50 Fun Facts About MotoGP

Who remains the only person to have won world championships on both two wheels and four?

John Surtees won the 1964 Formula One title with Ferrari after 38 motorcycle Grand Prix wins. The 2012 Segrave Trophy recognised the two-and-four-wheel double.

What distinction did the top two in the 2025 riders' standings share, a first for the premier class?

They were brothers: the champion and runner-up were the first siblings to place first and second in the top class, having earlier been the first brothers to win Grands Prix on the same day.

Which American group bought the championship's Madrid-based promoter, Dorna Sports, in 2025?

Liberty Media now runs the series through a subsidiary called MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group, having bought the commercial rights holder. The FIM remains the sanctioning body.

Which number was retired at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix to honour the rider who had used it for his entire career?

46 was retired with a ceremony at the 2022 Italian round; its owner had ridden with it for his entire career.

Which rookie won the 2013 premier-class title aged 20, the youngest champion in the class's history?

Marc Márquez was the first rider since 1978 to take the title in his debut season, at 20 years and 266 days.

Which Australian, who braked with a left-thumb lever, won five straight 500cc titles from 1994?

Mick Doohan used a left thumb-operated rear brake from 1993 because his right foot could no longer work the pedal, and he dominated the class until 1998.

Which circuit has held a Grand Prix motorcycle race every year since 1949 except 2020?

Assen, 'the Cathedral of Speed', hosts the Dutch TT, and the same venue has also been on the World Superbike calendar since 1992.

Which manufacturer's run of 22 straight Grand Prix wins was ended at the 2025 French round?

Ducati's 22 wins in a row only equalled a record first set in 1997–98, and the streak was broken by a home rider in the wet.

Which company returned as the premier class's sole tyre supplier in 2016 after Bridgestone withdrew?

Michelin had introduced radial tyres to Grands Prix in 1984 and left the class in 2009, when Bridgestone became the single supplier.

Which Spanish rider, a triskaidekaphobe, insisted his 13 world titles be counted as '12+1'?

Ángel Nieto won 90 Grands Prix between 1964 and 1986, mostly in the 50cc, 80cc and 125cc classes, and a 2005 documentary borrowed the '12+1' name.

Which Yamaha rider became the first French premier-class world champion, in 2021?

Fabio Quartararo, nicknamed 'El Diablo' and born in 1999, took the crown with Yamaha's factory team.

Which Suzuki factory rider won back-to-back 500cc world titles in 1976 and 1977?

Barry Sheene, who raced with the number 7 and a Donald Duck helmet he first wore in 1969 to stand out from the crowd, won both titles for the Suzuki factory team.

Which former dirt-track racer became the first American to win a Grand Prix world title, in 1978?

Kenny Roberts was sent to Europe by Yamaha's US importer, and his dirt-track riding style changed how Grand Prix bikes were ridden.

Which circuit, owned by Ferrari since 1988, hosts the Italian motorcycle Grand Prix?

Mugello, in Tuscany, doubles as a Formula One test track for Ferrari, which staged its 1,000th Grand Prix there in 2020.

Which circuit got the Australian Grand Prix back for good in 1997 after its years at Eastern Creek?

Phillip Island staged the first Australian round in 1989, lost the race to Sydney in 1991 and has kept it since the 1997 return.

Which rider won premier-class titles in 2010, 2012 and 2015 after two 250cc crowns?

Jorge Lorenzo, born in Palma, spent nine seasons with Yamaha, finishing runner-up three more times, and had won his 250cc titles in 2006 and 2007.

Which American won the 2006 premier-class world championship, ending Valentino Rossi's run of five straight titles?

Nicky Hayden, 'the Kentucky Kid', swapped his usual number 69 for the champion's number 1 plate in 2007, then went back to 69 the year after.

Which desert circuit staged the first night race in the championship's history, in March 2008?

Lusail, in Qatar, had installed permanent outdoor lighting in 2007, and a GP2 Asia night race followed there in 2009.

Which rider won four consecutive 250cc world titles from 1994 to 1997?

Max Biaggi, 'the Roman Emperor', then finished runner-up in the 500cc class as a rookie in 1998, and won at least one premier-class race in each of seven straight seasons.

Who came back from 91 points down at mid-season to win the 2022 premier-class title?

Francesco Bagnaia sealed it at the Valencia finale, having sat sixth in the standings at the exact halfway point of the season, the largest points overhaul by a premier-class champion.

Who won the 2024 title with a satellite team, the first independent-team champion of the MotoGP era?

Jorge Martín won with Prima Pramac Racing, which made him the first satellite rider to take the crown since 2001.

Who took the 2020 world title with a single race win and seven podiums all season?

Joan Mir's only victory came at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, and he finished 13 points clear of Franco Morbidelli after sealing the title at the penultimate round.

When the premier class became MotoGP in 2002, four-strokes could run up to what capacity against the 500cc two-strokes?

990cc four-strokes could run anything from three to six cylinders, and most teams quickly abandoned their two-strokes.

In 2007 the MotoGP engine limit was cut, for at least five years, to what capacity?

800cc engines came with race fuel cut to 21 litres, and the limit went back up to 1,000cc in 2012.

Which British manufacturer has supplied Moto2's 765cc three-cylinder racing engines since 2019?

Triumph's triples are based on the Street Triple RS, replacing the 600cc in-line fours the class had used since it began in 2010.

The Saturday sprints added in 2023 run roughly what fraction of a full Grand Prix distance?

