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"To be a great motorbike racer, the most important thing is passion for the bike."
—Valentino Rossi
MotoGP is the top division of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, itself the highest class of motorcycle racing events on road circuits, sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM).
The history of motorcycle racing saw independent events being held since the start of the twentieth century, with large national events often being given the title Grand Prix. Eventually, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme was founded as the international governing body for the motorcycle sport, to provide the opportunity to coordinate rules and regulations in a way that selected events could count towards official World Championships.
Grand Prix motorcycles are purpose-built racing machines that are unavailable for purchase by the general public and unable to be ridden legally on public roads. This contrasts with various other categories of motorcycle racing, such as the Superbike World Championship and the Isle of Man TT Races, which feature modified versions of road-going motorcycles available to the public. "MotoGP" has been the name for its top division since 2002, when the four-stroke era began; prior to that, the largest class was named 500cc, though historically they are considered one and the same.
The championship is divided into four classes: the eponymous MotoGP, Moto2 (formerly 250cc), Moto3 (formerly 125cc) and MotoE. The first three classes use four-stroke engines, while the MotoE class uses electric motorcycles. Previously, the championship featured a 50cc class from 1962 to 1983, later changed to an 80cc class from 1984 to 1989. The class was dropped for the 1990 season, after being dominated primarily by Spanish and Italian makes. It also featured a 350cc class from 1949 to 1982, and a 750cc class from 1977 to 1979.
The most successful rider in Grand Prix history is Giacomo Agostini, with 15 titles and 122 race wins. In the top-flight series, Agostini holds the title record with eight, followed by Valentino Rossi and active rider Marc Márquez with seven. As of 2023, Rossi holds the record for most top-flight race wins with 89.
The current Riders' Champion is factory Ducati rider Marc Márquez, who has clinched his seventh MotoGP title, with only 5 Grands Prix to spare and his first winning title since 2019 as well as the first riding for the Italian brand. The current Constructors' champion is Ducati, having won its sixth consecutive title.
The commercial rights to the sport are controlled by Dorna Sports, whom 84% of the company was acquired by Liberty Media, the commerical rights owner of Formula One, in 2025. As a result of the acquisition, Dorna Sports was made a direct subsidiary of Liberty's Formula One Group, resulting in a singular entity responsible for controlling F1 and MotoGP's commerical rights.
See also Formula One and Formula E for its four-wheel counterparts. (Trivia: With its inaugural season dating back to 1949, Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the oldest established motorsport world championship, predating F1 by a year.)
Notable riders
- Giacomo Agostini, Italian - Known as Ago, he dominated the world of motorcycle racing for 13 years. Known for having a total of 15 World Championship titles (8 for 500cc and 7 for 350cc), 13 of them have been from his dominant tenure with MV Agusta. That record remained unbeaten until Valentino Rossi stepped in the competition. Outside of Grand Prix motorcycling, Agostini also ventured into the Isle of Man TT, whom he also proved to be a championship contender, winning the annual event ten times.
- John Surtees, English - best known as the driver/rider to have won major titles on both two and four wheels. He won the 500cc world motorcycle championship (modern-day MotoGP), in 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1960, as well was winning the 1964 Formula One title for Ferrari in 1964. Passed away on March 10, 2017.
- Mick Doohan, Australian - 1994-1998 champion. This maverick Aussie who raced for Honda in his entire 10-year career from 1989 to 1999 took The '90s by storm with five consecutive 500cc championship titles from 1994 to 1998. After retiring from motorcycle racing, he ventured in Formula One and World Rally Championship, but at no avail of success due to his struggle in tackling four wheels, in which he crashed. Nonetheless, he received recognition when his name was honored and christened for a rollercoaster called the "Mick Doohan Rollercoaster" in Dreamworld, located in Gold Coast, Queensland. note His son Jack Doohan competed in formula racing, and raced in Formula One, whom he drove for Alpine for the 2025 season before he was inevitably replaced by Franco Colapinto after his first six races.
