MotoGP 2010: Runners and riders

AUTOSPORT MotoGP columnist Toby Moody gives the lowdown on this year's field of riders in the premier class of grand prix racing.

Yamaha

#46 Valentino Rossi (I)

Age: 31
MotoGP debut: South African GP 2000
Starts: 167
Wins: 77
Titles: 7 (2001, '02, '03, '04, '05, '08, '09)
2009: MotoGP world champion

Every year, you get this feeling that he's finally going to be beaten, and every year you're proved totally wrong as Valentino just keeps on showing why he is the best in the world, and one of those two-wheeled geniuses that only come along every 20 years.

It's going to happen one of these days, but probably not this year. With the kind of meticulous preparation that both he and his machinery gets, it's unsurprising, and let's not forget that he's just stupefying fast. All of that has added up to premier class wins in every one of the last 10 seasons. Amazing!

#99 Jorge Lorenzo (E)

Age: 22
MotoGP debut: Qatar GP 2008
Starts: 34
Wins: 5
Poles: 9
Titles: 0
2009: Second in MotoGP

Broken by Rossi at last year's Catalunya Grand Prix with that incredible last-corner passing move, but seems to have enough mental resilience about him to ensure that he will continue to be an annoyance to his team-mate for most of the year.

The worry is whether he'll have recovered sufficiently from the hand injury he sustained at Sepang in February to be a factor in the early races - he only managed five-lap runs in the recent test there, remember. At least he has the best bike on the grid at his disposal, with, in particular, its improved rear-end and engine ensuring he'll be up for a good few wins this time around.

Tech 3 Yamaha

#5 Colin Edwards (USA)

Age: 36
MotoGP debut: Japanese GP 2003
Starts: 119
Wins: 0
Poles: 3
Titles: 0
2009: 5th in MotoGP

One half of an all-US rider line-up in a French team running Japanese bikes, and looking to improve on what was his most convincing season in grands prix in '09. He may be the wrong side of 35 now, but he's still a stonking rider who is a PR dream, barely crashes and can always be relied upon to bring home big points.

I lost count of how many times he finished fifth last year behind 'The Aliens.' The Texas Tornado came so close to victory at Donington last summer, and I reckon he'll finally get the win he's been after since 2003 this season.

#11 Ben Spies (USA)

Age: 25
MotoGP debut: British GP 2008
Starts: 4
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
2009: World Superbike champion, 20th in MotoGP

The World Superbike champion's addition to Herve Poncheral's Tech 3 team should make it a fun place to be this year for MotoGP's other Texan. He may well even get the upper hand on Edwards, should he continue the stunning form he showed in his one-off appearance at Valencia last year and in winter testing.

Had to really graft to get the better of the legendary Mat Mladin in AMA Superbikes, and that should prepare him well for the mental demands of MotoGP, even though Edwards will be a tough team-mate to beat. Will he finally be the first rider to become a consistent GP winner after crossing over from Superbikes? He certainly has the talent.

Honda

#4 Andrea Dovizioso (I)

Age: 24
MotoGP debut: Qatar GP 2008
Starts: 35
Wins: 1
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 6th in MotoGP

Has everything to prove this year after falling well below expectations in his maiden season with the works squad. His switch from Showa to Ohlins forks didn't help him or his bike's balance problem in the slightest, and he's made a big mistake in getting rid of his crew chief Pete Benson and replacing him with his electronics guru from Scot Racing - even if the testing times have said otherwise.

He absolutely has to beat Pedrosa consistently over the first five or six races or he'll be out of a ride. If he does though, he could enhance his reputation considerably.

#26 Dani Pedrosa (E)

Age: 24
MotoGP debut: Spanish GP 2006
Starts: 59
Wins: 8
Poles: 13
Titles: 0
2009: 3rd in MotoGP

For once, the man who is quickly becoming Spain's number two rider is starting the year injury free. It's just his luck though that while he won't be hindered by his body, he certainly will be by his bike. Honda has a lot of work to do on the evidence of testing because for them, seeing its star rider tootling around in 13th place is simply not good enough.

He needs to show exactly what he's made of or Dovizioso will beat him. If that happens, even Honda's golden boy will be in danger of losing his ride - if he hasn't already, that is.

Gresini Honda

#33 Marco Melandri (I)

Age: 27
MotoGP debut: Spanish GP 2003
Starts: 104
Wins: 5
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 10th in MotoGP

After a disastrous season with Ducati and a reputation-restoring '09 on the Hayate Kawasaki, Melandri is back at his spiritual home in the Gresini Honda squad. It's a big year for the 2005 MotoGP runner-up, and his competitiveness will rely largely on how much of a pig the Honda really is, and how soon he gets the new bits from HRC relative to the works squad.

He knows this is make or break time and I really want to see him succeed and get back on a factory machine. Marco's problem has always been that when things aren't going well, his shoulders drop, Luca Cadalora-style. Let's hope that doesn't happen this year.

#58 Marco Simoncelli (I)

Age: 23
MotoGP debut: Qatar GP 2010
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 3rd in 250GP

He's a bit of an enigma who came from nowhere after two anonymous years in 250s to win the world title in '08. This year will be a different challenge altogether. He'll probably end up crashing quite a lot - as has already happened in testing - and that's because he'll have a Honda that he'll be pushing unbelievably hard.

It's hard to gauge where he is at the moment because he's never raced in the premier class, but if you can ride one bike, you can ride any.

