Dirk Heidolf took part in his first full World Championship season in 2002, after several wildcard appearances at the German GP. In his first season, the rider from Hohensein scored points on five occasions and took 20th overall. The next year he added more point-scoring finishes to his tally but missed several rounds through injury. After a lacklustre 2004, he joined the Castrol Kiefer Honda Racing Team but results did not improve dramatically the following year. In 2006 he continued with the same team, although renamed Kiefer-Bos-Castrol Racing and was this time onboard an Aprilia, but once again his results stayed at around the same level. Having hovered just outside the top 20 in the final standings for the last four seasons Heidolf will hope that in 2007 alongside new Italian team-mate Alex Baldolini he can finally push his way up the pecking order.