Premier-class milestones | ||||
Date | Race number | Event & Circuit | Milestone | |
June 1949 | 1 | Great Britain
IOM TT |
The first ever 500cc GP, won by Harold Daniell riding a factory Norton | |
April 1951 | 13 | Spain
Montjuich |
Umberto Masetti won the 500cc GP on the first visit to Spain for a World Championship event. The average speed for the 34 laps of the Montjuich circuit was just 58. 4 mph – the slowest ever 500cc GP race | |
September 1952 | 27 | Italy
Monza |
The first race win for MV Agusta in the premier-class, ridden by Les Graham | |
October 1953 | 36 | Spain
Montjuich |
Fergus Anderson (Moto Guzzi) at 44 years old is the oldest rider to win in the premier-class | |
June 1957 | 60 | Great Britain
IOM TT |
The longest ever GP of 301.84 miles, held over 8 laps of the Mountain circuit in the Isle-of-Man, won by Bob McIntyre (Gilera) in a time of 3 hrs 2 mins 57 secs | |
August 1962 | 100 | East Germany
Sachsenring |
The 100th race in the premier-class, won by Mike Hailwood (MV Agusta) | |
May 1966 | 131 | West Germany
Hockenheim |
The first ever 500cc GP win for Jim Redman and Honda; also the first 500cc GP win by a Japanese manufacturer | |
September 1969 | 171 | Yugoslavia Opatija | Godfrey Nash riding a Norton is the last rider to win a 500cc GP riding a single-cylinder machine | |
August 1971 | 191 | Ulster GP
Dundrod |
Jack Findlay (Suzuki) was the first to win in the premier-class riding a two-stroke machine | |
June 1972 | 200 | Dutch TT
Assen |
Giacomo Agostini won the 200th race in the premier-class, riding a MV Agusta | |
May 1973 | 207 | France
Paul Ricard |
Jarno Saarinen (Yamaha) scored the first win in the premier-class by a four-cylinder two-stroke machine | |
June 1974 | 222 | Great Britain
IOM TT |
Phil Carpenter won the Senior TT race run in appalling conditions. The one and only point scoring ride in the premier-class by Carpenter.
This was also the first World Championship event attended by the compiler of these statistics! |
|
August 1976 | 247 | West Germany
Nurbergring |
The last of Giacomo Agostini’s 68 premier-class victories which is also the last victory by MV Agusta and the last for a four-stroke 500cc machine | |
July 1977 | 254 | Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps |
The fastest ever GP race, won by Barry Sheene riding a Suzuki, at an average speed of 217.37 km/hr (135.067mph) | |
August 1981 | 298 | Great Britain
Silverstone |
Jack Middelburg (Suzuki) is the last rider to win in the premier-class riding a true ‘privateer’ machine | |
August 1981 | 300 | Sweden
Anderstorp |
Barry Sheene won the 300th GP riding a Yamaha, this is also the last 500cc Grand Prix win by a British rider | |
July 1982 | 307 | Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps |
Freddie Spencer’s first GP win and the first victory for the three-cylinder two-stroke Honda; at the age of 20, Spencer was the youngest ever winner in the premier-class at that time | |
July 1989 | 400 | France
Le Mans |
Eddie Lawson riding a Honda won the 400th GP in the premier-class | |
June 1993 | 453 | Germany
Hockenheim |
In the final qualifying session Shinichi Ito became the first rider to be officially timed at a speed of more than 200 mph on his factory Honda, which was reported at the time to be fuel-injected | |
September 1996 | 500 | Italy
Imola |
Mick Doohan (Honda) won the 500th premier-class GP in a race cut short due to rain | |
November 2001 | 580 | Rio
Jacarapagua |
Valentino Rossi wins a two-part race in Brazil, after the race was stopped at just 4 laps due to rain. Carlos Checa takes the chequered flag first in the 20 lap restart, but loses out to Rossi by just 0.143 sec on aggregate time | |
April
2002 |
581 | Japan
Suzuka |
The first race under the new MotoGP rules allowing 990cc four-strokes to compete alongside 500cc two-stroke machines, won by Valentino Rossi (Honda) | |
October 2002 | 593 | Pacific
Motegi |
Loris Capirossi’s (Honda) 3rd place finish is the last ever podium by a two-stroke machine in the premier-class | |
May 2003 | 600 | France
Le Mans |
Sete Gibernau (Honda) won the 600th premier-class race after a great battle with Valentino Rossi in a shortened race after a stoppage due to rain | |
June 2003 | 602 | Catalunya
Barcelona |
Ducati get their first ever premier-class Grand Prix victory ridden by Loris Capirossi | |
April 2004 | 613 | South Africa
Welkom |
After wining the final race of 2003 at Valencia riding a Honda, Valentino Rossi won the first race of 2004 on a Yamaha; the first rider ever to win successive premier-class races on motorcycle from two different constructors | |
June 2004 | 616 | Italy
Mugello |
The shortest ever premier-class GP race lasting just 12 minutes 6.803 seconds, after the race was stopped at the end of the 17th lap and new start for the remaining six laps under rules in force at the time | |
September 2006 | 659 | Australia
Phillip Island |
For the first time riders entered the pits and change motorcycles under newly introduced wet weather rules | |
