List of 125cc/Moto3 World Riders' Champions

Loris Capirossi, the youngest 125cc champion

Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing, which has been divided into three classes: Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP. Former classes that have been discontinued include 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc/80cc, and Sidecar. ^[1] Moto3 replaced the 125cc class in 2012. Moto3 runs 250cc single-cylinder engines as opposed to the 125cc engines used previously. The engines have single cylinders, as opposed to the four cylinders used in MotoGP. Moto3 is the class where young riders first participate in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. The minimum age for a rider is 16 years and the maximum is 28 years. ^[2] The Grand Prix Road-Racing World Championship was established in 1949 by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), and is the oldest motorsport World Championship. ^[2]

Points earned in these events count toward the drivers' and constructors' world championships. The driver's and constructor's championship are separate championships, but are based on the same point system. The number of points awarded at the end of each race to the top 15 qualifying riders depends on their placement. Points received by each finisher, from first 1st place to 15th place: 25, 20, 16, 13, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Historically, there have been several points systems. ^[3] Results from all current Grands Prix count towards the championships; in the past, only a certain number of results were counted. ^[4]

Ángel Nieto has won the most championships, with seven. Loris Capirossi is the youngest to win the championship; he was 17 years and 165 days old when he won in 1990. ^[5] Spanish riders have won the most championships; 18 riders have won a total of 24 championships. Italian riders have won the second most; 15 riders have won a total of 24 championships. Riders from Great Britain have won the third most, as five riders have won a total of five championships. Nello Pagani won the inaugural championship in 1949. Nicolas Terol was the last rider to win the 125cc championship in 2011. ^[6] Rupert Hollaus' 1954 title was the only time a posthumous World Champion was crowned in any class in Grand Prix motorcycle racing as he was killed before the 1954 season was over. Emilio Alzamora's 1999 title was the only time in Grand Prix motorcycle racing that a rider won the championship without winning a race in a season. Sandro Cortese was the first rider to win the Moto3 championship in 2012. ^[7] José Antonio Rueda is the current champion; he won the 2025 Moto3 World Championship.

Champions

Key

‡	Champion also won the 250cc Championship in that season
†	Champion also won the 80cc Championship in that season
*	Champion also won the 50cc Championship in that season
—	Indicates information is not available

• The "Season" column refers to the season the competition was held, and wikilinks to the article about that season.
• The "Margin" column refers to the margin of points by which the winner defeated the runner-up.

