Established in 1949 by Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (F.I.M.), Grand Prix motorcycling racing is the world’s foremost championship of motorcycle road racing. Starting out with 4 classes, since the 1990 season the championship has been divided into 3 classes – 125cc, 250cc, and MotoGP – of which MotoGP is the most prestigious. As world’s oldest motorsport World Championship, winning the MotoGP is the highlight of any professional motorcyclist career and here we explore the best MotoGP World Champions of all time.
Giacomo Agostini
Nicknamed ‘Ago’, Giacomo Agostini was born in June 1942 in Italy and is the world record-holder for the most MotoGP World Championship titles. With 15 World Championship titles and 122 Grand Prix wins, Agostini dominated the MotoGP world from 1996-1975. While he started his racing career with Moto Morini, Agostini represented MV Agusta for most of his career and later raced for both Yamaha and Suzuki. However, his skills weren’t limited to just motorcycle racing and he also competed in non-championship Formula One races in 1978.
Ángel Nieto
Ángel Nieto Roldán was born in January 1947 in Spain and was a professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer. With 13 World Championship titles and 90 Grand Prix victories, Nieto’s career spanned an incredible 23 years from 1964 to 1986 and he is the 2nd most successful MotoGP World Championship racer of all time. As a highly successful motor racer, Nieto ultimately died doing what he loved, but that wasn’t playing online slots. While in Ibiza, Nieto was involved in a traffic accident while driving his quad bike and he passed away on 3rd August 2017 at age 70.
Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi was born in February 1979 in Italy and is a multiple MotoGP World Champion. As the only rider in the history of the World Championship to win the World Championship in 4 separate classes – 125cc, 250cc, 500cc, and MotoGP – Rossi is considered by many to be the most successful professional motorcycle road racer of all time. With 9 Grand Prix World Championship titles and 115 Grand Prix wins, Rossi has raced for Yamaha for the majority of his career.
Mike Hailwood
Regarded by many as one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all time, Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood was born in April 1940 in Great Britain. Showing a natural affinity for motorcycle racing at a young age, Hailwood was nicknamed “Mike the Bike” and began Grand Prix motorcycle racing in 1958. Throughout his career which lasted until 1967, Hailwood won 9 MotoGP World Championship titles and a total of 76 Grand Prix wins overall.
Carlo Ubbiali
Born in Italy in September 1929, Carlo Ubbiali is a professional motorcycle road racer who won the MotoGP World Championship 9 times. Throughout his career which spanned 11 years from 1949-1960, Ubbiali won a total of 39 Grand Prix races and he was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2001 by F.I.M. Much like Giacomo Agostini, Ubbiali raced from MV Agusta for the majority of his career.