 Stoner was in strong contention early on but Valentino Rossi was very close for a long period of the season, before Stoner started to pull away at mid-season and sealed his title with several races to go, with Rossi's title challenge fading.Up to the end of 2006, speculation suggested that Honda would have the advantage of the new 800cc engines, as they could modify their existing engines easier than other manufacturers.In practice, Honda suffered the most from the regulation change, with only Dani Pedrosa and Marco Melandri making any impression on the leaders.