The 2006 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 58th Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) Road racing World Championship season. The season consisted out of 17 races for the MotoGP class and 16 for the 125cc and 250cc classes, beginning with the Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix on 26 March 2006 and ending with the Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix on 29 October.

Season summary

The 2006 MotoGP season was one of the closest battles in recent years, in which Honda's Nicky Hayden did not claim the championship from Valentino Rossi until the final race of the year. The victory was Hayden's first and only World Championship. Seven different riders claimed Grand Prix victories including first time winners Dani Pedrosa, Toni Elías and Troy Bayliss. Yamaha's Valentino Rossi fought back from a 51-point deficit to lead the championship going into the final rounds. Hayden's fortunes took a dip when he was taken out by his teammate Pedrosa at the penultimate round in Portugal, but he bounced back to win the crown when Rossi crashed in the final race at Valencia. Hayden only won two races to Rossi's five, but the Yamaha suffered a number of mechanical issues that led to more retirements, which allowed Hayden to score more podiums. In addition, the surprise win of Elias in Portugal, with a margin of just 0.002 second over Rossi, proved to be a major decider in the championship. Rossi had given up five points in that round, the same amount by which he was behind Hayden in the final standings. Had there been a tie, Rossi would have been crowned World Champion due to more race victories than Hayden. In the 250cc class, Aprilia's Jorge Lorenzo won his first championship taking 8 victories. Another Aprilia rider took the 125cc crown with Álvaro Bautista also taking 8 wins.

2006 Grand Prix season calendar

The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 2006:

Calendar changes

Regulation changes

The following changes are made to the regulation for the 2006 season:

Sporting regulations

These rules were additionally added on 27 June 2006:

Technical regulations

2006 Grand Prix season results

Participants

MotoGP participants

250cc participants

According to the official website: www.motogp.com

125cc participants

According to the official website: www.motogp.com

Standings

MotoGP standings

Points were awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider had to finish the race to earn points.

Riders' standings

Constructors' standings

Teams' standings

250cc standings

Points were awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider had to finish the race to earn points.

Riders' standings

Constructors' standings

125cc standings

Points were awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider had to finish the race to earn points.

Riders' standings

Constructors' standings