List of 250cc/Moto2 Motorcycle World Champions

Phil Read, who, along with Max Biaggi, holds the most 250cc championships, with four.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing, which has been divided into three classes since 1990: 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP. Former classes that have been discontinued include 350cc, 50cc/80cc and Sidecar.^[1] 250cc is the intermediate category; the 250cc refers to the size of the engines of the motorcycles that race in that class. The engines have twin cylinders, as opposed to the four cylinders used in MotoGP.^[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 250cc class was replaced in 2010 by a new class called Moto2. The 250cc engines were replaced by 600cc engines, which were supplied by Honda to all teams.^[3]

Each season consists of 12 to 18 Grands Prix contested on closed circuits, as opposed to public roads. Points earned in these events count toward the riders' and constructors' world championships. The rider'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.^[4] Results from all current Grands Prix count towards the championships; in the past, only a certain number of results were counted.^[5]

Phil Read and Max Biaggi have won the most championships, with four each. Dani Pedrosa is the youngest to win the championship; he was 19 years and 18 days old when he won the championship in 2004. Italian riders have won the most championships; 13 riders have won a total of 22 championships. Riders from Great Britain have won the second most; four riders have won a total of nine championships. Germans have won the third most, as four riders have won a total of seven championships. Bruno Ruffo won the inaugural championship in 1949. Hiroshi Aoyama was the last rider to win the 250cc championship in 2009. Toni Elías was the first champion of the Moto2 category.^[6] Johann Zarco is the current champion.

Champions

All figures correct as of 8 November 2015

Key

*	Champion also won 500cc Championship in that season
	Champion also won 350cc Championship in that season
	Champion also won 125cc 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

