MotoGP Review 2009 charts the premier class season in which Valentino Rossi won his ninth World Championship title. The official and definitive review of the full campaign is packed with action from all 17 rounds of the year, and documents the title battle between Fiat Yamaha team-mates Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo as it unfolded. Click here for more information on the DVD.

The 250 & 125cc Review 2009 covers the highs and lows of the last ever quarter-litre class title, as well as the fight for the single-cylinder championship. Hiroshi Aoyama’s historical triumph in the 250cc class and Julián Simón’s success over British team-mate Bradley Smith at the 125cc level are both revisited, with essential action highlights from each round of both championships. You can find out further details here.

The Evolution of a Species DVD is one for the die-hard MotoGP fan, as detailed attention is paid to the story of how the motorcycles on today’s grid have developed since the first days of the 4-stroke machines in 2002. The stories behind the Ducati Desmosedici, Honda RCV, Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR, Suzuki GSV-R and Yamaha YZR-M1 are all explained, with interviews from Crew chiefs, team bosses and top engineers. Rossi, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden and legends Mick Doohan, Freddie Spencer and Max Biaggi are some of the riders who give an insight into what it is really like to ride a MotoGP bike. Plenty of close-ups, behind-the-scenes footage from garages and racing clips make for superb viewing, and there is also a look at the new Moto2 prototypes as well.

A ninth world title was wrapped up by Rossi in Malaysia, leaving the remainder of the MotoGP class to decide the final standings beyond first place for the 2009 season at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana.
Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo pushed him the closest for the title this year, and now the 22 year-old looks primed to secure second spot in his second season in the premier class. With a 25-point margin between him and Stoner in third, it would take a non-point scoring finish from the Spaniard and a race win for the Ducati Marlboro man to dislodge Lorenzo from the runner-up position.

Far likelier for Stoner, who comes into round 17 in a rich vein of form having won his last two races at Sepang and Phillip Island, is third place to round off a season interrupted by illness. Speculation will linger as to how the final standings could have looked had the 2007 World Champion not missed Brno, Indianapolis and Misano due to fatigue, but the focus is now on preventing Pedrosa from regaining third place. With victory last year and second the season before, the 24 year-old Australian has a strong pedigree at Valencia.

Repsol Honda’s Pedrosa is 11 points adrift in fourth, and needs a strong showing at a track where he won in 2007 and finished second last time out.
The competition for fifth place is still very much alive, with just six points the difference between Andrea Dovizioso and Colin Edwards. The Italian’s crash at Sepang was not largely capitalised on by Edwards, whose 13th-placed classification means that the fight for fifth will now go down to the wire at Valencia.
Seventh place, meanwhile, is still to be decided upon between no less than six candidates. Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), Alex de Angelis and Toni Elías (both San Carlo Honda Gresini), Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) are all separated by just seven points from positions seven to 12.

All have top-ten finishes at Valencia within the past two seasons, with Melandri’s fourth in 2007 the most notable recent result from the pack. Nicky Hayden, at a further eight points adrift of De Puniet, has an outside chance of challenging for seventh if he manages his second podium of the year and other results go his way.

Also riding at Valencia will be American star Ben Spies, who will take to the track as a wildcard for Yamaha in preparation for his first full MotoGP season with Monster Yamaha Tech 3 in 2010. In the Pramac Racing team another rider who is coming into MotoGP full-time next season will be making an additional guest appearance this weekend, as Aleix Espargaró again substitutes the injured Niccolò Canepa.
 


250cc

After prevailing in his epic battle with Marco Simoncelli at Sepang, Hiroshi Aoyama is within touching distance of being named the 2009 250cc World Champion in the final race of the season – and indeed the final 250cc contest in the 60-year history of Grand Prix racing before the introduction of the new Moto2 class next year.

Simoncelli had narrowed the gap at the top of the standings to just 12 points prior to Malaysia, but an enthralling ‘head-to-head’ was won by Aoyama who now heads to Spain with a 21-point cushion.
Should Simoncelli win his seventh race of the campaign at Valencia – thus surpassing his total from 2008 when he won the title – Aoyama would need to finish no lower than eleventh to still take the crown.
The Scot Honda rider has a chequered history at the circuit however, with last year’s fifth place being his best-ever finish. Prior to that, Aoyama has placed sixth and tenth and registered two DNFs, whereas Simoncelli won last year’s race having already secured the title.

