Makoto Tamada

Makoto Tamada born November 4, 1976(1976-11-04) in Ehime Prefecture, Japan is a professional motorcycle racer. He is one of the few riders to win races in both MotoGP and Superbike World Championship. For 2008 he will ride for the PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse team in the Superbike World Championship.
After a junior career in minibikes, he won a regional 250cc championship in 1994. He then spent 4 years in the main Japanese 250cc series, finishing 4th on a private bike in 1998. He entered the MFJ Superbike championship in 1999. He finished in the championship top 5 for the next 4 years, but came to international fame as a wild card in the Superbike World Championship round at Sugo, upsetting the regulars to win both races in 2001, and a further race in 2002.

MotoGP

This helped earn him a call up to MotoGP in 2003, for Pramac Honda. He joined Sito Pons' Camel Honda a year later. The first season was a learning year, peaking with a 3rd place at Rio and two front row starts, finishing 11th overall. 2004 was his strongest MotoGP season to date, with wins at Rio and Motegi and 6th overall. He was the only Honda rider to use Bridgestone tyres, which appear to suit his style.

The Konica Minolta Honda team was formed in late 2004 with him in mind, and he spent 2 years there using Michelin rubber. Unfortunately a broken wrist sustained early in the season prevented him from reaching the championship top 10, although he did finish 3rd at his home race. He was also short of top results in 2006. At the Sachsenring he ran 3rd early on, and was still in the top 6 when he went out wide to avoid Kenny Roberts, Jr. crashing, only to be hit by the American's riderless bike.

In 2007 he joined the Tech 3 Yamaha team in MotoGP using Dunlop tyres, alongside French rider Sylvain Guintoli^[1]. He was generally outpaced by his rookie team-mate and finished the season 18th,

Marco Melandri

Marco Melandri (born August 7, 1982 in Ravenna Italy) is a MotoGP road racer currently racing for the factory Ducati Marlboro Team. Melandri is also a former 250cc World Champion in 2002. Melandri currently lives 2 miles away from the famous race track, Donington Park, Derbyshire, England.

Early days

Marco Melandri was born in Ravenna. He was introduced to racing by a former rider Loris Reggiani at the age of six. He came through the ranks from minibikes, motocross and then the Italian and European 125cc championship.

In 1997, Melandri won the Italian 125cc championship, also finishing 4th in European 125cc championship. In addition to his European success, he made his debut in 125cc world championship at Brno, Czech Republic as a wild card rider.

After impressing in Italian and European championship in 1997, Melandri finally got his chance to compete in 1998 125cc world championship as a regular. He rode Honda 125cc bike under Benetton Honda Team. He went on to impress many as he earned his first podium in the fourth race of the season, where he finished second in his home Grand Prix at Mugello, Italy. His brilliant debut season continued when he won his first grand prix at Assen TT, Netherlands. He won this race at the age of 15 years and 324 days which makes him the youngest ever Grand Prix winner. Overall, he won two Grand Prix in his debut season and therefore he finished the season at 3rd position in overall standings behind champion Kazuto Sakata and runner-up Tomomi Manako.

He remained on the same bike and team in 1999, where he bid to win the 125cc world championship. He went on to win 5 Grand Prix but failed to win the championship, finishing second behind Emilio Alzamora with just a single point difference. Failure in securing his first world championship did not stop his rise to 250cc world championship in 2000.

Dani Pedrosa

Daniel "Dani" Pedrosa Ramal (born September 29, 1985 in Sabadell, Spain) is a Grand Prix motorcycle racer . Pedrosa grew up in a village near Sabadell called Castellar del Vallès. He is the youngest world champion in 125cc and 250cc Grands Prix. Pedrosa stands 1.58m (5ft, 2in) tall and weighs 51kg (112.4lbs).

Career

Early days

The catalan Dani Pedrosa started riding bikes at the early age of four, when he got his first motorcycle, an Italjet 50, which had side-wheels. His first racing bike was a minibike replica of Kawasaki, which he got at the age of six and which he used to race with his friends. Pedrosa experienced real racing at the age of 11, when he entered the Spanish Minibike Championship and ended his debut season in second place, scoring his first podium finish in the second race of the season. The next year, Pedrosa entered the same championship, but health problems prevented him from improving his results and he ended that season in 3rd position.

