In recent years, Spanish motorcycling has marked a golden era with such riders Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo or Marc Márquez who are true sports legends. But for them to get there, others have to take the lead. The list of riders who have achieved at least one victory is from the first in the 500cc of Alex Criville in 1992 until the end of Aleix Espargaro at the Argentine Grand Prix in 2022.
1
Alex Criville
15 wins
Àlex Crivillé not only single-handedly won the first world championship in the history of Spain in 500cc in 1999, but seven years later he also broke the record of victories. To be more specific, the Catalan driver added his first victory in the main category to 1992 Dutch GP. What better place to debut than ‘the Cathedral’? He achieved this by Honda NSR500. Then came another fourteen victories, the last of them at the Le Mans race in 2000, before saying goodbye.
2
Alberto Puig
1 success
The current Honda boss is the second Spaniard to achieve victory in 500cc. Puig also achieved this in his first season in the premier category and in front of all the Spanish fans in Sherrywithin 1994 Spanish Grand Prix. He also did this over a Honda NSR500, like Crivillé. Despite debuting in style, that was the only success he achieved before retiring due to he had a very bad accident at Le Mans in 1995.
3
Carlos Checa
2 wins
Before becoming the first Spanish Superbike champion in 2011 At Ducati, Checa spent more than a decade in the MotoGP paddock. During that time he went through several teams but with HRC he achieved his only two wins in the main category. Both were still in the 500cc era and both were before the Spanish public. The first is in GP of Catalonia in 1996 and two years later, in 1998, he repeated the feat in Jaramaat the Madrid GP.
4
Seth Gibernau
9 wins
The Sete Gibernau’s first success came in 2001 with the Suzuki RGV500 at the Valencia GP. However, the most fruitful time for the Catalan driver was with Honda in the intervening years 2003 and 2004, where he added four victories each season and was runner-up in the world in separate campaigns behind Valentino Rossi. In fact, his last achievement at Losail ’04 was the last of his sporting career before leaving the championship at the end of 2006.
5
Dani Pedrosa
31 wins
The MotoGP legend is the third Spanish rider with the most victories in the history of the premier class. Today’s tester KTMachieved all his victories in the colors of Repsol Honda debuting in what is his fourth career: the 2006 Chinese GP. His last victory was in Valencia ’17, just a year before hanging up his monkey. Today continues to hold the record for consecutive years achieving at least one victory (16). Despite this, injuries prevented him from winning even one World Championship in MotoGP.
6
Tony Elias
1 success
Toni’s only success came in the 2006 season but he made his debut with a bang. The Catalans won by a margin 2 thousandths to Valentino Rossi, the shortest distance ever recorded in MotoGP, in the Portuguese GP. Furthermore, that success in Gresini team is one of the reasons why ‘Il Dottore’ lost the title in the last race in favor of Nick Hayden. Despite that success, Elías’ best time in the World Cup was when he won first champion in Moto2 history.
7
Jorge Lorenzo
47 wins
The five-time world champion is second Spanish driver in history with the most victories. He needed just three races to take his first MotoGP win, achieving it Estoril, in the Portuguese GP. Since his debut in 2008, he has signed up to 44 wins with Yamaha in addition to three other championships. The Mallorcan changed his scene in 2017, signing for Ducatiwhere he suffered more than expected, but where he added his last three wins of his career. In 2019 he joined the ranks of Repsol Honda, replacing Pedrosa, but it was a test of a year that ended with his farewell.
8
Marc Márquez
59 wins
Marc Márquez is the most successful Spanish driver in history with eight world titles, six of them in MotoGP. In addition, he is also the driver with the most victories in the premier class, achieving the first of them in his second career, in 2013 US GP. Showing record for most consecutive victories with 10 that he had at the start of the 2014 season. Despite his scandalous numbers, he hasn’t been on the top of the podium for more than two years. The last victory in his locker was that of San Marino GP 2021.
9
Maverick Vinales
9 wins
The current Aprilia driver He debuted in 2015 in MotoGP with Suzuki. A year and a half later, in British GP ’16, achieved first victory of the Japanese brand after its return to the World Cup. His performance made him sign for Yamaha in 2017 to replace Lorenzo and there he won eight more races. The last of them was in Qatar 2021. That same year contract with Yamaha was broken after trying to kill the engine of his motorcycle in Austria.
10
Alex Rins
6 wins
Like Viñales, Àlex Rins made his MotoGP debut on a Suzuki and this is the brand in which he achieved his first success with GP of the Americas in 2019. Rins added his first victory in Austin after a good fight with Rossi. Then he achieved five more victories with the Japanese brand. It also adds to Suzuki’s last victory before the brand leaves the World Cup at the end of 2022. However, what will be its last victory in the World Cup at the moment it is signed by Honda in 2023, thus breaking a two-year victory drought of those with golden wings. Surprisingly, he got it in Austin too
Eleven
Joan Mir
1 success
2020 is a very atypical year marked by irregularity. But the best of all is Joan Mir, who despite adding only one victory, the only MotoGP victory on his record, was enough to become the champion of the world. He achieved this in the first of two races held at Cheste. After the farewell from Suzuki, his journey with Honda was far from achieving success.
12
Jorge Martin
3 wins
Jorge Martin Along with Lorenzo, he is the only Spaniard capable of winning on a Ducati. The native of Madrid added sHis first win in 2021, the year of his debut, at the Styrian Grand Prix. He achieved this by Pramac team, a structure with which it continues to compete today. So far he has two wins also on an Italian motorcycle.
13
Aleix Espargaro
3 wins
After 13 years since his MotoGP debut, the award for Aleix Espargaró arrives at the 2022 Argentine GP. The Granollers rider achieved this with Aprilia, the team where he resides since the beginning of the project in 2017 and for a while in 2022 he fights for the title. His next two victories came the following season at the British GP and Catalunya GP.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