Héctor Barberá in third place could mathematically catch Simoncelli in second, but would need to finish second or higher at Valencia and hope for a poor result for the Metis Gilera man. Barberá has a strong record at the track, having finished inside the top five on five occasions in the 250cc and 125cc classes.
Álvaro Bautista’s title hopes ended with his second crash in three races at Sepang, and Valencia is the only one of the three Spanish circuits on the calendar at which he has not tasted a GP victory. Fourth in the championship is safe for the Mapfre Aspar man, who could take third with a good display if Barberá falters.

Mattia Pasini in fifth is 21 points ahead of Thomas Luthi, who leads a pack which also comprises Raffaele de Rosa, Mike di Meglio, Héctor Faubel and Álex Debón. Those five riders are separated by just six points in the battle for sixth spot.
 


125cc

Bancaja Aspar team-mates Julián Simón and Bradley Smith have already secured first and second places respectively in the 125cc World Championship, but the duo will still look to put on strong showings at Valencia in the final race of the season.

Clinching the title at Phillip Island did not stop Simón from producing another fine display at Sepang last time out, as he took his sixth race victory of the season, and the Spaniard will hope to improve on a best previous result of sixth at Valencia in the 250cc class in 2007.
A win at the final round would make Simón the first rider to take three successive victories in the 125cc class since Alvaro Bautista in 2006.

Smith finished fourth at Valencia last year and is currently on a run of five consecutive podiums. A sixth consecutive rostrum finish would be the perfect way to round off the season for the Oxfordshire youngster, who has already achieved the best performance by a British rider since Barry Sheene was second to Kenny Roberts in the 1978 500cc title chase.

Local rider Nico Terol will attempt to secure a top-three finish for the season ahead of his compatriot Pol Espargaró, who is 15 points behind in fourth. Terol finished second at Valencia last season, just one tenth of a second behind race-winner Simone Corsi, while Espargaró’s best placement at the track is sixth, in his debut season in 2006.

MotoGP Brits look ahead to the final round…

Bradley Smith
“Julian has beaten me on the last lap in the last two races because he is such a great late braker. I really want to beat him in this last race but I need to break away if I can and not leave it to another head to head on the last lap. It’s been a great year for me and the team and another grand prix win would be the perfect finish for me.”

Scott Redding
“We are working hard on securing a ride for next season and I so want to finish the season with a decent result. Since Donington it’s been a disaster but I hope I can put that all behind me on Sunday.”

Danny Webb
“I’ve just been to the hospital and they have found I’ve broken two not one metatarsal bones in my left foot in the Malaysian crash. I’ve got a special boot on and I’m able to walk and so I will be out there on Sunday. It’s been a hard year and I really want to do well to thank the team for all their support.”

James Toseland
“I was doing my absolute best and trying my hardest but it was impossible for me to go any faster with the feeling I had with the bike in Malaysia. It was another tough weekend but I’ll look to bounce back and finish the season strongly in Valencia for my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3.”

Saturday 24 October
09.00 – 09.40 125cc Free Practice 2
09.55 – 10.55 MotoGP Free Practice 2
11.10 – 12.10 250cc Free Practice 2

13.00 – 13.40 125cc Qualifying
13.55 – 14.55 MotoGP Qualifying
15.10 – 15.55 250cc Qualifying

Sunday 25 October
09.40 – 10.00 125cc Warm Up
10.10 – 10.30 250cc Warm Up
10.40 – 11.00 MotoGP Warm Up

12.00 125cc RACE (19 laps)
13.15 250cc RACE (20 laps)
15.00 MotoGP RACE (21 laps)

Schedule is local time
Time Zone GMT + 8 hours

Accepted teams now have until the 2nd of November to finally confirm the names of their riders and to lodge a security deposit with IRTA. Should any of the accepted teams propose riders not acceptable to the Committee, or if the security deposit is not paid, then consideration will be given to the teams on the reserve list.

It should be noted that no team applied to participate with 250cc class machines meaning that the entire 2010 grid will be comprised of Moto2 class machines.

Moto2 entrants

(numbers in brackets are reserve entries)

ACCEPTED ENTRIES:

Ajo Motorsport 1 (1)
Balaton Racing Team 250 1
Campetella Racing 1
Cardion Ab Motoracing 1
Cip Moto – Gp250 1 (1)
Emmi – Caffe Latte 1
G22 Racing Team 2
Hayate Racing Team 2
Honda Gresini 2
JiR 2
Kino Racing 1 (1)
Mapfre Aspar Team 2
Matteoni Racing 1 (1)
Pons Racing Pepe World 2
Pramac Racing 2
Racing Team By Quereseno 2
Racing Team Germany 1 (1)
Scot Racing Team 250 2
Speedup Aprilia 2
Sprint Tecnology Racing 2
Stop And Go Racing Team S.L. 2
Team Roberts 2
Tech 3 2
Viessmann Kiefer Racing 1 (1)
WTR San Marino Team 1

RESERVE ENTRIES:
Mz (2)
Promoracing (2)

2000 – Garry McCoy had the honour of winning the first 500cc race at Estoril riding a Yamaha, after qualifying on pole for the only time in the premier-class. In the 250cc class Daijiro Kato took his first GP victory outside of Japan from Olivier Jacque, with Marco Melandri finishing third to become the youngest ever rider to finish on a 250cc podium.

