2006 MotoGP Photo Gallery

Kenny Roberts Jr. - Sepang Test

Nicky Hayden - Sepang Test

Marco Melandri - Sepang Test

Dani Pedrosa - Sepang Test

Val Rossi - Sepang Test

Casey Stoner - Sepang Test

Colin Edwards - Sepang Test

Chris Vermeulen - Sepang Test

Rossi - Sepang Test

De Puniet - Sepang Test

Gibernau - Sepang Test

Randy de Puniet - Sepang Test

Shinya Nakano - Sepang Test

Yamaha Tech 3 Rider James Ellison

Marco Melandri - Sepang Test

Casey Stoner - Sepang Test

Marco Melandri - Sepang Test

Nicky Hayden - Sepang Test

Loris Capirossi - Phillip Island

Sete Gibernau - Phillip Island

Randy de Puniet - Phillip Island

Shinya Nakano - Phillip Island

Toni Elias - Phillip Island

Nicky Hayden - Phillip Island

Kenny Roberts - Phillip Island

Marco Melandri - Phillip Island

Dan Pedrosa - Phillip Island

Casey Stoner - Phillip Island

Casy Stoner - Phillip Island

Makoto Tamada - Phillip Island

Shinya Nakano - Phillip Island

Randy De Puniet - Phillip Island

Colin Edwards - Qatar Test

John Hopkins - Qatar Test

Valentino Rossi - Qatar Test

Is it just my imagination or did Rossi play Romeo in that old movie version of Romeo and Juliette you had to watch in Junior High - Qatar Test

Chris Vermeulen - Qatar Test

Loris Capirossi - Second Sepang Test

Colin Edwards - Second Sepang Test

Sete Gibernau - Second Sepang Test

John Hopkins - Second Sepang Test

Valentino Rossi - Second Sepang Test

Rossi turns 27 - Second Sepang Test

Yamaha unveils its new livery at a preseason press conference.

Catalunya Test

Colin Edwards - Jerez

Sete Gibernau - Jerez

John Hopkins - Jerez

Shinya Nakano - Jerez

Valentino Rossi - Jerez

Chris Vermeulen - Jerez

Loris Capirossi - Jerez

Randy de Puniet - Catalunya

Loris Capirossi - Jerez

Sete Gibernau - Jerez

Shinya Nakano - Jerez

Valentino Rossi - Jerez

Loris Capirossi (65) and Daniel Pedrosa (26) battled for the majority of the race in Jerez with the Ducati pilot pulling out the big win.

Kenny Roberts Jr. - Team KR - Jerez

Loris Capirossi - Marlboro-Alice Ducati - Jerez

Rizla Suzuki's John Hopkins (21) leads Carlos Checa (7) and Chris Vermeulen - Jerez

Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden - Jerez

Ducati's Loris Capirossi celebrates his victory at Jerez with the crowd.

Valentino Rossi's Jerez race got off to a horrible start with a first turn crash ending his chance at a podium - Jerez

You done good kid. Stoner makes snaring pole positions look easy when he claims one on his second-ever MotoGP event. Maybe a podium or, gulp, a victory isn't that outrageous a result to shoot for either - Qatar

Stoner's incredible results at Losail extend into raceday where he finished fifth overall - Qatar

Loris Capirossi was just edged out by rookie Stoner for the pole position. Here he is making some kind of gesture I'm not familiar with, or he's just the happiest dang gang member in the whole wide world - Qatar

John Hopkins listening to the 'Why in the Hell Did I Sign with Suzuki for Two More Years Blues' on his I-Pod.- Qatar

It had been a couple months since Rossi has been able to do this after a race and say to himself: 'I wonder how far back they are?' At Qatar Rossi was back to his winning ways - Qatar

Valentino Rossi leads Nicky Hayden and Loris Capirossi - Qatar

Loris Capirossi leads Casey Stoner - Qatar

Team Roberts got some attention when KRJR led all riders after the first practice day. Things fell back down to earth in qualfying and on raceday when he finished 10th, but who would have guessed Team Roberts would have two top-10 finishes after Round 2? - Qatar

