WHAT ACTUALLY IS MOTOGP
The previous season racing in the 350cc class had been brought to a conclusion after 34 years of competition, leaving four classes in the World Championship - 50cc, 125cc, 250cc and 500cc – with 50cc subsequently replaced by an 80cc category in 1984. A short lived affair, the 80cc World Championship was contested for just six seasons, yielding four titles for Derbi, three courtesy of Spanish rider Jorge Martinez.At the start of the 2007 season, new rules restricting the number of tyres used on Grand Prix weekends and a reduction in engine size from 990cc to 800cc again levelled the playing field in MotoGP™ – with Bridgestone-equipped Ducati rider Casey Stoner emerging as the first standout rider of the new era, as the runaway 2007 World Champion. In 2008, however, Rossi returned to the pinnacle, taking his sixth premier class title, with Stoner a distant runner-up in the standings.
The 2009 season saw the introduction of a single-tyre rule, as Bridgestone were named the sole suppliers for the MotoGP™ class. Rossi took his seventh title in the premier class after a battle with team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, taking him to within one more of equalling Giacomo Agostini’s all-time record of eight.
The 2010 season saw a new name enter into the MotoGP™ class history book as Jorge Lorenzo was crowned World Champion following an exciting season long battle with team mate Rossi for the title. Lorenzo showed superb consistency and remarkable maturity to claim the premier class crown aged just 23 years old. In 2012 as the grid switched to the 1000cc machines it was Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo that took the title after finishing second in Phillip Island. He was pushed all the way by Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa, while Casey Stoner finished his final season in third, following a mid-season injury, before heading into retirement. The current MotoGP World Champion is Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez, who in 2013 claimed his first premier-class title in his rookie season, breaking numerous interviews along the way. The Championship saw Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo finish a very close runner-up behind him after some spectacular duels between the pair.Since the launch of the MotoGP™ Hall of Fame in 2000, a series of riders who have each been key protagonists throughout more than half a century of Grand Prix racing have been inducted as MotoGP™ Legends. The first rider to become a MotoGP™ Legend was Australia’s aforementioned five-time World Champion Mick Doohan, who was honoured at Mugello, in May 2000.
by COBRAJT69
REAPERS MC ROAD BOSS