MotoGP at 1000: Motorsport.com's favourite races

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 Motorsport.com'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

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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

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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 riders were illustrious names like Dani Pedrosa, Alex De Angelis, Andrea Dovizioso and Casey Stoner. Due to extreme weather conditions, it was not possible to race alone. Slipstreams and the need to cool the bikes would have mitigated any crazy adventure.

It was a day that would fuel a crazy race, Jorge Lorenzo's 26th in the category. He had entered the championship a year earlier as the youngest in history. Derbi hadn't won in two seasons. But there was no stopping the Mallorcan.

In the last few laps, overtaking took place in a group of outstanding quality. The Derbi was not the best motorcycle to fight with. Despite not having a brilliant season (he finished sixth), Lorenzo put in everything the red and green bike needed into the race.

On a wild last lap, he pulled off a double overtake on Pedrosa and Stoner on the outside, revealing the courage of a fearless rider.

Taking advantage of slipstreams on the back straight, Lorenzo prevailed in a tight and hectic race in which the first six finished within 0.089s of each other. Lorenzo revealed his champion genetics to the world, and the popular 'Por fuera' was born.

Valentino Rossi's legend continued in South Africa in 2004 when he won on his Yamaha debut, months after an acrimonious split with Honda

Photo by: Gold and Goose / MSI

2004 MotoGP South African GP: Rossi proves a point to his former paymaster - Alberto Gomez

The Welkom circuit 150km outside Bloemfontein, dotted with gold mines, opened the 2004 MotoGP season. Valentino Rossi was on track ready for battle and aiming for a new title.

The task would not be easy. A few months earlier, Rossi had decided to leave the HRC factory and began, somewhat spitefully, a radically different story by signing a contract with Honda's bitter enemy Yamaha.

The Japanese brand, which had not won a championship since 1992, bet everything on the Italian, who reneged on Honda when its top brass declared the motorcycle was more important than the rider in comments that diminished Rossi's talent.

Because of that affront and his subsequent departure, 2004 opened with intensity and emotions. And South Africa concentrated those emotions in a historic race in which the man from Tavullia came face to face with his arch rival Max Biaggi on the Pons-run Honda. The one-on-one between the two compatriots was settled by Rossi in an extraordinary final lap.

Once Rossi had taken the chequered flag, he sat near the blue M1, kissed its windshield, and dedicated a few words of unconditional love to it. Those same words he repeated years later when he left Yamaha for Ducati in 2011.

Rossi's revenge on Honda marked a before and after in the history of modern motorcycling, declaring it 'Il mio grande capolavoro’- 'my best masterpiece on bikes'.

Toni Elias beat Valentino Rossi on the line in the closest MotoGP finish in history for his first and only premier class victory

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2006 MotoGP Portuguese GP: A championship-defining moment by an unlikely figure - German Garcia Casanova

The 2006 Estoril race was, in my opinion, one of the most spectacular in history, for what was seen on track and for what it meant.

The most important photo of that Sunday was the accident between the rookie Dani Pedrosa and the championship leader Nicky Hayden, both from the official Honda team. That crash left the American virtually without a crown, desolate on the gravel, while Valentino Rossi was leading the race in pursuit of a sixth premier class world championship title.

However out of nowhere emerged a small but combative Toni Elias, in the best performance of his career. He snatched his first and last victory in MotoGP on the line to deduct five points from Rossi, second at the finish.

The Italian led 25 of the 28 laps of the race, but in an unexpected end, he was surprised by Elias, who took the victory with a satellite Honda by 0.02s. In the end, these points were decisive for Hayden to regain the lead in the following race, the last of the season, in Valencia, and win the world championship by that margin of five points after a shock crash for Rossi.

Rossi made an epic move on Stoner at the Corkscrew to win the 2008 US GP

Photo by: Bob Heathcote

2008 MotoGP United States GP: Rossi takes to the dirt to make Stoner eat it - Alberto Gomez

It had been a nightmare for the Yamaha team during practice sessions. There was no one who could come close to Casey Stoner's pace.

On a track through which he appeared to levitate, the Australian rode his Ducati with smugness and ease. At Laguna Seca, neither Rossi nor Lorenzo could match the times of the Australian, who started as a great favourite to win.

During Saturday evening, Rossi spent time with his crew searching for a potion that would enable him to match up with his opponent. But nothing made sense before an exuberant pairing like the one formed by Stoner and Ducati on that arid and challenging track. To Rossi, it was only useful as a ploy to bother the Ducati rider as much as possible, so that it would make a solo race impossible for him.

