2003 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

There were no calendar changes for the 2003 season.

For this year, the rules will changed regarding the neutralisation of a race. This only applies to the MotoGP class. If the circumstances change in such a significant way due to weather changes, a heavy accident or any other reason, a race may be neutralised either once or multiple times and the following rules will apply:

• A white flag with diagonal red cross (indicating damp conditions) will be shown in a still manner at each marshal post.

• A safety car will enter and make one sighting lap. The subsequent pit lane exit will be closed with red lights and a red flag indicating this.

• Riders can opt to enter the pit lane at the end of their current lap or make one more sighting lap to check the track conditions, then will have to enter the pits.

• All riders who opt to ride one more lap have to catch up to the safety car on track. Any overtaking of the safety car is forbidden.

• At the end of the safety car's run, it will enter the pit lane and the circuit will be closed with indication of the red flags. All riders following the safety car must also enter the pits.

• The safety car will stop ± 50 meters behind the exit of the pit lane.

• While in the pits, all riders are allowed to make changes to their tyres, adjustments to their motorcycles, refuel or change bikes.

• If the race is neutralised before the final lap, a provisional race classification will be published. The provisional classification will consist out of the results taken at the last point where the leader, as well as all other riders on the same lap as the leader, had completed a full lap without the display of any neutralisation flags being waved. Riders who were already in the pit lane before will also be included in the provisional classification. Any rider who did not complete at least 75% of the laps completed by the race leader will not be classified. The race will be resumed if possible following the procedures of article 1.28.

• If a race is neutralised during the final lap, the following procedure will apply: if at least one rider has completed all scheduled number of laps of the original race, the final classification will be calculated according to article 1.25.1 and the race will not be resumed. If no rider has completed the final number of laps of the original race, the provision of article 1.27.8 will apply and the race will continue based on the standards of article 1.28.

• If a race is neutralised more than once, the provisional race classification for positions and allowance of participation in the resumed start will always be based on the provisional race classification from the last time a race was neutralised.

• In all cases, the provisional race classification must be displayed on the official timekeeping monitors.

In the case of a race restart after neutralisation, the following rules will apply for the MotoGP class only:

• The Race Direction will officially announce when the safety car will leave the pits to resume the race.

• The number of laps which still have to be done will be measured by the scheduled number of laps the original race had and the number of laps of the provisional race classification. If the difference is less than three, the number of laps to go will be three laps.

• If a race is neutralised more than once, the number of laps which still have to be done will be measured by the scheduled number of laps the original race had and the number of completed laps in all the previous parts. If the difference is less than three, the number of laps to go will be three laps.

• Only the riders which are included in the latest provisional race classificial are permitted to resume the race.

• Two minutes before the safety car exits the pits, the pit lane exit will be opened with indication of green lights and flags to allow all riders to bunch up behind the safety car in the order of the provisional race classification.

• Thirty seconds before the safety car exits the pits, all riders should be ready behind the safety car in the order of the provisional race classification.

• The pit lane exit will be closed with an indication of red flags and lights and the safety car will make one lap followed by all the riders upon announcement by the Race Direction. Overtaking the safety car is forbidden and any riders who remain in the pits will have to resume the race from there.

• In all cases, the time to go before the safety car leaves and the pit lane closes, must be shown on a countdown board or clock which is present in the pit lane exit or on the official timekeeping monitors.

• At the end of the safety car's lap, it will enter the pits whilst all riders continue on the circuit.

• The race will be resumed via a rolling start when the riders cross the start/finish line where two green flags will be waved on each side of the track and the green start lights will be turned on. At this time, a time penalty may be given by the Race Direction to any rider:

-who is not behind the rear wheel of the motorcycle in front of him.
-who is in a higher position than in the provisional race classification.
-who is more than three seconds behind the rider in front of him.

• After the last rider in the file has passed the pit lane exit, the green lights will be turned on and the green flag will be waved to allow the riders in the pits to resume the race.