125cc

In 2001, Pedrosa made his World Championship debut in the 125cc class after being selected from the Movistar Activa Cup, a series designed to promote fresh racing talent in Spain, back in 1999. Under the guidance of Albert Puig, Pedrosa scored two podium finishes in the first season and won his first race the following year, when he finished third in the championship. In 2003, he won five races and won the championship with two rounds remaining, scoring 223 points. In his first championship winning year, Pedrosa scored five victories and six podium finishes. A week after winning the championship, eighteen year old Pedrosa broke both of his ankles in a practice crash at Phillip Island (Australia), ending his season.

250cc

After winning the 125cc Championship, Pedrosa moved up to the 250cc class in 2004 without a proper test on the new bike because his ankles were healing during the off-season. Going into the season unprepared, Pedrosa won the first race in South Africa and went on to clinch the 250cc World Championship title, including rookie of the year honours. In his first season in 250cc class, Pedrosa scored 7 victories and 13 podium finishes. Pedrosa decided to stay for one more season in 250cc class, and he won another title, once again with two races remaining in championship. In 2005, Pedrosa won 8 races and scored 14 podium finishes, despite a shoulder injury he sustained in practice session for Japanese Grand Prix.

MotoGP 2006
Dani Pedrosa on board the Repsol Honda RC211V.
Dani Pedrosa on board the Repsol Honda RC211V.

Pedrosa made the move to 990cc MotoGP bikes in 2006, still riding for Honda. Critics said that Pedrosa wasn't big enough or strong enough to successfully race MotoGP. He finished second in the opening round at Jerez on March 26, 2006. At his fourth ever MotoGP appearance, on May 14, 2006, during the Chinese Grand Prix race weekend held in Shanghai, he won his first MotoGP race.

He won his second MotoGP race at Donington Park and became a strong candidate for the MotogGP Championship. It was a memorable victory for Dani, who shared the podium first time with Valentino Rossi in 2nd place. He also took 2 pole positions in the first half of the season.

Until the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, Pedrosa was 2nd in the Championship only behind his more experienced team-mate Nicky Hayden. However, he fell heavily during Free Practice and suffered a severe gash to the knee; which practically rendered him immobile. Pedrosa qualified 5th on the grid in that race due to the cancellation of the qualifying session proper (heavy rainfall). He miraculously managed to finish 3rd in that race, only behind Rossi and Ducati rider Loris Capirossi. However, in the next races, his form dropped and he struggled with the bike; moving him down to 5th place in the MotoGP standings.

His poor performance continued at Estoril. After a promising start, he briefly ran 2nd before being passed by Colin Edwards and then championship leader and teammate Nicky Hayden. On lap 5, he and Hayden were involved in a crash. Pedrosa slid and crashed out of the race, taking out Hayden on the way. This crash ended his slim chances of winning the championship and also caused Hayden to lose his lead in the championship standings, as Rossi managed to finish 2nd.

However, two weeks later, Hayden recovered to win the championship while Pedrosa managed to finish in 3rd place. This result clinched his 5th place in overall standings in his debut season, thus taking the title as Rookie of the Year in MotoGP category, beating fellow rookie and former rival in 250 cc Stoner.

At the final (post 2006 season) three day test of 2006 at Jerez Spain, Dani put his 800 cc RC212V at the top of the timesheets (on qualifying tyres) edging out Valentino Rossi by 0.214 seconds. Rossi had been fastest for the first two days of the test. Dani set a time of 1min 39.910 sec around the circuit.

Pedrosa has continued to race with Honda in 2007 and 2008, on their Honda RC212V, the new 800 cc bike for the new season.

