Le Mans sees us take a big step, so we thought we’d take a little trip down memory lane to see how our sport has evolved.
If you were to travel from the Isle of Man to Le Mans by motorbike, you would cover just over 1000 kilometers from one world famous motorsport venue to the next. It is therefore only fitting that after the Isle of Man TT hosted the first motorcycle Grand Prix in 1949, Le Mans and the French GP will host the 1000th Grand Prix. And what a journey it has been in the 999 GPs between then and now.
Ahead of the 1000th GP taking place this weekend during the SHARK Grand Prix de France, we thought we’d take a quick look at how our beautiful sport has evolved between 1949 and 2023.
1000 Grands Prix: legends that make history
In 1949 the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) was born and our history began with the 125cc, 250cc, 350cc and 500cc motorcycle categories, while the 600cc sidecars also helped form the first World Championship.
Briton Leslie Graham became the first 500cc World Champion to ride a British-made AJC machine, but it was soon another European country that would mark her early authority in Grand Prix motorcycle racing.
Between 1949 and 1974 Italian manufacturers MV Agusta and Gilera dominated the 500cc class. MotoGP™ legends such as Geoff Duke, John Surtees, Giacomo Agostini, Phil Read and Mike Hailwood won their premier class titles on the aforementioned machines before in 1975 Agostini claimed his eighth 500cc crown on a Yamaha .
Rise of Japanese manufacturers
1966 was the first year a Japanese manufacturer won a premier class race. Thanks to Jim Redman, Honda achieved this feat at Hockenheim, while Yamaha won the constructors’ title for the first time in 1974.
From 1975 Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha began to dominate the premier class. Suzuki and Yamaha shared the glory between 1975 and 1982 before Freddie Spencer gave Honda its first 500cc title in 1983.
American and Australian riders make their mark
Kenny Roberts paved the way for some great American names to mark the history of the Grand Prix. Roberts won the 1978, 1979 and 1980 500cc world championships with Yamaha, before Spencer and Eddie Lawson shared the titles between 1983 and 1986.
Wayne Gardner made Australian history in the 1987 500cc World Championship before Lawson (1988 and 1989) and Wayne Rainey (1990, 1991 and 1992) put America firmly back on top. Kevin Schwantz added his name to the list when he won the 500cc title in 1993 as Australian Mick Doohan entered the arena.
Doohan won every 500cc title between 1994 and 1998 before Alex Crivelle ended American-Australian dominance by putting Spain on the Grand Prix map in 1999. Kenny Roberts Jr handed America his front -last premier class title to date in 2000, as Italian rising star Valentino Rossi then became the first Italian 500cc world champion since Franco Uncini in 2001.
In 2002, a new era of Grand Prix motorcycle racing began. MotoGP™ replaced the 500cc class as four-stroke machines were reintroduced at the top level of motorcycle racing, while the 2003 Czech Republic GP marked the end of two-stroke motorcycles in MotoGP™.
The first four years of MotoGP™ racing belonged to Rossi. The #46 won the 2002 and 2003 titles with Honda, as a famous stint at Yamaha later saw Rossi win the 2004 and 2005 titles. The late and great Nicky Hayden put himself, Honda and America on top of the world Grands Prix in 2006, before Australia could follow suit thanks to the brilliant rise of Casey Stoner. Oh, and it was Ducati’s first MotoGP™ triumph – and the first victory for an Italian manufacturer in the premier class since 1974.
Rossi was back on top in 2008 and 2009, but a few incredible talents quickly upset the pecking order. Namely, the Spaniards Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa.
Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa. Between 2007 and 2012, these four runners became widely recognized as “the extraterrestrials”. In those six seasons, Stoner, Rossi and Lorenzo won two titles each, with Pedrosa finishing in the top three in five of those six campaigns.
However, Stoner announced that he was retiring at the end of 2012 at the age of 27. An “Alien” was leaving, but another was ready and waiting: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team).
Launch of Moto2™, Moto3™ and 1000cc MotoGP™ engines
2010 saw Moto2™ replace the 250cc class, with Honda becoming the only manufacturer of four-stroke engines in the new mid-size category. Then in 2012 Moto3™ was created to replace the 125cc class with the same concept – four-stroke engines replacing two-strokes.
In the same year, MotoGP™ increased the maximum engine displacement to 1000cc, while CRTs (Claming Rule Teams) were also introduced to the premier class. This allowed low-budget independent teams to compete in MotoGP™.
2013-2019 – an era dominated by Marc Marquez
The beginning of an era dominated by Marc Marquez, Honda and Spain. Marquez won the first of his six MotoGP™ titles as a rookie in 2013, and it wasn’t until the infamous 2015 title race between eventual Yamaha winner Lorenzo and teammate Rossi that stopped Marquez winning all of them. the titles between 2013 and 2019.
This era of racing also saw the emergence of increasingly important aerodynamics in MotoGP™, with Ducati acting as a pioneer. MotoGP™ also welcomes KTM as a brand new manufacturer in its own right in 2017.
More races, more countries visited, more world champions. Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team), Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) have been our last three world champions, as records continue to be broken around the world. Five manufacturers, all winners of a MotoGP™ race, make up a fiercely competitive grid in 2023.
As we prepare for the 1000th GP it is good to remember the many people who have helped to make the sport what it is today. Here are the next 1000.
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