• The final race classification will be created according to the position and the total number of laps of each rider at the time he crossed the start/finish line at the end of the race. The procedures of article 1.23.5. will apply in this case.

• The exposed edge of the exhaust pipe must be rounded to avoid any sharp edges. The last 30mm of the pipe must be horizontal and parallel to the center line of the bike with a tolerance of ±10 degrees.

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.

• Riders marked with light blue background were eligible for Rookie of the Year awards.

Pos. Rider Bike JPN SAF ESP FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR RIO PAC MAL AUS VAL Pts 1 Valentino Rossi Honda 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 357 2 Sete Gibernau Honda 4 1 Ret 1 7 3 1 2 1 2 4 2 4 2 4 2 277 3 Max Biaggi Honda 2 3 2 5 3 14 2 1 Ret 5 2 4 1 3 17 4 228 4 Loris Capirossi Ducati 3 Ret Ret Ret 2 1 6 4 4 Ret 3 6 8 6 2 3 177 5 Nicky Hayden Honda 7 7 Ret 12 12 9 11 8 5 6 9 5 3 4 3 16 130 6 Troy Bayliss Ducati 5 4 3 Ret Ret 10 9 5 3 3 6 10 Ret 9 Ret 7 128 7 Carlos Checa Yamaha 10 9 Ret Ret 8 4 4 6 8 4 8 9 Ret 5 8 5 123 8 Tohru Ukawa Honda 20 6 4 7 6 6 12 Ret 6 8 5 7 7 7 5 Ret 123 9 Alex Barros Yamaha 8 5 5 3 Ret 8 8 DNS Ret 7 11 12 6 15 Ret 6 101 10 Shinya Nakano Yamaha 9 11 8 14 5 5 13 9 7 14 12 8 9 8 7 Ret 101 11 Makoto Tamada Honda Ret 14 6 Ret 4 7 16 13 13 9 10 3 DSQ 10 10 10 87 12 Olivier Jacque Yamaha 15 10 10 4 10 Ret 5 Ret 9 11 13 Ret 13 Ret 6 Ret 71 13 Colin Edwards Aprilia 6 Ret 14 10 9 Ret 7 10 14 12 14 13 17 13 16 8 62 14 Noriyuki Haga Aprilia 12 Ret 11 8 Ret 12 Ret 7 Ret 13 15 14 12 12 14 15 47 15 Marco Melandri Yamaha WD 17 15 11 13 Ret Ret Ret 10 7 11 5 11 Ret 45 16 Norifumi Abe Yamaha 11 8 11 10 9 31 17 John Hopkins Suzuki 13 13 7 Ret Ret 15 15 11 Ret 17 18 DNS Ret 12 13 29 18 Jeremy McWilliams Proton KR Ret Ret 12 6 Ret Ret Ret Ret 12 Ret 19 16 Ret 17 11 12 27 19 Kenny Roberts Jr. Suzuki 14 15 13 16 Ret 15 20 17 17 15 14 9 11 22 20 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda 13 13 11 17 14 18 15 16 15 11 21 19 14 22 21 Nobuatsu Aoki Proton KR Ret 12 9 Ret Ret 16 Ret 15 11 Ret 20 Ret 14 18 18 17 19 22 Garry McCoy Kawasaki 16 17 18 9 15 17 18 16 16 18 Ret Ret Ret 19 13 19 11 23 Alex Hofmann Kawasaki 16 14 10 17 19 8 24 Akira Ryō Suzuki 10 20 6 25 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki Ret 12 4 26 Andrew Pitt Kawasaki 17 16 15 Ret 16 Ret 14 17 19 16 21 18 16 16 15 18 4 Tamaki Serizawa Moriwaki 19 18 0 Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki 18 Ret 0 José David de Gea Sabre V4 Ret 20 DNS 0 Harris WCM 22 19 19 Ret Ret 20 Chris Burns Harris WCM DNS DNS Ret Ret Ret 20 WD 0 ROC Yamaha Ret WD Ret Daijiro Kato Honda Ret 0 Pos. Rider Bike JPN SAF ESP FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR RIO PAC MAL AUS VAL Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole position Italics – Fastest lap

[12][10]

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.

