List of 125cc/Moto3 World Riders' Champions

A man in red leathers at a race track, with two people in the background.
Loris Capirossi, the youngest 125cc champion

Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing, which is divided into three classes: Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP. Former classes that have been discontinued include 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc/80cc and Sidecar.[1] Moto3 replaced the 125cc class in 2012. Moto3 runs 250cc single-cylinder engines as opposed to the 125cc engines used previously. The engines have single cylinders, as opposed to the four cylinders used in MotoGP. Moto3 is the class where young riders first participate in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. The minimum age for a rider is 16 years and the maximum is 28 years.[2] The Grand Prix Road-Racing World Championship was established in 1949 by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), and is the oldest motorsport World Championship.[2]

Each season consists of 12 to 18 Grands Prix contested on closed circuits, as opposed to public roads. Points earned in these events count toward the drivers' and constructors' world championships. The driver's and constructor's championship are separate championships, but are based on the same point system. The number of points awarded at the end of each race to the top 15 qualifying riders depends on their placement. Points received by each finisher, from first 1st place to 15th place: 25, 20, 16, 13, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Historically, there have been several points systems.[3] Results from all current Grands Prix count towards the championships; in the past, only a certain number of results were counted.[4]

Ángel Nieto has won the most championships, with seven. Loris Capirossi is the youngest to win the championship; he was 17 years and 165 days old when he won in 1990.[5] Italian riders have won the most championships; 14 riders have won a total of 23 championships. Spaniards have won the second most; 6 riders have won a total of 12 championships. Riders from Great Britain have won the third most, as four riders have won a total of four championships. Nello Pagani won the inaugural championship in 1949. Nicolas Terol was the last rider to win the 125cc championship in 2011.[6] Rupert Hollaus' 1954 title was the only time a posthumous World Champion was crowned in any class in Grand Prix motorcycle racing as he was killed before the 1954 season was over. Emilio Alzamora's 1999 title was the only time in Grand Prix motorcycle racing that a rider won the championship without winning a race in a season. Sandro Cortese was the first rider to win the Moto3 championship in 2012.[7] David Alonso is the current champion; he won the 2024 Moto3 World Championship.

Champions

Key
‡ Champion also won the 250cc Championship in that season
† Champion also won the 80cc Championship in that season
* Champion also won the 50cc Championship in that season
— Indicates information is not available
  • The "Season" column refers to the season the competition was held, and wikilinks to the article about that season.
  • The "Margin" column refers to the margin of points by which the winner defeated the runner-up.