By season

125cc/Moto3 Motorcycle World Champions

Season	Country	Rider	Constructor	Grands Prix	Poles	Wins	Podiums	Fastest laps	Points	Clinched [8]	# of rounds remaining	Margin
1949	Italy	Nello Pagani	Mondial	3	—	2	2	2	27	Round 3 of 3	0	13
1950	Italy	Bruno Ruffo	Mondial	3	—	1	2	1	17	Round 3 of 3	0	3
1951	Italy	Carlo Ubbiali	Mondial	5 [a]	—	1	3	2	20	Round 4 of 4	0	8
1952	United Kingdom	Cecil Sandford	MV Agusta	6 [b]	—	3	5	3	28	Round 5 of 6	1	4
1953	West Germany	Werner Haas ‡	NSU	6 [c]	—	3	5	4	30	Round 5 of 6	1	10
1954	Austria	Rupert Hollaus	NSU	6 [d]	—	4	4	3	32	Round 4 of 6	2	14
1955	Italy	Carlo Ubbiali	MV Agusta	6	—	5	6	3	32	Round 5 of 6	1	6
1956	Italy	Carlo Ubbiali ‡	MV Agusta	6	—	5	6	3	32	Round 4 of 6	2	18
1957	Italy	Tarquinio Provini	Mondial	6 [e]	—	3	5	5	30	Round 5 of 6	1	8
1958	Italy	Carlo Ubbiali	MV Agusta	7 [f]	—	4	5	2	32	Round 6 of 7	1	7
1959	Italy	Carlo Ubbiali ‡	MV Agusta	7 [g]	—	3	5	4	30	Round 7 of 7	0	2
1960	Italy	Carlo Ubbiali ‡	MV Agusta	5	—	4	5	2	24	Round 4 of 5	1	6
1961	Australia	Tom Phillis	Honda	11	—	4	8	6	44	Round 11 of 11	0	2
1962	Switzerland	Luigi Taveri	Honda	11 [h]	—	6	9	7	48	Round 8 of 11	3	10
1963	New Zealand	Hugh Anderson *	Suzuki	12 [i]	—	6	8	2	54	Round 8 of 12	4	16
1964	Switzerland	Luigi Taveri	Honda	11 [j]	—	5	9	3	46	Round 9 of 11	2	10
1965	New Zealand	Hugh Anderson	Suzuki	12 [k]	—	7	8	8	56	Round 11 of 12	1	12
1966	Switzerland	Luigi Taveri	Honda	10 [l]	—	5	8	5	46	Round 9 of 10	1	6
1967	United Kingdom	Bill Ivy	Yamaha	12 [m]	—	8	10	10	56	Round 10 of 12	2	16
1968	United Kingdom	Phil Read ‡	Yamaha	9 [n]	—	6	8	2	40	Round 6 of 9	3	6
1969	United Kingdom	Dave Simmonds	Kawasaki	11 [o]	—	8	10	6	90	Round 7 of 11	4	31
1970	West Germany	Dieter Braun	Suzuki	11 [p]	—	4	6	0	84	Round 9 of 11	2	12
1971	Spain	Ángel Nieto	Derbi	11 [q]	—	5	6	6	87	Round 11 of 11	0	8
1972	Spain	Ángel Nieto *	Derbi	13 [r]	—	5	7	5	97	Round 13 of 13	0	10
1973	Sweden	Kent Andersson	Yamaha	12 [s]	—	5	7	3	99	Round 10 of 12	2	24
1974	Sweden	Kent Andersson	Yamaha	10 [t]	3	5	8	2	87	Round 8 of 10	2	24
1975	Italy	Paolo Pileri	Morbidelli	10	3	7	8	4	90	Round 6 of 10	4	18
1976	Italy	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Morbidelli	9 [u]	6	7	7	6	90	Round 8 of 9	1	23
1977	Italy	Pier Paolo Bianchi	Morbidelli	12 [v]	8	7	9	6	131	Round 10 of 12	2	26
1978	Italy	Eugenio Lazzarini	MBA	12 [w]	5	4	8	4	114	Round 10 of 12	2	26
1979	Spain	Ángel Nieto	Minarelli	13 [x]	5	8	8	6	120	Round 10 of 13	3	67
1980	Italy	Pier Paolo Bianchi	MBA	10 [y]	3	2	5	1	90	Round 9 of 10	1	9
1981	Spain	Ángel Nieto	Minarelli	12 [z]	3	8	9	5	140	Round 10 of 12	2	45
1982	Spain	Ángel Nieto	Garelli	12 [aa]	2	6	7	2	111	Round 10 of 12	2	16
1983	Spain	Ángel Nieto	Garelli	11 [ab]	1	6	7	6	76	Round 9 of 11	2	26
1984	Spain	Ángel Nieto	Garelli	8 [ac]	0	6	6	6	90	Round 6 of 8	2	12
1985	Italy	Fausto Gresini	Garelli	10	5	3	8	1	109	Round 10 of 10	0	10