October 2006 | 662 | Valencia
Ricardo Tormo |
The final race of the 990cc era, won by Troy Bayliss (Ducati) riding as a replacement for the injured Sete Gibernau | |
March 2007 | 663 | Qatar
Losail |
The first race under the revised rules limiting machines to 800c, won by Casey Stoner (Ducati) | |
March 2008 | 681 | Qatar
Losail |
The first ever Grand Prix held at night under floodlights, won by Casey Stoner (Ducati) | |
April 2009 | 699 | Qatar
Losail |
The first race since the introduction of a single-tyre rule, won by Casey Stoner (Ducati) | |
April 2009 | 700 | Japan
Motegi |
Jorge Lorenzo won the 700th premier-class race, his second victory in the MotoGP class 16 races after taking his first MotoGP win | |
April 2010 | 716 | Qatar
Losail |
The first race under new rules that restricted riders to using a maximum of six engines throughout the season, won by Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) | |
November 2011 | 750 | Valencia
Ricardo Tormo |
The last race of the 800cc era of MotoGP, won by Casey Stoner (Honda) | |
April
2012 |
751 | Qatar
Losail |
The first race under the new rules increasing engine capacity to a maximum of 1000cc, won by Jorge Lorenzo | |
April
2013 |
770 | Americas
Austin |
At the first GP to be held at the newly built circuit of Americas, Marc Marquez becomes the youngest ever winner in the premier-class, at the age of 20 yrs 63 days | |
July
2014 |
795 | Germany
Sachsenring |
Bradley Smith crossed the line in 19th place, just 56.293 seconds behind race winner Marc Marquez; the first time ever in a premier-class grand prix that has gone full distance, that the first 19 riders have crossed the finishing line within one minute | |
September
2014 |
799 | San Marino
Misano |
Valentino Rossi won for the first time in over a year to become the rider with the longest winning career of all-time in GP racing | |
September 2014 | 800 | Aragon | Jorge Lorenzo won the 800th premier-class race, winning by over ten seconds in a flag-to-flag racer | |
March 2016 | 823 | Qatar
Losail |
First race under the newly introduced rules which introduced a spec ECU and software package and with Michelin replacing Bridgestone as the tyre supplier. Jorge Lorenzo takes victory from pole position | |
August 2016 | 833 | Czech
Brno |
Cal Crutchlow become the first British rider to win a premier-class Grand Prix for 35 years, since Barry Sheene won in Sweden in 1981 | |
October 2016 | 839 | Malaysia
Sepang |
Andrea Dovizioso becomes the ninth different MotoGP winner of 2016; the most different winners in a single premier-class season | |
June 2017 | 848 | Dutch TT
Assen |
Valentino Rossi wins for the 89th time in the premier-class – his last Grand Prix victory | |
August 2020 | 898 | Czech
Brno |
Rookie Brad Binder gives KTM their first victory in the MotoGP class | |
August 2020 | 900 | Styria
RedBull-Ring |
Miguel Oliveira (KTM) become the first Portuguese rider to win in the premier-class of Grand Prix racing | |
April 2021 | 911 | Doha
Losail |
Fabio Quartararo wins from Johann Zarco: the first ever French 1-2 in the premier-class of Grand Prix racing | |
August 2021 | 921 | Great Britain
Silverstone |
For the first time since 1974, the top six finishers in a premier-class Grand Prix were taken by riders of bikes from six different manufacturers: Yamaha, Suzuki, Aprilia, Ducati, Honda, KTM | |
November 2021 | 927 | Valencia
Ricardo Tormo |
Valentino Rossi makes his final Grand Prix appearance, his 372nd premier-class start (representing over 40% of all premier-class Grand Prix races that had taken place at this point in time) | |
April 2022 | 930 | Argentina
Termas de Rio Hondo |
Aleix Espargaro gives Aprilia their first win in the premier-class of Grand Prix racing | |
October 2022 | 945 | Australia
Phillip Island |
Alex Rins win the closest premier-class Grand Prix of all-time, with the top seven riders covered by just 0.884 sec. | |
April 2024 | 970 | Americas
Austin |
Maverick Vinales takes the victory in Austin on an Aprilia to become the first rider to win in the MotoGP class on bikes from three different manufacturers ((Suzuki, Yamaha, Aprilia) | |
September 2024 | 979 | Aragon | Marc Marquez takes his first win on a Ducati, 1043 days after his previous win at Misano in 2021 | |
September 2024 | 981 | Emilia-Romagna
Misano |
100th premier-class win for Ducati | |
October 2024 | 984 | Australia
Phillip Island |
Ducati riders fill the top six places: the first time that a manufacture has done this in the MotoGP class | |
March 2025 | 988 | Thailand
Burinam |
Marc Marquez wins from Alex Marquez: the first 1-2 finish by brothers in motorcycle Grand Prix racing | |
May 2025 | 993 | France
Le Mans |
Johann Zarco becomes the first French rider to win at home in the premier-class since 1954. Ending a sequence of 22 successive race wins for Ducati, equalling the record of successive wins by a single manufacturer previously achieved by Honda | |
August 2025 | 1000 | Austin
RedBull Ring |