2013 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 2013 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 65th Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme Road racing World Championship season. Jorge Lorenzo started the season as the defending World Champion, while Honda was the defending Manufacturers' Champion. Moto2 champion Marc Márquez joined the MotoGP grid with Repsol Honda and Moto3 champion Sandro Cortese entered Moto2, with Intact GP.
The three championships were each won by Spanish riders, with Márquez winning in MotoGP, Pol Espargaró winning in Moto2, and Maverick Viñales winning in Moto3. Spanish riders dominated the season overall, with 47 of the 52 races across all classes won by a Spanish rider. Of the five non-Spanish victories, three came from Moto2 championship runner-up Scott Redding, and one each from Moto2 front-runner Mika Kallio – his first in the class, in the Czech Republic – and MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi, who took his first premier class victory since at the Dutch TT.
The MotoGP class saw the introduction of a new qualifying system, in which the riders placed eleventh or lower in Free Practice 3 were admitted to Qualifying 1, then the two fastest riders from that session joined the ten fastest riders in Qualifying 2.
Season summary
MotoGP
In the premier MotoGP class, Lorenzo, along with Repsol Honda teammates Marc Márquez and Dani Pedrosa battled it out for most of the season in regards to the championship battle. Lorenzo won the opening race of the season in Qatar, before rookie Márquez became the youngest premier class winner, as he claimed victory in the inaugural Grand Prix of the Americas in Texas. Pedrosa took back-to-back victories at Jerez – where Márquez and Lorenzo battled for second place, clashing at the final corner – and Le Mans, before Lorenzo did likewise at Mugello, and Catalunya; at the former, Márquez retired from the race after crashing out of second place. At Assen, Lorenzo crashed during free practice and fractured his collarbone, and after emergency surgery and initial reports that he would not take part for the rest of the weekend, he competed in the race and finished fifth. Márquez and Pedrosa finished second and fourth respectively, as Valentino Rossi took his first race victory since. Márquez then won the next four races, starting at the Sachsenring, where both Lorenzo and Pedrosa were sidelined with injuries; Lorenzo with a recurrence of his Assen injury after crashing in free practice once again, while Pedrosa was ruled out with low blood pressure, stemming from a separate incident.After two more victories for Lorenzo at Silverstone, and Misano, Márquez and Pedrosa collided at the Aragon Grand Prix, where a slight touch caused a sensor on Pedrosa's bike to tear and cut the traction control system. Márquez went on to beat Lorenzo to victory, and after Pedrosa won in Malaysia, Márquez held a 43-point lead in the championship with three races to go. However, a disqualification in Australia, as well as Lorenzo winning both in Australia and Japan reduced that margin to thirteen, ahead of the final race in Valencia; the first final race title decider since. After battling Pedrosa and Lorenzo in the early stages of the race, Márquez finished third in the race to become the youngest premier class champion, beating Freddie Spencer's record from. As well as this, Márquez became the first rookie since Kenny Roberts in to win the championship in their début season, and only the fourth rider to win world championships in three different categories after Mike Hailwood, Phil Read and Rossi. Pedrosa's second place, behind Lorenzo, was enough for Honda to clinch the constructors' championship.
Moto2
In Moto2, Pol Espargaró became champion in the class, after overhauling Scott Redding towards the end of the season. With six race victories, Espargaró won the championship by 40 points ahead of Redding, who won three races, with third place going to Esteve Rabat, a three-time race winner. Nicolás Terol, who finished seventh, was another three-time race winner, with other victories taken by Mika Kallio and Jordi Torres, who was tenth in the championship. In the constructors' championship, Kalex won thirteen of the seventeen races to win the title by almost 100 points from Suter, who won the other four races.Moto3
In Moto3, the championship was dominated by three Spanish riders, all riding KTM machinery. Like the premier class, there was a final race title decider between Ajo Motorsport's Luis Salom, Estrella Galicia 0,0's Álex Rins and Maverick Viñales of Team Calvo; if any rider of the three won the race, they finished as the champion, regardless of the other results. After Salom crashed out early in the race, Rins and Viñales battled at the front, with Viñales ultimately coming out as the victor and champion, with Rins being passed for second place on the line by Jonas Folger. With Salom only making it back up to fourteenth, Rins finished as runner-up ahead of Salom. With every race won by a KTM rider – seven wins for Salom, six for Rins, three for Viñales and one for Álex Márquez, the teammate of Rins, at Motegi – the marque was comfortably the winners of the constructors' championship, scoring more than double the points of the next placed constructor, Kalex KTM.2013 Grand Prix season calendar