1986	Italy	Luca Cadalora	Garelli	11	5	4	8	4	122	Round 11 of 11	0	8
1987	Italy	Fausto Gresini	Garelli	11	6	10	10	7	150	Round 9 of 11	2	62
1988	Spain	Jorge Martínez †	Derbi	11	6	9	10	6	197	Round 10 of 11	1	29
1989	Spain	Àlex Crivillé	JJ Cobas	12 [ad]	3	5	9	4	166	Round 12 of 12	0	14
1990	Italy	Loris Capirossi	Honda	14	0	3	8	0	182	Round 14 of 14	0	9
1991	Italy	Loris Capirossi	Honda	13	5	5	12	4	200	Round 12 of 13	1	19
1992	Italy	Alessandro Gramigni	Aprilia	13 [ae]	3	2	7	0	134	Round 13 of 13	0	16
1993	Germany	Dirk Raudies	Honda	14	6	9	11	3	280	Round 14 of 14	0	14
1994	Japan	Kazuto Sakata	Aprilia	14	7	4	8	4	224	Round 13 of 14	1	30
1995	Japan	Haruchika Aoki	Honda	13	3	7	9	2	224	Round 11 of 13	2	84
1996	Japan	Haruchika Aoki	Honda	15	3	2	9	3	220	Round 15 of 15	0	27
1997	Italy	Valentino Rossi	Aprilia	15	4	11	13	7	321	Round 12 of 15	3	83
1998	Japan	Kazuto Sakata	Aprilia	14	4	4	6	2	229	Round 13 of 14	1	12
1999	Spain	Emilio Alzamora	Honda	16	0	0	10	3	227	Round 16 of 16	0	1
2000	Italy	Roberto Locatelli	Aprilia	16	9	5	8	5	230	Round 15 of 16	1	13
2001	San Marino	Manuel Poggiali	Gilera	16	2	3	11	0	241	Round 16 of 16	0	9
2002	France	Arnaud Vincent	Aprilia	16	2	5	10	0	273	Round 16 of 16	0	19
2003	Spain	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	16 [af]	3	5	6	3	223	Round 14 of 16	2	57
2004	Italy	Andrea Dovizioso	Honda	16	8	5	11	3	293	Round 14 of 16	2	91
2005	Switzerland	Thomas Lüthi	Honda	16	5	4	8	1	242	Round 16 of 16	0	5
2006	Spain	Álvaro Bautista	Aprilia	16	8	8	14	7	338	Round 13 of 16	3	76
2007	Hungary	Gábor Talmácsi	Aprilia	17	5	3	10	6	282	Round 17 of 17	0	5
2008	France	Mike Di Meglio	Derbi	17	2	4	9	4	264	Round 15 of 17	2	39
2009	Spain	Julián Simón	Aprilia	16	7	7	12	7	289	Round 14 of 16	2	65.5
2010	Spain	Marc Márquez	Derbi	17	12	10	12	7	310	Round 17 of 17	0	14
2011	Spain	Nicolás Terol	Aprilia	17 [ag]	7	8	11	4	302	Round 17 of 17	0	40
2012	Germany	Sandro Cortese	KTM	17	7	5	15	4	325	Round 15 of 17	2	109
2013	Spain	Maverick Viñales	KTM	17	2	3	15	3	323	Round 17 of 17	0	12
2014	Spain	Álex Márquez	Honda	18	3	3	10	3	278	Round 18 of 18	0	2
2015	United Kingdom	Danny Kent	Honda	18	5	6	9	3	260	Round 18 of 18	0	6
2016	South Africa	Brad Binder	KTM	18	6	7	14	3	319	Round 14 of 18	4	142
2017	Spain	Joan Mir	Honda	18	1	10	13	3	341	Round 16 of 18	2	93
2018	Spain	Jorge Martín	Honda	18 [ah]	11	7	10	3	260	Round 17 of 18	1	42
2019	Italy	Lorenzo Dalla Porta	Honda	19	1	4	11	1	279	Round 17 of 19	2	79
2020	Spain	Albert Arenas	KTM	15	0	3	5	1	174	Round 15 of 15	0	4
2021	Spain	Pedro Acosta	KTM	18	1	6	8	1	259	Round 17 of 18	1	43
2022	Spain	Izan Guevara	Gas Gas	20	5	7	12	2	319	Round 18 of 20	2	62
2023	Spain	Jaume Masià	Honda	20	6	4	10	1	274	Round 19 of 20	1	6
2024	Colombia	David Alonso	CFMoto	20	7	14	15	3	421	Round 16 of 20	4	165
2025	Spain	José Antonio Rueda	KTM	21* [ai]	5*	10*	14*	4*	365*	Round 18 of 22	4	94*

* Season still in progress.

Multiple champions

125cc/Moto3 Multiple champions

Rider	Total	Seasons
Ángel Nieto	7	1971, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984
Carlo Ubbiali	6	1951, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960
Luigi Taveri	3	1962, 1964, 1966
Pier Paolo Bianchi	3	1976, 1977, 1980
Hugh Anderson	2	1963, 1965
Kent Andersson	2	1973, 1974
Fausto Gresini	2	1985, 1987
Loris Capirossi	2	1990, 1991
Haruchika Aoki	2	1995, 1996
Kazuto Sakata	2	1994, 1998

By constructor

125cc/Moto3 World champions by constructor

Constructor	Total
Honda	19
Aprilia	10
Garelli	6
MV Agusta	6
KTM	6
Derbi	5
Mondial	4
Yamaha	4
Morbidelli	3
Suzuki	3
NSU	2
MBA	2
Minarelli	2
Kawasaki	1
JJ Cobas	1
Gilera	1
Gas Gas	1
CFMoto	1

By nationality

125cc/Moto3 Motorcycle World Champions by nationality

Country	Riders	Total
Spain	18	24
Italy	15	24
United Kingdom	5	5
Germany	4	4
Japan	2	4
Switzerland	2	4
France	2	2
New Zealand	1	2
Sweden	1	2
Austria	1	1
Australia	1	1
San Marino	1	1
Hungary	1	1
South Africa	1	1
Colombia	1	1

Notes

1. Carlo Ubbiali missed out two races in 1951.
2. Cecil Sandford missed out one race in 1952.
3. Werner Haas missed out one race in 1953.
4. Rupert Hollaus missed out two races in 1954.
5. Tarquinio Provini missed out one race in 1957.
6. Carlo Ubbiali missed out one race in 1958.
7. Carlo Ubbiali missed out one race in 1959.
8. Luigi Taveri missed out one race in 1962.
9. Hugh Anderson missed out three races in 1963.
10. Luigi Taveri missed out two races in 1964.
11. Hugh Anderson missed out three races in 1965.
12. Luigi Taveri missed out one race in 1966.
13. Bill Ivy missed out two races in 1967.
14. Phil Read missed out one race in 1968.
15. Dave Simmonds missed out one race in 1969.
16. Dieter Braun missed out four races in 1970.
17. Ángel Nieto missed out five races in 1971.
18. Ángel Nieto missed out six races in 1972.
19. Kent Andersson missed out five races in 1973.
20. Kent Andersson missed out one race in 1974.
21. Pier Paolo Bianchi missed out two races in 1976.
22. Pier Paolo Bianchi missed out two races in 1977.
23. Eugenio Lazzarini missed out two races in 1978.
24. Ángel Nieto missed out five races in 1979.
25. Pier Paolo Bianchi missed out one race in 1980.
26. Ángel Nieto missed out one race in 1981.
27. Ángel Nieto missed out three races in 1982.
28. Ángel Nieto missed out one race in 1983.
29. Ángel Nieto missed out one race in 1984.
30. Álex Crivillé missed out one race in 1989.
31. Alessandro Gramigni missed out one race in 1992.
32. Dani Pedrosa missed out two races in 2003.
33. Nicolás Terol missed out one race in 2011.
34. Jorge Martín missed out one race in 2018.
35. José Antonio Rueda missed out two races of 21 Grands Prix so far in 2025.

References

General

• "World Champion in 125cc from all countries in all seasons". MotoGP. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2009.

Bibliography

• Marshall, Anne (1997). Guinness Book of Knowledge. Guinness Publishing. ISBN   0-85112-046-6.

Specific

1. Marshall 1997 , p. 289
2. "Basics". MotoGP. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
3. "FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations 2009" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. 31 January 2009. p. 44. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
4. "Key Rules". MotoGP. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
5. "Statistics 2006" (PDF). MotoGP. 22 March 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
6. Beer, Matt (6 November 2011). "Nico Terol becomes last ever 125cc champion as Maverick Vinales win Valencia race". Autosport. Haymarket Media Group. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
7. "Sepang Moto3: Sandro Cortese wins to claim title". Autosport. Haymarket Media Group. 21 October 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
8. Haefliger, Werner. "Lightweight class". FIM MotoGP Results 1949–2023 Guide (2024 ed.). pp. 641–643. ISBN   978-2-9701086-8-9.