• Riders marked with light blue background were eligible for Rookie of the Year awards.

Pos. Rider Bike JPN SAF ESP FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR RIO PAC MAL AUS VAL Pts 1 Manuel Poggiali Aprilia 1 1 4 Ret 1 Ret 4 2 8 3 2 1 3 2 9 3 249 2 Roberto Rolfo Honda 7 5 2 3 4 9 6 5 1 4 4 2 2 4 1 7 235 3 Toni Elías Aprilia Ret 8 1 1 6 4 13 4 7 2 1 18 1 1 11 2 226 4 Randy de Puniet Aprilia Ret 2 3 2 Ret 1 Ret 8 3 1 3 3 6 5 Ret 1 208 5 Fonsi Nieto Aprilia 6 7 7 4 2 2 Ret 1 2 6 9 Ret 8 3 3 5 194 6 Franco Battaini Aprilia 5 3 11 18 3 6 2 7 5 7 6 Ret Ret 6 4 8 148 7 Anthony West Aprilia Ret 6 5 7 9 3 1 3 6 Ret 10 8 Ret 9 2 Ret 145 8 Sebastián Porto Honda 4 4 6 Ret 8 7 5 6 4 5 5 Ret Ret 8 Ret 6 127 9 Naoki Matsudo Yamaha 8 10 8 5 7 5 Ret 9 Ret 9 8 5 7 7 6 11 119 10 Sylvain Guintoli Aprilia 10 9 Ret 6 5 8 3 Ret Ret 8 7 4 Ret DNS Ret 4 101 11 Alex Debón Honda 11 DSQ 9 8 12 11 11 10 9 DNS 11 11 9 Ret 5 10 81 12 Joan Olivé Aprilia 13 Ret 10 10 10 10 23 Ret 17 16 Ret 7 19 14 18 Ret 38 13 Héctor Faubel Aprilia Ret 11 Ret 11 15 Ret 17 12 Ret 10 13 6 Ret Ret 16 Ret 34 14 Chaz Davies Aprilia 18 15 18 Ret 13 Ret 24 13 12 14 20 9 11 20 15 13 33 15 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 2 5 31 16 Erwan Nigon Aprilia 12 17 Ret 17 17 14 7 Ret 14 Ret 16 12 17 Ret 7 Ret 30 17 Alex Baldolini Aprilia Ret 12 12 13 Ret Ret 14 17 10 Ret 14 Ret 13 10 Ret Ret 30 18 Yuki Takahashi Honda 3 4 29 19 Eric Bataille Honda 16 13 13 15 DNS Ret Ret Ret Ret 12 12 10 Ret Ret Ret 9 28 20 Johan Stigefelt Aprilia 14 14 Ret 12 Ret 13 10 Ret Ret Ret DNS 13 Ret Ret 10 17 26 21 Dirk Heidolf Aprilia Ret Ret 15 Ret 15 11 13 17 14 14 11 13 12 26 22 Christian Gemmel Honda Ret 18 14 9 16 15 8 Ret Ret 15 15 16 12 16 Ret Ret 24 23 Hugo Marchand Aprilia