MOTOCOURSE 2022-23
47th YEAR OF PUBLICATION
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 20-race MotoGP championship produced a fascinating mix of races which saw no fewer than five different riders take victories in the first eleven rounds, before the season climaxed in Valencia in November.
Leading the way was the young Frenchman Fabio Quartararo, who on his Yamaha, fought to keep a phalanx of Ducati riders at bay, led by "Pecco" Bagnaia, Jack Miller, Enea Bastinini and Jorge Martin.
Fascinating sub-stories abounded, with the multiple champion Marc Marquez having his season curtailed by recurring injuries and the abrupt decision of Suzuki to pull out of MotoGP competition at the end of the 2022 season, which left the rider market in disarray.
Aside from the premier class, Moto 2 and Moto3 are given ample coverage, where a three-rider tussle between Celestino Vietti, Augusto Fernandez and Ai Ogura were the front runners battling for the top prize. In Moto3 Aspar's GASGAS team mates Sergio Garcia and Izan Guerara desputed proceedings as the season progressed.
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 12-round World Superbike Series in which Kawasaki's defending champion Jonathan Rea faced a stern challenge from Yamaha's Toprak Razgatlioglu and Ducati's Alvaro Bautista. All the races and the seasons bikes and riders are put under the microscope by Superbike top writer Gordon Ritchie who also covers the supporting World Supersport class.
Peter McLaren provides full race results and lap charts from every round of both MotoGP and World Superbikes as well as complete points tables 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.
After the continuing pandemic, the Isle of Man TT returned for the first time since 2019, and 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 competing head-to-head with the experienced Ducati star Danilo Petrucci.
For 47 years, Motocourse has been the bible of motorcycle racing, written and illustrated by the world's leading practitioners. The superlative reproduction of its brilliant photographs brings the drama and spectacle of a thrilling racing year to vibrant life.
Motocourse is the essential collectible, and the mainstay of every road racing fans bookshelf.
