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MotoGP Features & Interviews (2006)
Special Feature - Toby Moody's 2006 Season Highlights
01/11/2006
The 2006 MotoGP season has been an absolute classic for our memories and for the history books. Seventeen races, seven different winners and a show-down at the last race for the first time in modern times. It was an overload of excitement.
The season started in Jerez, Spain with a typical barn stormer in front of over 131,000 people. Loris Capirossi on the Bridgestone Ducati blitzed them all to win, but with the World Championship leader on the ground at the first corner after a crash, it was a chance for the others to have a go at Rossi and get their ‘revenge’ for his dominance since 2001 in the top class.
Rossi fought back, but the others were stronger than he thought with young Dani Pedrosa fighting through to win only his fourth ever MotoGP – and for a guy weighing just 49kgs on a 148kg bike with 260bhp How does he do it?
It was all looking even-stevens after six races with Rossi only having had two wins and Bridgestone’s Loris Capirossi having had four podiums, but then came the enormous accident at Barcelona with six riders tumbling into the gravel at the first corner leaving Rossi to get into his stride and chase down the then leader of the championship, Nicky Hayden.
Wins by Capirossi at Brno and then Motegi in Japan were just exemplary . For Bridgestone, it was their third consecutive victory in Japan. The race in Malaysia where the yellow Yamaha and the red Ducati were as close over the final laps as we’ve ever seen. I had call after call afterwards from the Monza F1 paddock where people were watching the MotoGP over their breakfast!
Estoril was the mad one though with Pedrosa, the team mate of the championship leader Hayden, knocking his fellow Honda rider off into the gravel. Oops. It was a seismic moment that sent the press office into a spin, but only after young Toni ‘The Tiger’ Elias went on to beat Rossi by 0.002 seconds in one of the best races I have ever seen.
But a fortnight later at the finale in Valencia, Troy Bayliss returned into the Ducati garage for a one-off race this season after winning the 2006 World Superbike title. Bayliss jumped aboard the Ducati and took 2nd on the grid after just four hours riding Bridgestones. He led right from the word go, taking the race and Ducati/Bridgestone’s first ever 1-2 finish. It was total domination…
My highlights of the season were Jerez at dawn – it always gets me when they play Pink Floyd, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Capirossi’s victory later that day, China and rookie Pedrosa beating them all as if they had never done it before, Le Mans and Rossi’s engine stopping when in the lead. Bike engines just don’t go wrong nowadays!
Ducati’s Mugello was another highlight because you’d have to have no soul not to like the place. Donington always gives plenty of slides out of corners, even with traction control, whilst Laguna Seca was as hot as I have ever experienced not being on the Dakar. Australia was the first ‘come in and change bikes’ race because it started to rain half way through, whilst Estoril was off the scale for everything.
Bridgestone’s umbrella will spread over to other teams and bikes next year and that can only be a good thing for the sport to remain competitive. With the 800cc Ducati and Honda already having had some miles underneath it before now, they will be very difficult to beat in 2007. Can’t wait!
Toby Moody is the English voice of MotoGP racing throughout Europe. Commentating on Eurosport TV for the past 11 seasons, he came through F1 and WRC, but still is involved racing a single-seater and commentating at Shelsley Walsh and other speed hill climbs in the UK where his love for motor sport started.
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