Max Biaggi

Massimiliano "Max" Biaggi born June 26, 1971 (1971-06-26) (age 36) in Rome, Italy is a motorcycle racer who currently resides in Monaco and in the United States. Biaggi is also known as the Roman Emperor and Mad Max and is notorious for his difficult relationship with the press, team personnel and other riders.
Career

125cc

Biaggi was more interested in soccer as a child. But in 1989, after he was given an Aprilia RS125 for his seventeeth birthday, he began his racing career in the 125cc class at age eighteen. In 1990 he won the Italian Sport Production Championship. Following his success in 125cc, Biaggi moved up to the 250cc class.

250cc

In 1991, Biaggi became the European champion on an Aprilia RS250, and that same year he finished twenty-seventh in the Grand Prix motorcycle 250cc world championship riding for the same manufacturer. In 1992, Biaggi completed his first entire season in 250cc Grand Prix for Aprilia, and finished the season fifth overall. In that same season he took his first victory in Kyalami, South Africa. The following season, Biaggi joined Honda, and finished fourth in the championship standings, including a single victory in Barcelona. In 1994 he returned to Aprilia and dominated the 250cc Grand Prix championship by winning three consecutive titles in 1994, 1995 and 1996. In 1997, Biaggi again returned to Honda, riding for Erv Kanemoto's team, and won his fourth consecutive title. Following that, he moved up to the 500cc class.

500cc

Biaggi made an impressive start in his 500cc debut, qualifying on pole, setting the fastest lap and winning his first race in the 1998 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, riding for the Kanemoto Honda team. He was also victorious at the Czech Republic Grand Prix and finished the season in second place behind the legendary Mick Doohan. Biaggi then joined Yamaha to battle against the dominant Hondas. He finished fourth in 1999, third in 2000, and second in 2001.

MotoGP

In 2002, Biaggi rode the four-stroke for the first time as development on the new motorcycle remained strong throughout the season. He won in Brno, Czech Republic and Sepang, Malaysia to clinch runner-up in the championship behind rival Valentino Rossi. In 2003, Biaggi finished third in the MotoGP championship after rejoining Honda on the Camel Pramac Pons team. It was expected that Biaggi would be one of the main candidates for the title in 2004, but a crash in Estoril saw his season begin to fade. At the end of the 2004 MotoGP season Biaggi finished the championship in third place, behind Sete Gibernau and series winner, Rossi.

Biaggi started the 2005 MotoGP season as an official factory Honda rider, joining American racer Nicky Hayden on the Repsol Honda Team with technical director Erv Kanemoto. It was hoped that continued cooperation with Kanemoto and the full factory support from Honda would make Biaggi one of the main title contenders in 2005. However, Biaggi finished the season fifth in the championship with only 173 points (series winner Rossi finished with 367).

Biaggi lost his ride for the 2006 season, his position filled by 2005 250cc Grand Prix champion, Dani Pedrosa. He negotiated with Honda, Kawasaki, and Suzuki, however, was unable to land a contract even with the backing of major tobacco sponsor Camel. On January 10, 2006, Biaggi posted on his website that he would not take part in the 2006 MotoGP season.

Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi (born February 15, 1979 in Urbino) is an Italian professional motorcycle racer and multiple MotoGP World Champion. He is one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with 7 Grand Prix World Championships to his name. In 2006, he narrowly missed an 8th title by scoring a second place in the Championship, and with three races to go in the 2007 season, he lost out again, this time to Australian Casey Stoner. According to Sports Illustrated, Rossi is the 7th highest earning sports personality in the world (2nd outside the United States), earning an estimated $30 million a year.

Following his father, Graziano Rossi, Rossi started racing in Grand Prix in 1996 for Aprilia in the 125cc category and won his first World Championship the following year. From there, he moved up to the 250 cc category, again with Aprilia, and won the World Championship in 1999. He won the 500 cc World Championship with Honda in 2001, the MotoGP World Championships (also with Honda) in 2002 and 2003, and continued his streak of back-to-back championships by winning the 2004 and 2005 MotoGP World Championship after leaving Honda to join Yamaha.
The early years

Valentino Rossi was born in Urbino. Son of Graziano Rossi, a former motorcycle racer, he first jumped on a bike at the age of two, and his astounding career progressed in leaps and bounds.

