2006 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

Sports season

The 2006 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 58th Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) Road racing World Championship season. The season consisted out of 17 races for the MotoGP class and 16 for the 125cc and 250cc classes, beginning with the Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix on 26 March 2006 and ending with the Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix on 29 October.

The 2006 MotoGP season was one of the closest battles in recent years, in which Honda's Nicky Hayden did not claim the championship from Valentino Rossi until the final race of the year. The victory was Hayden's first and only World Championship. Seven different riders claimed Grand Prix victories including first time winners Dani Pedrosa, Toni Elías and Troy Bayliss. Yamaha's Valentino Rossi fought back from a 51 point deficit to lead the championship going into the final rounds. Hayden's fortunes took a dip when he was taken out by his teammate Pedrosa at the penultimate round in Portugal, but he bounced back to win the crown when Rossi crashed in the final race at Valencia. Hayden only won two races to Rossi's five, but the Yamaha suffered a number of mechanical issues that led to more retirements, which allowed Hayden to score more podiums. In addition, the surprise win of Elias in Portugal, with a margin of just 0.002 second over Rossi, proved to be a major decider in the championship. Rossi had given up five points in that round, the same amount by which he was behind Hayden in the final standings. Had there been a tie, Rossi would have been crowned World Champion due to more race victories than Hayden. In the 250cc class, Aprilia's Jorge Lorenzo won his first championship taking 8 victories. Another Aprilia rider took the 125cc crown with Álvaro Bautista also taking 8 wins.

The Qatar Grand Prix was moved forward, from 1 October to 8 April. The Turkish Grand Prix was moved forward, from 23 October to 30 April. Only the MotoGP class raced during the United States Grand Prix because of a Californian law on air pollution, preventing the 125 and 250cc classes from racing. The Portuguese Grand Prix was moved back, from 17 April to 15 October.

A change has been made regarding fuel tank regulations. In all classes, fuel tanks made out of non metallic composite materials must be fitted with a fuel cell bladder or have otherwise passed the appropriate FIM test standards.

Team Constructor Motorcycle Tyres Rider Rounds Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati [[Ducati Desmosedici 15 Sete Gibernau 1–7, 10–11, 13–16 66 Alex Hofmann 8–9, 12 12 Troy Bayliss 17 65 Loris Capirossi All Desmosedici GP5 30 All 66 Alex Hofmann 1–7, 10–11, 13–17 22 Iván Silva 8–9, 12 Repsol Honda Team Honda RC211V 26 Dani Pedrosa All 69 Nicky Hayden All Fortuna Honda 24 Toni Elías 1–8, 10–17 84 Michel Fabrizio 9 33 Marco Melandri All Konica Minolta Honda 6 Makoto Tamada All Honda LCR 27 Casey Stoner All Ilmor SRT Ilmor X3 X3 8 Garry McCoy 16–17 Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki Ninja ZX RR 17 Randy de Puniet All 56 Shinya Nakano All Kawasaki 8 Naoki Matsudo 15 Team Roberts KR211V KR211V 10 Kenny Roberts Jr. All Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki GSV R 21 John Hopkins All 71 Chris Vermeulen All Team Suzuki MotoGP 64 Kousuke Akiyoshi 15 Camel Yamaha Team Yamaha YZR M1 5 Colin Edwards All 46 Valentino Rossi All Tech 3 Yamaha 7 Carlos Checa All 77 James Ellison AllKey Regular rider Wildcard rider Replacement rider

