MotoGP Season Review

The MotoGP season got off to a start in the pitch black desert of the Losail track in Qatar at night time. Fortunately, somebody had the presence of mind to erect enough floodlights to illuminate most of the planet, and the bikes looked magnificent as the light glinted off them. The first surprise was that Yamaha had locked out the front row, the second surprise was that FIAT Yamaha's Valentino Rossi wasn't riding any of them, as he was way back in 7th on the grid, struggling with setup in his first race on Bridgestone tyres. His rookie team mate Jorge Lorenzo had incredibly taken pole in his first ever MotoGP qualifying session. In the race, Ducati's Casey Stoner took his time getting to the front, but then disappeared as usual. Jorge Lorenzo trailed him across the line in second place, with Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa third. Andrea Dovizioso elbowed past Rossi to grab 4th place on the privateer Scot Honda, while James Toseland finished 6th on the Tech 3 Yamaha after ricocheting through the pack. Despite his Ducati team-mate winning the race, Marco Melandri was miles off the pace...

Jerez came next, the Southern Spanish track giving Jorge Lorenzo another pole position. Colin Edwards hit the headlines in qualifying after avoiding a lowside crash by digging his knee and elbow into the track and lifting the Tech 3 Yamaha back up. It was save of the season. When the red lights went out, Dani Pedrosa headed off into the wide blue yonder for a boring victory. Valentino Rossi took 2nd ahead of Lorenzo in 3rd. Stoner could only manage 11th after spending half the race flying off into the gravel, but still beat Melandri. Toseland took 6th place after bouncing off half the field again, annoying Dovi in particular...

Read the whole MotoGP Season Review at Motorbikesport.

WSBK Season Review

This has been a vintage year for the World Superbike championship, with Troy Bayliss bidding farewell to motorcycle racing by winning the WSBK title for the third time.

The season started in the desert at the bland, featureless Losail track in Qatar. It was a great start to the year, with Max Biaggi on the Sterilgarda Ducati immediately getting into a battle with Santander Yamaha's Noriyuki Haga. The battle ended when Max chopped Haga's nose off into a corner. The furious Japanese star lifted his left hand from the bars to remonstrate and promptly highsided, landing on his head. Troy Bayliss was riding like a madman, never using the same piece of astroturf twice, causing his team boss Davide Tardozzi to have kittens on the pitwall. The Aussie fought to the end with Max Biaggi, the Italian passing but running wide in the last corner, allowing Bayliss to cut back inside, taking a long look over his shoulder at Biaggi before taking the chequered flag. The second race saw Fonsi Nieto winning thanks to the sheer speed of his Suzuki on Losail's long straight, beating Ducati duo Ruben Xaus and Max Biaggi into second and third places...

Read my whole World Superbike Season Review at Motorbikesport.

BSB Season Review

The 2008 British Superbike Championship season was as exciting as ever, with crashes, controversy and some great racing.

The year did not start at Brands Hatch. Well, it partially started at Brands, but when everybody woke up for race day there was a thick blanket of snow covering the track. Snow at Brands Hatch? That's global warming for you. The round was postponed until later in the season.

Thruxton became the first race of the year. The GSE Ducati squad showed up despite claiming that they were pulling out of the BSB series due to the technical rules, which would supposedly make the new 1098R too dangerous to race. The GSE hokey-cokey would continue through the year. Shane Byrne was completely unfazed by the rules controversy, storming to victory on the GSE Ducati in race one. Race two was the scene of a monster crash. Tom Sykes, riding the Rizla Suzuki, clipped the back of Leon Haslam's HM Plant Honda, and was thrown off the bike. The errant Suzuki then continued its trail of destruction by smacking Rob Mac Yamaha rider Karl Harris in the head. Incredibly, once Harris was extricated from the air fence he was able to walk to the ambulance, albeit with some help. This would set the scene for Karl's year. He's incredibly tough, but seems to have no luck at all. HM Plant Honda youngster Cal Crutchlow managed to win the restarted race.

Read the rest of my BSB Season Review at Motorbikesport.