Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start of the twentieth century and large national events were often given the title Grand Prix. The foundation of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme as the international governing body for motorcycle sport in 1949 provided the opportunity to coordinate rules and regulations in order that selected events could count towards official World Championships. It is the oldest established motorsport world championship.
Valentino Rossi is an Italian racing driver, former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed The Doctor, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time, with some labelling him as the greatest ever. He has nine Grand Prix World Championships to his name, seven of which were in the premier 500cc/MotoGP class. He holds the record for most premier class victories, with 89 to his name. He won premier class World Championships with both Honda and Yamaha. He is also the only road racer to have competed in 400 or more Grands Prix, and rode with the number 46 for his entire career.
Nicholas Patrick Hayden, nicknamed "The Kentucky Kid", was an American professional motorcycle racer who won the MotoGP World Championship in 2006. Hayden began racing motorcycles at a young age. He began his road racing career in the CMRA before progressing to the AMA Supersport Championship and then to the AMA Superbike Championship. He won the AMA title in 2002 and was approached by the Repsol Honda team to race for them in MotoGP in 2003.
Colin Edwards II, nicknamed the "Texas Tornado", is an American former professional motorcycle racer who retired half-way through the 2014 season, but continues in the sport as a factory test rider. He is a two-time World Superbike champion and competed in the MotoGP class from 2003 to 2014.
The Ducati Desmosedici is a four-stroke V4 engine racing motorcycle made by Ducati for MotoGP racing. The series nomenclature is GP with the two-digit year appended, such as Desmosedici GP10 for 2010. In 2006 Ducati made a short production run of 1,500 street-legal variants, the Desmosedici RR.
Norifumi "Norick" Abe, or Norick Abe (ノリック・アベ) was a Japanese professional motorcycle road racer who was previously a 500 cc/MotoGP rider. He died in a road traffic crash in October 2007.
Franco Uncini is an Italian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racing. He was 1982 FIM Road Racing World Champion with Suzuki. He was inducted into the F.I.M. MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2016.
Jorge Lorenzo Guerrero is a Spanish former professional motorcycle racer. He is a five-time World Champion, with three MotoGP World Championships and two 250cc World Championships.
Faster is a 2003 documentary film about the motorcycle road racing world championship, MotoGP. Filmed between 2001 and 2002 by director Mark Neale, it features cinematography by music video director Grant Gee and is narrated by Ewan McGregor. It was succeeded by a 2-disc "Ultimate Collector's Edition" re-release in 2004 which included "Faster '03-'04 The Sequel". In 2006, The Doctor, The Tornado and The Kentucky Kid was released, followed by "Fastest" in 2011 and "Hitting the Apex" in 2015.
The 2001 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 53rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
MotoGP '07 is the fifth game in THQ's MotoGP series for Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and mobile phones. The purchase of the Climax Racing studio, developer of most of the previous titles in the series, from Climax Studios by Disney Interactive Studios led to speculation over who would be developing the game. However, a promo video on the Xbox Live Marketplace confirmed that the then-renamed Black Rock Studio were still involved in MotoGP '07.
Marc Márquez Alentà is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who had raced for Honda's factory team since his MotoGP debut in 2013, lasting until 2023. He is now racing for Gresini Racing MotoGP, a customer Ducati Team. Born in Cervera, Catalonia, Spain, he is nicknamed the 'Ant of Cervera' worldwide (due to his height of 5' 7", and 'el tro de Cervera' in his hometown, meaning the 'Thunder of Cervera'. He is one of four riders to have won world championship titles in three different categories, after Mike Hailwood, Phil Read and Valentino Rossi, and is one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with eight Grand Prix World Championships to his name, six of which are in the premier class. Márquez became the third Spaniard after Àlex Crivillé and Jorge Lorenzo to win the premier class title, and is the most successful Spanish rider in MotoGP to date, with 59 wins. In 2013 he became the first rider since Kenny Roberts in 1978 to win the premier class title in his first season, and the youngest to win the title overall, at 20 years and 266 days of age.
Moto Racer DS is an arcade style motorcycle racing game developed by French company Artefacts Studio and published by SouthPeak Games for the Nintendo DS. It is the first game to be released in the Moto Racer series since 2002.
MotoGP 13 is a motorcycle racing game developed and published by Milestone and released in 2013. The game was announced by Milestone taking back production, after its departure on the franchise with MotoGP '08. Along with the racing game's inclusion on the PlayStation Vita handheld, Milestone announced that it would return support to the PC, as well as versions for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
The 2015 FIM MotoGP World Championship was the premier class of the 67th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. The championship was won by Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo, racing for Movistar Yamaha MotoGP. It was his third and final world title in the MotoGP category, his fifth overall in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. The season had 18 races, beginning in Qatar and finishing in Valencia, which determined who would be world champion between Movistar Yamaha teammates Lorenzo and runner-up Valentino Rossi. It was first time since 2013 that the world title was decided on the final race of the season. Lorenzo also had the most pole positions, fastest laps and race wins throughout the season; while Rossi had the most finishes, completing every race throughout the season, while Lorenzo had one race retirement in San Marino.
MotoGP 15 is a video game developed by Milestone srl. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on 24 June 2015. It is the first to be released on Xbox One and final installment for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Franco Morbidelli is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer in MotoGP class, riding for Prima Pramac Racing team. He became champion in the 2013 European Superstock 600 Championship, and the 2017 Moto2 World Championship.
MotoGP: Ultimate Racing Technology 2 is a Grand Prix motorcycle racing video game developed by Climax Brighton for the Xbox, Microsoft Windows, and mobile phones. It was the second title in THQ's MotoGP series and based on the 2002 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. Players can take part in a single race on three choosable circuits Suzuka, Phakisa, Jerez or participate in a full season, eventually unlocking more circuits to be raced on. Players could ride as most of the MotoGP riders from 2002, except for a couple of riders including Valentino Rossi, Max Biaggi and a few other riders. They are unlocked by achieving a specific number of points in Stunt Mode. Stunt mode is when the player races a one lap race performing different stunts as wheelies, burnouts and powerslides for points. Points are also rewarded when overtaking another rider, driving clean sections, or ramming other riders so they crash. However, recently gained points are lost if the player drives outside the track or crashes. Also if the player fails to reach goal within the timelimit, all rewarded points are lost. The menu theme music is Psynn 2 by Shawn Hargreaves, who created a new version of Psynn, version used in MotoGP.
Grand Prix motorcycle racing sponsorship liveries have been used since the late 1960s, replacing the previously used national colours. With sponsors becoming more important with the rising costs in the motorcycle CC classes, many teams wanted to be able to display the logos of their sponsors as clearly as possible.
MotoGP 3 is a Grand Prix motorcycle racing video game developed and published by Namco for the PlayStation 2. Released in 2003, it is the third game in the Namco series, which coincided with the THQ series for a number of years.
