Jaume Masia makes Honda history in Teruel & Aragon
Jaume Masia has made history for Honda in more ways than one recently, becoming Honda’s 100th different Grand Prix winner at the Aragon GP, and a week later also claiming the manufacturer’s 800th GP win with his victory at the Teruel GP. Masia joined names like Marc Marquez, Dani Pedrosa, Valentino Rossi, Tom Phillis and many other racing greats with his history making victories for Honda. They are some great milestones in what otherwise has been a challenging year in MotoGP without their wunderkind Marc Marquez on track working his unique brand of magic.
From Australia’s Tom Phillis at the 1961 Spanish GP to Jaume Masia in 2020 at the Teruel GP, 100 different Honda riders have amassed 800 Grand Prix wins between them. Honda are the first manufacturer to achieve 100 different winners across all Grand Prix classes, demonstrating ‘The Power of Dreams’. It was a dream which started in 1954 when Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda, declared that Honda would race in the Isle of Man TT, aiming to become the world’s best and most successful motorcycle brand.
Masia, who is in his first year with the multiple-championship Leopard Racing Team, achieved his first Grand Prix win on a Honda with a spirited performance in Aragon. The young Spanish rider becomes the 100th different Honda winner after challenging for the win on multiple occasions this year. This is Masia’s second podium finish of the year aboard the Honda NSF250RW.
Of the 100 winners, 31 riders have achieved wins on Honda machinery in the premier class across the 500cc and MotoGP categories, with 309 wins between them.
Marc Marquez (56), Mick Doohan (54), Dani Pedrosa (54), Jim Redman (45) and Mike Hailwood (41) stand as the five most successful Honda riders across all classes in terms of victories.
Across the victories, there are a litany of iconic machines which have propelled these 100 riders to victory, the NSR500, RS125R and RS250RW have all achieved over 100 wins across their respective classes with legends such at Mick Doohan, Valentino Rossi, Wayne Gardner, Freddie Spencer, Daijiro Kato, Max Biaggi, Loris Capirossi and Hiroshi Aoyama taking victories and championships with them.
In the four-stroke era, the Honda RC211V saw ten different riders win in the premier class – the NSR500 at 16 different winners the only machine to achieve more varied premier class success.
Honda have achieved 62 world titles with 21 premier class Rider World Championships, 16 250cc World Championships, 18 125cc/Moto3 World Championships, six 350cc World Championships and one in the 50cc class.
Takahiro Hachigo – CEO Honda Motor Co
“I am proud of Honda’s 800th FIM World Championship Grand Prix victory. I am deeply grateful to the Honda fans worldwide for their contributions to, and unwavering support for Honda’s racing activities. I would also like to thank all of those before us for their passion and dedication to overcome the countless problems and lead us from 1959 to where we stand now. Honda sees this moment as a waypoint, and will continue to fight for victory. We look forward to your continued support.”
Honda’s GP victory benchmarks
- Honda’s 1st Grand Prix victory
- Tom Phillis, 1961 Spanish 125cc GP, Honda RC143
- Honda’s 100th Grand Prix victory
- Luigi Taveri, 1966 Dutch 50cc TT, Honda RC116
- Honda’s 200th Grand Prix victory
- Jimmy Filice, 1988 US 250cc GP, Honda NSR250
- Honda’s 300th Grand Prix victory
- Alex Criville, 1992 Dutch 500cc TT, Honda NSR500
- Honda’s 400th Grand Prix victory
- Haruchika Aoki, 1996 Brazilian 125cc GP, Honda RS125R
- Honda’s 500th Grand Prix victory
- Valentino Rossi, 2001 Japanese 500cc GP, Honda NSR500
- Honda’s 600th Grand Prix victory
- Dani Pedrosa, 2005 Australian 250cc GP, Honda R250RW
- Honda’s 700th Grand Prix victory
- Marc Marquez, 2015 Indianapolis MotoGP, Honda RC213V
- Honda’s 800th Grand Prix victory
- Jaume Masia, 2020 Teruel Moto3, Honda NSF250RW
Note: Number of wins counted by Honda based on FIM records Moto2 class wins are not included. Moto3 class wins in 2012 are not included as Honda wins, in compliance with FIM regulations, as the registered constructor was FTR Honda (powered by the NSF250R engine).
Source: MCNews.com.au