As soon as the grand prix began, Rossi focused exclusively on Stoner. Both inside and outside, the Italian rider was closing gaps, but Stoner did not give up.

As both overtook one another successively, the tone of the race was rising. It was not until the fourth lap that both riders reached an unbelievable level of competition. After flying over the dirt at the notorious 'Corkscrew', Rossi returned to the track in front, almost taking Stoner out.

Years later, it was revealed that what seemed to be a manoeuvre forced by circumstances was, in fact, a deliberate overtake, Rossi inspired by a move made by Alex Zanardi in a 1996 Indycar race. Stoner ultimately crashed trying to reclaim the lead from Rossi, while the latter returned to the Corkscrew after the race to kiss the gravel.

Rossi pulled one of MotoGP's most iconic overtakes on the last corner of the 2009 Catalan GP to steal victory from Lorenzo

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2009 MotoGP Catalan GP: A duel for the ages - Oriol Puigdemont

A year after bursting onto the MotoGP scene as Valentino Rossi's team-mate, the great dominator of the decade, Jorge Lorenzo forced the Italian to be at his best.

Tension had settled in the Yamaha garage after Rossi decided to switch to Bridgestone tyres, a circumstance that forced a wall to be erected between the two sides of the box with Lorenzo still on Michelins.

At the 2009 Catalan GP, it was confirmed that Yamaha had brought together the most powerful pair of the moment, and probably in the history of the championship.

In an exchange of blows based on manoeuvres to the limit of physics, Rossi pulled out a cartoon trick to overtake his opponent in the penultimate corner, a point where no one, not even Lorenzo, imagined it was possible to overtake.

The Mallorcan's face once the race was over was a mixture of disbelief and anger, while Rossi's only projected euphoria. Logical, if we take into account that the grand prix not only represented a triumph and points scored, but also a win within the hierarchy at Yamaha.

The #46 would go on to win the 2009 title, before Lorenzo won in 2010, by a mixture of talent and stubbornness, and took over the reins at Yamaha.

Marquez 'pulls a Rossi' and overtakes the Yamaha rider at the Corkscrew in 2013 in a manner reminiscent of Rossi on Stoner in 2008

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2013 MotoGP United States GP: A new threat shows how well he's studied the playbook - Oriol Puigdemont

That Sunday was the day Valentino Rossi got to know the true dimension of Marc Marquez, a young rookie who until that moment had shown to possess extraordinary skills and an insatiable voracity in the smaller classes.

It was the fourth lap of a race led by poleman Stefan Bradl at Laguna Seca in 2013 when Marquez decided to go on the attack.

In a generous display of the selflessness that characterises him, the kid from Cervera gave Rossi the same medicine he had given Casey Stoner five years earlier with a famous manoeuvre at the Corkscrew, the most emblematic point of Laguna Seca.

Just as Rossi had done with the Australian in 2008, the Honda rider went onto the dirt to win the position from the Yamaha rider before dispatching Bradl and taking his third victory in MotoGP.

With that episode, Marquez sent an unequivocal message to the world. He had dared to do to Rossi the kind of tricks that he was known for inflicting on others.

The subsequent scene of the two in parc ferme, with Rossi grabbing the Catalan by the neck and pretending to strangle him, will remain in the memory as one of the best images of a rivalry that, unfortunately, two years later took a much more swampy course.

Bird strikes, overtakes a plenty, last-lap victory, long-lasting controversy - Australia 2015 was a wild ride

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2015 MotoGP Australian GP: Onlookers bask in wild ride... one gets too close - Haydn Cobb

For the modern MotoGP era, there’s no other option than the 2015 Australian GP at Phillip Island. Best track? Tick. Best riders? Tick. Fights for the lead throughout and a final-lap overtake for victory? Tick.

The adored Australian track acted as a true leveller between leading manufacturers Honda, Yamaha and Ducati with different sections of the layout suiting different marques. It's also a venue where pack races are common, with riders looking to preserve tyre life on the abrasive surface.

It culminated in a four-rider victory fight throughout between Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Iannone, all split by just one second at the chequered flag. With breath-taking action and stunning overtakes – and even Iannone headbutting an unfortunate seagull – the dynamic developed into legendary status with each lap, with all four arguably at the peak of their respective powers in grand prix racing.

