Of the four 2008 MotoGP rookies, Toseland was the only one not to have raced in either 125 or 250GP, but the reigning double World Superbike champion had instantly raised expectations by qualifying his Tech 3 Yamaha second on the grid at Qatar.

Toseland finished the race in sixth, a position he repeated five further times in 2008, with his highlight of the year a thrilling ride at the Australian Grand Prix, when he became one of the few riders to fight back and re-pass Valentino Rossi this season.

A turn one accident at his home British GP marked the start of a difficult run of races and Toseland finished the year eleventh in the championship. Toseland, aware of the need for results to stay in MotoGP, will expect to be a podium contender in 2009.

Elias was the only rider other than Stoner to take the Ducati Desmosedici to a podium finish this season and, although his next best race result was only seventh place, the Spaniard finished the season with almost double the points of Stoner's factory team-mate Marco Melandri.

The combination of Melandri and the Desmosedici was like mixing oil and water. A fifth place at round four in China proved a false dawn and the former MotoGP World Championship runner-up was left just 17th in the championship, one place behind John Hopkins, whom he will join at Kawasaki next season.

With Elias heading back to Gresini Honda, with factory support, next season, team-mate Sylvain Guintoli is the only 2008 Desmosedici rider not returning to MotoGP next year. The amiable Frenchman also faced a tough challenge in attempting to tame the Desmosedici, but finished every single race - scoring points in all but one event - with his highlight of the year a sixth place in the wet at Sachsenring without the aid of traction control!

Guintoli, who claimed 13th in the championship, moves to BSB in 2009, when Pramac will field an all-rookie line-up of Mika Kallio and Niccolo Canepa. A new fifth Ducati will also be present next year, ridden by former MotoGP World Championship runner-up Sete Gibernau, raising the MotoGP grid to 19.

Nakano's team-mate Alex de Angelis was the lowest ranked of the four 2008 MotoGP rookies, in 14th position, but could point towards an impressive charge from last to fourth at Mugello - and a repeat of that position on his wet MotoGP race debut in Germany - as proof of his future potential.

Having taken his first MotoGP podium with Kawasaki in 2007, and impressed in pre-season testing for Honda LCR, 2008 turned out to be a major disappointment for Randy de Puniet, who was the lowest ranked Honda rider in the championship (15th) with a best race finish of sixth and six non-scores.

The manufacturer that suffered the most in 2008 was undoubtedly Kawasaki, which scored less than half the points of the next lowest MotoGP manufacturer (Suzuki) and failed to finish higher than fifth in a race.