List of 50/80cc World Riders' Champions

Ángel Nieto, who won six 50cc championships

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] The 50/80cc referred to the size of the engines of the motorcycles that raced in that class. ^[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] The 50cc was introduced in 1962, 13 years after the start of the first world championships. The category was replaced by 80cc in 1984 and the class was subsequently discontinued after 1989. ^[3]

Each season consisted of five to ten Grands Prix contested on closed circuits, as opposed to public roads. Points earned in these events counted toward the drivers' and constructors' World Championships. The driver's and constructor's championship were separate championships, but were based on the same point system. The points systems used in the championship varied over the years. The first championship in 1962 awarded points from first to sixth place; a point was also awarded for the rider who completed the fastest lap. The last championship in 1989 awarded points from first to fifteenth place. ^[4] Results from all Grands Prix counted towards the championships; however, in some seasons only a certain number of results were counted. ^[5]

Ángel Nieto won the most championships during his career with six. Stefan Dörflinger won the second most championships with four, and Hans-Georg Anscheidt and Jorge Martínez won the third most with three. Spanish riders won the most championships; four riders won a total of 12 championships. German riders were second with two riders won a total of 4 championships and Swiss rider was third with one rider won a total of 4 championships. Ernst Degner won the inaugural championship in 1962. Manuel Herreros was the last champion before the class was discontinued after 1989. ^[6]

Champions

Key

‡	Champion also won the 125cc Championship in that season
—	Indicates that information is unavailable

• 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

50/80cc Motorcycle World Champions

Season	Nationality	Rider	Constructor	Grands Prix	Poles	Wins	Podiums	Fastest laps	Points	Margin
1962	West Germany	Ernst Degner	Suzuki	10	—	4	5	4	41	5
1963	New Zealand	Hugh Anderson ‡	Suzuki	9	—	2	7	2	34	2
1964	New Zealand	Hugh Anderson	Suzuki	9	—	4	6	4	38	8
1965	United Kingdom	Ralph Bryans	Honda	8	—	3	5	1	36	4
1966	West Germany	Hans-Georg Anscheidt	Suzuki	6	—	2	4	3	28	2
1967	West Germany	Hans-Georg Anscheidt	Suzuki	7	—	3	6	1	30	2
1968	West Germany	Hans-Georg Anscheidt	Suzuki	5	—	3	4	2	30	13
1969	Spain	Ángel Nieto	Derbi	10	—	2	6	4	76	1
1970	Spain	Ángel Nieto	Derbi	10	—	5	7	5	87	12
1971	Netherlands	Jan de Vries	Kreidler	9	—	5	7	4	75	6
1972	Spain	Ángel Nieto ‡ [A]	Derbi	8	—	3	6	5	69	0
1973	Netherlands	Jan de Vries	Kreidler	7	—	5	5	5	60	9
1974	Netherlands	Henk van Kessel	Kreidler	10	4	6	8	—	90	25
1975	Spain	Ángel Nieto	Kreidler	8	1	6	8	—	75	14
1976	Spain	Ángel Nieto	Bultaco	9	8	5	7	—	85	9
1977	Spain	Ángel Nieto	Bultaco	7	4	3	7	—	87	15
1978	Spain	Ricardo Tormo	Bultaco	7	4	5	7	—	99	35
1979	Italy	Eugenio Lazzarini	Kreidler	7	4	5	5	—	75	13
1980	Italy	Eugenio Lazzarini	Kreidler	6	1	2	6	—	74	2
1981	Spain	Ricardo Tormo	Bultaco	8	3	6	6	—	90	25
1982	Switzerland	Stefan Dörflinger	Kreidler	6	5	3	6	—	81	12
1983	Switzerland	Stefan Dörflinger	Krauser	7	4	3	6	—	81	12
1984	Switzerland	Stefan Dörflinger	Zündapp	8	5	4	5	—	82	7
1985	Switzerland	Stefan Dörflinger	Krauser	7	5	2	7	—	86	19
1986	Spain	Jorge Martínez	Derbi	9	5	4	7	—	94	9
1987	Spain	Jorge Martínez	Derbi	10	7	7	9	—	129	43
1988	Spain	Jorge Martínez ‡	Derbi	7	7	6	7	—	137	40
1989	Spain	Manuel Herreros	Derbi	6	0	0	4	—	92	12

Multiple champions

Multiple champions of the 50/80cc class

Rider	Total	Seasons
Ángel Nieto	6	1969, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977
Stefan Dörflinger	4	1982, 1983, 1984, 1985
Hans-Georg Anscheidt	3	1966, 1967, 1968
Jorge Martínez	3	1986, 1987, 1988
Hugh Anderson	2	1963, 1964
Jan de Vries	2	1971, 1973
Ricardo Tormo	2	1978, 1981
Eugenio Lazzarini	2	1979, 1980

By constructor

50/80cc championships won by constructor

Constructor	Total
Kreidler	7
Derbi	7
Suzuki	6
Bultaco	4
Krauser	2
Honda	1
Zündapp	1

By nationality

50/80cc championships won by nationality

Nationality	Riders	Total
Spanish	4	12
German	2	4
Swiss	1	4
Dutch	2	3
New Zealander	1	2
Italian	1	2
British	1	1

Footnotes

A.  ^{^} The points awarded in the 1962 championship were 8 points for a win, with 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point from second place to sixth place. ^[4]

B.  ^{^} The points awarded to riders in the 1989 championship were 20 points for a win, with 17, 15, 13, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point from second place to fifteenth place. ^[4]

C.  ^{^} Ángel Nieto and Jan de Vries finished the 1972 championship tied on 69 points. Nieto and de Vries had both won three Grands Prix and finished second three times. As a result, the championship was decided by adding up their times from the five races that the two had finished together. Nieto was declared the winner by 21.5 seconds. ^[7]

References

Bibliography

• Marshall, Anne (1997). Guinness Book of Knowledge. Guinness Publishing. ISBN   978-0-85112-046-1.
• Morrison, Ian (1991). Guinness Motorcycle Fact Book. Guinness Publishing. ISBN   978-0-85112-953-2.
• Walker, Mick (2000). Mick Walker's German Racing Motorcycles. Redline Books. ISBN   978-0-9531311-2-9.

General

• "Winners". MotoGP. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2011.

Specific

1. Marshall 1997 , p. 289
2. "Basics". MotoGP. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
3. "History". MotoGP. Archived from the original on 12 September 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
4. Morrison 1991 , p. 14
5. "Points". MotoGP. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
6. Teitge, Stefan. "World 80cc championship overview". Motorsport–archive. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
7. Walker 2000 , p. 117