250cc/Moto2 Motorcycle World Champions

Season	Country	Rider	Constructor	Grands Prix	Poles	Wins	Podiums	Fastest laps	Points	Margin
1949	Italy	Ruffo, BrunoBruno Ruffo	Moto Guzzi	4	& —	1	2	0	24	5
1950	Italy	Ambrosini, DarioDario Ambrosini	Benelli	4	& —	3	4	3	24	10
1951	Italy	Ruffo, BrunoBruno Ruffo	Moto Guzzi	5	& —	2	4	3	22	4
1952	Italy	Lorenzetti, EnricoEnrico Lorenzetti	Moto Guzzi	6	& —	2	5	2	28	4
1953	West Germany	Haas, WernerWerner Haas	NSU	7	& —	2	5	2	28	5
1954	West Germany	Haas, WernerWerner Haas	NSU	7	& —	5	5	3	32	6
1955	West Germany	Müller, Hermann PaulHermann Paul Müller	NSU	5	& —	1	3	1	16	2
1956	Italy	Ubbiali, CarloCarlo Ubbiali	MV Agusta	6	& —	5	5	4	32	6
1957	United Kingdom	Sandford, CecilCecil Sandford	Mondial	6	& —	2	5	0	26	10
1958	Italy	Provini, TarquinioTarquinio Provini	MV Agusta	6	& —	4	4	5	32	16
1959	Italy	Ubbiali, CarloCarlo Ubbiali	MV Agusta	7	& —	2	5	2	28	12
1960	Italy	Ubbiali, CarloCarlo Ubbiali	MV Agusta	6	& —	4	6	4	32	4
1961	United Kingdom	Hailwood, MikeMike Hailwood	Honda	11	& —	4	8	3	44	6
1962	Rhodesia and Nyasaland	Redman, JimJim Redman	Honda	10	& —	6	9	2	48	16
1963	Rhodesia and Nyasaland	Redman, JimJim Redman	Honda	12	& —	4	9	2	44	2
1964	United Kingdom	Read, PhilPhil Read	Yamaha	11	& —	5	7	4	46	4
1965	United Kingdom	Read, PhilPhil Read	Yamaha	12	& —	7	9	6	56	14
1966	United Kingdom	Hailwood, MikeMike Hailwood	Honda	12	& —	10	10	8	56	22
1967	United Kingdom	Hailwood, MikeMike Hailwood	Honda	13	& —	5	8	7	50	0
1968	United Kingdom	Read, PhilPhil Read	Yamaha	10	& —	5	7	5	46	0
1969	Australia	Carruthers, KelKel Carruthers	Benelli	12	& —	3	7	3	89	5
1970	United Kingdom	Gould, RodneyRodney Gould	Yamaha	12	& —	6	9	3	102	18
1971	United Kingdom	Read, PhilPhil Read	Yamaha	12	& —	3	5	3	73	5
1972	Finland	Saarinen, JarnoJarno Saarinen	Yamaha	13	& —	4	9	6	94	1
1973	West Germany	Braun, DieterDieter Braun	Yamaha	11	& —	4	5	2	80	16
1974	Italy	Villa, WalterWalter Villa	Harley-Davidson	10	1	4	5	3	77	19
1975	Italy	Villa, WalterWalter Villa	Harley-Davidson	11	5	5	6	4	85	9
1976	Italy	Villa, WalterWalter Villa	Harley-Davidson	11	7	7	8	7	90	17
1977	Italy	Lega, MarioMario Lega	Morbidelli	12	0	1	5	1	85	13
1978	South Africa	Ballington, KorkKork Ballington	Kawasaki	12	5	4	8	4	124	6
1979	South Africa	Ballington, KorkKork Ballington	Kawasaki	12	3	7	9	7	141	60
1980	West Germany	Mang, AntonAnton Mang	Kawasaki	10	9	4	10	4	128	41
1981	West Germany	Mang, AntonAnton Mang	Kawasaki	12	10	10	11	9	160	65
1982	France	Tournadre, Jean-LouisJean-Louis Tournadre	Yamaha	12	0	1	8	2	118	1
1983	Venezuela	Lavado, CarlosCarlos Lavado	Yamaha	11	1	4	6	2	100	27
1984	France	Sarron, ChristianChristian Sarron	Yamaha	12	3	3	8	1	109	9
1985	United States	Spencer, FreddieFreddie Spencer *	Honda	12	6	7	8	6	127	3
1986	Venezuela	Lavado, CarlosCarlos Lavado	Yamaha	11	7	6	8	3	114	6
1987	West Germany	Mang, AntonAnton Mang	Honda	15	1	8	8	1	136	28
1988	Spain	Pons, SitoSito Pons	Honda	15	1	4	11	2	231	10
1989	Spain	Pons, SitoSito Pons	Honda	15	3	7	12	7	262	72
1990	United States	Kocinski, JohnJohn Kocinski	Yamaha	15	8	7	12	8	223	15
1991	Italy	Cadalora, LucaLuca Cadalora	Honda	15	4	8	12	8	237	17
1992	Italy	Cadalora, LucaLuca Cadalora	Honda	13	2	7	9	3	203	64
1993	Japan	Harada, TetsuyaTetsuya Harada	Yamaha	14	2	4	7	3	197	4
1994	Italy	Biaggi, MaxMax Biaggi	Aprilia	14	7	5	10	8	234	20
1995	Italy	Biaggi, MaxMax Biaggi	Aprilia	13	9	8	12	7	283	63
1996	Italy	Biaggi, MaxMax Biaggi	Aprilia	15	8	9	11	9	274	6
1997	Italy	Biaggi, MaxMax Biaggi	Honda	15	3	5	10	2	250	2
1998	Italy	Capirossi, LorisLoris Capirossi	Aprilia	14	8	2	9	3	204	3
1999	Italy	Rossi, ValentinoValentino Rossi	Aprilia	16	5	9	12	8	309	48
2000	France	Jacque, OlivierOlivier Jacque	Yamaha	16	5	3	11	4	279	7
2001	Japan	Kato, DaijiroDaijiro Kato	Honda	16	6	11	13	9	322	49
2002	Italy	Melandri, MarcoMarco Melandri	Aprilia	16	2	9	12	4	298	57
2003	San Marino	Poggiali, ManuelManuel Poggiali	Aprilia	16	3	4	10	6	249	14
2004	Spain	Pedrosa, DaniDani Pedrosa	Honda	16	4	7	13	8	317	61
2005	Spain	Pedrosa, DaniDani Pedrosa	Honda	16	5	8	11	7	309	55
2006	Spain	Lorenzo, JorgeJorge Lorenzo	Aprilia	16	10	8	11	1	289	17
2007	Spain	Lorenzo, JorgeJorge Lorenzo	Aprilia	17	9	9	12	3	312	52
2008	Italy	Simoncelli, MarcoMarco Simoncelli	Gilera	16	7	6	12	4	281	37
2009	Japan	Aoyama, HiroshiHiroshi Aoyama	Honda	16	2	4	7	4	261	22
2010	Spain	Elías, ToniToni Elías	Moriwaki	17	3	7	8	2	271	70
2011	Germany	Bradl, StefanStefan Bradl	Kalex	17	7	4	11	3	274	23
2012	Spain	Márquez, MarcMarc Márquez	Suter	17	7	9	14	5	324	56
2013	Spain	Espargaró, PolPol Espargaró	Kalex	17	6	6	10	4	265	40
2014	Spain	Rabat, EsteveEsteve Rabat	Kalex	18	11	7	14	5	346	57
2015	France	Zarco, JohannJohann Zarco	Kalex	18	7	8	14	1	352	118