Nicky is now an established podium threat every week, battling with Rossi for the lead until the bitter end - Qatar

Some say the rider is 80% of the equation and that may be true, but even the best rider in the world can't win on a bike that contributes nothing but problems - Qatar

Capirossi and Hayden have been on the podium each of the first two races but the Italian is the points leader after two rounds - Qatar

Nakano was unable to break into the top 10, but was still the toplaced green rider after Randy de Puniet's DNF - Qatar

Chris Vermeulen claims the pole position at Istanbul

Marco Melandri - Turkey

Pedrosa at Istanbul

Be careful Hopper, the way your season has been going the wheel might fall off - Shanghai

Rizla Suzuki - John Hopkins - China

Camel Honda's Colin Edwards - China

Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden - China

Dani Pedrosa (26) leads Nicky Hayden (69) - China

Colin Edwards was fastest in practice at Le Mans, the scene of his first podium in 2005.

Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa - MotoGP

Marco celebrates his second win of the year. The first MotoGP rider to do so this season - Le Mans

Rossi is having trouble this season, but who's to blame? - Le Mans

Nicky and Vermeulen exchange glances at Le Mans

A first turn melee forced Edwards to run wide in Turn 1 and the Texan had to fight his way back for back to finish sixth - Le Mans

Nicky got a top 5, but lost ground to the hard-charging Melandri in the points - Le Mans

Melandri was able to get his second win of the year and tie himself up with Capirossi for second in the points chase - Le Mans

Casey Stoner has been solid as... well, a rock this season. Never finishing lower than sixth - Le Mans

Capirossi fought hard for a second-place finish - Le Mans

Hopkins was running strong, until he crashed in Lap 4 - Le Mans

Gibernau and Edwards had to work their way through the ranks to earn single-digit finishes - Le Mans

Things looked promising for Nakano at Le Mans, but a starting gaffe earned him a ride-through penalty - Le Mans

Rossi and Jeremy Burgess try to get things ironed out after a Le Mans heartbreaker. Missed it by that much... - Le Mans post-race testing

Rossi recieved the Laureus World Sports’ ‘Spirit of Sport’ award, after his disappointment at Le Mans.

Rossi at Mugello

John Hopkins faded from his fourth-place start to finish 10th - Mugello

Kawasaki's Nakano got passed on the final straight by Hopkins to finish 11th - Mugello

Nicky's podium finish puts him back where he belongs if the championship is in his cards - Mugello

Toni Elias finished right behind his Fortuna teammate for seventh - Mugello

Melandri was unable to challenge for the lead after running off into the gravel - Mugello

Kenny Roberts Junior was running strong for a solid eighth-place finish - Mugello

Casey Stoner had a crushing set back when he highsided out of the Sunday race - Mugello

Honda's Repsol rookie, Pedrosa, got a fourth-place result, although the front three were well ahead at the finish - Mugello

Gibernau won the pole position, but had to settle for a fifth-place finish - Mugello

Hayden's third-place finish has him tied with Capirossi for the title - Mugello

Loris Capirossi almost have the Italians a double reason for joy at Mugello, but the Italian rider was unable to push the Italian bike into the win - Mugello

The Mugello podium included Capirossi, Rossi, and Hayden, who sported a new hairstyle - Mugello

Valentino Rossi was back on the pace, locked in a stubborn duel with Loris Capirossi for the win - Mugello

Capirossi ran into some hard luck at Catalunya, the hard luck being teammate Gibernau! - Catalunya

Alex Hofmann re-signed with the Pramac d'Antin squad, but will be out of commission for a while due to surgery to remove screws and plates in his foot and ankles.