Rossi's first racing love was actually go-karts. Fuelled by Rossi's mother, Stefania's, concern for her son's safety, Graziano purchased a go-kart as substitute for the bike. However, the Rossi family trait of perpetually wanting to go faster prompted a redesign; Graziano replaced the 60 cc motor with a 100 cc national kart motor for his then-5-year-old son.

Although Valentino showed interest in such things as his guitar and playing football (soccer) his interest in school and study waned. Shrugging off his mother's attempt to get him to attend football school, he found more interest in the gravel pits and various motorcycle GPs.

Graziano attempted to forge documents in an attempt to get Valentino's junior kart licence one year before he was legally allowed (he was 9 at the time), but ultimately failed.

Valentino won the regional kart championship in 1990. At the time, a new craze had taken over. The minimoto had now become his weapon of choice, and before the end of 1991, he had won 16 regional races.

Although minimoto was for fun, he continued to race karts and finished fifth at the national kart championships in Parma. Both Valentino and Graziano had started looking at moving him into the Italian 100 cc series as well as the corresponding European series, which most likely would have pushed him into the direction of Formula 1. However, the high financial burden of racing karts led to the decision to race minimoto exclusively. Through 1992 and 1993, Valentino continued to learn the ins and outs of minimoto racing, steadily racking up win after win. He had a good career and still is the leading Moto GP racer.


With Rossi growing in talent, it became abundantly clear that a proper motorcycle was required to further his progress. In 1993, Rossi acquired a Cagiva Mito 125 cc motorcycle, which was damaged in a first-corner crash no more than a hundred meters out from pit lane.

The bike was repaired, giving Rossi an opportunity to correct his first-corner mistake, only to crash it going into the second corner. It was an amusing yet trying moment for Rossi, who was hoping to decide whether motorcycles were really for him.

Valentino ended up finishing ninth that race weekend. Although his first season in the Italian Sport Production Championship was varied, he consistently improved his skills, leading to a pole position at the season's final race in Misano, where he ultimately would finish on the podium. By the second year, Rossi had been provided a factory Mito by Cagiva team manager Claudio Lusuardi and cruised to the Italian title.

currently dating litle ickle Sarah he is due to propose any day

Colin McRae

Colin Steele McRae, MBE (5 August 1968 – 15 September 2007) was a Scottish rally driver from Lanark.

The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first Briton to win the World Rally Championship Drivers' title.

McRae's Subaru team won the World Rally Championship Constructors' title three times in succession in 1995, 1996 and 1997. After a three year spell with Ford, which saw McRae win nine events, he moved to Citroën in 2003 where, despite not winning an event, he helped them win the first of their three consecutive manufacturers' titles. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1996. McRae died in a helicopter accident in September 2007.
Personal and early life

McRae was married to Alison, and had two children, Hollie and Johnny. McRae moved to the principality of Monaco in 1995, partly through his friendship with David Coulthard. However, as his young family grew up, he spent more time back at his home in Lanarkshire - accepting the higher tax liability of living in Scotland.[4] The couple bought the 17th century Jerviswood House.
Career
Early career

Colin McRae began his career in motorsport driving trial bikes at an early age, although the Scot was more interested in four wheeled machines rather than two wheel bikes. At the age of sixteen, through the Coltness Car Club, McRae discovered autotesting, he soon traded his bike for a Mini Cooper and started competing. A year later, however, he began to negotiate with another club member to use his Hillman Avenger for the Kames Stages, a single–staged rally venue not far from McRae's home, the Scot finished the event fourteenth; first in his class although he had ran most of the event in a higher position.

In 1986, driving a Talbot Sunbeam, McRae entered the Scottish Rally Championship and soon made a name for himself with his speed and exciting style of driving. His driving style drew many comparisons to Finnish ex-World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen, who McRae had always idolised. He soon progressed to a Vauxhall Nova, and then onto a Ford Sierra XR 4x4. His first WRC event was the 1987 Swedish Rally behind the wheel of his Nova, and again two years later, driving the Sierra and finishing 15th overall. Later that year, he finished 5th overall at Rally New Zealand in a rear wheel drive Sierra Cosworth. 1991 saw McRae signed by Prodrive boss David Richards to his Subaru team in the British Rally Championship. McRae was British Rally Champion in both 1991 and 1992, soon graduating to the Subaru factory team at World Rally Championship level.

