With Dani Pedrosa blasting to victory in Sunday’s Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya, and an intriguing head-to-head battle between Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner for second place, there was something for everybody in MotoGP this weekend. This was reflected in TV figures across Europe as increased audiences watched the thrilling action unfold. In Pedrosa’s home country, TVE boasted an average audience of 3,658,000, with an audience share of 37%. This share was the highest percentage for all major sports events on Sunday in Spain, even with Rafael Nadal claiming victory in the French Open at Roland Garros and Formula 1 presented live from Canada. The audience reached its peak when the young Spaniard crossed the line for victory, with 4,733,000 race-fans watching at that time. After the first seven Grands Prix of 2008, the cumulative audience figures for TVE in Spain have seen a 20% rise on 2007. Meanwhile in Rossi’s homeland, a massive 8,346,000 watched the Italian hero fight back to second place from ninth on the grid, an increase of over 800,000 on the same race on the same weekend in 2007. This figure represented an audience share of 46.18% watching on Mediaset’s Italia 1 network, both figures were superior to those of Formula 1 in Italy on the same day, which received 8,177,000 viewers (37,74%) on Rai 3. In the UK where MotoGP heads next week for the bwin.com British Grand Prix the BBC registered 1,400,000 viewers, excited by the positive performances of series rookie James Toseland. This figure corresponded to an impressive share for BBC 2 of 19.7%, a significant increase on the 2007 figures (1,100,000 viewers, 14.05% share). Added to the first six Grands Prix of the year, the BBC has experienced a 21% rise in total audiences for its MotoGP live coverage this season. MotoGP live action returns from Donington Park with the bwin.com British Grand Prix on the weekend of 20-22 June.