Melandri was the third-rider, along with the two Ducati's, to not make it back for the red-flag restart - Catalunya

During the confusion of the restart, Nakano made a mistake in his position, when he didn't pull in for the required penalty he was black-flagged - Catalunya

When things got back underway, Casey Stoner was up front, but repeated his Mugello result with a DNF - Catalunya

Dani Pedrosa went down in the first-turn melee and later after the restart - Catalunya

Toni Elias was another rider to earn the dreaded DNF - Catalunya

Casey Stoner was consistently fast through the first quarter of the season, now he is riding a two-race crash streak - Catalunya

Makoto Tamada got one of his better results, in part because seven out of 18 riders were unable to finish - Catalunya

Chris Vermeulen contributed to one of Suzuki's most sucessful days in MotoGP with a sixth-place finish - Catalunya

Hopkins was dicing with Rossi at times - Catalunya

It was an American face-off for the final podium spot, with Suzuki's Hopper unable to fend off one-time teammate, Kenny Roberts Junior - Catalunya

Nicky Hayden is all alone with the points lead. Can the Kentucky Kid win the title without winning a race? - Catalunya

Hayden and Junior hit the bottle after a successful podium finish - Catalunya

Not a bad day for Team Roberts - Catalunya

Rossi crossed the finish line in style - Catalunya

The Catalunya podium featured two Americans - Catalunya

Catalunya makes two in a row for The Doctor - Catalunya

Camel Yamaha's Colin Edwards - Assen

John Hopkins claimed the pole position - Assen

Could Nicky pull off the win at Assen?

Melandri fought hard to qualify at the top of the third row - Assen

Bruised and battered, Supermarco fought on - Assen

Casey Stoner hasn't liked the changes made to the track, but he needs to worry about changing his recent results - Assen

Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa (26) leads Casey Stoner and Kenny Roberts Jr. (10) - Assen

Camel Yamaha's Colin Edwards was in control until the last turn of the race - Assen

Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden recovers from his off-track adventure to go on and win his second career GP race and the 200th GP win for Honda - Assen

Nicky Hayden celebrates win number 200 on the podium with his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa - Assen

Rizla Suzuki's John Hopkins (21) lead Nicky Hayden for a couple laps at Assen

Peewee was on fire at Donington

It was a frustrating day for Vermeulen, starting from the front to drop to 16th due to mechanical difficulties - Donington

Randy de Puniet was the top-placed Kawasaki after Nakano's retirement - Donington

Rossi was able to take second-place but has to fight off a feisty Melandri to hold it - Donington

Riding for the injured Gibernau, Alex Hofmann finished 13th - Donington

Shinya Nakano couldn't follow up his exciting second-place Assen finish, instead earning a DNF due to his early retirement - Donington

John Hopkins did his best, but after running with the leaders in the early laps, he faded to an eighth-place result - Donington

Edwards can't get no satisfaction after his Assen disaster finishing sixth - Donington

Rossi and Melandri were dueling for second-place right up to the bitter end - Donington

Nicky needs to take a deep breath and remember he still owns a 26-point lead - Donington

Loris Capirossi's season went wayward at Catalunya, but the tough Italian continues to plod on - Donington

Team Roberts rider, Kenny Roberts Junior, was running strong throughout the entire contest and earned a top-5 finish - Donington

Two of Honda's best and brightest celebrate their podium finishes - Donington

Once Pedrosa made the pass, it was all over - Donington

Dani Pedrosa may be small, but he packs a mean punch - Donington

Rossi struggled to find the right set up in practice and qualifying - Sachsenring

Rossi celebrates his GermanGP victory on the podium wearing the Italian national team jersey next to second-place rider Marco Melandri and third-place finisher Nicky Hayden. Italy defeated France for the World Cup in Germany just a week ago.

Chris Vermeulen was the top-finishing Suzuki rider, ending the day in seventh - Sachsenring

Colin Edwards had a rotten weekend all around, finishing in 12th - Sachsenring

Carlos Checa was respectable on the Dunlop-shod Tech 3 and earned a top-10 ninth-place finish - Sachsenring

John Hopkins couldn't crack the single digits to finish 10th - Sachsenring

Loris Capirossi was back to his top-5 self, but is still not quite back to pre-Catalunya form - Sachsenring

Gibernau's eighth-place finish wasn't overwhelming, but a solid return from his Catalunya injuries - Sachsenring

Casey Stoner wasn't cleared by doctors to participate in the Catalunya race after a crash in the pre-race warmup session - Sachsenring

Kawasaki is looking good in 2006.

