Description

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46th YEAR - The longest running motorcycle sport yearbook. Largest edition ever at 328 pages. Independent and authoritative editorial combined with the finest action photography.

For lovers of two-wheeled motorsport, MOTOCOURSE stands alone as the leading yearbook covering the sport.

Since its launch 1976 it has evolved through the decades into the most authoritative chronicle on the FIM motorcycling world and key national championships. The 18-race MotoGP championship produced a fascinating mix of races which saw no fewer than eight different riders take victories in the first fourteen rounds, before the season climaxed in Valencia in November.

Leading the way was the young Frenchman Fabio Quartararo, who on his Yamaha, managed to keep a phalanx of Ducati riders at bay, led by Peco Bagnaia, Jack Miller, Jorge Martin.

Fascinating sub-stories abounded, with the triumphant return from injury by multiple champion Marc Marquez to win the German Grand Prix for Honda, and the strange melt-down by Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales who opened the season with a win in Qatar before an abrupt departure and swift re-appearance with Aprilia in mid-season.
2021 marked the last hurrah for the legend that is Valentino Rossi. “The Doctor” may have endured a low-key end to his illustrious MotoGP career, which has spanned an incredible twenty- six seasons, but his popularity around the world remains undiminished.

Aside from the premier class, Moto 2 and Moto3 are given ample coverage, with KTM’s championship chasing pair of Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez battling for the top prize before graduating to the premier class. In Moto3 a new star was born in the shape of rookie Pedro Acosta, who at just seventeen years of age has already been earmarked for promotion after just one year. Editor Michael Scott and Neil Morrison supply full reports on each Grand Prix, and Matt Birt brings us his usual run down on the comings and goings of each of the 11 squads in the Team-By-Team review, which has full personnel and technical specifications, the bikes being illustrated beautifully by Adrian Dean’s meticulously crafted drawings.

Full coverage is given of the 13-round World Superbike Series in which Kawasaki’s defending champion Jonathan Rea faced a stern challenge from Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and Ducati’s Scott Redding. All the races and the seasons bikes and riders are put under the microscope by Superbike top writer Gordon Ritchie who also covers the World Supersport class with Yamaha the dominant force.

Peter McLaren provides full race results and lap charts from every round of both MotoGP and World Superbikes as well as complete points stable from all the major championships.

The well of talent that eventually will become the cream of racing almost inevitably springs from the amazingly well-conceived Red Bull Rookies series, in which youngsters vie for supremacy on identical machines. The vastly experienced Peter Clifford charts the ups and downs of their close-fought battles.

Sadly, because of the continuing pandemic, the Isle of Man TT did not take place for a second year in succession, but the well-funded and increasingly popular British BSB Superbike series continues to grow in prestige, with an ever-deepening field of talent competing across eight different classes throughout a weekend packed with action.

MOTOCOURSE also covers the racing in the USA, via the Moto America Superbike series which saw Yamaha’s Jake Gagne emerging as a convincing winner in the Superbike class and Sean Dylan Kelly an equally dominant champion in the Supersport class.

About the Author

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A leading MotoGP commentator for more than 30 years, Michael Scott’s reports highlight not only the technical and sporting but also the extraordinary people – including highly commended biographies of World Champions Barry Sheene and Wayne Rainey. As well as a major history of the sport, the magazine highlights include regular reports and columns for Cycle News in the USA and Australian Motorcycle News, as well as major UK publications including Motorcycle News. Since 1990 Scott has edited the prestigious Motocourse annual, the bible of motorcycle racing. He also played a leading role as expert commentator in several motorcycle racing films, including the popular series “Hitting the Apex”, “Faster” and “Fastest”, as well as “The Unrideables” and the official 75th anniversary Dorna film and book Racing Together 1949-2016.

Peter McLaren is a MotoGP correpspondent to crash.net.