Multiple champions

250cc Motorcycle multiple champions

Rider	Total	Seasons
Read, PhilPhil Read	4	1964, 1965, 1968, 1971
Biaggi, MaxMax Biaggi	4	1994, 1995, 1996, 1997
Ubbiali, CarloCarlo Ubbiali	3	1956, 1959, 1960
Hailwood, MikeMike Hailwood	3	1961, 1966, 1967
Villa, WalterWalter Villa	3	1974, 1975, 1976
Mang, AntonAnton Mang	3	1980, 1981, 1987
Ruffo, BrunoBruno Ruffo	2	1949, 1951
Haas, WernerWerner Haas	2	1953, 1954
Redman, JimJim Redman	2	1962, 1963
Ballington, KorkKork Ballington	2	1978, 1979
Lavado, CarlosCarlos Lavado	2	1983, 1986
Pons, SitoSito Pons	2	1988, 1989
Cadalora, LucaLuca Cadalora	2	1991, 1992
Pedrosa, DaniDani Pedrosa	2	2004, 2005
Lorenzo, JorgeJorge Lorenzo	2	2006, 2007

By constructor

250cc Motorcycle world champions by constructor

Constructor	Total
Honda	16
Yamaha	14
Aprilia	9
MV Agusta	4
Kawasaki	4
Kalex	4
NSU	3
Harley-Davidson	3
Moto Guzzi	3
Benelli	2
Mondial	1
Morbidelli	1
Gilera	1
Moriwaki	1
Suter	1

By nationality

250cc Motorcycle world champions by nationality

Nationality	Riders	Total
Italy	13	22
Spain	7	10
United Kingdom	4	9
Germany	5	8
France	4	4
Japan	3	3
United States	2	2
Rhodesia	1	2
South Africa	1	2
Venezuela	1	2
Finland	1	1
Australia	1	1
San Marino	1	1

References

Bibliography

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

Specific

1. Marshall 1997, p. 289
2. "Basics". MotoGP. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
3. "2010 Moto2 class to be powered by Honda". MotoGP. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
4. "FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations 2009" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. 31 January 2009. p. 44. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
5. "Key Rules". MotoGP. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
6. "Elías makes history as first Moto2 World Champion". Dorna Sports. 10 October 2010.