Shinya Nakano earned a second-row start and turned it into a sixth-place finish - Sachsenring

Konica Minolta Honda's Makoto Tamada was running top-5 and then KRJR came along and wammo! - Sachsenring

Pedrosa had the pole position but slipped to fourth, finishing just over three tenths behind Rossi - Sachsenring

Kenny Roberts Junior was going great until Lap 10, when he crashed and took Tamada out with him - Sachsenring

Once again it was Melandri who was able to step up and challenge The Doctor in the final laps - Sachsenring

It has been a good couple weeks for Italian athletes in Germany - Sachsenring

Rossi's victory moved him into second place, just 26 points behind Hayden - Sachsenring

Hayden took the lead in the early laps but fell back and settled for a solid third-place finish - Sachsenring

Vermeulen snagged the pole position and was running up for a podium finish, but a small error cost him a spot on the rostrum - Laguna Seca

Edwards rocketed to a front row start, but fell backwards once the race got going - Laguna Seca

Edwards running the special USGP livery through the corkscrew - Laguna Seca

Edwards' decal on his M1 - Laguna Seca

Colin Edwards' USGP colors are a little different - Laguna Seca

Elias ran off the track during the race, but was able to finish, although way back in 15th - Laguna Seca

Vermeulen was able to retain the lead after winning the pole position the day before - Laguna Seca

Nicky Celebrates his second consecutive USGP win and now owns a 34-point advantage in the championship over his Repsol teammate and second-place finisher, Dani Pedrosa - Laguna Seca

Hopper finished sixth. It was an improvement over his eighth-place finish last season but it had to sting a bit that Australian teammate Vermeulen was one spot ahead - Laguna Seca

Tamada had a couple good runs in practice and qualifying but after 32 laps he finished 11th - Laguna Seca

Melandri just hung tough and finished on the podium. A far cry from his Lap-1 DNF last year - Laguna Seca

Marco Melandri was the beneficiary of some mistakes made by the guys in front, but hung in there for an impressive podium - Laguna Seca

Was Rossi's melting ice dog an odd premonition of things to come on Sunday? - Laguna Seca

'A couple races ago everybody thought it was a fluke at the beginning of the year, but my boys are for real and our team is really strong.' - Laguna Seca

Rossi was in fourth and in the hunt for the podium before the M1 overheated - Laguna Seca

Nicky wasn't blowing people away in practice or qualifying, but when it mattered most, The Kentucky Kid stepped up big time - Laguna Seca

Stoner was fast all weekend, unfortunately he was also a bit reckless. - Laguna Seca

KRJR was fastest on Day 1, but couldn't translate the feat into a podium, finishing in fourth - Laguna Seca

Hayden gave the home crowd something to shout about after qualifying - Laguna Seca

This shot of Jeremy smiling in the Camel Yamaha pits must have come post-Rossi DNF - Laguna Seca

Six races to go and The Doctor is 50 points behind - Laguna Seca

You got to love Nicky's country work ethic: 'Some races it don't pay off to be fit, you know, big tracks where it's pretty easy. But today was really hot, really physical, and you know, that's why you get up with the sun and go to work in the morning.' - Laguna Seca

By the end of Rossi's '06 USGP, the left side of his rear tire was shot - Laguna Seca

The Kentucky Kid strikes again - Laguna Seca

Now it would appear that Hayden's biggest threat will be from his teammate Pedrosa - Laguna Seca

They may have made some changes, but the Laguna Seca circuit is still Hayden's backyard turf - Laguna Seca

On Friday KRJR looked like a sure thing, but that didn't pan out on Sunday - Laguna Seca

Hayden wouldn't be denied his second USGP win - Laguna Seca

Gibernau's 10th-place finish wasn't half bad considering how poorly the Ducs ran at Laguna and the fact that Sete ended up still having problems with his collarbone - Laguna Seca