By season

125cc/Moto3 Motorcycle World Champions
Season Country Rider Constructor Grands Prix Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Margin
1949  Italy Nello Pagani Mondial 3 — 2 2 2 27 13
1950  Italy Bruno Ruffo Mondial 3 — 1 2 1 17 3
1951  Italy Carlo Ubbiali Mondial 5 — 1 3 2 20 8
1952  United Kingdom Cecil Sandford MV Agusta 6 — 3 5 3 28 4
1953  West Germany Werner Haas‡ NSU 6 — 3 5 4 30 10
1954  Austria Rupert Hollaus NSU 6 — 4 4 3 32 14
1955  Italy Carlo Ubbiali MV Agusta 6 — 5 6 3 32 6
1956  Italy Carlo Ubbiali‡ MV Agusta 6 — 5 6 3 32 18
1957  Italy Tarquinio Provini Mondial 6 — 3 5 5 30 8
1958  Italy Carlo Ubbiali MV Agusta 7 — 4 5 2 32 7
1959  Italy Carlo Ubbiali‡ MV Agusta 7 — 3 5 4 30 2
1960  Italy Carlo Ubbiali‡ MV Agusta 5 — 4 5 2 24 6
1961  Australia Tom Phillis Honda 11 — 4 8 6 44 2
1962  Switzerland Luigi Taveri Honda 11 — 6 9 7 48 10
1963  New Zealand Hugh Anderson* Suzuki 12 — 6 8 2 54 16
1964  Switzerland Luigi Taveri Honda 11 — 5 9 3 46 10
1965  New Zealand Hugh Anderson Suzuki 12 — 7 8 8 56 12
1966  Switzerland Luigi Taveri Honda 10 — 5 8 5 46 6
1967  United Kingdom Bill Ivy Yamaha 12 — 8 10 10 56 16
1968  United Kingdom Phil Read ‡ Yamaha 9 — 6 8 2 40 6
1969  United Kingdom Dave Simmonds Kawasaki 11 — 8 10 6 90 31
1970  West Germany Dieter Braun Suzuki 11 — 4 6 0 84 12
1971  Spain Ángel Nieto Derbi 11 — 5 6 6 87 8
1972  Spain Ángel Nieto* Derbi 13 — 5 7 5 97 10
1973  Sweden Kent Andersson Yamaha 12 — 5 7 3 99 24
1974  Sweden Kent Andersson Yamaha 10 3 5 8 2 87 24
1975  Italy Paolo Pileri Morbidelli 10 3 7 8 4 90 18
1976  Italy Pier Paolo Bianchi Morbidelli 9 6 7 7 6 90 23
1977  Italy Pier Paolo Bianchi Morbidelli 12 8 7 9 6 131 26
1978  Italy Eugenio Lazzarini MBA 12 5 4 8 4 114 26
1979  Spain Ángel Nieto Minarelli 13 5 8 8 6 120 67
1980  Italy Pier Paolo Bianchi MBA 10 3 2 5 1 90 9
1981  Spain Ángel Nieto Minarelli 12 3 8 9 5 140 45
1982  Spain Ángel Nieto Garelli 12 2 6 7 2 111 16
1983  Spain Ángel Nieto Garelli 11 1 6 7 6 76 26
1984  Spain Ángel Nieto Garelli 8 0 6 6 6 90 12
1985  Italy Fausto Gresini Garelli 10 5 3 8 1 109 10
1986  Italy Luca Cadalora Garelli 11 5 4 8 4 122 8
1987  Italy Fausto Gresini Garelli 11 6 10 10 7 150 62
1988  Spain Jorge Martínez† Derbi 11 6 9 10 6 197 29
1989  Spain Àlex Crivillé JJ Cobas 12 3 5 9 4 166 14
1990  Italy Loris Capirossi Honda 14 0 3 8 0 182 9
1991  Italy Loris Capirossi Honda 13 5 5 12 4 200 19
1992  Italy Alessandro Gramigni Aprilia 13 3 2 7 0 134 16
1993  Germany Dirk Raudies Honda 14 6 9 11 3 280 14
1994  Japan Kazuto Sakata Aprilia 14 7 4 8 4 224 30
1995  Japan Haruchika Aoki Honda 13 3 7 9 2 224 84
1996  Japan Haruchika Aoki Honda 15 3 2 9 3 220 9
1997  Italy Valentino Rossi Aprilia 15 4 11 13 7 321 83
1998  Japan Kazuto Sakata Aprilia 14 4 4 6 2 229 12
1999  Spain Emilio Alzamora Honda 16 0 0 10 3 227 1
2000  Italy Roberto Locatelli Aprilia 16 9 5 8 5 230 13
2001  San Marino Manuel Poggiali Gilera 16 2 3 11 0 241 9
2002  France Arnaud Vincent Aprilia 16 2 5 10 0 273 19
2003  Spain Dani Pedrosa Honda 16 3 5 6 3 223 57
2004  Italy Andrea Dovizioso Honda 16 8 5 11 3 293 91
2005  Switzerland Thomas Lüthi Honda 16 5 4 8 1 242 5
2006  Spain Álvaro Bautista Aprilia 16 8 8 14 7 338 76
2007  Hungary Gábor Talmácsi Aprilia 17 5 3 10 6 282 5
2008  France Mike Di Meglio Derbi 17 2 4 9 4 264 39
2009  Spain Julián Simón Aprilia 16 7 7 12 7 289 65.5
2010  Spain Marc Márquez Derbi 17 12 10 12 7 310 14
2011  Spain Nicolás Terol Aprilia 17 7 8 11 4 302 40
2012  Germany Sandro Cortese KTM 17 7 5 15 4 325 109
2013  Spain Maverick Viñales KTM 17 2 3 15 3 323 12
2014  Spain Álex Márquez Honda 18 3 3 10 3 278 2
2015  United Kingdom Danny Kent Honda 18 5 6 9 3 260 6
2016  South Africa Brad Binder KTM 18 6 7 14 3 319 142
2017  Spain Joan Mir Honda 18 1 10 13 3 341 93
2018  Spain Jorge Martín Honda 18 11 7 10 3 260 42
2019  Italy Lorenzo Dalla Porta Honda 19 1 4 11 1 279 79
2020  Spain Albert Arenas KTM 15 0 3 5 1 174 4
2021  Spain Pedro Acosta KTM 18 1 6 8 1 259 43
2022  Spain Izan Guevara Gas Gas 20 5 7 12 2 319 62
2023  Spain Jaume Masià Honda 20 6 4 10 1 274 6
2024  Colombia David Alonso CFMoto 20 7 14 15 3 421 165

