Red Bull Motorsports
MotoGP
These need-to-know stats show why MotoGP™ has the wow factor right now
From rider records to the fastest speeds on two wheels, here’s all the inside stats you need to know about MotoGP™.
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MotoGP™ is the longest-running motorsport world championship, with the first world title race held in 1949. Since then the FIM Motorcycle Road World Championship has been honed into the thrilling, globe-trotting competition on two wheels. In 2025, MotoGP™ is bigger and better than ever before.
Running from March to November, the new motorcycle world champion will be determined over the course of 22 races, held across five continents, with the season finale taking place in Valencia. The search is on for the successor to Jorge Martín, who in 2024 became the first rider to win the MotoGP™ world championship riding for an independent team. In total, 22 riders in 11 teams and five manufacturers (Aprilia, Ducati, Honda, KTM and Yamaha) will be battling for the title in the 2025 MotoGP™ season.
World champion Jorge Martin
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01
Who are the most successful riders of all time?
Since 1949, 31 riders have won a MotoGP™ title. This year, the six-time world champion Marc Márquez (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019) and championship front runner is racing to match Valentino Rossi on seven as the most successful rider in the modern era. The most successful of all time is Giacomo Agostini with eight titles in the top tier and 15 overall. How did he manage that? Well, the Italian legend was not only the dominant rider of his generation, but he competed in an era when riders could take in several championships across a Grand Prix weekend, so the mighty Ago won his titles in both 500cc and 350cc machines.
Marc Márquez is the youngest MotoGP™ World Champion
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The key records in MotoGP™ history
02
There are very fine margins in MotoGP™
One of the most thrilling aspect of MotoGP™ is riders can take positions from lights out to the chequered flag. The 2016 Italian GP has gone down in the history of MotoGP™ because just 0.087s separated the first two riders at the finish line in all three classes combined. The race Sunday began with the Moto3 race in which five riders crossed the finish line within 0.077s of each other after an incredible last lap.
The closest finish in the elite level was when Toni Elias came from P11 to snatch victory from Valentino Rossi by 0.002secs at the 2006 Portuguese Grand Prix. Elias started the last lap of Estoril in third place, but out-braked Rossi and Kenny Roberts Jr into turn one. Rossi got back in front only for Elias to slipstream and pass him on the final turn. It was Elias’s first and only win in the top tier.
MotoGP™ gives the most skilful riders the most advanced motorbikes
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03
A MotoGP™ bike is very fast and very powerful
A MotoGP™ machine produces 250-300hp (officially), weighs 157kg and can reach speeds of more than 350kph. They have a power-to-weight ratio of 1:1, meaning one horsepower for every kilo of weight. Acceleration figures vary from track to track, but in technical terms, let’s just say a MotoGP™ bike is very fast. Occasionally, you can even buy one for yourself and find out: KTM offered two of Pol Espargaró's 2019 KTM RC16s service bikes for sale, plus a full set of leathers and a signed helmet. The Spaniard put the bike on the front row at Misano and scored 100 world championship points with the machine, so it’s safe to say it works.
Brad Binder set the highest speed in MotoGP™ at Mugello
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04
What's the fastest a MotoGP™ bike has gone in competition?
The riders hit the highest speeds of the season on the straight at Mugello, and it was there in 2023 that Brad Binder set the highest-ever top speed in MotoGP history: 366.1kph in the Sprint race at the Italian MotoGP™. Pol Espargaro matched that speed in practice the following year. But why do riders go fastest at Mugello? It’s because it boasts the longest straight at 1.14km, and Brad Binder’s late-braking/hard-accelerating riding style is perfectly suited to the track.
Chang International: The fastest circuit on the calendar
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05
What’s the fastest circuit on the MotoGP™ calendar?
Assen is the Cathedral of Speed, riders hit the highest speeds of the season on the straight at Mugello, but which circuit sees the riders hit the fastest average speed? The top three are all fast, flowing circuits with no hairpins and high-speed corners that riders can take with the slightest squeeze of the brake lever. Silverstone in the UK has riders averaging 181km/h and topping 340.6km/h, Phillip Island in Australia has an average speed of 183.5, topping out at 356/4km/h and the fastest of all is the season-opening Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand, with an average of 194.8kph and a top speed of 337.5kph. Like the Red Bull Ring, Chang boasts several straights and a technical section, but those straights are longer and the profile of the corners mean the riders can stay on the power. It’s also flat, which means the riders don’t have the steep climb up to T3/Remus in Austria – and they don’t have that lovely view, either.
Marc and Álex Márquez celebrate their 200th and 100th MotoGP™ starts
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06
What makes a MotoGP™ bike so fast?
The MotoGP™ racing prototypes feature the biggest engines in Motorcycle Grand Prix running with 1000cc power unit putting out about 250-300hp, depending on the settings. But raw engine power is only one aspect of bike performance: a bike with less grunt but better balance allows riders to corner quicker and brings down overall lap times. Engine management systems help deploy power more smoothly, which helps riders to balance the bike. Mechanical grip through tyres and aerodynamic grip have a big bearing on overall speed, before getting into the minutiae of tyre pressures, tyre compounds, aero angle and suspension settings. A decisive factor is rider performance: how the rider controls the bike and manoeuvres his weight around the machine to steer. Perhaps the most impressive stat is lean angles: the record is 70.8 degrees set by Marc Márquez in tyre testing at Phillip Island in 2019. But an elite MotoGP™ rider can corner while leaning his bike over to a massive 66 degrees.
The KTM RC16 of Pol Espargaró
© KTM Images
07
They’re hot and loud, too
MotoGP™ machines roar across the Tarmac at up to 128 decibels – a jackhammer is comparatively quiet at 104dB. The brake disks get up to 750ºC, while the grill reaches around 250ºC. The speed is up to 19,000rpm, while your washing machine reaches an average of just 1,000.
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