Bradley Smith

We should have known that the writing was on the wall when Valentino Rossi debuted his "Farewell" helmet at Laguna Seca

Jorge Lorenzo is redefining "unstoppable" this season

Kenny Noyes, one of three US riders crowding the Moto2 class at Indy

Yuki Takahashi, and the Mistral 610

With 41 Moto2 bikes, the track was packed

Scott Jones took too many fantastic photographs at the Sachsenring, so many that we've had to split our review of them over two days. Double the quantity, double the pleasure, and what better way to get 2010 started?

Wheelies whatever the weather

Colin Edwards takes the art of looking through the corner to the extreme

Best helmet of the year for Niccolo Canepa

The weather at the Sachsenring was best described as changeable

Another day, another set of beautiful photographs taken by MotoMatters.com snapper Scott Jones. That weekend saw the weather play a major role, with race day finally drying up and producing three great races, including a scintillating MotoGP contest. Relive it all again in glorious color:

Valentino Rossi had things well under control in Germany

Still probably the best looking bike on the grid

58, the number of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brother

As we were working our way through the backlog of administration and other horrors which fill the off-season at MotoMatters Towers, we stumbled across some more photos kindly contributed to us by our good friend Tammy Gorali. Tammy was fortunate enough to have a grid pass for the 125cc race, as well as pit lane access for the post-race tests. So just to tide you over through the start of a long dark winter, here's a few of her photos.

Valentino Rossi never misses a chance to make a chicken joke

His teammate takes testing a lot more seriously

Marco Simoncelli had fun, fun, fun till they took the T bike away

While the grid in MotoGP is all but settled, in the junior classes everything is still wide open. A few key pieces are falling into place, but the grid still remains far from certain.

One major piece slotted into place today, though: Bradley Smith signed a new one-year deal with his Bancaja Aspar team, making him the odds-on favorite for the 2010 125cc title. His championship assault will be no cakewalk, however, as Aspar announced at the same time that Nico Terol, the man who finished in 3rd behind Smith, had also been contracted to ride alongside smith.

Smith's current team mate and 2009 125cc World Champion Julian Simon will be moving up to the new Moto2 class. Simon will feature alongside Mike di Meglio, the French rider who partnered Alvaro Bautista so impressively in the 250cc class this year. Both men will be riding an Aprilia-badged Moto2 bike for the Mapfre Aspar team next season.

Smith was close to a Moto2 deal, with Fausto Gresini very interested in signing the talented British youngster, but one of the conditions demanded by Gresini was that Smith bring sponsorship to the tune of 500,000 euros to the team. That kind of money is hard enough to raise even when the economy is good, and so Smith chose to stay in 125s and claim the title, with the hope of moving up in 2011 as World champion.

The Repsol Posse

The Red Bull Rookies produced great racing, as ever

Bradley Smith, flying the flag

MotoGP, brought to you by these people

Donington Park is still beautiful in the summer

Casey Stoner had a tough day on Saturday

Bradley Smith - a very popular pole sitter

Earlier today, we posted a bunch of photos that Scott Jones took at Donington. There's plenty more where those came from.

Alvaro Bautista, against a stunning backdrop

Rain or shine, Valentino Rossi is always fast

Thomas Luthi likes his coffee cold

The photos from Qatar taken by Scott Jones have been extremely popular, just as we expected. And luckily for us, Scott still has plenty more where they came from. Below are some of Scott's photos taken during practice and qualifying, and over the next couple of days, we'll put up some more from race day. Enjoy, and stay tuned!

Nicky Hayden had an awful weekend, including a blown engine during practice