The racing was fierce but fair and Marquez’s final lap to tear from third to first, setting the fastest lap, remains one of the greatest of all time as he took victory from Lorenzo while Iannone pipped Rossi for the podium.

It was a scarcely believable race, but Rossi felt underhand tactics were at play. Having let his feelings fester he unleashed an attack on Marquez and Lorenzo, accusing the Honda rider of conspiracy to aid his countryman in the all-Yamaha title fight. The spat went nuclear at the next race when the duo collided in Sepang – and MotoGP would never be the same again.

Lorenzo snatched victory from Marquez on the line in a thrilling Mugello race in 2016 - much to the annoyance of the partisan Italian crowd

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2016 MotoGP Italian GP: Lorenzo snatches win from Marquez's grasp - German Garcia Casanova

After all the controversy created around the resolution of the 2015 world championship, MotoGP staged its first event on Valentino Rossi's home turf with the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.

The atmosphere at the Tuscan track was hellish for Jorge Lorenzo and, above all, for Marc Marquez, an animosity against the riders that had never before been experienced on a motorcycle circuit following the controversial end to 2015 between the two Spaniards and Rossi.

That Sunday the Italian fans hoped for a victory of their idol Rossi over the two Spanish 'enemies'. However, in a vibrant and intense race, fortune abandoned the #46, whose engine broke after completing the first eight laps in second place stuck to the tail of Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo.

Marquez took over from Rossi in the chase, entering into a spectacular, electrifying battle in which Lorenzo and Marquez passed and re-passed each other on numerous occasions. As the final lap began, we reached it with the certainty that Marquez knew exactly where on the circuit he had to pass Lorenzo, block him and take the victory.

He did so into the at the Turn 13/14 chicane and it seemed that he succeeded, arriving in front coming into the final corner. The Honda was much more powerful than the Yamaha, which was more versatile and agile in the corners.

The victory of the #93 appeared so assured that all the members of Marquez's team climbed the wall of the finishing straight to applaud their winning rider. However, the 'fragile' engine of Lorenzo's M1, which had broken in the morning warm-up, and in the race with Rossi, decided to be the protagonist and gave its last breath on the long straight of Mugello, beating the Honda by 0.019 seconds over the finish line.

The 2018 Dutch TT was decided after 100+ overtakes across 26 laps

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2018 MotoGP Dutch TT: Like overtakes? Have 100 of them... - Lewis Duncan

Of all of the 1000 grand prix events in world championship history since 1949, the Dutch TT at Assen has featured the most of any. Assen is known as the cathedral of motorcycle racing, and while it may not look even remotely similar to how it did back in 1949, it remains an epic.

Assen has been the scene of some of MotoGP finest races, but the 2018 Dutch TT surely usurps them all. There were over 100 overtakes across a 26-lap race and seven riders battling for the victory down to the wire.

There were daring overtakes all over the show, contact between Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi that somehow didn’t end in disaster, and a wild save from Marc Marquez coming out of the Turn 5 hairpin that he had absolutely no right in making.

It was a truly breathless 45 minutes that ultimately went the way of Marquez, the cream rising firmly to the top no matter the circumstances. It’s races like Assen 2018 that make each visit to the Dutch venue special.

Just 0.013s split Alex Rins and Marc Marquez at the finish line of this Silverstone epic in 2019

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2019 MotoGP British GP: Marquez gets Rinsed in Silverstone thriller - Lewis Duncan

It speaks volumes about the quality of MotoGP now that so many entries on this list are modern-era ones. Dorna Sports’ efforts to tighten the field over the last 10 years has led to some of the best racing we’ve ever seen.

The 2019 British Grand Prix is one such example. Following another epic duel between Marc Marquez and Andrea Dovizioso at the previous round in Austria, the paddock was abuzz as MotoGP basked in its halcyon period.

Little did we know when we arrived at Silverstone to start the weekend that we’d witness a grand prix that would be decided by just 0.013s. Going up against Marc Marquez is no small task, but it was one Alex Rins took in his stride as the Suzuki underneath him worked brilliantly around Silverstone’s flowing turns.

While it’s often forgotten that Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales was very much a factor in this battle, the race ultimately ended as a head-to-head between Rins and Marquez. Piling the pressure on, Rins came close to crashing at Vale in the latter stages as he lost the front end. He quickly recovered from this, though, and was hounding Marquez as they began the final lap.

