Most consecutive championships

With an all-time record of 15 World Championship wins, racing legend Giocomo Agostini also holds the record for most consecutive premier class wins with 7 back-to-back titles from 1966 to 1972. Aussie rider Mick Doohan and fellow Italian Valentino Rossi have followed in his tyre tracks, both with 5 consecutive championships in what many fans consider the golden years of racing – the late 1990s and early 2000s.

 

Youngest championship winner

During Marc Marquez’s debut season in the premier class, the Spanish rookie ignited a fire of fandom when he became the youngest rider to win a premier class Grand Prix, aged just 20 years and 63 days at Austin. Marquez went on to become the youngest premier class champion in 2013, beating Freddie Spencer’s record from 1983, and as well as this, he was the first rookie to win the championship in a debut season since Kenny Roberts in 1978.

 

Most Grand Prix race starts

In a nostalgic and proud moment at the 2019 Australian GP, Valentino Rossi became the first rider in the 70-year history of World Championship motorcycle racing to reach 400 race starts. This feat has meant he has taken part in over 40% of all Grand Prix races! Philip Island was a fitting location for his 400th start, since he has won eight races there, which is more than any other rider. But it’s Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso who holds the title for most consecutive race starts with an impressive 215.

 

Most Grand Prix victories

Rossi is the only rider in history to win world titles in the 125cc, 250cc, 500cc and MotoGP classes of World Championship motorcycle racing, and seven race wins away from joining Agostini (122) at the top of the list for most Grand Prix victories across all competitions. The Doctor’s total podium finishes to date are at an all-time record of 198, with many fans hoping to see the figure reach 200 before he retires from the sport.

 

Most wins in a season

In 2014, just a year after his first MotoGP victory, Marc Marquez dominated the series and won 13 of the 18 races. His win at the season finale in Valencia cemented another record; this time, the most wins in a season, which he narrowly clinched from Mick Doohan in 1997. While Marquez’s percentage of wins was 72%, Doohan’s was a whopping 80% since he grabbed the silverware at 12 of 15 races. But the highest percentage of wins in a season is shared by Agostini in 1968 and John Surtees in 1959 – both with a 100% success rate, winning every race of the season.

 

Most GP wins by non-World Champion

Though mind-blowingly never a World Title winner, Dani Pedrosa won 31 Grand Prix races between 2006 and 2018, proving the old saying true that consistency not race wins, win championships. His race victory tally is the highest for a rider without a World Championship, ahead of all-time greats Kevin Schwantz (25), Wayne Rainey (22) and Kenny Roberts Sr (22). Pedrosa was also close to the record for top points to his name with 2970 (second to Rossi), and won races in 12 consecutive seasons, earning his name as a MotoGP™ Legend ahead of hanging up his leathers at the end of 2018.

 

We look forward to seeing the 2020 season get started on 19th July, and hope to see more records broken.

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