Multiple champions

125cc/Moto3 Multiple champions
Rider Total Seasons
Spain Ángel Nieto 7 1971, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984
Italy Carlo Ubbiali 6 1951, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960
Switzerland Luigi Taveri 3 1962, 1964, 1966
Italy Pier Paolo Bianchi 3 1976, 1977, 1980
New Zealand Hugh Anderson 2 1963, 1965
Sweden Kent Andersson 2 1973, 1974
Italy Fausto Gresini 2 1985, 1987
Italy Loris Capirossi 2 1990, 1991
Japan Haruchika Aoki 2 1995, 1996
Japan Kazuto Sakata 2 1994, 1998

By constructor

125cc/Moto3 World champions by constructor
Constructor Total
Japan Honda 19
Italy Aprilia 10
Italy Garelli 6
Italy MV Agusta 6
Spain Derbi 5
Austria KTM 5
Italy Mondial 4
Japan Yamaha 4
Italy Morbidelli 3
Japan Suzuki 3
Germany NSU 2
Italy MBA 2
Italy Minarelli 2
Japan Kawasaki 1
Spain JJ Cobas 1
Italy Gilera 1
Spain Gas Gas 1
China CFMoto 1

By nationality

125cc/Moto3 Motorcycle World Champions by nationality
Country Riders Total
 Italy 15 24
 Spain 17 23
 United Kingdom 5 5
 Germany 4 4
 Japan 2 4
 Switzerland 2 4
 France 2 2
 New Zealand 1 2
 Sweden 1 2
 Austria 1 1
 Australia 1 1
 San Marino 1 1
 Hungary 1 1
 South Africa 1 1
 Colombia 1 1

References

General

  • "World Champion in 125cc from all countries in all seasons". MotoGP. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2009.

Bibliography

  • Marshall, Anne (1997). Guinness Book of Knowledge. Guinness Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-046-6.

Specific

  1. ^ Marshall 1997, p. 289
  2. ^ a b "Basics". MotoGP. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  3. ^ "FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations 2009" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. 31 January 2009. p. 44. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  4. ^ "Key Rules". MotoGP. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  5. ^ "Statistics 2006" (PDF). MotoGP. 22 March 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  6. ^ Beer, Matt (6 November 2011). "Nico Terol becomes last ever 125cc champion as Maverick Vinales win Valencia race". Autosport. Haymarket Media Group. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  7. ^ "Sepang Moto3: Sandro Cortese wins to claim title". Autosport. Haymarket Media Group. 21 October 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2012.