A failed attempt at slingshotting past around the outside of Woodcote put Rins off track and allowed Marquez to hold the lead into Copse. A defensive last lap kept the Honda in front as they headed onto the Wellington Straight for the final time.

Marquez was tight through Brooklands and Luffield, Rins slightly wider to get a better run out of the hairpin. Marquez went into Woodcote first, but had the smallest of movements on his Honda which killed a few mph from his run and allowed Rins to slice up the inside to score the most memorable win of his career to date.

While it didn’t feature any British names, the battle was reminiscent of the epic 1979 Silverstone duel between Barry Sheene and Kenny Roberts. Sheene, on a Suzuki, lost narrowly after trying an overtake on the run to the line on the outside of Woodcote. Thus, in a way, the manner of Rins’ win made amends for Suzuki’s defeat 40 years prior.

An emotional championship win for Joan Mir at Valencia in 2020 ended a 20-year wait for Suzuki. The manufacturer's demise at the end of 2022 further puts this achievement into perspective

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2020 MotoGP Valencia GP: A dream realised - Alberto Gomez

It was 15 November, 2020. Still wearing their masks to avoid the cursed COVID-19, leaning over the fences that overlooked the start/finish straight, the members of the factory Suzuki team were celebrating a historic event, an unthinkable feat a few months earlier.

It was the consecration of a dream: that of Joan Mir winning his first MotoGP world title. Suzuki, at the same time, was celebrating in an exorbitant way a perfect world championship. It squared the centenary of Suzuki Motor Corporation, founded in 1920, and the 60th anniversary of Suzuki in the grand prix world championship - and all 20 years after the last crown with Kenny Roberts Jr.

The script of that year had begun twisted with the outbreak of a silent and ghostly adversary as COVID forced the world into shutdown and presented a stark new reality.

On that day in Valencia, perched on the fence, the emotions overflowed over the blue masks. It was an exorcism that brought out the fears and complexes of a small factory team that had been handcrafted by Davide Brivio to reach, without much noise, excellence.

Valencia, the race that certified Mir's coronation, was not an outstanding race but the shortest and safest way to win a title in a year full of shocks. Mir did not fail and, thanks to a conservative strategy, was able to complete a joint dream. Seventh, a week after securing his first MotoGP win at the same venue, didn't matter.

The most important thing was a demonstration that a smaller team with fewer resources could stand up to the big manufacturers and win. A good bike and a young rider, an outsider with a solid and consistent challenge, could annihilate the hopes of bigger rivals like Yamaha, Honda or Ducati, in an anomalous world championship where some tracks staged two races due to the logistical issues posed by the pandemic.

The last days, those prior to the outcome, were days of fear and contagion. Many mechanics and engineers of different teams were forced into isolation due to positive COVID tests. The important thing, beyond the track times, was to protect themselves. Suzuki and Mir knew this. And they did not fail.

Brad Binder took a gamble on slicks as the Red Bull Ring got wet, and emerged with a stunning win in 2021

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2021 MotoGP Austrian GP: Who needs wet tyres? - Megan White

As far as first races go, it was a pretty good one to choose. Having read plenty of MotoGP reports but never watched a race, I settled down to watch the lights go green for the 2021 Austrian GP.

With the series having also raced at Spielberg the previous weekend, there was no reason to think this would be a spectacular contest. But that was before the weather had begun to factor.

Rain spots started to appear at the Red Bull Ring as the race got going, before the rain flags were waved on lap eight. Conditions only worsened as the grand prix went on and by lap 22, the heavens had truly opened.

Before the rain, the leading trio of Francesco Bagnaia, Fabio Quartararo and Marc Marquez had broken away from the pack. But as the pace dropped and the track became increasingly soaked, many opted to swap bikes, with the top three stopping with three laps remaining.

Not Brad Binder though. The KTM man took a brave gamble to stick with his slicks, and it proved to be crucial, if not utterly bonkers. Chaos ensued over the last lap, and even Valentino Rossi – who had announced his retirement at the previous round – was in with a shot at the podium at one stage.

No-one was a match for Binder, and he miraculously kept his bike upright, despite a few serious wobbles, to take his second MotoGP win. It was a truly astonishing race, and one which will be long remembered for its dramatic final three laps.

After the action, I asked if races were always like this, and was assured that was not the case. For this writer though, it will be remembered as the race which started an enduring love of MotoGP.