This year’s French GP, which will take place at the Le Mans circuit over the weekend of 12-14 May, will be a very special round for the entire MotoGP paddock. It will in fact be the 1000th race in the history of the world championship, which began back in 1949.
The French track staging this important event represents an important part of motorcycle racing history, having staged the world championship races on 35 occasions between 1969 and now (and uninterruptedly since 2000). It was also voted as host of the best GP of the 2022 season by fans on the official MotoGP website.
Over 70 years of history and new circuits
From 1949 until today, 125 different riders have been crowned world champion, representing a total of 20 countries. Throughout its long history, the world championship has visited 29 different countries and 73 tracks, with two more new-entries this coming season, namely the Kazakhstan round in Sokol and the Indian event at the Buddh International Circuit, only adding to this statistic.