2003 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 2003 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 55th F.I.M. Road racing World Championship season. The season consisted of 16 races, beginning with the Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix on 6 April 2003 and ending with the Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix on 2 November.
became the 2003 125cc world champion
Season summary
Defending champion Valentino Rossi won his 3rd MotoGP championship in 2003, winning 9 races, highlighted by his win at Phillip Island where he was given a 10-second penalty for passing under a yellow flag and he overcame the penalty by winning the race with more than 10 seconds in hand. Rossi had become dissatisfied with his relationship with the Honda Racing Corporation and as the season progressed and HRC tried to get Rossi to sign a new contract, Rossi demurred until finally announcing at the end of the year that he would be leaving Honda. He soon signed with Yamaha and took Jeremy Burgess with him to be his crew chief.The season was marred by Daijiro Kato being killed at the first round at Suzuka. He lost control of his motorcycle on the approach to the Casio Triangle and hit a barrier at high speed. His heart was restarted by track paramedics, but he did not wake from a coma and died 2 weeks later. Controversy arose because the race was not red-flagged to allow Kato to be removed from the track with maximum care. Suzuka has since been removed from the MotoGP calendar. Teammate Sete Gibernau would inherit Kato's factory-spec RC211V.
MotoGP rookies for 2003 included Nicky Hayden, Troy Bayliss, Marco Melandri and Colin Edwards. A new constructor also arrived: Ducati. After much success in Superbike racing, Ducati returned to the premier-class of GP with their GP3. It made an immediate impression with its raw speed, and they finished the constructor's championship in second place, ahead of Yamaha and behind Honda.
2003 Grand Prix season calendar
The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 2003:| Round | Date | Grand Prix | Circuit |
| 1 | 6 April |  SKYY vodka Grand Prix of Japan | Suzuka Circuit |
| 2 | 27 April |  Arnette Africa's Grand Prix | Phakisa Freeway |
| 3 | 11 May |  Gran Premio Marlboro de España | Circuito de Jerez |
| 4 | 25 May |  Grand Prix Polini de France | Bugatti Circuit |
| 5 | 8 June |  Gran Premio Cinzano d'Italia | Mugello Circuit |
| 6 | 15 June |  Gran Premi Marlboro de Catalunya | Circuit de Catalunya |
| 7 | 28 June †† |  Gauloises Dutch TT | TT Circuit Assen |
| 8 | 13 July |  Cinzano British Grand Prix | Donington Park |
| 9 | 27 July |  Cinzano Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland | Sachsenring |
| 10 | 17 August |  Gauloises Grand Prix České republiky | Brno Circuit |
| 11 | 7 September |  Grande Premio Marlboro de Portugal | Autódromo do Estoril |
| 12 | 20 September |  Cinzano Rio Grand Prix | Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet |
| 13 | 5 October |  Gauloises Pacific Grand Prix of Motegi | Twin Ring Motegi |
| 14 | 12 October |  Marlboro Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix | Sepang International Circuit |
| 15 | 19 October |  SKYY vodka Australian Grand Prix | Phillip Island Circuit |
| 16 | 2 November |  Gran Premio Marlboro Comunitat Valenciana | Circuit Ricardo Tormo |
Calendar changes
There were no calendar changes for the 2003 season.2003 Grand Prix season results
| Round | Date | Grand Prix | Circuit | 125cc winner | 250cc winner | MotoGP winner | Report |
| 1 | 6 April | Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix | Suzuka | Stefano Perugini |  Manuel Poggiali | Valentino Rossi | Report |
| 2 | 27 April | South African motorcycle Grand Prix | Phakisa | Dani Pedrosa | Manuel Poggiali | Sete Gibernau | Report |
| 3 | 11 May | Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix | Jerez | Lucio Cecchinello | Toni Elías | Valentino Rossi | Report |
| 4 | 25 May | French motorcycle Grand Prix | Le Mans | Dani Pedrosa | Toni Elías | Sete Gibernau | Report |
| 5 | 8 June | Italian motorcycle Grand Prix | Mugello | Lucio Cecchinello | Manuel Poggiali | Valentino Rossi | Report |
| 6 | 15 June | Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix | Catalunya | Dani Pedrosa | Randy de Puniet | Loris Capirossi | Report |
| 7 | 28 June | Dutch TT | Assen | Steve Jenkner | Anthony West | Sete Gibernau | Report |
| 8 | 13 July | British motorcycle Grand Prix | Donington Park | Héctor Barberá | Fonsi Nieto | Max Biaggi | Report |
| 9 | 27 July | German motorcycle Grand Prix | Sachsenring | Stefano Perugini | Roberto Rolfo | Sete Gibernau | Report |
| 10 | 17 August | Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix | Brno | Dani Pedrosa | Randy de Puniet | Valentino Rossi | Report |
| 11 | 7 September | Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix | Estoril | Pablo Nieto | Toni Elías | Valentino Rossi | Report |
| 12 | 20 September | Rio de Janeiro motorcycle Grand Prix | Rio de Janeiro | Jorge Lorenzo | Manuel Poggiali | Valentino Rossi | Report |
| 13 | 5 October | Pacific motorcycle Grand Prix | Motegi | Héctor Barberá | Toni Elías | Max Biaggi | Report |
| 14 | 12 October | Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix | Sepang | Dani Pedrosa | Toni Elías | Valentino Rossi | Report |
| 15 | 19 October | Australian motorcycle Grand Prix | Phillip Island | Andrea Ballerini | Roberto Rolfo | Valentino Rossi | Report |
| 16 | 2 November | Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix | Valencia | Casey Stoner | Randy de Puniet | Valentino Rossi | Report |
Participants
MotoGP participants
250cc participants
125cc participants
Standings
MotoGP riders' standings
;Scoring systemPoints are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th |
| Points | 25 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
- Riders marked with light blue background were eligible for Rookie of the Year awards.
250cc riders' standings;Scoring systemPoints are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.
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