Valencia fans top GP attendance at 215,019!

The MotoGP World Championship just keeps getting bigger and this year registered an average of over 100,000 onsite spectators per Grand Prix in a season which saw a total of 1,698,312 fans attend the 16 rounds of the series.

The fan figures represents a rise of 111,704 on last year and a 10% increase on the spectator total for a season which signed off at Valencia last week under the race-day gaze of 119,886 fans at the Ricardo Tormo circuit.

The 100,000 spectator average per Grand Prix consolidates the position of the championship amongst the most highly attended sports in the world.

The Grands Prix which saw the highest increase in crowd figures on race day were at Donington Park and Le Mans. The Cinzano British Grand Prix was supported by 20,655 spectators more than the previous season whilst the Grand Prix de France was up 13,133 on last year.

At Donington the increase represented a rise of around 50% and was a clear indication of the impact made by the introduction of four-stroke machinery to MotoGP in what is traditionally a WSBK market.

Another notable rise took place in the numbers of spectators attending the two days of qualifying practice at each Grand Prix, where Great Britain and France once again enjoyed the biggest swell.

Taking into account the number of spectators registered over the three days, the Cinzano British Grand Prix was up 34,879, closely followed by France with 23,430 and the Gauloises Dutch TT with an extra 17,515.

The highest attended Grand Prix was the Gran Premio Marlboro de la Comunitat Valenciana, which welcomed a massive total of 215,019 spectators, followed closely by the Gran Premio Marlboro de Espa?a at Jerez.

The first day of practice at the final round of the season at Valencia was followed by no fewer than 30,000 spectators.

The full attendance figures can be seen below:

Grand PrixYear / Race Day / Total

Japan
2002 / 43,923 / 78,102
2001 / 42,000 / 73,000

South Africa
2002 / 39,846 / 56,050
2001 / 32,000 / 51,000

Spain
2002 / 127,079 / 201,418
2001 / 126,000 / 199,000

France
2002 / 70,133 / 135,430
2001 / 57,000 / 112,000

Italy
2002 / 64,620 / 93,969
2001 / 61,858 / 92,335

Catalunya
2002 / 90,408 / 139,749
2001 / 84,844 / 125,697

Netherlands
2002 / 101,521 / 146,609
2001 / 92,348 / 129,094

Great Britain
2002 / 60,841 / 93,595
2001 / 40,186 / 58,716

Germany
2002 / 78,709 / 184,850
2001 / 83,637 / 175,683

Czech Republic/B>
2002 / 38,641 / 58,698
2001 / 44,021 / 63,345

Portugal
2002 / 31,728 / 44,287
2001 / 33,428 / 47,319

Rio
2002 / 41,589 / 57,869
2001 / 41,374 / 50,904Pacific
2002 / 54,860 / 79,053
2001 / 66,325 / 90,156

Malaysia
2002 / 24,840 / 34,060
2001 / 20,545 / 30,184

Australia
2002 / 40,015 / 79,554
2001 / 37,996 / 75,870

Valencia
2002 / 119,886 / 215,019
2001 / 120,289 / 212 307