Marcus Grönholm

Marcus "Bosse" Grönholm (born February 5, 1968 in Kauniainen) is a former Finnish rally driver. Driving for Peugeot, he won the World Rally Championship in 2000 and 2002. He also won the 2002 Race of Champions, taking home the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy and earning the title "Champion of Champions". At the 2006 Race of Champions, he formed team Finland with Heikki Kovalainen and the pair won the Nations' Cup.

After Peugeot withdrew from the World Rally Championship, Grönholm moved to Ford for the 2006 season and placed second in the drivers' world championship, losing the title to Sébastien Loeb by one point. In 2007, he and his co-driver Timo Rautiainen announced that they will retire from rallying after the season. Grönholm finished the season with a second place at the 2007 Wales Rally GB and placed second in the championship, four points behind Loeb.
Marcus' father, Ulf "Uffe" Grönholm, had been an active rally driver in the late 1970s to early 1980s, and with measurable success too, winding up twice Finnish champion. He was killed during a practice run for Hankiralli on February 25, 1981 in Kirkkonummi. Despite this connection, his son, only 13 years old at the time of his father's death, was latterly to refute any suggestion that it was Ulf, and not fellow rally-driving cousin (and occasional Peugeot factory squad team-mate at various points during the early 2000s), Sebastian Lindholm, who tempted him into following in his father's footsteps by also participating in the sport.[1] In his teens Grönholm was fond of motocross as a recreational activity, but a serious knee injury forced a switch to boxing.

Grönholm featured in various bit-part roles in the world series throughout the 1990s, most notably with Toyota with whom he drove Celicas and Corolla WRCs. A staggering string of fastest stage times one year as a privateer, on the final day of the Rally Finland, subsequently brought him to the attention of such factory teams as Ford, Toyota and Peugeot, who all presented him with offers for further employment. It was only when he joined the latter marque, championship newcomers for 1999, that he began to enjoy such meteoric success.
1999-2005: Peugeot

After not even having participated on the season-opening round in Monte Carlo in 2000, so muted were his French squad's expectations for their new Finn, he took his first championship win on the Swedish Rally the following month, with the 206 WRC. Consequent wins, including on his home round of the series, were sufficient to see off closest points challenger, Subaru's Richard Burns and land a shock first title after finishing second to the Englishman in the Rally of Great Britain. After an irksome and unsuccessful championship defence in 2001 during which assorted mechanical problems kept him down to 4th overall in the points table, he easily won his second title in 2002, at times displaying Michael Schumacher-esque dominance of the sport.
Grönholm with a Peugeot 307 WRC at the 2004 Monte Carlo Rally.
Grönholm with a Peugeot 307 WRC at the 2004 Monte Carlo Rally.

Grönholm initially seemed to be carrying on from where he left off in the opening rounds of 2003: He led the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally, threatening to score a shock win over the armada of Citroens until his Peugeot team's customary misfortune struck, as well as securing astounding early-season victories in New Zealand and Argentina - the latter a stirring comeback drive from sixth to deny a time-penalised Carlos Sainz. But he failed to cobble together a sufficiently consistent points-scoring run to truly have a hope in retaining his title. With the subsequent introduction of the bulkier Peugeot 307 WRC by the team's parent marque for 2004, he was to score only three more rally wins over the following two seasons. Two of those came in Finland; the remainder, an emotional inherited victory in Japan after the retirement of long-time leader Petter Solberg's Subaru, to follow on from the tragic Wales Rally GB just a week beforehand, where the sport had witnessed Peugeot team-mate Markko Martin's navigator Michael Park's death in a crash. With the PSA Group representative teams jointly withdrawing from the championship for 2006, Grönholm was left to search for employment elsewhere.