Ret Ret Ret 14 11 Ret 9 16 Ret 11 Ret Ret 16 13 14 Ret 24 24 Jakub Smrž Honda 15 Ret 17 19 14 Ret 12 14 13 Ret Ret 18 14 14 25 Jaroslav Huleš Yamaha 17 16 16 16 DNS 10 Honda 15 Ret 15 8 Ret 26 Tekkyu Kayo Yamaha 9 7 27 Choujun Kameya Honda 10 6 28 Jay Vincent Aprilia 11 5 29 Klaus Nöhles Aprilia 12 15 5 30 Lukáš Pešek Yamaha 16 16 17 Ret 17 Ret Ret 12 19 4 31 Max Neukirchner Honda 15 1 32 Masaki Tokudome Yamaha 15 1 33 Radomil Rous Aprilia Ret 15 1 Henk vd Lagemaat Honda 19 19 20 20 18 18 16 18 Ret Ret 23 19 20 18 17 18 0 Álvaro Molina Aprilia 19 DNS 19 16 0 Katja Poensgen Honda 20 Ret DNQ DNQ DNQ 17 18 19 18 20 Ret DNS 17 Ret 0 Vesa Kallio Yamaha 19 18 18 0 Christian Pistoni Aprilia 19 0 Yamaha 20 Jan Blok Honda 19 0 Michal Filla Yamaha 19 0 Shi Zhao Huang Yamaha 19 0 Patrick Lakerveld Aprilia 20 0 Arie Vos Yamaha 21 21 0 Luis Castro Yamaha 21 0 Frederik Watz Yamaha 21 0 Hans Smees Honda 22 0 Gábor Rizmayer Honda 22 0 Miguel Praia Yamaha 22 0 Tomoyoshi Koyama Yamaha Ret Ret 0 Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha Ret 0 Samuel Aubry Honda Ret 0 Christophe Rastel Honda Ret 0 Lee Dickinson Yamaha Ret 0 Phillip Desborough Yamaha Ret 0 Tomas Palander Honda Ret 0 Norman Rank Honda Ret 0 Geoff Hardcastle Yamaha Ret 0 Grégory Leblanc Honda DNS DNQ 0 Vincent Eisen Honda DNQ 0 Randy Gevers Honda DNQ 0 Andrew Sawford Honda DNQ 0 Nico Kehrer Honda DNQ 0 Zi Xian He Yamaha DNQ 0 Mark Rowling Yamaha DNQ 0 Peter Taplin Honda DNQ 0 Rodney Camm Honda DNQ 0 Brett Underwood Yamaha DNQ 0 Yves Polzer Honda DNQ 0 Teresio Isola Yamaha EX 0 Pos. Rider Bike JPN SAF ESP FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR RIO PAC MAL AUS VAL Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole position Italics – Fastest lap

