The final race of the MotoGP season in Valencia, which saw 25 year-old American Nicky Hayden claim the MotoGP World Championship following a crash from five-time champion Valentino Rossi, saw MotoGP audiences reaching record highs to top off an incredible season of racing in the world’s premier motorcycling race series. The season has seen growth across most networks broadcasting the sport this season, and the figures at the thrilling Gran Premio bwin.com de la Comunitat Valenciana bear testament to that improvement. For the season’s culmination in Italy, a new viewing record was set for Italia 1, the Mediaset-owned channel which broadcasts MotoGP. A massive 8,850,000 viewers coupled with a 48.25% share represents the highest amount of spectators ever recorded on the channel, breaking the previous record of 8.446 million from MotoGP’s Catalunya race in 2005. Spain also saw a good turnout, TVE revealing that 3.35 million had tuned in to Sunday’s action, with a peak of 4.8 million towards the end of the MotoGP race, overall a 36.7% share. TVE could also boast positive figures during the 250cc race, where Jorge Lorenzo claimed his first world title, with 2.1 million watching the race live, a 36.2% share. In Britain, 1.4 million race-fans watched the exciting events unfold at Valencia on the BBC, representing a 15.5% share, whilst in Austria a share of 7.5% represented a new record high for the 12-3pm slot on the ATV channel. With Nicky Hayden claiming his first title, there were also positive signs from viewing figures back home in the USA, with cable channel Speed recording a 54% increase in figures compared to the same race in 2005.