The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 2013:The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme released a 19-race provisional calendar on 19 September 2012. On 23 November 2012, the calendar was updated following confirmation that the return of the Argentine Grand Prix would be postponed to 2014. The Grand Prix of the Americas held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, United States, replaced the Portuguese Grand Prix, which had been run at Estoril since 2000. The United States hosted three races, the other two being the United States Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and the Indianapolis Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
| Round | Date | Grand Prix | Circuit |
| 1 | 7 April ‡ |  Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar | Losail International Circuit |
| 2 | 21 April |  Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas | Circuit of the Americas |
| 3 | 5 May |  Gran Premio bwin de España | Circuito de Jerez |
| 4 | 19 May |  Monster Energy Grand Prix de France | Bugatti Circuit |
| 5 | 2 June |  Gran Premio d'Italia TIM | Mugello Circuit |
| 6 | 16 June |  Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya | Circuit de Catalunya |
| 7 | 29 June †† |  Iveco TT Assen | TT Circuit Assen |
| 8 | 14 July |  eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland | Sachsenring |
| 9 | 21 July † | Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix | Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca |
| 10 | 18 August | Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix | Indianapolis Motor Speedway |
| 11 | 25 August |  bwin Grand Prix České republiky | Brno Circuit |
| 12 | 1 September |  Hertz British Grand Prix | Silverstone Circuit |
| 13 | 15 September |  Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e Della Riviera di Rimini | Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli |
| 14 | 29 September |  Gran Premio Iveco de Aragón | Motorland Aragón |
| 15 | 13 October |  Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix | Sepang International Circuit |
| 16 | 20 October |  Tissot Australian Grand Prix | Phillip Island Circuit |
| 17 | 27 October |  AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan | Twin Ring Motegi |
| 18 | 10 November |  Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana | Circuit Ricardo Tormo |
Calendar changes
- The Grand Prix of the Americas was added to the calendar.
- The Portuguese Grand Prix was taken off the calendar. The race was scheduled on the calendar since 2000.
- The British Grand Prix was moved back, from 17 June to 1 September.
- Only the MotoGP class raced during the United States Grand Prix because of a Californian law on air pollution, preventing the Moto3 and Moto2 classes from racing.
- The Japanese Grand Prix was moved back, from 14 to 27 October.
2013 Grand Prix season results
MotoGP
Participants
- A provisional entry list was released by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme on 28 November 2012. An updated entry list was released on 12 February 2013.
Rider changes
- Hiroshi Aoyama returned to MotoGP full-time after competing in just one event in 2012. He rode an FTR Moto prepared by Avintia Racing.
- Héctor Barberá left Pramac Racing at the end of the 2012 season. When his departure was confirmed in September 2012, he had not secured a ride with any other team, but confirmed his intentions to race for team competing under Claiming Rule Teams regulations.
- Claudio Corti stepped up to the MotoGP category, racing alongside Colin Edwards at Forward Racing.
- Andrea Dovizioso replaced Valentino Rossi at Ducati after spending one season as a Monster Yamaha Tech 3 semi-works rider.
- James Ellison lost his place with Paul Bird Motorsport.
- Yonny Hernández moved from Avintia Racing to Paul Bird Motorsport.
- Andrea Iannone moved up from Moto2 to MotoGP in 2013, joining Pramac Racing.
- Michael Laverty, who competed in the British Superbike Championship from 2010 until 2012 entered MotoGP with Paul Bird Motorsport.
- Marc Márquez joined the MotoGP category, racing for the Repsol Honda Team after rules preventing rookie riders from racing for factory teams were relaxed.
- Mattia Pasini returned to Moto2 in 2013, riding with Forward Racing.
- Michele Pirro lost his place at Gresini Racing.
- After two seasons racing for Ducati, Valentino Rossi returned to Yamaha.
- Iván Silva lost his place at Avintia Racing.
- Bradley Smith, who rode for Tech 3 in the Moto2 category in the 2010 and 2011 seasons was promoted to the team's MotoGP squad, Monster Yamaha Tech 3.
- In July 2012, Ben Spies announced that he would leave the Yamaha Factory Racing team at the end of the 2012 season. He was later confirmed as switching to Ducati, joining Pramac Racing.
- Bryan Staring, who made occasional appearances in MotoGP, the Superbike World Championship and Supersport World Championships, entered the category full-time riding a CRT bike prepared by Gresini Racing.
- 2007 and 2011 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner officially announced his retirement at the French Grand Prix effective from the end of the 2012 season, returning to his native Australia to compete in the Dunlop V8 Supercar Series.
- Lukáš Pešek moved to MotoGP, with IodaRacing Project.
Team changes
- Cardion AB Motoracing ended its association with Ducati and switched to a CRT-spec ART-Aprilia.
- CRT teams Forward Racing, IodaRacing Project and Paul Bird Motorsport expanded their operations to include a second bike.
Riders' points standings
Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.
- Riders marked with light blue background are eligible for Rookie of the Year awards.
- Rounds marked with light blue background were under wet race conditions.
| 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 |
Constructors' standings;Scoring systemPoints are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.
;Notes
Participants
|
S&B Suter
BCL
Suter
Mahindra