[13][11]

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.

• Riders marked with light blue background were eligible for Rookie of the Year awards.

Pos. Rider Bike JPN SAF ESP FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR RIO PAC MAL AUS VAL Pts 1 Dani Pedrosa Honda 8 1 4 1 2 1 8 Ret 4 1 4 4 6 1 WD 223 2 Alex de Angelis Aprilia Ret 6 3 Ret 5 3 6 4 3 3 3 3 9 6 7 Ret 166 3 Héctor Barberá Aprilia Ret 13 7 11 9 Ret 3 1 14 5 2 9 1 8 6 3 164 4 Stefano Perugini Aprilia 1 Ret 5 7 7 5 5 3 1 2 Ret 7 4 Ret Ret 13 162 5 Andrea Dovizioso Honda 5 2 9 3 4 Ret 10 2 7 6 8 6 3 13 Ret 8 157 6 Steve Jenkner Aprilia 3 3 2 8 Ret 4 1 Ret Ret Ret Ret 10 5 Ret 3 2 151 7 Pablo Nieto Aprilia 7 5 Ret 5 3 17 2 6 5 Ret 1 5 8 9 Ret 7 148 8 Casey Stoner Aprilia Ret 10 6 4 18 Ret Ret 5 2 DNS DNS 2 2 Ret Ret 1 125 9 Lucio Cecchinello Aprilia 4 8 1 2 1 Ret 16 10 8 Ret Ret 18 Ret Ret Ret 9 112 10 Mirko Giansanti Aprilia 2 15 10 12 11 12 15 11 11 7 10 14 11 7 Ret 5 93 11 Mika Kallio Honda 11 7 16 Ret 13 7 11 7 10 88 KTM 4 DSQ 19 7 2 Ret Ret 12 Jorge Lorenzo Derbi Ret 24 15 Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret 21 12 6 1 Ret 3 8 11 79 13 Youichi Ui Aprilia 6 4 8 6 6 Ret 4 Ret Ret 9 76 Gilera DNS 21 17 18 11 Ret 14 Gábor Talmácsi Aprilia 14 Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 9 9 6 11 7 8 14 14 9 12 70 15 Thomas Lüthi Honda 9 17 12 9 15 2 7 22 Ret Ret Ret 15 10 4 16 DNS 68 16 Masao Azuma Honda 17 9 11 10 14 22 Ret 13 Ret 13 13 Ret 13 5 2 15 64 17 Gino Borsoi Aprilia 10 11 13 13 8 8 13 19 17 8 Ret 12 Ret 20 Ret 10 54 18 Arnaud Vincent KTM Ret 12 22 Ret 21 14 Ret 8 Ret 39 Aprilia 5 13 19 16 5 Ret 19 Simone Corsi Honda 12 14 21 14 12 15 Ret 9 Ret 9 22 15 14 DNS DNS Ret 32 20 Álvaro Bautista Aprilia 18 25 17 Ret 28 28 Ret 14 Ret 16 15 16 12 15 4 6 31 21 Marco Simoncelli Aprilia 21 20 14 Ret 17 16 20 16 12 14 DNS 11 Ret 11 Ret 4 31 22 Andrea Ballerini Gilera 19 18 25 Honda Ret Ret Ret 20 19 1 Ret 23 Gioele Pellino Aprilia 15 16 20 Ret 10 11 Ret 12 13 10 Ret 26 Ret Ret Ret Ret 25 24 Roberto Locatelli KTM 23 28 Ret 15 20 10 Ret Ret 18 17 11 17 Ret 10 Ret 17 18 25 Fabrizio Lai Malaguti 16 18 23 Ret Ret 19 14 Ret 15 18 12 24 18 17 13 18 10 26 Robbin Harms Aprilia 25 DSQ 16 19 Ret 23 22 21 10 14 8 27 Stefano Bianco Gilera Ret 21 Ret DNS Ret Ret Ret 20 14 20 16 12 15 21 7 28 Mike Di Meglio Aprilia 22 22 28 17 Ret 13 19 15 Ret 15 5 Honda Ret Ret 22 Ret Ret 29 Julián Simón Malaguti 19 27 Ret 20 Ret 24 17 18 20 22 Ret 25 24 25 12 19 4 30 Max Sabbatani Aprilia 13 Ret 24 18 23 21 22 Ret DNS Ret 21 Ret Ret Ret Ret 16 3 31 Emilio Alzamora Derbi Ret 23 18 19 Ret Ret 21 Ret Ret 21 19 Ret Ret 23 14 24 2 Imre Tóth Honda 24 Ret 26 23 27 20 23 17 Ret 23 Ret Ret 26 24 Ret 0 Aprilia 22 Péter Lénárt Honda Ret 29 Ret 22 31 26 Ret 20 22 Ret Ret 0 Leon Camier Honda 26 Ret 30 24 30 27 Ret Ret 23 0 Michele Danese Honda 27 Ret 26 17 Ret 0 Christopher Martin Honda 25 26 Ret 21 Ret Ret 0 Sadahito Suma Honda Ret 25 0 Ismael Ortega Aprilia 27 WD 21 20 23 0 Mattia Angeloni Honda 24 16 0 Hiroyuki Kikuchi Honda DNS 0 Pos. Rider Bike JPN SAF ESP FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR RIO PAC MAL AUS VAL Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole position Italics – Fastest lap

• Each team gets the total points scored by their two riders, including replacement riders. In one rider team, only the points scored by that rider will be counted. Wildcard riders do not score points.
• Rounds marked with a light blue background were under wet race conditions or stopped by rain.