Winners are grinners

The pinnacle of motorcycle racing, MotoGP, brings a lot of happiness to a lot of people, including most of the desk monkeys in this place.

But have you ever wondered what sort of money the riders bring in?

According to new estimates from sources such as Sports Illustrated and GPOne, the top MotoGP riders are earning several million dollars per annum.

And that doesn't include endorsements.

For some riders their annual salary constitutes less than what they make in sponsorships, particularly for the more charismatic personalities.

The top three earners in 2010, Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner, get paid loads of money by their respective masters, between around $6-16 million depending on their performance.

At the other end of the spectrum however, Colin Edwards and Aleix Espargaro earn around $360,000 per year. That figure sounds pretty good to us, but in the bigger picture it's a paltry amount compared to their contemporaries.

For the record, the world's highest paid sports star is Tiger Woods who earns around $9m a year in salary, but around $100m a year with combined endorsements. It sure beats being a cocktail waitress.

Here's a guide of who earns what in the MotoGP paddock (in Australian dollars) but bear in mind that this figure can often swell if riders perform better than expected: