Marquez makes it a magic 300 for Honda
A cold French Grand Prix saw Marc Marquez take a faultless victory to extend his lead in the MotoGP World Championship. The win is Honda’s 300th victory in the premier class, the first manufacturer to achieve such success in the premier class.
The closest rival to Honda in the premier class of Grand Prix racing is Yamaha with 227 wins, followed by MV Agusta (139), Suzuki (92) and Ducati (47).
Jim Redman and the Honda RC181 achieved Honda’s first win in the premier class back in 1966 at Hockenheim with Mike Hailwood becoming the second winner a few races later in Brno.
Freddie Spencer returned Honda to the top step of the podium in the 500cc class in 1982 at Spa-Franchoramps on the NS500.
Takazumi Katayama would become the first Japanese rider to win in the 500cc class for Honda the same year.
1984 marked the debut of the NSR500 – the legendary 500cc machine taking a total of 132 wins and saw the likes of Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner, Alex Criville and Eddie Lawson claim the premier class title and seven Constructors World Championships.
The debut of the four-stroke era saw Honda achieve immediate success with the RC211V, winning the first race at the 2002 Japanese GP.
The RC211V, RC212V and RC213V have seen Honda take 144 wins in the four-stroke era, including Marquez’s win at the French GP.
Mick Doohan is the most successful Honda rider in the premier class of Grand Prix racing with 54 wins, ahead of Marc Marquez with 47 wins. Valentino Rossi is third with 33 victories, ahead of Dani Pedrosa with 31 and Freddie Spencer with 20.
Freddie Spencer, Randy Mamola, Max Biaggi, Alex Barros, Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner have won with at least two different Honda bikes in the premier class. Among them, Pedrosa is the only rider who has won with three different bikes in
the class.
The list of wins by Honda bikes in the premier class is as follows: NSR500 (132 wins), RC213V (71), RC211V (48), RC212V (24), NS500 (14), RC181 (10).
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Total Premier Class Grand Prix Wins on Honda |
Total | |
| 300 | ||
| Pos | Rider | Rider Wins |
| 1 | Mick Doohan | 54 |
| 2 | Marc Marquez | 47 |
| 3 | Valentino Rossi | 33 |
| 4 | Dani Pedrosa | 31 |
| 5 | Freddie Spencer | 20 |
| 6 | Wayne Gardner | 18 |
| 7 | Alex Criville | 15 |
| 8 | Casey Stoner | 15 |
| 9 | Mike Hailwood | 8 |
| 10 | Sete Gibernau | 8 |
| 11 | Alex Barros | 6 |
| 13 | Max Biaggi | 5 |
| 14 | Marco Melandri | 5 |
| 15 | Randy Mamola | 4 |
| 16 | Eddie Lawson | 4 |
| 17 | Tadayuki Okada | 4 |
| 18 | Nicky Hayden | 3 |
| 19 | Cal Crutchlow | 3 |
| 20 | im Redman | 2 |
| 21 | Luca Cadalora | 2 |
| 22 | Carlos Checa | 2 |
| 23 | Makoto Tamada | 2 |
| 24 | Takazumi Katayama | 1 |
| 25 | Pierfrancesco Chili | 1 |
| 26 | Daryl Beattie | 1 |
| 27 | Alberto Puig | 1 |
| 28 | Loris Capirossi | 1 |
| 29 | Tohru Ukawa | 1 |
| 30 | Toni Elias | 1 |
| 31 | Andrea Dovizioso | 1 |
| 32 | Jack Miller | 1 |
MotoGP
Source: MCNews.com.au