Historical information about 75 years of the Motorcycle World Championship – the last part / MotoGP

The first race of April in the World Motorcycle Road Championship was held in 1985 in the 250 cc class by the Italian Loris Reggiani. He also scored his first championship points, finishing ninth in the third race of the season at Hockenheim. Loris Reggiani also took the first win for the Italian manufacturer from Noale two years later, winning the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano in the same class in front of his home crowd.

In 1992, Aprilia celebrated its first drivers’ world championship title, also with an Italian, with Alessandro Gramignoni in the 125 cc class.
In 1995, the name of the first builder was added to this, but now again in the 250s.
Spaniard Aleix Espargaro took his first premier class win at the 2022 Argentine GP.

The first match of Ducati, also from the country of boots, in Grand Prix racing started in 1956. Sandro Artusi took part in the Grand Prix of Nations in Monza, Italy, the World Cup final of that year, in the 125cc class and immediately took first place in fifth place. World Cup Points.
The first GP win came in 1958 at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, when Alberto Gandossi won the eight-litre race. That year he became the vice-champion of the world in front of his partner Luigi Taveri from Switzerland.

After a multi-year hiatus, Ducati returned to the motorcycle world championship in 2003. In the first race of the season, Italian Loris Capirossi finished third in the MotoGP at Suzuka, Japan, taking his first victory in the class. five first-class later in Barcelona.

In 2007, Australia’s Casey Stoner won the first World Drivers’ Championship title, which was decorated by simultaneously winning the World Constructors’ Championship title.

In 2022, Italian Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia became the second MotoGP world champion on a Ducati. Last year he was able to successfully defend this title.

The factory with many world titles and GP wins is Honda. After the Japanese entered GP racing for the first time in the 125 cc class in 1959, Tom Phillis gave them their first victory in the 125 cc class at the 1961 season opener at Barcelona’s Montjuic Park. 1961 was a golden year when Tom Phillis and Englishman Mike Hailwood won the world championship titles in the 125 and 250 cc classes and the first constructors’ titles were also won in these classes.
In 1966, Rhodesian Jim Redman added the first class victory in the West German GP at Hockenheim.

To date, Honda has won 62 world championship titles and 821 GP victories in all classes, 313 of which were in the first class up to 500 cc or MotoGP.
This year, Honda is also involved in the smallest displacement class, Moto3.

Austrian occupation KTM he only entered Grand Prix competition in 2003 and took part in the Japanese GP at Suzuka in the 125cc class. In the second race of the season in Welkom, South Africa, Frenchman Arnaud Vincent finished in twelfth place and scored the first world championship points for the manufacturer from the Alpine Republic.
In the 2004 season, they won the Malaysian GP at Sepang in the same class with Casey Stoner and eventually finished fifth overall in the World Drivers’ Championship with him.

The following year they celebrated their first constructors’ title in this class and when it changed to Moto3 in 2012, KTM made history with world champion German rider Sandro Cortese. This was also the first World Drivers’ Championship title for the Austrian company.

Since then, they have won a total of five Moto3 World Championship titles plus one more on a GASGAS branded motorcycle. Since 2020, KTM has also been sending its motorcycles to races under the Husqvarna label and since 2021 under the name GASGAS.
The same game has been played by GASGAS in MotoGP since 2023.

Since 2022, motorcycles with the CFMOTO name have also filled Moto3 starting points. In racing, however, these are also KTMs in disguise thanks to a joint venture between KTM and a Chinese motorcycle manufacturer.

In Moto2 they currently compete under the KTM and Husqvarna names, although the regular engines came from Honda and are now from Triumph.

South Africa’s Brad Binder took his first premier class win of 2020 in Brno, Czech Republic.

And Yamaha Another long-standing manufacturer is still involved in MotoGP. Their first race was the 1961 French GP in Clermont-Ferrand with Fumio Ito in the 250cc class. In the fourth race of the season, he scored his first World Championship point in sixth place, which he followed up with six more points that year, finishing the World Championship in ninth place.

It was Fumio Ito who achieved the first victory for Yamaha in the 250cc race at Spa-Francorchamps in 1963.

The next step was the first World Drivers’ Championship in 1964 with Briton Phil Read, including the first constructors’ title.

The first victory in the first class was achieved by Chas Mortimer of England at the Spanish GP in Barcelona in 1972.
To date, Yamaha has 41 world championship titles under its belt, making it the second most successful manufacturer after Honda. And 525 also after the Grand Prix victory.

Part 1/4 of the series: 75 years of MotoGP – history

Part 2/4 of the series: 75 years of MotoGP – history

Part 3/4 of the series: 75 years of MotoGP – history