Rossi was the man to beat in practice and qualifying, but on race day it was a different story - Brno

Capirossi was back with a vengeance - Brno

Carlos Checa pushes the Dunlop-shop Tech 3 Yamaha - Brno

Second-place was not so bad. Rossi could take comfort in the fact that he brought his machine across the finish - Brno

Vermeulen was unable to repeat his Laguna success - Brno

Rossi was happy for his fellow Italian's victory - Brno

John Hopkins peeled off a two-position upgrade on the final lap - Brno

Nakano was able to pass Hayden on the final lap - Brno

Casey Stoner returned to race-finishing form - Brno

Melandri was one of the many riders to best the fading Kentucky Kid - Brno

Kenny Roberts Junior ran a very strong race, finishing fourth - Brno

An aggressive Pedrosa celebrated a podium and come dangerously close to taking out Hayden and Rossi at different junctures of the race - Brno

The wheels all but came off of Hayden ride during the final laps - Brno

The greatest battle in the race was the head-to-head battle between Rossi and Pedrosa - Brno

The Rossi/Pedrosa battle got extremely close, with a couple of close calls - Brno

Catch me if you can - Brno

Capirossi's return to the top of the rostrum was a triumph for Ducati, Bridgestone, and the once-championship-leading rider himself - Brno

Capirossi was untouchable at Brno.

The Rizla girls are always a welcome sight - Brno

Edwards is becoming a less relevant as the season wears on. Can the Texan find a way to go out with a bang? - Sepang

Capirex was a stallion at Sepang. The only problem was Rossi was just a little bit better - Sepang

Gibernau's fifth-place finish was a solid result for the Spaniard as he returns from injury - Sepang

The Doctor was magnifico at Sepang, providing a thrilling battle with Capirex - Sepang

What can I say? I am veddy veddy good - Sepang

It looks like the battle between Loris and Valentino will headline the remainder of 2006 - Sepang

'Hon, do you mind not standing so close? This place is hot enough as it is.'

Stay cool Nick, you still have a 22-point advantage in the championship, but you got to get back up on that podium - Sepang

He might be under five feet and weigh less than 100 lbs, but Dani Pedrosa is a fierce competitor and showed some grit with a podium finish despite an injured knee - Sepang

KRJR bested all the sattelite Honda squads with his seventh-place finish - Sepang

Rossi took the win at Sepang after an amazing duel with Capirossi - Sepang

Toni Elias was running pretty well before he crashed out in front of his Fortuna ally, Marco Melandri - Sepang

It was not a good day for the Kawasaki team, with Nakano and De Puniet colliding in the first lap, forcing Nakano to DNF and De Puniet to continue from the dead last - Sepang

John Hopkins finished sixth, but in the past few races has shown the ability to gain rather than fade in the final laps - Sepang

Marco Melandri wasn't happy with his starting position, as he never got an opportunity to use a qualifyer, and went on to finish ninth - Sepang

Vermuelen wasn't spectacular, but did manage to finish 11th behind Edwards - Sepang

Back pain contributed to Stoner's fall from top 5 to his eighth-place result - Sepang

Pedrosa is showing some resilience, after earning a podium despite an knee injury. The diminutive Spaniard may be Hayden's greatest rival in the championship - Sepang

De Puniet had his moment in the sun as the fastest rider on Friday, but fell back to earth, and 11th-place, on Sunday - Phillip Island

Loris Capirossi was unable to continue to two-race streak of podiums and challenging for the win, having to settle for seventh at the Island - Phillip Island

Shinya Nakano was wailing in the opening laps after taking the lead off the start, but when the rain fell and riders switched machines, Nakano started to fade - Phillip Island

Melandri's victory at Phillip Island marks the Fortuna Honda rider's third of the season. Only Rossi has won more in 2006 - Phillip Island

Rossi was up and down on Sunday. Before changing machines, Rossi made an amazing charge up through the ranks were he was passing two bikes at a time with ease! - Phillip Island

