FEATURE - MotoGP 1000th Grand Prix
Words: Mike Ryan
Photos: MotoGP
While MotoGP as a brand has only been around since 2002 and the Moto2 and Moto3 classifications are even younger, the 500cc, 250cc and 125cc classes they evolved from can trace their origins back to 1949.
This year, at the French MotoGP round, the FIM Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship reached a major milestone with its 1,000th grand prix event.
The inaugural FIM Grand Prix World Championship was a six-round affair for the 500cc class, with four rounds for the 250cc class and just three for the 125cc class. A 350cc class was part of that inaugural season, too, with the very first point-scoring race being in the 350cc class at the Isle of Man TT in June, 1949. The TT was part of the world championship until 1976, while the 350cc class endured to 1982.
Over the years, other capacities have been part of the grand prix championship, too, including 50cc from 1962 to 1983 and 80cc from 1984 to 1989.
World champions from the inaugural 1949 season were Nello Pagani (125cc), Bruno Ruffo (250cc), Freddie Frith (350cc) and Les Graham (500cc), achieving their titles on Mondial, Moto Guzzi, Velocette and AJS machinery, respectively. Italian riders dominated the 125cc class back then, while Brits were the power in the larger capacities.
Fast forward 74 years and 999 grands prix and the bikes, tracks and conditions for grand prix racing have changed immeasurably, but the skill and daring displayed by the riders remains.
Countdown to 1000
Fittingly, such a momentous occasion as the 1,000th grand prix was celebrated at an equally momentous venue. The Le Mans circuit in France hosted the 1000th event for the two-wheel brigade just a month before the longer Circuit de la Sarthe (which uses a section of the GP circuit) celebrated a milestone of its own, with the centennial running of the Le Mans 24 Hour Race.
The first Motorcycle Grand Prix held at Le Mans was in 1969, with Giacomo Agostini the winner in the 500cc class back then, lapping the entire field on his way to victory. While other circuits, like Paul Ricard, Magny-Cours and Reims, have hosted the French GP before and since, Le Mans has been the venue every year since 2000.
Ahead of the milestone race weekend, French MotoGP riders Johann Zarco and Fabio Quartararo led thousands of motorcyclists on a parade from the centre of Le Mans to the circuit, with the convoy of riders filling the track.
Milestone Winners
What’s remarkable in the list of past winners of milestone grands prix in the premier class is that all were, or would be, world champions. That list includes:
GP100 – Jim Redman
GP200 – Giacomo Agostini
GP300 – Bary Sheene
GP400 – Eddie Lawson
GP500 – Wayne Rainey
GP600 – Kenny Roberts Jnr
GP700 – Valentino Rossi
GP800 – Jorge Lorenzo
GP900 – Marc Marquez
The 1000 Result
So, who would be winner of GP1000? Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), came to Le Mans as the championship leader from Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM factory Racing).
Bagnaia had won the previous round at Jerez, while the fact that Ducati riders have won at Le Mans for the previous three years – Danilo Petrucci in 2020, Jack Miller in 2021 and Enea Bastianini in 2022 - also worked in his favour.
Interestingly, while Quartararo is a previous MotoGP World Champion and Zarco has been on the podium multiple times, neither rider has won their home GP. In fact, the last time a French rider was victorious in the premier class at the French GP was back in 1954!
Normally, there’s only one winner per class at a MotoGP weekend, but the introduction of the Saturday 'Tissot Sprint' race to MotoGP this year meant there was potential for two riders to share the honour of victory at the 1000th event.
In the Tissot Sprint, polesitter Bagnaia got the holeshot, but Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing Ducati) had jumped from fifth to second in the opening corners. He took the lead on lap 4 and managed to hold it to the finish of the 13-lap sprint, despite attention from Binder and Bagnaia.
In the main race, it was Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) who had the early advantage, while Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM factory Racing) led for a period too, but on lap 11 of 27, Bezzecchi took the lead, then built upon it lap after lap. In the end, Bezzecchi recorded a dominant 4.25 second victory to go down in history as the GP1000 winner.
The icing on the cake was that the 1000th grand prix event had the highest attendance of any MotoGP round in the category’s history. With 278,805 fans across four days, this year’s French GP topped the previous record of 248,434 fans that attended the 2015 Czech GP at Brno.
Motorcycle Grand Prix 1000 - by the numbers*
(* as of 11 May, 2023)
1949 – The Grand Prix World Championship was introduced in 1949 with four classes for solo motorcycles: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc and 125cc.
817 – Honda is the most successful manufacturer in GP racing with 817 wins ahead of Yamaha (520), Aprilia (295), MV Agusta (275), Kalex (165) and Suzuki (162).
432 – Valentino Rossi has the most GP starts: 432, meaning he’s raced in more than 43% of all the Grands Prix that have taken place.
393 – From 1949 to the 2023 Spanish GP, 393 different riders have stood on the top step of the podium. The most recent “new winner” is Ivan Ortola in Moto3, who won at Austin this year.
235 – Valentino Rossi is the rider with the most podiums (235), ahead of Giacomo Agostini (159), Dani Pedrosa (153), Jorge Lorenzo (152), Angel Nieto (139) and Marc Marquez (139).
125 – 125 different riders have won a Grand Prix World Championship, taking a total of 284 titles. Giacomo Agostini holds the record with 15, ahead of Angel Nieto (12 + 1), Mike Hailwood (9), Rossi (9) and Carlo Ubbiali (9).
122 – Agostini is the most successful rider with 122 GP wins ahead of Rossi (115), Nieto (90), Marquez (85) and Hailwood (76).
73 – Assen has hosted the most Grands Prix, including every year from 1949 to 2019. The 2020 2020 Dutch TT was cancelled due to the pandemic, making it 73 Dutch TTs prior to 2023.
73 – Since 1949, 73 different circuits have hosted a premier class Grand Prix. Mandalika is the most recent addition, joining the calendar in 2022.
30 – Since 1949, 30 different manufacturers have clinched Grand Prix World titles. Honda leads with 72 ahead of Yamaha (37), MV Agusta (37), Aprilia (19) and Suzuki (15).
29 – 29 countries have hosted at least one Grand Prix since 1949. Spain leads with 143 ahead of Italy on 103.
29 – Riders of 29 different nationalities have won Grands Prix. Italy leads with 876 wins ahead of Spain (700) and the UK (413).
20 – The six GPs in 1949 were all in Europe and the UK. In 2023, following the cancellation of the Kazakhstan round, 20 GPs are scheduled, in 17 different countries.
19 – 19 nationalities are represented in the 125 World Champions that have been crowned since 1949. Italy leads with 80 world titles ahead of Spain (57) and the UK (45).
1 – Of the 125 different World Champions to date, 70 have clinched only one title – but 55 are multiple World Champions.
