As the 2013 MotoGP™ World Championship kicked off last Sunday at the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar with a sensational race that was won by Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo, followed by teammate Valentino Rossi and Repsol Honda Team rookie Marc Márquez, audiences in numerous key markets reached some noteworthy numbers. Adrenaline packed racing saw Lorenzo put on a dominant display for the win, as Rossi, Márquez and Repsol’s Dani Pedrosa put on a brilliant show for fans across the world as they scrapped it out for second place, along with the likes of Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow, Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso and Stefan Bradl. Spanish TV saw its Tele5 broadcast increase by a whopping 44.6% over last year’s audience for the race with 4.5 million viewers, with a peak of 5.2 million, taking a 25.2% of the country’s audience share. Meanwhile, Italian television, bolstered by the highly anticipated return of Valentino Rossi on his beloved Yamaha M1, saw audiences go up to 5.28 million – peaking up to 6.63 million – for the race under the floodlights with a 17.5% broadcast share. Cal Crutchlow’s early pre-season form looked to have triggered a humungous increase in British audiences, as nearly 75% more people tuned in over the previous year, with 1.7 million viewers witnessing the action, during which figures peaked at 2 million. Germany turned up in force once again as well, as 410,000 MotoGP fans saw their local hero Stefan Bradl unfortunately crash out after the tough battle with nine-time world champion Rossi. In addition to the regular TV broadcast, the MotoGP season-opener was also available on over 40 planes featuring Sport24, the 24/7 live sports channel produced and distributed by IMG Media exclusively for the in-flight and in-ship markets, bringing MotoGP Live coverage to selected flights operated by Gulf Air, Lufthansa, Emirates & Turkish Airlines. And with the next round in Austin, Texas, at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas promising to be yet another nail-biting affair, with the likes of Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Rossi, Márquez, Crutchlow, Bradl and many others vying for the number one spot, TV audiences around the globe will be in for a treat once more.