The fast times of motorcycle racing

Speed’s the thing in Mark Neale’s documentary “Faster,” an insider’s view of life on the MotoGP circuit.

The MotoGP world championships are the fast lane of international motorcycle road racing -- a two-wheeled version of Formula One -- and are immensely popular in Europe and Asia. The series consists of 16 races held on five continents (North America not being one of them), with points awarded based on the riders’ finishing position and the overall leader being crowned world champion.

Whipping through serpentine curves astride Hondas, Yamahas, Suzukis and other makes, the riders throw themselves and their machines into each turn using a knee to help steer the back end of the bike. The shiny, advertising-laden machines hide their bulky mechanical muscle behind colorful molded bodies. The designs are so sleek and aerodynamic the riders seem welded to their bikes like something out of “Tron.”

In interviews with riders and journalists, the sport more than once is likened to a video game, but a game in which the peril is real. Top speeds approach 200 mph in the straightaways, and the slightest glitch can send a bike end over end, tossing its rider like a rag doll.

Injuries are severe, often crippling, but because the riders are not sealed inside fuel-filled vehicles, death is not the specter here that it is with Formula One, Indy cars or NASCAR. In fact, many of the interviewees in the film form an honor roll of former world champions still active in the sport, such as American Kenny Roberts, who first won the title in 1978.

Many top riders past and present are interviewed, but Neale, a video director who has worked with U2, wisely concentrates on four men. The film was shot during the 2001 and 2002 racing seasons, just as then 21-year-old superstar Valentino Rossi was reaching the top strata, capturing the first two of his three consecutive world championships.

The documentary also looks at Rossi’s less-than-friendly rivalry with fellow Italian Max Biaggi, hard-luck Australian Garry McCoy’s injury-plagued run and the debut of U.S. rookie John Hopkins.

The riders discuss how they got into racing and, more important, what drives them to risk life and limb in the pursuit of more speed. Neale’s cameras and broadcast footage of various races place the audience in a position to experience the participants’ need to go faster.

Narrated by cycle enthusiast Ewan McGregor (the actor recently embarked on a round-the-world motorcycle trip), the film is the first to be released by Slamdance on the Road, a new distribution entity launched to capitalize on the 10-year-old Slamdance Film Festival’s brand name.

It’s an interesting choice for Slamdance, as this is not your typical independent film. It’s not a dark drama or a quirky comedy. It’s not even a documentary about a group of eccentrics.

Then again, if you consider hurtling along at insane speeds inches from the asphalt to be a tad eccentric, the riders of MotoGP may just fit the bill.

*

‘Faster’

MPAA rating: Unrated.

Times guidelines: Some violent motorcycle crashes.

A film by Spark Productions, in association with Dorna Sports SL, released by Slamdance on the Road. Writer-director Mark Neale. Producer Stephen Lim. Executive producers Ian MacLean, Mark Neale, Chris Paine. Cinematographer Grant Gee. Editor Rochelle Ford. Music tomandandy. Running time: 1 hour, 43 minutes.

Exclusively at ArcLight Cinemas, 6360 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. (323) 464-4226. www.arclightcinemas.com.