Estoril 2006: When two outsiders stole the show from Valentino Rossi

15 October 2006 in Estoril should have been a Rossi celebration. Instead, the penultimate round of the season produced one of the best races in MotoGP history, with two riders at the front whom hardly anyone had expected to see there: the Spanish Gresini rider Toni Elias and the independent rider Kenny Roberts Jr.

After an incident on the fifth lap had thrown the World Championship into disarray – a double retirement for the Repsol Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa – Valentino Rossi initially led ahead of his Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards. Behind them, a leading group began to form. Elias, who had started from 11th on the grid, worked his way up the field, whilst Roberts Jr. charged through from 13th place. What had looked set to be a straightforward win for Rossi turned into a four-way battle.

Although it was rare in 2006 for two outsiders to be battling for victory, it was certainly possible. Honda distributed its RC211V generously: alongside the Repsol works team, customer teams such as Fortuna Gresini received virtually equivalent equipment. Roberts Jr., for his part, rode a KR211V – a self-built chassis fitted with a Honda engine. It was the last prototype built by a private team ever to lead a MotoGP race and finish on the podium.

Elias siegte mit 0,002 Sekunden Vorsprung auf Rossi

Foto: Gold & Goose

In the years that followed, this balance shifted. With the advent of the 800cc era, satellite bikes became last year’s models, and genuine underdog victories disappeared – until Jack Miller won at Assen in 2016. Today, the cards have been reshuffled once again: nowadays, independent teams receive almost up-to-date equipment. In 2024, Jorge Martin became the first privateer to win the MotoGP World Championship on the Pramac Ducati.

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The finale at Estoril was racing at its very best. The lead changed hands several times on the final lap; Rossi overtook once more in the last corner – but Elias stayed right on his tail and edged past ‘The Doctor’ on the finish line. Two thousandths of a second – to this day, it remains the closest photo finish in the MotoGP era. Roberts Jr. finished third; it was the 22nd and final Grand Prix podium of his career.

For Elias, it remained his only victory in the premier class, and for Rossi, second place came at a bitter price: the five points he dropped at Estoril were to be exactly the five he would be short of the title at the end of the season. In the 2006 season, Valencia celebrated Nicky Hayden as the last MotoGP World Champion from the USA.