MotoGP, the championship at the heart of the film, is a series of sixteen races on five continents contested by twenty-four riders — the largest and most prestigious stage in motorcycle road racing. Faster does not follow a conventional narrative structure but instead builds its story around the human characters who populate the paddock: the riders, their rivalries, their physical fragility, and the physicians who determine their fitness to race.
The film's central narrative thread is the intense personal rivalry between Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi, two Italian riders whose personality clash extended well beyond the track. Television interviews and on-track footage capture the friction between the two men as they competed for supremacy in the premier class. Their dynamic — Rossi flamboyant and crowd-adored, Biaggi outspoken and combative — gave the film its dramatic backbone.
Garry McCoy, the Australian veteran, receives substantial screen time for his unconventional riding technique. McCoy managed to spin up his rear tyre during braking into corners, a method that contradicted accepted riding orthodoxy yet produced competitive lap times and race victories. The film frames his approach as an example of individual genius operating against the rules of the sport.
Dr. Claudio Costa, a physician who travelled with the MotoGP field from circuit to circuit, is another prominent figure. Costa assessed injured riders and made judgements about their fitness to return to racing — a role that placed him at the intersection of medical care and competitive pressure. His distinctive approach to treating broken bones and managing race fitness provided a perspective distinct from the competitive coverage.
Former world champions appearing in interview segments include Mick Doohan, Kevin Schwantz, Kenny Roberts, Barry Sheene, and Wayne Rainey, who was paralysed following a racing accident. Current-grid riders with screen time include Loris Capirossi, Carlos Checa, Colin Edwards, Noriyuki Haga, Nicky Hayden, John Hopkins, Eddie Lawson, Randy Mamola, and Shinya Nakano, among others.
The film was produced by Los Angeles-based Spark Productions in association with Dorna Sports SL, the commercial rights-holder for MotoGP, and was shot at venues around the world between 2001 and 2002. Executive producers were Neale, Ian MacLean, and Chris Paine. Grant Gee's cinematography background in music video production gave the film a visual style more commonly associated with that medium than with conventional sports documentary filmmaking.
Faster was released on a two-disc DVD on 16 November 2004. The package included on-board camera footage from actual races and a short sequel film, Faster & Faster, which covered events through the end of 2003 and the early stages of the 2004 season. That sequel focused in particular on Valentino Rossi's transition from Honda to Yamaha — one of the most significant rider moves of the era.
Faster established the template for what became a recurring series of MotoGP documentary films directed by Mark Neale and narrated by McGregor. It was followed by The Doctor, The Tornado and The Kentucky Kid in 2006, which documented the three-way championship battle of the 2005 season between Rossi, Marco Melandri, and Nicky Hayden. Fastest followed in 2011, covering the 2010 MotoGP season. Hitting the Apex in 2015 extended the series with a broader look at the dangers and personalities of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. The succession of films gave Neale a longstanding and distinctive association with documentary storytelling inside the MotoGP world.