LCR Honda

#14 Randy de Puniet (F)

Age: 29
MotoGP debut: Spanish GP 2006
Starts: 70
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 11th in MotoGP

Safe team with a safe rider. Former 125GP race-winner Lucio Cecchinello runs a good little operation and, let's not forget, is the man who first gave Casey Stoner a premier class ride. In Randy de Puniet he has a solid competitor who has done well to shed his reputation as a crasher since leaving Kawasaki at the end of '08.

He nearly won at Donington last year, although he will need the kind of odd scenario that race threw up to get another podium result like that. Definitely worth his place on the grid though.

Interwetten Honda

#7 Hiroshi Aoyama (J)

Age: 28
MotoGP debut: Qatar GP 2010
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 250cc world champion

The best of the 250 riders moving up to MotoGP this season and a thoroughly deserving champion last year on a Honda that had barely had any development in four years. Daniel Epp's team is stepping up to the premier class for the first time, but has won a 125 world title before with Tom Luthi and has pulled off a masterstroke in recruiting ex-Roberts and Kawasaki man Tom Jojic as crew chief for the one-bike team.

If the Honda is difficult, it will be a tough year, but if he can put a bit of pressure on the works bikes, you might just see him wearing Repsol colours next year. What a thought!

Ducati

#27 Casey Stoner (AUS)

Age: 24
MotoGP debut: Spanish GP 2006
Starts: 65
Wins: 20
Poles: 18
Titles: 1 (2007)
2009: 4th in MotoGP

I've got a sneaky feeling that Stoner is going to win the championship this year and add to his surprise 2007 title. He is well and truly over the problems that forced him to miss three races during the middle of last year and his Australian GP win - in only his second race back - was without a doubt the best ride of his career; not many people can resist that kind of pressure from Rossi over a whole race distance! Let's see how he gets on with this year's Ducati.

#69 Nicky Hayden (USA)

Age: 28
MotoGP debut: Japanese GP 2003
Starts: 116
Wins: 3
Poles: 5
Titles: 1 (2006)
2009: 13th in MotoGP

The nice guy of the paddock is in the final year of his Ducati contract and needs a good season to keep himself in demand as a GP rider. He should have one too as the GP10's engine has been modified to make it a bit less of a bespoke Stoner bike (more torquey, less screamy) and an easier thing to ride generally.

Nicky may not have won a race since becoming world champion four years ago, but you don't just forget how to ride a bike overnight. It will be a fairytale if he wins a race, but I really hope he does.

Pramac Ducati

#36 Mika Kallio (FIN)

Age: 27
MotoGP debut: Qatar GP 2009
Starts: 16
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 15th in MotoGP

Mika gained the tag of 'Mr Consistency' in his maiden MotoGP campaign last year and will be a more regular threat to the top-10 than his team-mate Espargaro. He won't be quite as quick though.

Just like Kenny Roberts Jr, if that bike is worth a 10th place, he'll finish 10th. No better, no worse. I don't think the works outings for Ducati last year helped or hindered him. I just hope that grotty green livery doesn't slow him down.

#41 Aleix Espargaro (E)

Age: 20
MotoGP debut: Indianapolis GP 2009
Starts: 4
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 18th in MotoGP, 20th in 250cc

Surprised me massively with a competitive ninth place on his debut at Indianapolis last year, despite having only done two races on a 250 all season. It's a shame that nobody really noticed though.

He doesn't have the best machinery and will do well to make himself stand out this time - especially with his younger brother. He's more ballsy than his team-mate Kallio and will probably get the upper hand on the Finn in qualifying, but he'll also crash more often too.

Aspar Ducati

#40 Hector Barbera (E)

Age: 23
MotoGP debut: Qatar GP 2010
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 2nd in 250cc

Barbera did well last year and shed a bit of the 'Hectic Hector' reputation he built up over the preceding few seasons, and on a more user-friendly Ducati that has been de-Stonered over the winter, he may just spring a few surprises.

He'll have a tough job though as a lone rider for an all-Spanish squad that, despite multiple titles in 125s and success in 250s, is stepping up to MotoGP for the first time. How he fares will largely depend on the infrastructure and support of Jorge Martinez's team. His first target should be to beat the Pramac bikes on a regular basis.

Suzuki

#19 Alvaro Bautista (E)

Age: 25
MotoGP debut: Qatar GP 2010
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
2009: 4th in 250cc

In the most difficult position of all the 250cc graduates machinery-wise, and has not been helped by the fact that Suzuki has been too busy trying to sort out inherent problems with its 2010 bike to help him bed himself in.

Bautista needs a big season after failing transfer his 125GP title-winning form into 250s, but is not going to get the chance to show immense talent I'm sure he has. I feel sorry for him about that, because he's a nice bloke. At least he'll have Capirossi's experience to learn from.

#65 Loris Capirossi (I)

Age: 37
MotoGP debut: Australian GP 1995
Starts: 188
Wins: 9
Poles: 13
Titles: 0
2009: 9th in MotoGP

It's hard to believe that this smashing rider will start his 300th grand prix (in all classes) this weekend, and even harder to remember his maiden GP win 20 years ago at Donington in 125s. The team has been hit by a combination of building a chassis that doesn't work and new testing restrictions that has left it unable to try out any potential fixes.

He'll ride the wheels off the bike, but when he scores the inevitable sixth places (that will be better than the bike should be capable of), nobody will even notice. Shame.