Moto GP Championships

The Moto GP Championship is the best championship in Grand Prix motorcycling. Grand Prix motorcycles are purpose built racing bikes that cannot be legitimately used on public roads. There are five manufacturers that produce the motorcycles for Moto GP, they are; Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha. The Italian company Ducati is the only non-Japanese manufacturer in the top level of Moto GP.

In Moto GP races the top fifteen finishers in a race are awarded points. The winner of the race gets 25 championship points and the fifteenth finisher gets a single point.

There are seventeen races in the Moto GP season, including three races are held in Spain where the sport is increasingly popular with riders Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa performing well each season. The Moto GP season is perhaps most closely followed in Spain and Italy but with more riders coming in from the United States and other countries its popularity as a spectator sport is burgeoning.

In recent years the man to beat has been Valentino Rossi. The Italian rider is considered by many to be the greatest Moto GP rider in the history of the sport. His six Moto GP titles have come in the 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009 seasons. There are plenty of young up and coming riders that can potentially dethrone Rossi. One of Rossi’s top challengers is Australian sensation Casey Stoner who won the 2007 championship and was unfortunate not to be able to challenge for the title last season as he missed three key races due to health problems.

This season will be keenly fought as Stoner is back to full fitness and is keener than ever to win his second title. Spaniards Lorenzo and Pedrosa will also be looking to mount a serious title challenge this year as the Spanish public would love to see a winner take the Moto GP championship home.

There are currently no British riders competing in the championship after James Toseland’s poor season with Yamaha in 2009.

Current betting for the 2010 Moto GP championship shows that Rossi and Stoner are almost equal favourites. Lorenzon and Pedrosa are slightly further behind in the bookmakers eyes.

Moto GP Championship betting