According to the official website: www. motogp. com
TeamConstructorMotorcycleRiderRounds Elit Caffé Latte Honda Honda RS125R 1 Thomas Lüthi 1–10, 12–17 11 Sandro Cortese 1–10, 12–17 SSM Racing Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 6 Joan Olivé 1–10, 12–17 12 Federico Sandi 1–10, 12–17 Malaguti Ajo Corse Malaguti Malaguti 125 7 Alexis Masbou 1–8, 10, 12–13 40 Nico Vivarelli 17 71 Tomoyoshi Koyama 1–7, 10, 12–17 73 Kazuya Otani 15–16 90 Hiroaki Kuzuhara 8–9 95 Georg Fröhlich 9 Skilled I. S. P. A. Racing Team Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 8 Lorenzo Zanetti 1–10, 12–17 Red Bull KTM Junior Team KTM KTM 125 FRR 9 Michael Ranseder 1–9, 12–17 17 Stefan Bradl 1–10, 12–13 67 Blake Leigh Smith 14–17 Red Bull KTM GP 125 36 Mika Kallio 1–10, 12–17 54 Randy Krummenacher 9–10 60 Julián Simón 1–7, 12–17 3C Racing Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 10 Ángel Rodríguez 1–10, 12 13 Dino Lombardi 3–10, 12–17 38 Roberto Lacalendola 13–17 Humangest Racing Team Honda Honda RS125R 14 Gábor Talmácsi 1–10, 12–17 15 Michele Pirro 13–14 23 Lorenzo Baroni 1–10 49 Kazuma Watanabe 15–17 56 Stefano Musco 12 WTR Blauer USA Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 15 Michele Pirro 2–10, 12 29 Andrea Iannone 13 79 Enrique Jerez 1 90 Hiroaki Kuzuhara 14–17 Valsir Seedorf Racing Honda Honda RS125R 16 Michele Conti 1–10, 12–17 32 Fabrizio Lai 1–10, 12–17 Derbi Racing Derbi Derbi RS 125 R 18 Nicolás Terol 1–10, 12–17 52 Lukáš Pešek 1–10, 12–17 Master MVA Aspar Aprilia Aprilia RSA 125 19 Álvaro Bautista 16–17 Aprilia RS 125 R 1–10, 12–15 21 Mateo Túnez 1–5, 7–10, 12, 16–17 33 Sergio Gadea 1–10, 12–17 55 Héctor Faubel 1–10, 12–17 75 Mattia Pasini 1–10, 12–17 Matteoni Racing Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 20 Roberto Tamburini 1–10, 12–17 Multimedia Racing Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 22 Pablo Nieto 1–10, 12–14, 16–17 25 Dominique Aegerter 16–17 26 Vincent Braillard 1–10, 12–15 35 Raffaele De Rosa 1–10, 12–17 Squadra Corse Metis Gilera Gilera Gilera RS 125 R 24 Simone Corsi 1–10, 12–17 TicinoHosting Campetella Junior TeamCampetella Racing Junior Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 29 Andrea Iannone 1–10 53 Simone Grotzkyj 1–10, 12–17 Derbi Derbi RS 125 R 42 Pol Espargaró 12–17 Honda BQRWürth Honda BQR Honda Honda RS125R 34 Esteve Rabat 8–10, 12–1741 Aleix Espargaró 1–7 80 Esteve Rabat 1, 7 Arie Molenaar Racing Honda Honda RS125R 37 Joey Litjens 1–10, 12–17 Repsol Honda Honda Honda RS125R 38 Bradley Smith 1–10, 12, 14–17 39 Danny Webb 7 Nocable Angaia Racing Honda Honda RS125R 43 Manuel Hernández 1 Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 2–10, 12–17 Cardion AB Motoracing Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 44 Karel Abraham 1–10, 12–17 Team Tóth Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 45 Imre Tóth 1–10, 12–17 81 Robert Mureșan 12 FFM Honda Grand Prix 125 Honda Honda RS125R 63 Mike Di Meglio 1–9, 12–16 83 Clément Dunikowski 10, 17 RACC Derbi Derbi Derbi RS 125 R 30 Pere Tutusaus 17 92 Pol Espargaró 7 FRS Honda Honda RS125R 47 Shoya Tomizawa 15 S way Honda Honda RS125R 48 Toshihisa Kuzuhara 15 Plus One Honda Honda RS125R 50 Hiroomi Iwata 15 Honda Suzuka Racing Honda Honda RS125R 51 Iori Namihira 15 Red Bull ADAC TM Junior KTM KTM 125 FRR 54 Randy Krummenacher 16–17 61 Robin Lässer 10 Tom Hatton Racing Honda Honda RS125R 57 Tom Hatton 14 Tassie WindsScreens Honda Honda RS125R 58 Brett Symonds 14 Rhys Moller Racing Honda Honda RS125R 59 Rhys Moller 14 Angelo's Aluminium Racing Honda Honda RS125R 62 Brent Rigoli 14 Double Vision Racing Honda Honda RS125R 64 Alex Lowes 9 www. sp125racing. com Honda Honda RS125R 65 Kyle Kentish 9 KRPKRP/dancoopers96. com Honda Honda RS125R 66 Anthony Rogers 9 67 Blake Leigh Smith 9 96 Daniel Cooper 9 Mayer Racing Passau Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 68 Thomas Mayer 12 Kuja Racing Honda Honda RS125R 69 Michal Šembera 12, 16 Roha'c & Fejta Honda Honda RS125R 70 Michal Prášek 12 Sachsenring Motorrad Unger Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 72 Eric Hübsch 10 Lambea TMM Racing Honda Honda RS125R 76 Iván Maestro 1, 7 Quinto Almoradi Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 77 Daniel Sáez 1, 17 Varenhof Racing Team Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 78 Hugo van den Berg 1, 5, 7–8, 12, 17 Yamaha Indonesia Yamaha Yamaha TZ125 80 Doni Tata Pradita 13 Las Vegas Team Romania Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 81 Robert Mureșan 3, 8 Villiers Team Competition Honda Honda RS125R 82 Matthieu Lussiana 5 Équipe de France FFM Honda Honda RS125R 83 Clément Dunikowski 5 FP Motorsport Honda Honda RS125R 84 Mathieu Olagnon 5 TVX Racing CTR Distribution Honda Honda RS125R 85 Yannick Deschamps 5 China Zongshein Team Honda Honda RS125R 86 Ho Wan Chow 4 TicinoHosting MTR Honda Honda RS125R 87 Roberto Lacalendola 6 88 Daniele Rossi 6 Racing Service Honda Honda RS125R 89 Nico Vivarelli 6 Grillini Racing Honda Honda RS125R 90 Hiroaki Kuzuhara 6 RCGM Team Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 91 Luca Verdini 6 Jan Bakker Auto's Racing Honda Honda RS125R 93 Gert Jan Kok 8 Lemstra Racing Honda Honda RS125R 94 8 Abbink Bos Racing Honda Honda RS125R 95 Georg Fröhlich 8, 10, 16 RZT Racing Aprilia Aprilia RS 125 R 97 Joshua Sommer 10 Honda Schumann Reisen Honda Honda RS125R 98 Toni Wirsing 10Key Regular rider Wildcard rider Replacement rider

