Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix

Japanese Grand Prix

Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Venue	Twin Ring Motegi (1999, 2004–2019) Suzuka Circuit (1963–1965, 1987–1998, 2000–2003) Fuji Speedway (1966–1967)
First race	1963
Most wins (rider)	Marc Márquez (5)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Honda (48)

The Japanese Motorcycle Grand Prix (日本グランプリ) is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season.

The main venue who held the races for years was the Suzuka Circuit, until it permanently was replaced by the Twin Ring Motegi from 2004 onwards after the circuit faced criticism for its short runoff area's and dangerous trackside barriers, causing the death of Japanese rider Daijiro Kato and the injuries of Marco Melandri and Alex Barros at the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix. As a result, Suzuka was faced with making considerable safety alterations to avoid a possible strike by the riders – many of whom believed the 240 hp motorbikes had outgrown the tight circuit. The FIM stated that the modifications would not be completed before 2005 and that, therefore, the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix would be held at the Twin Ring Motegi, but the circuit has not reappeared on the calendar ever since.^[1]

The 2020 and 2021 races were cancelled due to the outbreak of COVID-19.^[2]

Official names and sponsors[]

• 1963: Grand Prix Race Meeting (no official sponsor)^[3]
• 1987–1989, 2001, 2005, 2010: Grand Prix of Japan (no official sponsor)^{[4][5][6][7][8]}
• 1990–1991: Kibun Japanese Grand Prix^[9][10]
• 1992: Japanese Grand Prix (no official sponsor)^[11]
• 1993: Marlboro GP^[12]
• 1994–2000: Marlboro Grand Prix of Japan^{[13][14][15][16][17][18]}
• 2002–2003: SKYY vodka Grand Prix of Japan^[19][20]
• 2004: Camel Grand Prix of Japan^[21]
• 2006–2008: Grand Prix of Japan^[22][23][24]
• 2009: Polini Grand Prix of Japan^[25]
• 2011: Grand Prix of JAPAN (no official sponsor)^[26]
• 2012–2013: AirAsia Grand Prix of JAPAN^[27][28]
• 2014–2019: MOTUL Grand Prix of Japan^{[29][30][31][32][33][34]}

Winners of the Japanese Motorcycle Grand Prix[]

Kevin Schwantz on Suzuki RGV500 at the 1993 Japanese GP

Daijiro Kato winning the 1998 Japanese GP on his Honda NSR250

Dani Pedrosa celebrating after winning the 2011 Japanese GP on his Honda RC212V

Valentino Rossi in the lead followed by Marc Márquez and Dani Pedrosa at the 2013 Japanese GP

Marc Márquez riding his Honda RC213V while crossing the finish line first at the 2018 Japanese GP

Multiple winners (riders)[]

# Wins	Rider	Wins
		Category	Years won
5	Marc Márquez	MotoGP	2016, 2018, 2019
		Moto2	2012
		125cc	2010
4	Kevin Schwantz	500cc	1988, 1989, 1991, 1994
	Daijiro Kato	250cc	1997, 1998, 2000, 2001
	Valentino Rossi	MotoGP	2002, 2003, 2008
		500cc	2001
	Dani Pedrosa	MotoGP	2011, 2012, 2015
		250cc	2004
3	Jim Redman	350cc	1964
		250cc	1963, 1964
	Mike Hailwood	350cc	1965, 1967
		250cc	1965
	Luca Cadalora	250cc	1990, 1991, 1992
	Loris Capirossi	MotoGP	2005, 2006, 2007
	Mika Kallio	250cc	2007
		125cc	2005, 2006
	Jorge Lorenzo	MotoGP	2009, 2013, 2014
	Álex Márquez	Moto2	2017
		Moto3	2013, 2014
2	Luigi Taveri	50cc	1963, 1965
	Bill Ivy	125cc	1966, 1967
	Wayne Rainey	500cc	1990, 1993
	Ralf Waldmann	250cc	1995
		125cc	1992
	Noboru Ueda	125cc	1991, 1997
	Mick Doohan	500cc	1992, 1997
	Max Biaggi	500cc	1998
		250cc	1996
	Norifumi Abe	500cc	1996, 2000
	Masao Azuma	125cc	1999, 2001
	Hiroshi Aoyama	250cc	2005, 2006
	Andrea Iannone	Moto2	2011
		125cc	2009
	Johann Zarco	Moto2	2015
		125cc	2011
	Thomas Lüthi	Moto2	2014, 2016
	Andrea Dovizioso	MotoGP	2017
		125cc	2004

Multiple winners (manufacturers)[]

# Wins	Manufacturer	Wins
		Category	Years won
48	Honda	MotoGP	2002, 2003, 2004, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019
		500cc	1992, 1997, 1998, 2001
		350cc	1964, 1967
		250cc	1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005
		Moto3	2014, 2015, 2017, 2019
		125cc	1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004
		50cc	1963, 1965
18	Yamaha	MotoGP	2008, 2009, 2013, 2014
		500cc	1987, 1990, 1993, 1996, 2000
		350cc	1966
		250cc	1966, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1999, 2002
		125cc	1966, 1967
11	Suzuki	500cc	1988, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1999
		125cc	1963, 1964, 1965
		50cc	1966, 1967
10	Aprilia	250cc	1996, 2003, 2009
		125cc	1996, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009
8	KTM	250cc	2006, 2007
		Moto3	2012, 2013, 2016, 2018
		125cc	2005, 2006
6	Kalex	Moto2	2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
5	Ducati	MotoGP	2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017
3	Derbi	125cc	2000, 2010, 2011
	Suter	Moto2	2011, 2012, 2014

By year[]

A pink background indicates an event that was not part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship.

