'I think they weren't very nice to Valentino Rossi, especially after he did all the work developing that bike and then they just went and gave it to That Spaniard. I don't like That Spaniard. Does anyone?'

For someone who has no interest in, or knowledge of, motorcycle racing to form such opinion of the workings of the 2009/2010 MotoGP season from a film means something. It means the film has done its work and done its work well. The above statement came from Her Indoors as we left the Empire Leicester Square last night following the quite astonishing premiere of Mark Neale's Fastest.

Neale has previously been responsible for Faster and The Doctor, The Tornado and The Kentucky Kid - ripping yarns about MotoGP in their own right but with Fastest, Neale has moved the gridslots. Good films about motorcycles are few in number, fewer still about motorcycle racing but Fastest is, at least in my book, equal to On Any Sunday.

After curtain up, we were treated to an introduction by The Doctor himself, which prompted an ovation from the 1300-strong audience in London and then, from the first sequences of Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo during their titanic struggle at Montmelo in 2009, through to Rossi's parish priest explaining Tavullia's love of its favourite son, it is pure emotion tied together by flawless narration by Ewan McGregor.

Capturing the feelings of racers when they have won or lost, when they are injured, happy, sad or entirely indifferent is never easy as helmets and dark visors hide a multitude of emotions. Neale's access to Rossi, who is one of the world's sporting superstars, and the rest of the grid, reveals a rawness never before seen - at least not on a screen this size.

The Doctor's Mugello crash and recuperation, Lorenzo's 2008 crash-fest 'I realised if I carried on like this, I would die', Bautista and De Puniet's spills and miraculous recoveries, and the flowery descriptions of the gladiators by Dr Claudio Costa, who runs the at-track Clinica Mobile. All are captured with a fabulous insight.

Neale's obvious passion for Rossi, and the rest of the grid, is always in evidence. Time spent in the editing suite must run into the thousands of hours, such is the attention to detail. But what makes Fastest into a must-view is the fact that, as Rossi put the impossible move on Lorenzo at Montmelo, there was a tear in the eye.

Because we may never see Rossi at his best again, it may well be the last great pass from the Greatest Of All Time. Because the nine-time world champion has transcended the sport like no other and because he is The Doctor, he will always be fastest…

The film is on general release in the UK on September 25 and 27 with showings in all major cities. Click here for cinemas and times. But take one person who knows nothing about motorcycle racing and listen as they draw breath as they watch the aftermath of Rossi's Casanova/Savelli highside...