As the paddock heads to France for the fifth round of the 2023 season, it will mark a major milestone in the world championship’s history.
At one of the most iconic venues in all of motorsport, Le Mans will play host to the 1000th grand prix event in world championship motorcycle racing, which first began back in 1949 on the Isle of Man.
Through that time, much has changed about grand prix motorcycle racing, but the timeline has been littered with countless legendary moments.
As part of Autosport’s 1000th MotoGP celebrations, we asked our writers to pick out some of their favourite races.
Sito Pons won a thrilling 250cc race against Joan Garriga in Sweden, securing him his first world title
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
1988 250cc Swedish Grand Prix: Love at first sight – German Garcia Casanova
Possibly the 250cc race of the 1988 Swedish GP is not among the best in history by far, but on 14 August, 35 years ago, I will never forget it.
I had heard about Angel Nieto, Ricardo Tormo and Jorge Martinez Aspar, but my curiosity for motorcycling was awakened when I read that two young Catalan riders, Sito Pons and Joan Garriga, were fighting for the 250cc world championship that year, and that sparks were flying between them.
That Sunday I sat in front of a television, for the first time in my life, to watch a motorcycle race. The battle between Pons (Honda) and Garriga (Yamaha), was the most intense I had seen until then, passes, overtaking, crossed bikes, open elbows, parallel curves.
Anderstorp was an old and rickety circuit that used the runway of an airport as a long straight, while the twisty area was tight and technical. On the straight, Pons was blasting by Garriga, who was catching him in the corners.
On the penultimate lap, after both were very close during the whole race, the culminating moment arrived: Pons made a move on Garriga, the bikes touched, the Yamaha rider went a little long and the blue Honda with the Campsa colours headed for the finish line in search of what would be, in the end, the first 250cc world championship for Pons.
Jorge Lorenzo’s first victory in grand prix racing came in thrilling circumstances in Brazil in 2003
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
2003 125cc Brazilian Grand Prix: The beginnings of a grand prix legend – Alberto Gomez
The Nelson Piquet circuit, bustling with tropical heat and unusual humidity, played host to a brilliant 125cc race in 2003.
Among the…
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