayden USA Honda 252 Hundreds of hours are spent testing each bike in windtunnels, to perfectly tune the ITA Yamaha 247 shape of the bike in order to reduce drag as much as possible. Well developed aerody- 16 17 4 ITA Ducati 229 namics allow for top speeds in excess of 200 mph. 1 2 ITA Honda 228 2 tires SPA 215 Super soft and sticky tires allow MotoGP bikes to achieve incredible corner speeds Jr USA Team Roberts 134 and manage 240+ horsepower. The tires have no tread for maximum adhesion and are USA Camel Yamaha 124 built to last only as long as the race – approximately seventy-five miles. Manufactured AUS Honda LCR 119 specifically for each bike and rider by , , and Dunlop; tires provide John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki 116 the critical difference between the winners and the also-rans. 13 Toni Elias SPA Fortuna Honda 116 3 engine AUS Rizla Suzuki 98 Every MotoGP bike has a 990cc, two to six cylinder engine. The average power of each JPN 96 engine is above 200 horsepower, with the top bikes producing well over 240. SPA Ducati Marlboro 95 JPN Kawasaki Racing 92 14 SPA Tech 3 Yamaha 75 FRA Kawasaki Racing 37 Alex Hoffman GER Pramac d’Antin 30 James Ellison GBR Tech 3 Yamaha 26 AUS Ducati Marlboro 25 1 Jose Cardoso SPA Pramac d’Antin 10

team championship manufacturer championship rider championship progression by race Each team gains points equivalent to the Each manufacturer gains points equivalent The final top five finishers in the 2006 season were almost neck and neck for the entire season. Every point was hard points earned by both of their riders. to the highest placing rider of their bike. fought and the final winning margin was a mere five points. The graph below shows the title race between Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda 467 Honda 360 Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi, Marco Melandri, and Dani Pedrosa with the points earned in every race indicated. Camel Yamaha 371 Yamaha 289 Jerez Losail Istanbul China Le Mans Mugello Cataluyna Assen Donington Sachsenring Laguna Seca Brno Sepang Phillip Island Motegi Estoril Valencia Ducati Marlboro 356 Ducati 248 Hayden 16 20 16 20 11 16 20 25 9 16 25 7 13 11 11 0 16 252 Fortuna Honda 344 Suzuki 151 Rizla Suzuki 214 Team Roberts 134 Rossi 2 25 13 0 0 25 25 8 20 25 0 20 25 16 20 20 3 247 Team Roberts 134 Kawasaki 109 Kawasaki Racing 129 Capirossi 25 16 10 8 20 20 0 1 7 11 8 25 20 9 25 4 20 229 Honda LCR 119 Tech 3 Yamaha 101 2 96 Melandri 11 9 25 9 25 10 0 9 16 20 16 11 7 25 16 8 11 228 Konica Minolta Honda Designed by Joshua Leung 3 Pramac D’Antin MotoGP 33 Research assisted by Elyse Holladay Pedrosa 20 10 2 25 16 13 0 16 25 13 20 16 16 1 9 0 13 215 Statistics: MotoGP.com Info: Crash.net & Performance Bikes