2001 – Each of the races were won by riders on their way to winning their respective world titles: 500cc – Valentino Rossi, 250cc- Daijiro Kato and 125cc – Manuel Poggiali.

2002 – Valentino Rossi won a race that was run in very wet conditions, after Sete Gibernau had led for most of the race only to crash out with four laps to go. Fonsi Nieto had an incredible win in the 250cc race after crashing on lap thirteen and re-joining the race down in seventh place.

2003 – Valentino Rossi won in the premier-class for the third successive year at Estoril. Spanish riders were successful in the smaller classes, with Toni Elias winning the 250cc race and Pablo Nieto taking his one and only GP victory in the 125cc class.

2004 – Both Valentino Rossi and Toni Elias repeated the victories of the previous year. The 125cc race was won by Hector Barbera ahead of current MotoGP riders Mika Kallio and Jorge Lorenzo.

2005 – Alex Barros dominated proceedings by winning the race from pole position and setting the fastest lap as well as being fastest in every practice session. This was the last time that Barros stood on the top step of the podium in Grand Prix racing. Casey Stoner won for the first time in the 250cc class, while Mika Kallio took his first ever Grand Prix win in the 125cc class.

2006 – After qualifying down in 11th place on the grid, Toni Elias scored his one and only MotoGP victory to date by just 0.002 seconds from Valentino Rossi to equal the closest ever recorded finish in the premier-class since the introduction of electronic timing. Alvaro Bautista’s win in the 125cc race was his 14th podium of the year – a new record for most podium finishes in a single season in the 125cc class.

2007 – Valentino Rossi won for the fifth time at Estoril after a great battle with Pedrosa. Alvaro Bautista takes the 250cc race after finishing lap one down in 12th place. Hector Faubel won the 125cc race from champions- hip rival Gabor Talmacsi, with Pol Espargaro taking his first ever GP podium in third.

2008 – Last year the Portuguese Grand Prix was the third event of the year and gave Jorge Lorenzo his first MotoGP win after he had qualified on pole for the third successive race. With this victory, Lorenzo became the 100th different rider to win a premier-class Grand Prix. Alvaro Bautista took his first win of the year in the 250cc class while Simone Corsi took back-to-back wins to extend his lead in the 125cc championship chase.

Live MotoGP – 11.40am
Catalunya Grand Prix: 125cc Practice
(Eurosport 2)

Live MotoGP – 12.45pm
Catalunya Grand Prix: MotoGP Practice
(Eurosport 2)

Live MotoGP – 2.00pm
Catalunya Grand Prix: 250cc Practice
(Eurosport 2)

MotoGP – 9.10pm
Catalunya Grand Prix: MotoGP Practice (rpt)
(Eurosport 2)

………………………………………

Saturday June 13th

MotoGP – 11.00am
Catalunya Grand Prix: Practice (rpt)
(Eurosport 2)

Live MotoGP – 12.00pm
125cc Catalunya Grand Prix: Qualifying
(Eurosport 2)

Live MotoGP – 12.45pm
MotoGP Catalunya Grand Prix: Qualifying
(Eurosport 2)

Live MotoGP – 2.00pm
250cc Catalunya Grand Prix: Qualifying
(Eurosport 2)

MotoGP – 9.30pm
MotoGP Catalunya Grand Prix: Qualifying
(Eurosport 2)

………………………………………

Sunday June 14th

MotoGP – 9.00am
MotoGP Catalunya Grand Prix: Qualifying (rpt)
(Eurosport 2)

Live MotoGP – 10.00am
125cc Catalunya Grand Prix
(Eurosport)

Live MotoGP – 11.00am
250cc Catalunya Grand Prix
(Eurosport)

Live MotoGP – 12.30pm
Catalunya Grand Prix
(BBC2)

MotoGP – 4.00pm (*Delayed broadcast)
MotoGP Catalunya Grand Prix
(Eurosport)