About half the distance earns about half the points, and the sprint was added to every Grand Prix weekend for the MotoGP class only.

Which penalty arrived in 2019 for riders who exceed track limits or ride moderately recklessly?

A long-lap penalty costs time on the track rather than sending the rider through the pits, and it arrived the same year Moto2 changed engine supplier.

Which Spaniard retired in 2018 with 31 premier-class wins and three runner-up finishes but no title?

Dani Pedrosa was runner-up in 2007, 2010 and 2012, and his 332 points in 2012 were then the most ever scored without taking the title.

Who became the youngest world champion in the sport's history by winning the 1990 125cc title at 17?

Loris Capirossi was 17 years and 165 days old, retained the 125cc crown in 1991 and added the 250cc title in 1998.

Who is the only rider to have won the 250cc and 500cc world titles in a single year, in 1985?

Freddie Spencer never won another Grand Prix after that double season, which made him the fifth and last rider to take the 500cc title and the class below in one year.

Which American won three straight 500cc titles from 1990 for a team run by a fellow ex-champion?

Wayne Rainey's titles came on Yamahas entered by the team of the 1978–80 champion, and he rode his 1992 YZR500 again at Goodwood in 2022.

Which American's racing number was retired by the FIM after his 1993 world championship?

Kevin Schwantz won his title as a factory rider and had taken 34 from his uncle Darryl Hurst, a trials rider known as 'the original 34'.

Who won the 2021 Moto3 title as a rookie, having won only his second Grand Prix from the pit lane?

Pedro Acosta's pit-lane win at Doha was a Moto3 first, and he became the first rookie champion since 1990, one day older than that champion had been. He added the Moto2 title in 2023.

Who won the 2024 Moto2 title, the first world championship by a Japanese rider in fifteen years?

Ai Ogura switched to a Boscoscuro chassis for his title season and was promoted to MotoGP by Trackhouse Racing for 2025.

Which rider won a record 14 Moto3 races on the way to the 2024 title?

David Alonso, who represents Colombia, also set the Moto3 records for consecutive wins, seven, and for points in a season, 421, and clinched the crown at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Whose 2025 Moto2 title was the first world championship for a Brazilian in any Grand Prix class?

Diogo Moreira had earlier become the first Brazilian to win a Moto2 race, at the 2025 Dutch TT, and moved up to MotoGP for 2026.

Which chassis maker took its thirteenth straight Moto2 constructors' title in 2025?

Kalex's first world title came with Stefan Bradl in 2011, and in 2016, 2020 and 2021 its bikes won every race of the season. The firm was founded in Bobingen, Bavaria, in 2008.

Who won the inaugural 500cc world championship in 1949 as a member of the AJS factory team?

Leslie Graham led the opening round, the 1949 Isle of Man TT, by 90 seconds, and the championship began a year before Formula One's did.

Which Italian marque, funded by its count's helicopter fortune, won 17 straight 500cc world titles?

MV Agusta's racers were built with the casting and machining techniques of its helicopters, which the firm had made under licence from Bell since 1952.

Which manufacturer's factory team had Repsol as principal sponsor for 30 years to 2024?

Honda's first Repsol line-up in 1995 was three riders on the NSR500, and since 2025 the factory team has raced as Honda HRC Castrol.

Which Italian manufacturer took its first MotoGP win with Aleix Espargaró in Argentina in 2022?

Aprilia's breakthrough came from pole position and was also Aleix Espargaró's first win in any Grand Prix class, putting him top of the standings.

Which manufacturer took its first premier-class win as a constructor with Brad Binder in 2020?

KTM's breakthrough came at the Czech Grand Prix, and its riders won three races that season between them.

Which circuit, home of the Japanese Grand Prix since 2004, saw the 2025 title clinched with five races left?

Motegi had hosted the Pacific Grand Prix from 2000 to 2003 before the national race moved there, and the 2025 champion sealed it with second place in the main race.

Which figure-of-eight circuit lost the Japanese Grand Prix after 2003 over its short run-off areas?

Suzuka was designed as a test track in 1962 with an overpass carrying its back straight over the front section, and it has not appeared on the calendar since the 2003 death of Daijiro Kato.

Which circuit hosted MotoGP's 2024 final round after floods cancelled the Valencia race?

Barcelona-Catalunya staged the 'Solidarity' Grand Prix, giving the season two rounds at Montmeló; the 17 November finale in Cheste had been cancelled after the October floods.

Which tyre maker, in Moto2 and Moto3 since 2024, becomes MotoGP's sole supplier from 2027?

Pirelli replaced Dunlop in the two smaller classes, and the MotoGP deal was announced after the opening race of the 2025 season.

Under the 2027 regulations, MotoGP engine capacity drops from 1,000cc to what maximum?

850cc engines arrive with ride-height and holeshot devices banned, race fuel cut to 20 litres and the allocation trimmed from seven engines per rider to six.

Who became the first Australian premier-class champion in 1987, clinching the title in Brazil?

Wayne Gardner won seven of the sixteen races that year and sealed it with victory in the penultimate round at Goiânia.

Which circuit returned to the calendar in 2025, having last hosted a Grand Prix in 2020?

Brno's new contract runs to 2029, and on its return the eventual champion stretched a run of consecutive sprint and Grand Prix wins to five there.

Which circuit drew a record crowd of more than 311,000 across its 2025 Grand Prix weekend?

Le Mans's Bugatti Circuit drew 311,797 fans over the weekend, the biggest crowd in the championship's history at the time, and a Frenchman won the rain-hit race.