By the mid-2000s, the 990cc four-stroke machines introduced in 2002 had developed to the point where lap records were tumbling at circuits around the world and the regulatory bodies harboured concerns about both safety and development costs. In 2004 the FIM announced a future reduction to 900cc, but this was subsequently revised downward to 800cc, a target that took effect from the 2007 season. Fuel tank capacity was simultaneously reduced, from 22 litres in 2006 to 21 litres for 2007 onward, while minimum weights for four-cylinder configurations rose by 3 kg to 148 kg.
The rationale was that smaller engines would reduce straight-line speed while technical ingenuity was redirected toward suspension, aerodynamics, chassis stiffness, and tyre management. The use of oval pistons, which Honda had experimented with as a means of extracting additional revs from a constrained bore, was explicitly banned from 2007.
The first season of the 800cc formula produced a dramatic upset. Casey Stoner, riding the Ducati Desmosedici GP7, won 10 of the 18 races and took the riders' championship with a margin of 125 points over Dani Pedrosa. It was Ducati's first world championship in the premier class and the first time since 1974 that the premier class had not been won by a Japanese constructor. The new Ducati 800cc engine carried a significant straight-line speed advantage, and Stoner's ability to exploit it while managing the bike's trickier cornering behaviour made him the dominant force of the year.
Honda suffered most from the regulation change despite pre-season expectations that they would adapt their existing engines more easily than rivals. Valentino Rossi, on Yamaha, mounted a sustained title challenge before Stoner pulled away at mid-season. Suzuki took a victory through Chris Vermeulen at Donington. The 2007 season also imposed new tyre restrictions, limiting Michelin-supplied teams to 31 slick tyres per race weekend per rider, a measure that helped Bridgestone-shod teams and contributed to Rossi switching to Bridgestone for 2008.
The Great Recession prompted MotoGP's governing bodies to implement a package of cost-reduction measures in 2009. Friday practice and testing sessions were reduced, engine allowances per season were cut so that riders had to manage their powerunit mileage across multiple race weekends, and the championship switched to a single tyre manufacturer — Bridgestone — after Michelin's withdrawal. Qualifying tyres, active suspension, launch control, and ceramic composite brakes were all banned. Carbon brake discs were prohibited for 2010.
These changes collectively altered the technical character of the class and placed greater emphasis on tyre management and mechanical setup over outright horsepower.
Five different riders took championships across the five seasons of the 800cc formula. Stoner was champion in 2007, Valentino Rossi won titles in 2008 and 2009, Jorge Lorenzo took the 2010 championship, and Stoner returned to claim the 2011 title, becoming the final 800cc champion. Stoner finished 16 of 17 races in 2011 in the top three, equalling a premier class record held by both Rossi and Lorenzo.
The 800cc formula was always intended as a minimum five-year regulation, and from the 2012 season the MotoGP class raised the maximum engine displacement to 1,000cc. The return to a larger capacity was accompanied by the introduction of the Claiming Rule Teams subclass, which provided a route for independent teams to participate at reduced cost. Casey Stoner, the only double champion of the 800cc era, retired at the age of 27 after the 2012 season.
The 800cc period is remembered as technically intricate and demanding for riders, who frequently noted that the reduced displacement rewarded those able to exploit corner entry and mid-corner speed rather than simply those who could manage the most powerful machine to the end of a straight. The era also coincided with Marc Marquez's emergence through the lower classes and Jorge Lorenzo's establishment as a title-calibre competitor, both of whom would go on to dominate subsequent seasons.