Rounds marked with a light blue background were under wet race conditions or stopped by rain. Riders marked with light blue background were eligible for Rookie of the Year awards. Pos Rider Bike Team SPA QAT TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER USA CZE MAL AUS JPN POR VAL Pts 1 Nicky Hayden HondaRepsol Honda Team 3 2 3 2 5 3 2 1 7 3 1 9 4 5 5 Ret 3 252 2 Valentino Rossi YamahaCamel Yamaha Team 14 1 4 Ret Ret 1 1 8 2 1 Ret 2 1 3 2 2 13 247 3 Loris Capirossi DucatiDucati Marlboro Team 1 3 6 8 2 2 DNS 15 9 5 8 1 2 7 1 12 2 229 4 Marco Melandri HondaFortuna Honda 5 7 1 7 1 6 DNS 7 3 2 3 5 9 1 3 8 5 228 5 Dani Pedrosa HondaRepsol Honda Team 2 6 14 1 3 4 Ret 3 1 4 2 3 3 15 7 Ret 4 215 6 Kenny Roberts Jr. KR211VTeam Roberts 8 10 13 13 Ret 8 3 5 5 Ret 4 4 7 14 9 3 8 134 7 Colin Edwards YamahaCamel Yamaha Team 11 9 9 3 6 12 5 13 6 12 9 10 10 Ret 8 4 9 124 8 Casey Stoner HondaHonda LCR 6 5 2 5 4 Ret Ret 4 4 DNS Ret 6 8 6 Ret Ret Ret 119 9 Toni Elías HondaFortuna Honda 4 8 5 11 9 7 Ret WD 11 15 11 Ret 9 6 1 6 116 10 John Hopkins SuzukiRizla Suzuki MotoGP 9 Ret 17 4 15 10 4 6 8 10 6 7 6 12 12 6 11 116 11 Chris Vermeulen SuzukiRizla Suzuki MotoGP 12 Ret 7 Ret 10 14 6 10 16 7 5 12 11 2 11 9 Ret 98 12 Makoto Tamada HondaKonica Minolta Honda 10 14 10 6 7 9 7 11 11 Ret 11 13 14 10 10 5 12 96 13 Sete Gibernau DucatiDucati Marlboro Team Ret 4 11 9 8 5 DNS 8 10 5 4 4 Ret 95 14 Shinya Nakano KawasakiKawasaki Racing Team 7 11 8 10 12 11 DSQ 2 Ret 6 Ret 8 Ret 8 Ret Ret 7 92 15 Carlos Checa YamahaTech 3 Yamaha 13 12 15 14 11 15 8 9 10 9 7 15 12 Ret 14 7 10 75 16 Randy de Puniet KawasakiKawasaki Racing Team Ret Ret 12 12 Ret 13 Ret 14 12 Ret 12 14 13 11 Ret 10 Ret 37 17 Alex Hofmann DucatiPramac d'Antin MotoGP 15 15 16 15 13 Ret 10 Ret 14 15 13 16 11 Ret 30Ducati Marlboro Team 12 13 16 18 James Ellison YamahaTech 3 Yamaha 16 13 18 16 14 16 9 Ret 14 13 13 17 16 16 15 13 14 26 19 Troy Bayliss DucatiDucati Marlboro Team 1 25 20 DucatiPramac d'Antin MotoGP Ret 16 Ret 17 Ret 17 11 17 15 14 16 Ret 17 17 Ret 14 Ret 10 21 Kousuke Akiyoshi SuzukiTeam Suzuki MotoGP 13 3 22 Garry McCoy Ilmor X3Ilmor SRT 15 15 2 Iván Silva DucatiPramac d'Antin MotoGP 16 Ret 18 0 Naoki Matsudo KawasakiKawasaki Ret 0 Michel Fabrizio HondaFortuna Honda WD 0 Pos Rider Bike Team SPA QAT TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER USA CZE MAL AUS JPN POR VAL PtsBold – Pole positionItalics – Fastest lap

