Marco Bezzecchi
Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez lead the MotoGP record books for the most Grand Prix wins to date with 89 and 73, but a host of riders only won one premier class race.
Rossi recorded his maiden premier class Grand Prix victory with Nastro Azzurro Honda in the 2000 500cc British Grand Prix at Donington Park. The Italian hero went on to win seven titles and a total of 89 Grand Prix wins, of which he sealed 76 during the MotoGP era since 2002.
Marquez is close to becoming the most successful rider in the MotoGP era to date, with the Spaniard boasting 73 wins and seven titles so far. The Cervera native scored his first premier class race win in just his second race as a rookie in the 2013 Americas Grand Prix at COTA.
Giacomo Agostini sits third in the premier class record books with 68 Grand Prix wins, all of which he secured over 130 500cc races. The Italian also lifted eight 500cc titles during his career, which also returned seven 350cc titles and 54 350cc Grand Prix wins from 75 races.
A raft of riders across the 500cc era from 1949 to 2001 and the MotoGP era since 2002 only scored one Grand Prix win in their premier class careers, though. With that in mind, MotoGP News has taken a look at the five best riders to only get one premier class Grand Prix victory.
Jorge Kissling became the at-the-time youngest Grand Prix winner with his only race victory
Argentine treasure Jorge Kissling made history with his only premier class career race win in 1961 when the Buenos Aires native won the season finale on home soil. Kissling even made history in the 1961 Argentina Grand Prix when he tasted glory on what was his 500cc debut.
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Kissling became the at-the-time youngest rider to win a 500cc race, as he put his Matchless bike on the top step of the podium aged just 21. He also secured another podium in his only other career finish with P2 in the 1963 Argentina GP, whilst retiring on his other two starts.
Kim Newcombe scored six podiums from 18 race starts, but only enjoyed one win
New Zealand native Kim Newcombe stood on six 500cc podiums over his run in the premier class, which only featured 17 races. The Nelson, South Island-born rider also secured a pole position, but he only enjoyed one win with glory in the 1973 500cc Yugoslavian Grand Prix.
His one journey to the top step of a 500cc podium also helped Newcombe to secure second place in the 1973 riders’ championship. Phil Read sealed the 1973 500cc title with 84 points ahead of Newcombe on 63. Read took four wins in 1973 and was P2 in his other four races.
Remo Venturi finished second in the 500cc championship twice but only won one race
Remo Venturi instantly made a name for himself in the world championship when he sealed P3 on debut in the 1955 125cc German Grand Prix, for one of his three rostrums that year. It set the tone for the rest of his career, as he would claim 22 podiums across all of the classes.
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Venturi’s 500cc debut also returned a rostrum with P2 in the 1958 Nations Grand Prix staged at Mugello. But it took the Italian until the 1960 500cc Dutch TT at Assen to take what would be his only race win, en route to sealing P2 in the riders’ standings for a second straight year.
Bob McIntyre scored his only 500cc Grand Prix win at the 1957 Isle of Man TT
Scottish rider Bob McIntyre regularly coupled appearances in the 350cc and 500cc classes during his career. The Isle of Man TT and the Ulster Grand Prix were two of his most regular venues while the two events still formed a part of the calendar for the world championship.
It was also at the Isle of Man TT in 1957 that McIntyre scored what would be his only 500cc Grand Prix victory, when he even did the double with the 350cc race. He achieved a total of three podiums from four 500cc race entries in 1957 to secure second in the standings, too.
Troy Bayliss won the 2006 Valencia Grand Prix in his final MotoGP race as an injury substitute
Troy Bayliss made his world championship debut in the 1997 250cc Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island. Yet it took the native of Taree, New South Wales until 2003 to make his second world championship appearance when he debuted in MotoGP with the factory Ducati team.
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Ducati moved Bayliss to MotoGP after he won the 2001 World Superbike Championship and finished second in 2002 with their factory WSBK entry. But while Bayliss took three podiums as a rookie in MotoGP, he never won a race as a full-time rider during 2003, 2004 and 2005.
So, Ducati moved Bayliss back to WSBK in 2006 and saw him win another Superbike title. It would mark the second of his three WSBK titles after conquering the championship again in 2008. Winning the 2006 WSBK title also saw Ducati hand Bayliss one more race in MotoGP.
Bayliss stood in for Sete Gibernau for the 2006 MotoGP season finale Valencia Grand Prix, as the Spaniard was sidelined through injury. It proved to be a very shrewd move by Ducati, as Bayliss won the 2006 Valencia GP in a Ducati one-two ahead of Loris Capirossi by 1.319s.
Not only did Bayliss become the only rider to so far ever win a World Superbike race and a MotoGP Grand Prix in the same year, he even became the at-the-time oldest rider to win a MotoGP race. Bayliss was 37 years and 213 days old when he won the Valencia GP in 2006.
Rossi later broke Bayliss’ record to become the oldest rider to win a MotoGP race, with the Italian’s triumph in the 2017 Dutch TT aged 38 years and 131 days. Bayliss was also a rider whom Rossi respected, as he once called the Australian a “great” talent during his career.
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