Year	Track	Moto3		Moto2		MotoGP		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
2021	Motegi	Cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns
2020	Motegi
2019	Motegi	Lorenzo Dalla Porta	Honda	Luca Marini	Kalex	Marc Márquez	Honda	Report
2018	Motegi	Marco Bezzecchi	KTM	Francesco Bagnaia	Kalex	Marc Márquez	Honda	Report
2017	Motegi	Romano Fenati	Honda	Álex Márquez	Kalex	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	Report
2016	Motegi	Enea Bastianini	KTM	Thomas Lüthi	Kalex	Marc Márquez	Honda	Report
2015	Motegi	Niccolò Antonelli	Honda	Johann Zarco	Kalex	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	Report
2014	Motegi	Álex Márquez	Honda	Thomas Luthi	Suter	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	Report
2013	Motegi	Álex Márquez	KTM	Pol Espargaro	Kalex	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	Report
2012	Motegi	Danny Kent	KTM	Marc Márquez	Suter	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	Report
Year	Track	125cc		Moto2		MotoGP		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
2011	Motegi	Johann Zarco	Derbi	Andrea Iannone	Suter	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	Report
2010	Motegi	Marc Márquez	Derbi	Toni Elías	Moriwaki	Casey Stoner	Ducati	Report
Year	Track	125cc		250cc		MotoGP		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
2009	Motegi	Andrea Iannone	Aprilia	Álvaro Bautista	Aprilia	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	Report
2008	Motegi	Stefan Bradl	Aprilia	Marco Simoncelli	Gilera	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	Report
2007	Motegi	Mattia Pasini	Aprilia	Mika Kallio	KTM	Loris Capirossi	Ducati	Report
2006	Motegi	Mika Kallio	KTM	Hiroshi Aoyama	KTM	Loris Capirossi	Ducati	Report
2005	Motegi	Mika Kallio	KTM	Hiroshi Aoyama	Honda	Loris Capirossi	Ducati	Report
2004	Motegi	Andrea Dovizioso	Honda	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	Makoto Tamada	Honda	Report
2003	Suzuka	Stefano Perugini	Aprilia	Manuel Poggiali	Aprilia	Valentino Rossi	Honda	Report
2002	Suzuka	Arnaud Vincent	Aprilia	Osamu Miyazaki	Yamaha	Valentino Rossi	Honda	Report
Year	Track	125cc		250cc		500cc		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
2001	Suzuka	Masao Azuma	Honda	Daijiro Kato	Honda	Valentino Rossi	Honda	Report
2000	Suzuka	Youichi Ui	Derbi	Daijiro Kato	Honda	Norifumi Abe	Yamaha	Report
1999	Motegi	Masao Azuma	Honda	Shinya Nakano	Yamaha	Kenny Roberts, Jr.	Suzuki	Report
1998	Suzuka	Kazuto Sakata	Aprilia	Daijiro Kato	Honda	Max Biaggi	Honda	Report
1997	Suzuka	Noboru Ueda	Honda	Daijiro Kato	Honda	Michael Doohan	Honda	Report
1996	Suzuka	Masaki Tokudome	Aprilia	Max Biaggi	Aprilia	Norifumi Abe	Yamaha	Report
1995	Suzuka	Haruchika Aoki	Honda	Ralf Waldmann	Honda	Daryl Beattie	Suzuki	Report
1994	Suzuka	Takeshi Tsujimura	Honda	Tadayuki Okada	Honda	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki	Report
1993	Suzuka	Dirk Raudies	Honda	Tetsuya Harada	Yamaha	Wayne Rainey	Yamaha	Report
1992	Suzuka	Ralf Waldmann	Honda	Luca Cadalora	Honda	Michael Doohan	Honda	Report
1991	Suzuka	Noboru Ueda	Honda	Luca Cadalora	Honda	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki	Report
1990	Suzuka	Hans Spaan	Honda	Luca Cadalora	Yamaha	Wayne Rainey	Yamaha	Report

Year	Track	80cc		125cc		250cc		500cc		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
1989	Suzuka			Ezio Gianola	Honda	John Kocinski	Yamaha	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki	Report
1988	Suzuka					Anton Mang	Honda	Kevin Schwantz	Suzuki	Report
1987	Suzuka						Honda	Randy Mamola	Yamaha	Report

Year	Track	50cc		125cc		250cc		350cc		500cc		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
1967	Fuji	Mitsuo Itoh	Suzuki	Bill Ivy	Yamaha	Ralph Bryans	Honda	Mike Hailwood	Honda
1966	Fuji	Yoshimi Katayama	Suzuki	Bill Ivy	Yamaha	Hiroshi Hasegawa	Yamaha	Phil Read	Yamaha
1965	Suzuka	Luigi Taveri	Honda	Hugh Anderson	Suzuki	Mike Hailwood	Honda	Mike Hailwood	MV Agusta
1964	Suzuka	Ralph Bryans [N 1]	Honda	Ernst Degner	Suzuki	Jim Redman	Honda	Jim Redman	Honda
1963	Suzuka	Luigi Taveri	Honda	Frank Perris	Suzuki	Jim Redman	Honda	Jim Redman [N 2]	Honda
1962	Suzuka	Tommy Robb	Honda	Tommy Robb	Honda	Jim Redman	Honda	Jim Redman	Honda

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• "History of the Grand Prix of Japan" (in French). Racing Memory. Retrieved 23 July 2007.