MOTO GP HISTORY!!!

HAVING 60 YEARS OF HISTORY, MotoGP IS THE OLDEST OF ALL MOTORSPORTS WORLD CHAMPION SHIPS - IT'S FIRST ANNUAL COMPETITION HAVING BEEN HELD IN 1949.
FROM THE EARLY 1900s MOTORCYCLE GRANDS PRIX WERE HELD IN VARIOS COUNTRIES AND IN 1938 PREDECESSOR TO THE CURRENT FIM, THE FICM ANNOUNCED A EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP. HOWEVER, THE START OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR INTERRUPTED THE COMPETITION AND IT THEN TOOK SOME TIME FOR FUEL TO BECOME AVAILABLE, BEFORE A TRULY INTERNATIONAL SERIES COULD BE CREATED.

EARLY RACING

When the first World Championship was held in 1949 Grand Prix racing made four solo classes, with the  ‘premier class’ 500cc title being won by British rider Leslie Graham on AJS machinery. Another Brit, Freddie Frith (Velocette) took the first ever 350cc World title, while Italians Bruno Ruffo (Moto Guzzi) and Nello Pagani (Mondial) were the first 250cc and 125cc World Champions.

A 600cc sidecar championship in the same season was won by Britons Eric Oliver and Denis Jenkinson with Norton machinery, though the sidecar category became a 500cc competition in 1951.
The Italian manufacturers such as Mondial and Moto Guzzi firms, along with companies such as Gilera and MV Agusta, dominated the World Championships during the 1950s, reflecting the strength of the country’s motorcycle industry at the time. MV Agusta were particularly good late in the decade, taking a clean sweep of World titles across all four categories for three seasons from 1958 to 1960 – while their dominance in the 500cc class was unbroken for 17 years from 1958 until 1974.

THE SIXTIES

During the ‘60s the Japanese motorbike industry began to boom and during that decade many of the manufacturers that participate in modern day MotoGP racing, such as Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha, arrived to pick up their first World Championship title wins across the 125, 250 and 500 categories, as they announced themselves in Grand Prix racing. Suzuki in particular enjoyed great success in a new 50cc class which was introduced in 1962.
The late ‘60s brought the start of the glory days for MotoGP Legend Giacomo Agostini – the most successful rider in the history of World Championship competition. Up until the modern era riders regularly competed in two or three classes simultaneously and Agostini took 10 of his 15 titles in five successive seasons as double champion in 350cc and 500cc - in a golden period commencing in 1968, riding for MV Agusta.
At this time the escalating costs associated with Grand Prix racing had reached such a level that several Japanese firms withdrew from competition - with only Yamaha left at the end of the ‘60s. In response the FIM introduced rules which limited the bikes to single cylinder engines in the 50cc class, two cylinders in 125cc and 250cc, and four cylinders in 350cc and 500cc.

The 1980s and 1990s saw some superb quality racing in the premier class in particular with fierce competition between Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha and some great battles between American stars such as Eddie Lawson, Randy Mamola, Freddie Spencer, Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz. Meanwhile in the 125cc and 250cc categories European factories such as Derbi, Garelli and later Aprilia were fighting for the honours with the Japanese giants.

The long association that sidecars had with Grand Prix racing came to an end after the 1996 season, when the class evolved into the Sidecar World Cup in 1997.
In the late 1990s the 500cc class was utterly dominated by Honda hero and MotoGP Legend Mick Doohan who took five consecutive titles, before a combination of racing injuries brought the Australian’s career to a premature end in 1999.

MODERN RACING

Before the revision of regulations which brought about the move to 990cc 4-stroke competition in the premier class - in line with modern engineering and production trends - a young Italian rider called Valentino Rossi took the last ever 500cc title in 2001 on Honda machinery, having won the 1997 edition of the 125cc championship and the 1999 quarter litre crown with Aprilia.
After the re-branding of the World Championship as MotoGP in 2002 and the introduction of 990cc racing, Rossi went on to win four further consecutive titles, two with Honda and two after a sensational move to Yamaha.
In recent seasons the lower cylinder categories have been ruled by young European riders preparing for MotoGP on Aprilia and Honda bikes, with Dani Perdosa epitomising the trend with three successive titles – one in 125 in 2003 followed by two in 250 – riding for Honda before moving into the premier class. In his first season in MotoGP Pedrosa shared the Repsol Honda pit-box with American rider Nicky Hayden, whose aggressive but consistent riding earned him the 2006 title and ended Rossi’s annual procession to glory.
At the start of the 2007 season, new rules restricting the number of tyres used on Grand Prix weekends and a reduction in engine size from 990cc to 800cc again levelled the playing field in MotoGP – with Bridgestone-equipped Ducati Marlboro rider Casey Stoner emerging as the first standout rider of the new era, as the runaway 2007 World Champion. In 2008, however, Rossi returned to the pinnacle, taking his sixth premier class title, with Stoner a distant runner-up in the standings.

The 2009 season saw the introduction of a single-tyre rule, as Bridgestone were named the sole suppliers for the MotoGP class. Rossi took his seventh title in the premier class after a battle with team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, taking him to within one more of equalling Giacomo Agostini’s all-time record of eight.


MOTO GP LEGENDS
Since the launch of the MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2000, a series of riders who have each been key protagonists throughout more than half a century of Grand Prix racing have been inducted as MotoGP Legends. The first rider to become a MotoGP Legend was Australia’s aforementioned five-time World Champion Mick Doohan, who was honoured at Mugello, in May 2000.
Since then several additional illustrious names from different eras of CK racing have been inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame, as listed in full here:

GIACOMO AGOSTINI      (Italy)
MICK DOOHAN               (Australia)
JEFFORY DUKE               (GB)
MIKE HAILWOOD           (GB)
DAIJIRO KATO               (Japan)
WAYNE GARDNER          (Australia)
EDDIE LAWSON             (USA)
ANTON MANG                (Germany)
ANGEL NIETO                (Spain)
WAYNE RAINEY            (USA)
PHIL READ                    (GB)
KENNY ROBERTS          (USA)
KEVIN SHWANTZ          (USA)
BARRY SHEENE            (GB)
FREDDIE SPENCER      (USA)
JOHN SURTEES            (GB)
CARLO UBBIALI         (Italy)