- Valentino Rossi, Italian - Arguably and widely considered as one of the greatest motorcycle riders of all time, who has revolutionized the world of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Best known as "The Doctor", Rossi won 9 world titles 1 125cc title in 1997, another for the 250cc in 1999 and seven in the premier 500cc/MotoGP class, with a total of 89 victories and 199 podiums to his name. Started off his premier class in the Turn of the Millennium in 2000, riding for Honda. Despite having a rocky start in his first two races, Rossi manages to make a great impression by finishing 2nd of the season, falling short to Kenny Roberts, Jr. This paved way for what would be his glorious years up ahead of his career. From 2002 to 2003, Rossi dominated the seasons with many 1st place finishes, winning the championship seasons by a very huge margin. In 2004, he switched to Yamaha where he still continued his everlasting dominance in competition, winning both 2004 and 2005. In 2006, he maintained his championship lead until the final race, till a crash costed him his chance of winning yet another championship title, only to concede it to the runner-up, Nicky Hayden. While he struggles to find his rhythm of success in 2007, he makes an elusive comeback in 2008 and 2009, adding up his championship victories in his mantelpiece. In 2011, he switched to Ducati, but ended up having mediocre results than what he'd hoped for. He returned to Yamaha in 2013 up all the way until his retirement in 2021. While he does find constant podium finished between 2014 to 2016, he falls short to newer generations, especially the two young Spaniards Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Márquez. Out of Grand Prix motorcycle racing, he ventured into other motorsports, such as the annual Suzuka 8 Hours, where he won the 2001 race alongside fellow American Colin Edwards, the annual Monza Rally Show held at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy, where Rossi dominated the motoring event in 2006, 2007, 2012 and from 2015 to 2018, totaling of 7 wins and was once a swap rider for Mercedes-Benz in Formula One. Right now, Rossi competes in endurance racing, competing for Team WRT in both the GT World Challenge Europe and the FIA World Endurance Championship. He also has his own racing team called the VR46 Racing Team. Notable riders include Franceso Bagnaia who won with the team in 2018 in Moto2. Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli are the current riders on the team.
- Álex Crivillé, Spanish - The legend that paved way for Spanish dominance and the codifier that pioneered Spanish motorcycling, that majority of future riders are pure Spaniards with names like Carlos Checa, Sete Gibernau, Dani Pedroza, Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Márquez, as noted for being the first Spanish rider to win the premier 500cc, breaking the American and Australian stranglehold on the class, as defined with is success with Repsol Honda, netting him the 1999 championship title.
- Nicky Hayden, American - Nicknamed "The Kentucky Kid", 2006 MotoGP champion, despite winning only 2 races due to Valentino Rossi crashing out in the final race at the Valencian Grand Prix, when Hayden took advantage of it and finished in third place, winning the championship by a mere 5 points. Hayden remained in Honda until 2008 before switching to Ducati for the 2009 season, with barely any success. He also competed at the Superbike World Championship, also riding for Honda. Initially a part time in 2002, he competed full time in 2016, where he won his first race at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Sadly, he was killed in a bike accident on May 17, 2017 down the Rimini coastline in Italy when he collided with a car.
- Dani Pedrosa, Spanish - the obvious candidate for a successful MotoGP rider with many wins under his belt, but never won a championship title. note His rode for Honda Repsol Team in MotoGP for his entire career and was marred with with 2nd place best finish in 2007, 2010 and 2012, in which all three were all taken by Casey Stoner (2007) and Jorge Lorenzo (2010 and 2012). Despite not winning any MotoGP titles, Pedrosa is still regarded as a successful rider, with 31 MotoGP victories and 112 podiums. Currently, he sits as a test and development rider for Red Bull KTM Factory racing, when he return to riding in the premier class in 2021 as a wildcard rider, as well as his stints in 2023 and 2024. Outside of two-wheel racing, he also competed in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe in 2022, where he sits 3rd place in his class.
