The
2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 62nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. It was the first season for the new Moto2 class.
Jorge Lorenzo was crowned MotoGP World Champion for the first time, after he finished third in the Malaysian Grand Prix on 10 October.
Finishing on the podium in 16 of the 18 races – including nine victories – to be held during the season, Lorenzo amassed a record points total for the premier class, achieving a total of 383 points, ten more than the previous best score, achieved by Valentino Rossi in 2008.
Second in the championship was Dani Pedrosa, 138 points behind Lorenzo, recording four race victories over the course of the season. He and third-placed Rossi both missed at least three races due to injuries suffered during race weekends; Pedrosa suffered a fractured collarbone at Motegi,
while Rossi suffered a broken leg at Mugello,
resulting in the first missed races of his entire Grand Prix career.
The only other rider to win races during the season was Casey Stoner, who finished fourth in the championship. Stoner won three races in the latter half of the season, winning the inaugural races in Aragón, as well as the races at Motegi and his home race at Phillip Island.
Nine different riders won races in the secondary Moto2 championship, and former MotoGP rider Toni Elías claimed the inaugural championship title, with three events to spare as his seven victories had taken him out of reach of his rivals.
Second place went to Julián Simón, who despite not winning a race, finished on the podium eight times. Third place in the championship went to Andrea Iannone, who achieved three victories but lost out on runner-up in the championship to Simón by just two points. The season was also tinged with tragedy as the inaugural race winner in the class, Shoya Tomizawa, died of injuries suffered in an accident at Misano; the first on-track fatality at Grand Prix level since Daijiro Kato was killed in the senior class at Suzuka in 2003.
Other riders to win races were Jules Cluzel, Yuki Takahashi, Roberto Rolfo, Alex de Angelis, Stefan Bradl and Karel Abrah1am.
Spanish riders once again dominated the 125cc championship, with a 26-race winning streak for Spanish riders only being broken by Bradley Smith at the final race of the season in Valencia.
The top three championship placings went to Spanish riders as Marc Márquez won the championship ahead of Nicolás Terol and Pol Espargaró. With ten victories, Márquez became the second youngest World Champion ever at the age of
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Smith was best non-Spanish rider, in fourth place.
Rule changes
- A number of rule changes have been enacted for the 2010 season. They include reductions to test mileage, the introduction of engines with prolonged life, the use of cast iron brakes instead of carbon brakes, the use of only one spare bike, and the cancellation of one of the Friday practice sessions.Despite this, two Friday practice sessions were held in Aragón and the final two races.
- From 2010 on, rookies in the MotoGP class will be permitted to sign only with private teams. Suzuki are exempt from this rule, as they only run one factory team and have no satellite teams.
Moto2 introduction
The Moto2 class replaces the 250cc class for 2010. The original intention was for Moto2 bikes to run alongside the existing 250cc machinery,
however the entry list consisted of Moto2 machines only. The new class aims to be economical, with measures such as limiting electronics (which will be supplied only by FIM sanctioned producers), the ban of carbon-fibre brakes and the use of steel brakes only; however, there will be no chassis limitations.
All Moto2 bikes will use a mandatory 600 cc Honda engine,
which will probably be prepared by Honda's European specialized tuner Ten Kate, and which will be expected to produce a power of about 150 bhp.
Control tyres for the new series will be provided by Dunlop only, despite early intentions of leaving tyre specifications free.
Grands Prix
The provisional calendar was announced on November 10, 2009.
In case a circuit is not able to hold a scheduled Grand Prix, a reserve race will take place on the same day at the Motorland Aragón circuit. This was updated six days later, with a date change for the Czech round, moving one week forward.
It was announced on 18 March 2010 that Aragón would be included on the calendar, at the expense of the Balatonring, due to the fact that construction work on the latter circuit could not be completed on time.
On 19 April 2010, it was announced that the Japanese Grand Prix will be moved to October 3, due to the disruption to air travel after the second eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland.
