For those that don't know, I've been a motorsports fan for most of my life. Chasing Formula One (F1) and World Rally Championship (WRC) coverage as a person growing up in the US was difficult, but it was a thing I approached with gusto. When I discovered that the newsstands (yes, with printed magazines and newspapers) in Union Station carried Autosport and other European racing mags, I spent far more money than was probably wise at the time to get my fix.
Eventually, that spread to MotoGP, too; particularly as I became more interested in motorbikes. I didn't grow up riding them, so I wasn't in on bike world from childhood. But as your special interests do, mine informed my sporting and entertainment interests, even when I wasn't out riding myself. And never mind the fact that commuting is worlds away from racing.
What do top-level MotoGP racers have in common with top racers in many other disciplines? Broadly speaking, there are both similarities and differences (and the biggest ones are probably the amount of money required). Generally speaking, to be successful at the top levels of international racing now, you need the following (to different degrees):