- Jorge Lorenzo, Spanish - the self-styled Spartan of motorcycle racing who has won three titles of the premier class in 2010, 2012 and 2015. Famous for his "metronomic" precision, at his peak, Lorenzo could lap within a tenth of a second for an entire race distance and still prove his mettle on the track. He's known as "X-Fuera" due to his ostensibly large red cross emblazoned on his helmet.
- Marco Simoncelli, Italian - "Sic", as what he's best nicknames as. This Afro Asskicker started motorcycling at a relatively young age. Started competing in motorcycle racing in 2002, where he became 250cc champion (later to be called Moto2 in 2010) with Gilera. He made his official MotoGP debut in 2010, riding for Honda's Gresini Team, where he constantly finished mid-pack in nearly every race, ending up 8th in the overall season. While he does get better in 2011, especially his podium finished at the Czech and Australian Grand Prix, finishing third and second respectively, the infamous Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang on October 23, 2011 was probably the unfortunate demise of Simoncelli, where he fell off his bike while running fourth, but was involuntarily ran over by the bikes of Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi, fatally striking his head and chest. He died minutes after the impact upon being taken straight to the track's nearby medical centre. The fatal crash ultimately resulted to the cancellation of the MotoGP race. He was only 24 years old. A month later, a race track in Rimini, Italy called Misano World Circuit honored him for the upcoming events from 2012 onwards, thus renaming the track to "Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli".
- Marc Márquez, Spanish - The Ant of Cervera. This Spaniard made The New '10s roar when he won his first MotoGP title in his debut season in 2013 when he rode for Honda, the first since Kenny Roberts, and at only a young age of 20 years old and 266 days. He then amasses back-to-back titles and four successive championships, in 2014, and 2016-2019. Márquez is known for his Dangerous Forbidden Technique of leaning far over the bike to its extreme angles, which explains his exaggerated cornering technique. Márquez missed out the 2020 season due and the first two races of 2021 to a hard fall that nearly got him in his Career-Ending Injury, thus ending his hopes of obtain another championship title for his streak. As a result, in the later years, Márquez struggles to find his line of success due to his frequency in missing out in races, primarily due to having another crash during the Indonesian Grand Prix. While deeming unfit to race, he was diagnosed for diplopia. To make matters worse, he again gets injured from a crash with Miguel Oliveira at the Portuguese Grand Prix, having to miss out two races. While he has been in the Repsol Honda Team for nearly his entire career up until his termination in 2023, in 2024 he joined Ducati's Gresini Racing team. As a result, he made an incredible comeback from all the hell he went through in The New '20s with an impressive 3rd place finish in the season. He currently rides for Ducati Corse, where he was crowned the 2025 champion with 5 Grands Prix to spare.
- His younger brother Álex Márquez, a Moto3 and Moto2 champion in 2014 and 2019 respectively joined the premier tier by The New '20s, much to his unexpected surprise, joining with his brother to represent Team Repsol Honda, replacing Jorge Lorenzo. Since 2023, he represented privateer Ducati team Gresini Racing paired with Fabio di Giannantonio, and by 2025, he managed to finish second in the overall championship, behind his older brother, thus being one of the firsts to achieve a 1-2 Sibling Team finish.
- Fabio Quartararo, French - Better known as "El Diablo", Quartararo is the 2021 MotoGP champion, the first Frenchman to win the premier class title. note While he races under the French flag, he is of Italian origin, as he was raised in a Sicilian family. Debuted in 2019, riding for Yamaha's Petronas Sepang Racing Team. In 2021, he swapped places with Valentino Rossi, representing the factory racing team. He bested Francesco Bagnaia to help claim his championship title.
