Moto GP Championship: The Greatest Motorsports Show On Earth

As the dawn of  Moto GPs 2023 season is upon us, it got me thinking about how Moto GP might be the greatest Motorsports show on the planet. And I am going to explain why, and share some notable events from the championship to back my claim.

I am an avid Formula 1 fan and if Formula 1 and Moto GP are on the same weekend and at the same time I’d probably watch Formula 1, but over the winter break it got me thinking, that Moto GP trumps F1 in almost all aspects of global entertainment and a serious Top of the line prototype Motorsports Competition in Moto GP’s case it is the pièce de résistance of all motorcycle Racing.

Now, by no means I am advocating F1 is not entertaining enough, but it is clear even for someone biased towards F1 that even with the new Regulations and Technical Changes it still doesn’t provide the in-race action as some other series, for me, that is the whole charm of it, and its ever-growing numbers is the proof of it, partly thanks to Netflix and Drive to Survive’s concoction of fiction and reality.

But, in my insouciant opinion, F1 lacks the flare and drama that Moto GP has.

Let me back my claim by dropping some notable events from the championship.

Before I share some of the anecdotes from Moto GP let me be clear that this article and my claims are limited to the Moto GP championship that began with the inception of the 4-Stroke era 2002, not the 500cc class before it, although that era holds some fascinating stories of valour and drama, I have used some of the stories from that era to further strengthen my argument.

Valentino Rossi & Max Biaggi

Change Image   |   Delete Image

You can not, not mention Valentino Rossi when talking about Moto GP, after all, he was the Avant-garde of the new Moto GP Era that was filled with exciting Post race showmanship and post-race drama. And in Max Biaggi’s case, their rivalry was very intense in a literal sense. With both of them coming to blows both on and off track.

A year before the New era of prototype racing began the final season of 500cc their rivalry reached its peak, especially in Catalan GP where Rossi finished 1st and Biaggi followed him to 2nd place. It was all plain and simple on the track as Rossi dominated the race and gave little chance for them to butt heads during the race. But it was the post-race drama that saw Max Biaggi walk into the press conference with a bruise on his face, indicating an altercation, backstage, between the two Italians.

And this rivalry continued in the new era of Moto GP but it didn’t last long due to Biaggi falling off Rossi, due to not being able to ride the new 900cc 4-stroke machines the way they were meant.

But the fall of one rivalry was the dawn of a new one and the protagonist in this story was Rossi and Sette Giberbnau.

In 2004 Sette Giberbnau on board Rossi’s ex-Honda RC211V won three races and was in contention for the championship fighting with Valentino Rossi, and both of them were good friends, until the faithful Grand Prix of Qatar where Rossi’s team was accused of modifying the starting grid on the Losail circuit by doing a burnout on a paddock scooter to lay some extra rubber on the grid position that Rossi was supposed to start the other day, but this incident got him demoted to the back of the grid and ultimately crashed while carving his way through the grid during the race, and Gibernau won the race.

Change Image   |   Delete Image

Rossi accused Gibernau of his demotion and allegedly Swore that Gibernau will never win a race in Moto GP ever, and calling to coincidence or Rossi genuinely possess some power, Qatar was the last time Gibernau won a race ever in Moto GP.

And just when the sun was setting one rivalry, gave rise to another, and this time again Valentino Rossi was the protagonist going against the Immensely talented Aussie Casey Stoner on the Ducati

In 2006 just as Gibernau faded away from Rossi’s Hitlist came In Magician From the land down under – Casey Stoner was setting his mark on the Championship on the satellite Ducati team and in 2007 when Casey was on board the factory Ducati and bettered Rossi for the title and became the first Ducati rider to win the world championship, but the most notable incident during their rivalry was the iconic incident at Laguna Seca, were during the race both of them made multiple contacts trying to better each other, and finally, Rossi made the iconic pass at the corkscrew going off-track and invoked stoner to made a mistake and finish 2nd and there were some uncomfortable words were exchanged between the two maestros in the parc ferme.

Change Image   |   Delete Image

Later on in 2012, when struggling Rossi onboard the Ducati crashed into Stoner which prompted Stoner to inquire whether perhaps Rossi’s “ambition had outweighed his talent”.

Now, at the expense of making this a Valentino Rossi and Foes Article, no one can talk about Moto GP and not mention a 5x world champion Jorge Lorenzo and his antics on the Yamaha M1 sharing the same garage as the Doctor albeit a wall that was placed between the two Yamaha Riders to prevent each other team from seeing others data and not mention that both of them were on different tire manufacturers and their iconic Press conferences verbal feud that got millions hooked to their TV sets.

The apprentice turned nemesis Rossi vs Marc Marquez

Change Image   |   Delete Image

Now, Marc wasn’t Rossi’s prodigy or his student as such, but Marc Admired Rossi throughout his career and looked up to him even when he got to the pinnacle of a Motorcycle competition, and enjoyed a great friendship till 2015 marc was even invited to Rossi infamous Ranch in Italy, but all that changed during the 2015 season were marc a 2x time champion by then fell out of contention but Rossi and his teammate the eventual champion of 2015 Jorge Lorenzo were still going strong and battled till the last race, Rossi eventually lost the championship but blamed Marquez to favour Jorge during the last round that soured their relation for the coming years but the biggest notable incident during their rivalry is the turn 14 incident of Malaysian grand prix on lap 7 when both were fighting for the position came to blows but when both of them arrived at turn 14 Rossi was caught to kick Marquez off the bike and resulted in a crash for Marc Marquez.

Apart from these sensational stories from the chronicles of Valentino Rossi, there are a lot of other stories that ran on the side such as The Kentucky kid – Nicky Hayden winning the 2006 championship on a Honda Bike that wasn’t even supposed to be their Race bike that years.

 Or Dani Pedrosa going head to head with the greatest Moto GP riders and more often than not beating them despite not being on the same physical level as others and establishing himself as one of the best riders of Moto GP history.

Or Andrea Dovizioso getting Ducati back to the winning ways by performing last-lap heroics on Marc Marquez to win multiple grand prix.

Or did Marc Marquez struggle with his injuries in the past few years that have brought about a type of emotional and physical torment these riders go through.

Or Aleix Espargaro and Aprilia’s Underdog story, and their attempt at a title charge last year.

Or Pecco Bagnaia bringing glory back to the Ducati after Stoner won the championship for them in 2007.

Or The sad end to the story of the prodigal son, the tragic story of Marco Simoncelli Rossi’s first prodigy and a close friend, who lost his life during the Malaysian grand prix 2011 when he made contact with Rossi and Colin Edwards where Collins bike struck Simoncelli’s lower body and Rossi hitting Simoncelli’s head which resulted in his death. A tragic period for Rossi that prompted him to start VR46 academy.

Moto GP is filled with such stories and every rider on the grid has a story every rider is a character in itself having their arch in this championship. Which I think lacks severely in F1 the last time we got to see some drama was in the 2018 Brazilian Prix where Max and Ocon came to blows in the Parc ferme, by no means I am suggesting all the drivers and riders in different class of motorsports should wear gloves and have a go at each other.

Now, it is not fair for me to compare F1 to Moto GP since this wasn’t my intention in writing this article. But the idea of watching riders hanging off their bikes and getting to see them operate those beasts lap after lap is a surreal experience.

And this Greatest Show on Earth is coming to the Land of Diversity in September racing on the Budh International Circuit bringing some life to the circuit that F1 has abandoned years ago to write more stories for the already rich-in-history Racing Series.

Not just off-the-track stories that are exciting but even on-track action that is offered by Moto GP is second to none.