Each team got the total points scored by their two riders, including replacement riders. In one rider team, only the points scored by that rider was counted. Wildcard riders did not score points. Rounds marked with a light blue background were under wet race conditions or stopped by rain. Pos Team BikeNo. SPA QAT TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER USA CZE MAL AUS JPN POR VAL Pts 1 Repsol Honda Team 26 2 6 14 1 3 4 Ret 3 1 4 2 3 3 15 7 Ret 4 467 69 3 2 3 2 5 3 2 1 7 3 1 9 4 5 5 Ret 3 2 Camel Yamaha Team 5 11 9 9 3 6 12 5 13 6 12 9 10 10 Ret 8 4 9 371 46 14 1 4 Ret Ret 1 1 8 2 1 Ret 2 1 3 2 2 13 3 Ducati Marlboro Team 12 1 356 15 Ret 4 11 9 8 5 DNS 8 10 5 4 4 Ret 65 1 3 6 8 2 2 DNS 15 9 5 8 1 2 7 1 12 2 66 12 13 16 4 Fortuna Honda 24 4 8 5 11 9 7 Ret WD 11 15 11 Ret 9 6 1 6 344 33 5 7 1 7 1 6 DNS 7 3 2 3 5 9 1 3 8 5 84 WD 5 Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 21 9 Ret 17 4 15 10 4 6 8 10 6 7 6 12 12 6 11 214 71 12 Ret 7 Ret 10 14 6 10 16 7 5 12 11 2 11 9 Ret 6 Team Roberts 10 8 10 13 13 Ret 8 3 5 5 Ret 4 4 7 14 9 3 8 134 7 Kawasaki Racing Team 14 Ret Ret 12 12 Ret 13 Ret 14 12 Ret 12 14 13 11 Ret 10 Ret 129 56 7 11 8 10 12 11 DSQ 2 Ret 6 Ret 8 Ret 8 Ret Ret 7 8 Honda LCR 27 6 5 2 5 4 Ret Ret 4 4 DNS Ret 6 8 6 Ret Ret Ret 119 9 Tech 3 Yamaha 7 13 12 15 14 11 15 8 9 10 9 7 15 12 Ret 14 7 10 101 77 16 13 18 16 14 16 9 Ret 14 13 13 17 16 16 15 13 14 10 Konica Minolta Honda 6 10 14 10 6 7 9 7 11 11 Ret 11 13 14 10 10 5 12 96 11 22 16 Ret 18 33 30 Ret 16 Ret 17 Ret 17 11 17 15 14 16 Ret 17 17 Ret 14 Ret 66 15 15 16 15 13 Ret 10 Ret 14 15 13 16 11 Ret Pos Team BikeNo. SPA QAT TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER USA CZE MAL AUS JPN POR VAL Pts