Vermeulen douses his fellow countrymen with some bubbly after his podium - Phillip Island

It was a victorious day for Melandri, but for Vermeulen it was his first-ever podium appearance and it was made extra special by being in front of his home crowd - Phillip Island

Casey Stoner just missed a top-5 finish for his home crowd - Phillip Island

Dani Pedrosa suffered the most from the impromptu pit change, falling way off the pace in the second half of the 26-lap contest - Phillip Island

Colin Edwards was looking respectable before he crashed out on Lap 7 for a DNF - Phillip Island

Carlos Checa was a surprise, running up in the single-digits before a second bike change put him out of the running and then, shortly thereafter, out of the race altogether - Phillip Island

Hopkins' fortunes faded as the rain began to fall - Phillip Island

Chris V. was stormin' out in the wet and would yield the lead to Melandri, but manage his first-ever MotoGP podium in second - Phillip Island

Sete was primed for his first podium on the Ducati, but his great rival would have none of it - Phillip Island

It was a horrible race for Team Roberts, with KRJR a lap down in 14th - Phillip Island

With three to go, is it too late for The Doctor to make up 21 points on Hayden? - Phillip Island

Fifth-place never felt so good. Running ahead of Rossi would have been better, but the Kentucky Kid didn't suffer too much in the points - Phillip Island

'My lead is only 21 now?' The pressure for Hayden is now greater than ever - Phillip Island

Nicky inked a two-year extension during the Japanese round - Motegi

'Make me faster than Rossi' - Motegi

What might have been? It looks like Catalunya may have cost Capirossi his championship - Motegi

No one could stop Loris Capirossi as the Ducati ace took a flag-to-flag victory at Motegi. The Italian was joined on the rostrum by his two fellow countrymen, Valentino Rossi and Marco Melandri - Motegi

Loris Capirossi's victory is his second consecutive at Motegi and vaulted him up into fourth overall in the championship - Motegi

Casey Stoner runs in fourth in front of the Motegi crowd. The young Aussie was unable to hold the position and faded back to eighth before crashing out of the race on Lap 13 - Motegi

Toni Elias had a strong ride, finishing sixth ahead of both his Honda compatriots Pedrosa and Stoner - Motegi

Hayden is clutching on to his dwindling lead but benefited at Motegi from Nakano's final lap DNF as well as Capirossi's victory, which kept Rossi's hands off of valuable championship points - Motegi

Marco Melandri is coming on strong at the season's end - Motegi

Melandri's podium appearance helped Honda seal up the constructors championship. The Italian is now also third-place in the championship - Motegi

Pedrosa has faltered a bit in recent rounds, but has managed to win Rookie of the Year in MotoGP, making the young Spaniard the ROY in every MotoGP class - Motegi

Stoner couldn't maintain his top-5 pace and would go on to DNF after crashing on Lap 13 - Motegi

Valentino Rossi is doing everything within his power to make this season a nailbiter and now stands just 12 points behind Hayden for the title.

Unlike last round, Gibernau would not be overtaken on the final lap and held on to fourth, with Shinya Nakano crashing out after his front wheel touched Gibernau's in the final turns - Motegi

The V-4 800 from Honda breaks wrapper at the Motegi test.

The Ilmor maiden race wasn't overwhelming, but McCoy did manage to earn a single point - Estoril

Garry McCoy ended the day four laps down, but still finished 15th and earned a point - Estoril

Hopper wasn't the fastest rider out there, but keeping it on two wheels to the finish he managed a sixth-place result - Estoril

Gibernau's bad luck got worse, when Casey Stoner took him out in the opening laps. To add insult to injury, it appears that Stoner will replace Gibbers on the Ducati for '07 - Estoril

The Doctor was the main benificiary off the Repsol debacle, but Rossi lost five points to a surprising Elias - Estoril

Electrical problems for the Ilmor X3 into the pits during the race, but they still finished and claimed a point in the championship race - Estoril

