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.
Season summary 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.
2006 Grand Prix season calendar The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 2006: RoundDateGrand PrixCircuit 1 26 March Gran Premio betandwin.com de España Circuito de Jerez 2 8 April †† Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar Losail International Circuit 3 30 April Grand Prix of Turkey Istanbul Park 4 14 May Polini Grand Prix of China Shanghai International Circuit 5 21 May Alice Grand Prix de France Bugatti Circuit 6 4 June Gran Premio d'Italia Alice Mugello Circuit 7 18 June Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya Circuit de Catalunya 8 24 June †† A-Style TT Assen TT Circuit Assen 9 2 July Gas British Grand Prix Donington Park 10 16 July betandwin.com Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland Sachsenring 11 23 July † Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca 12 20 August Gauloises Grand Prix České republiky Brno Circuit 13 Marlboro Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix Sepang International Circuit 14 17 September GMC Australian Grand Prix 15 24 September A-Style Grand Prix of Japan Twin Ring Motegi 16 15 October bwin.com Grande Prémio de Portugal Autódromo do Estoril 17 29 October Circuit Ricardo Tormo
† = MotoGP class only †† = Saturday race
Calendar changes 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.
Regulation changes The following changes are made to the regulation for the 2006 season:
Sporting regulations
The rule regarding the interruption of a race via a red flag has been reformed. From the moment the red flag is shown, riders who are not competing actively in the race will not be classified. Once five minutes have passed since the showing of the red flag, all riders who have not reached the pits on board their motorcycles will not be classified. Rules for licenses have been updated. All Chief Medial Officers (CMO) and Deputy Chief Medical Officers must now be in possession of a license. The license will be valid for a span of three years and be handed out by the FIM. Criteria and procedure for the obtainment of a CMO license has been updates. Potential candidates should apply via a letter through their FMN to the FIM including their professional and motorsport CV, as well as evidence that the following criteria has been fulfilled: Be a fully registered and qualified medical practitioner. Be experienced in the supply of Emergency Medical Care. Be experienced at motorcycle events and must have been to at least five national events as CMO or Deputy CMO with a confirmation by their FMN. Have attended and successfully completed a FIM CMO seminar and have taken part in at least one FIM event within the previous two years. In the 125cc and 250cc classes, rookie riders will now be allowed to compete in other held at circuit in Europe during a season.
These rules were additionally added on 27 June 2006:
Practice restrictions have been put in place for the 125cc and 250cc classes. Contracted teams who profit from a Participation Agreement to participate in the 125cc and 250cc class championships are forbidden to practice with their bikes at any circuit between the 1st of December of one year and the 20th of January of the next year, both dates being inclusive.
Technical regulations
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.
2006 Grand Prix season results Round Date Grand Prix Circuit 125cc winner 250cc winner MotoGP winner Report 1 26 March Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix Jerez Jorge Lorenzo Loris Capirossi Report 2 8 April †† Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix Losail Álvaro Bautista Jorge Lorenzo Valentino Rossi Report 3 30 April Turkish motorcycle Grand Prix Istanbul Héctor Faubel Hiroshi Aoyama Report 4 14 May Chinese motorcycle Grand Prix Shanghai Mika Kallio Héctor Barberá Dani Pedrosa Report 5 21 May French motorcycle Grand Prix Le Mans Thomas Lüthi Yuki Takahashi Marco Melandri Report 6 4 June Italian motorcycle Grand Prix Mugello Mattia Pasini Jorge Lorenzo Valentino Rossi Report 7 18 June Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix Catalunya Álvaro Bautista Valentino Rossi Report 8 24 June †† Dutch TT Assen Mika Kallio Jorge Lorenzo Nicky Hayden Report 9 2 July British motorcycle Grand Prix Donington Álvaro Bautista Jorge Lorenzo Dani Pedrosa Report 10 16 July German motorcycle Grand Prix Sachsenring Mattia Pasini Yuki Takahashi Valentino Rossi Report 11 23 July † United States motorcycle Grand Prix No 125cc and 250cc race Nicky Hayden Report 12 20 August Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix Brno Álvaro Bautista Jorge Lorenzo Loris Capirossi Report 13 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix Sepang Álvaro Bautista Jorge Lorenzo Valentino Rossi Report 14 17 September Australian motorcycle Grand Prix Phillip Island Álvaro Bautista Jorge Lorenzo Marco Melandri Report 15 24 September Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix Motegi Mika Kallio Hiroshi Aoyama Loris Capirossi Report 16 15 October Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix Estoril Álvaro Bautista Andrea Dovizioso Toni Elías Report 17 29 October Valencia Héctor Faubel Alex de Angelis Troy Bayliss Report
† = MotoGP class only †† = Saturday Race
Participants
MotoGP participants Team Constructor Motorcycle Tyres Rider Rounds Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 15 Sete Gibernau 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 GP 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 Team Roberts 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
250cc participants According to the official website: www.motogp.com