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The Le Mans Grand Prix will be the 1,000th in the history of the World Championship. The first race took place on 13 June 1949, with the 350 class, starting on the Isle of Man. More than 70 years have passed since that day and many things have happened. We have a look at a few numbers.
1949 – The Grand Prix World Championship was introduced in 1949 with four classes for solo motorcycles: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc and 125cc. The very first race counting towards a World Championship classification was the 350cc race on Monday June 13th 1949 on the Isle of Man, won by Freddie Frith on a Velocette.
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 is the rider with most GP starts: 432, meaning he’s raced in more than 43% of all the Grands Prix that have taken place.
393 – From the very first race in 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™ in Austin this year.
235 – Valentino Rossi is the rider with the most podiums with 235, ahead of Giacomo Agostini (159), Dani Pedrosa (153), Jorge Lorenzo (152), Angel Nieto (139) and Marc Marquez (139).
125 – 125 different riders have clinched 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) and Nieto (90). Marc Marquez is fourth with 85 wins, ahead of Hailwood with 76.
73 – Assen is the venue that has hosted the most Grands Prix. It held an event every year since the World Championship started back in 1949, until 2019. The 2020 Dutch TT was then cancelled due to the pandemic, making it 73 Dutch TTs so far counting towards the World Championship.
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 titles 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 – 29 nationalities have won Grands Prix. Italy leads with 876 wins ahead of Spain (700) and the UK (413).
20 – There were six GPs in 1949, all in Europe. 20 GPs are now scheduled in 2023, in 17 different countries.
19 – 19 nationalities are represented in the 125 World Champions crowned since 1949. Italy leads with 80 world titles ahead of Spain (57) and the UK (45).
1 – Of the 125 Champions, 70 (more than half) have clinched only one title – but 55 are multiple World Champions