- Francesco Bagnaia a.k.a. "Pecco", Italian. 2018 Moto2 champion and the 2022 and 2023 MotoGP champion. The first and only rider from Valentino Rossi's VR46 Riders Academy to win in the premier class. Best represented the Ducati's factory team, Ducati Corse since 2021. While he was bested by Fabio Quartararo, Bagnaia manages to turn the tables around when despite having a rocky start in 2022, manages to have constant podium finishes during its mid-season and beating Quartararo by 17 points to claim his first premier title. He finished strong in the 2023 season, while he was contested against the up-and-running Jorge Martín.
Notable venues
- TT Circuit Assen, Netherlands - Arguably one of the most famous tracks in not just MotoGP but in motorcycling history, home to the most iconic Dutch TT (Tourist Trophy).
- Mugello Circuit, Italy - the site of the famous Italian Grand Prix for motorcycles sites nestled in the beautiful Tuscan hills. One of the most features of the track is its long 1.1 km straight for high-speed action that pushed a MotoGP rider to up to over 350 km/h (217 mph), as well as its dramatic elevation changes that sees lots of action. It's home to passionate Italian fans and riders alike, that it is even deeply tied to Italian motorsport culture. Giacomo Agostini, Valentino Rossi and Francesco Bagnaia are one of the most notable repeated winners in their home Grand Prix. Oh, fun fact: since 1988, it's owned by Scuderia Ferrari and it's not just a place for motorcycle venues, but also a testing facility their F1 cars for the team, which in fact held a temporary Tuscan Grand Prix in 2020 amidst the sudden COVID-19 Pandemic.
- Sachsenring, Germany. This track is probably a huge favorite for Marc Márquez, who has won at Sachsenring 12 timesnote , solidifying him as the "King of the Sachsenring".
- Mobility Resort Motegi, Japan. Formerly called Twin Ring Motegi, this is probably Honda's favorite stomping grounds due to the track itself being owned by Honda, as it is a home to many Japanese manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki. The track combines long straights, characterized with heavy braking zones and various 90-degree corners. One of the most crucial sections is the final corner at turns 13-14, signifying its famous "stop-and-go" section of the Grand Prix.
- Lusail International Circuit*, Qatar - The first official MotoGP track held in the Middle East, opened and first hosted in 2004, and probably their answer to Formula One's Bahrain International Circuit. A fast, flowing race track with a mix of high-speed straights and bits of technical but long curves, all built in a near-flat elevation. Its first 3 years was held on daylight, that is until in 2008 Eventually, following The World Cup, this gets a huge upgrade that it also becomes the new hub other than just motorcycle racing, such as said F1 and FIA World Endurance Championship.
In media
Film — Live-ActionSeveral Documentary films have been made about MotoGP:
- Faster, a documentary film about MotoGP, was released in 2003.
- Fastest, a documentary film about MotoGP, was released in 2011.
- Hitting the Apex, a documentary film about MotoGP, was released in 2015.
- MotoGP Unlimited, a documentary film about MotoGP, was released in 2022.
Video Games
- Early Grand Prix video games include Grand Prix 500cc (1987), Cycles: International GP Racing (1989), Grand Prix 500 2 (1991) and GP-1 (1993). The first simulation game was GP 500, launched in 1999. In the early 2000s, THQ published five video games for Windows and Xbox platforms, the first being MotoGP: Ultimate Racing Technology (2002) and the last MotoGP '07 (2007), whereas Namco of Japan published and developed in-house five video games for PlayStation platforms simply titled MotoGP, starting in 2000 and ending in 2006. In 2007, Capcom became the new PlayStation publisher and worked together with Italy-based Milestone to produce MotoGP '07 (PS2) and some of its successors. In 2008, THQ lost the MotoGP licence and Capcom became the exclusive publisher, and in 2013, Milestone got the exclusive license for MotoGP video games, with a contract that will last until at least 2026. The first game in this run of their contract was MotoGP 13, which was released on 2013, and as of 2026, the latest release is MotoGP 26.
- Raw Thrills released an officially licensed MotoGP game for the arcade in 2015, featuring 10 simplified real-world racing circuits and over-the-top arcade-style physics a-la Cruis'n.