Elias was a man on a mission during the 28-lap contest - Estoril

Pedrosa and Hayden were primed to challenge the Camel Yamaha team before the disaster struck - Estoril

Toni Elias celebrates his first-ever victory in the MotoGP class and took the checker in dramatic fashion - Estoril

Loris Capirossi faded from fifth to 12th when his rear grip began to fade - Estoril

De Puniet was the top-finishing Kawasaki in 10th - Estoril

Nakano would get carried off on a stretcher after a nasty crash on the first lap - Estoril

Carlos Checa was impressive with a 7th-place finish. Just imagine what the Spaniard will do next year on the LCR Honda - Estoril

Edwards did an excellent job of fending off potential Rossi challengers, but about halfway thru he lost positions to Elias and KRJR - Estoril

Roberts rode hard and was the leader heading into the final lap - Estoril

Faustino Gresini watches his team perform, with Elias the unexpected ace this weekend - Estoril

KRJR was close to breaking his six-year winless drought, but was content with a third-place podium - Estoril

Hayden looked about ready to blow a gasket after the crash, and I'm not talking about his RC211V either - Estoril

Makoto Tamada may have benefitted from the early exits of Stoner, Gibernau, Hayden, and Pedrosa, but a top-5 finish is a keeper in anyone's book - Estoril

Edwards did everything Pedrosa did not, got a solid top-5 finish and helped his teammate take the championship lead - Estoril

Rossi was back to his customary place, atop the championship standings - Estoril

Casey Stoner took out Gibernau during the opening laps. A prelude to the expected rider change with Stoner taking Gibber's ride on the Ducati for 2007 - Estoril

Elias resigned with the Gresini team after his impressive win at Estoril.

Chris Vermeulen has had an impressive year for his rookie MotoGP campaign.

Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden - Valencia

Nicky Hayden - 2006 MotoGP Champion

Nicky Hayden unleashes his Rebel Yell after securing the 2006 title with a third place finish at Valencia.

Team Ducati gave Troy Bayliss a one race ride and it paid off with him leading a 1-2 finish in the finale - Valencia

Alex Hofmann will be returning with the Pramac d'Antin squad in 2007, but crashed out in his final race of 2006 - Valencia

Jose Luis Cardoso will be discarded in 2007 for Alex Barros. 2006 was a rough campaign, with Cardoso finishing last amongst the regular riders - Valencia

Troy Bayliss scored more championship points in one race than Cardoso and was just one shy of Ellison - Valencia

Vermeulen showed some flashes of brilliance in his rookie campaign, but crashed out of the finale - Valencia

Tamada is finished with Honda and will campaign in '07 on for the Tech 3 Yamaha team - Valencia

Nicky was a happy man at the press conference - Valencia

James Ellison's 2007 plans are up in the air - Valencia

KRJR's year went better than expected, with a couple of podiums to his credit and a solid top-10 finish in the overall points - Valencia

Will the Pramac d'Antins be more of a force in 2007? - Valencia

Colin Edwards couldn't do much for his teammate - Valencia

Bayliss's win was nothing short of amazing - Valencia

Toni Elias did well for himself with a sixth-place finish in the finale - Valencia

Melandri was fighting hard but unable to hold third in the championship, losing to Capirex by one point - Valencia

Dani Pedrosa did his best to make up for his Estoril gaffe and finished behind his teammate Hayden - Valencia

Rossi's troubles are evident from the first corner as he got squeezed off from his pole position advantage - Valencia

Bayliss and Capirossi were responsible for the finest Ducati performance of the season - Valencia

Nakano's run on the Kawasaki was his last as he will contend 2007 on the Konica Minolta Honda - Valencia

There goes the title - Valencia

Nicky was a happy man Sunday afternoon - Valencia

Nicky Hayden, 2006 MotoGP Champion - Valencia

The Kentucky Kid pulled it off - Valencia

Chris Vermeulen: I'm reasonably happy with my result - but as I've said before I always want to be higher up. I got a good start today - my best so far in MotoGP.

2006 MotoGP - Check out the action in this MotorcycleUSA.com photo essay