List of 50/80cc Motorcycle World 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 since 1990: 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP. Classes that have been discontinued include 350cc, 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 in 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. Swiss and German riders were second with four, while Ernst Degner won the inaugural championship in 1962. Manuel Herreros was the last champion before the class was discontinued in 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	Degner, ErnstErnst Degner	Suzuki	10	& —	4	5	4	41	5
1963	New Zealand	Anderson, HughHugh Anderson	Suzuki	9	& —	2	7	2	34	2
1964	New Zealand	Anderson, HughHugh Anderson	Suzuki	9	& —	4	6	4	38	8
1965	United Kingdom	Bryans, RalphRalph Bryans	Honda	8	& —	3	5	1	36	4
1966	West Germany	Anscheidt, Hans GeorgHans Georg Anscheidt	Suzuki	6	& —	2	4	3	28	2
1967	West Germany	Anscheidt, Hans GeorgHans Georg Anscheidt	Suzuki	7	& —	3	6	1	30	2
1968	West Germany	Anscheidt, Hans GeorgHans Georg Anscheidt	Suzuki	5	& —	3	4	2	30	13
1969	Spain	Nieto, ÁngelÁngel Nieto	Derbi	10	& —	2	6	4	76	1
1970	Spain	Nieto, ÁngelÁngel Nieto	Derbi	10	& —	5	7	5	87	12
1971	Netherlands	Vries, Jan deJan de Vries	Kreidler	9	& —	5	7	4	75	6
1972	Spain	Nieto, ÁngelÁngel Nieto^[A]	Derbi	8	& —	3	6	5	69	0
1973	Netherlands	Vries, Jan deJan de Vries	Kreidler	7	& —	5	5	5	60	9
1974	Netherlands	Kessel, Henk vanHenk van Kessel	Kreidler Van Veen	10	4	6	8	& —	90	25
1975	Spain	Nieto, ÁngelÁngel Nieto	Kreidler	8	1	6	8	& —	75	14
1976	Spain	Nieto, ÁngelÁngel Nieto	Bultaco	9	8	5	7	& —	85	9
1977	Spain	Nieto, ÁngelÁngel Nieto	Bultaco	7	4	3	7	& —	87	15
1978	Spain	Tormo, RicardoRicardo Tormo	Bultaco	7	4	5	7	& —	99	35
1979	Italy	Lazzarini, EugenioEugenio Lazzarini	Kreidler	7	4	5	5	& —	75	13
1980	Italy	Lazzarini, EugenioEugenio Lazzarini	Kreidler Van Veen	6	1	2	6	& —	74	2
1981	Spain	Tormo, RicardoRicardo Tormo	Bultaco	8	3	6	6	& —	90	25
1982	Switzerland	Dörflinger, StefanStefan Dörflinger	Kreidler	6	5	3	6	& —	81	12
1983	Switzerland	Dörflinger, StefanStefan Dörflinger	Krauser	7	4	3	6	& —	81	12
1984	Switzerland	Dörflinger, StefanStefan Dörflinger	Zündapp	8	5	4	5	& —	82	7
1985	Switzerland	Dörflinger, StefanStefan Dörflinger	Krauser	7	5	2	7	& —	86	19
1986	Spain	Martínez, JorgeJorge Martínez	Derbi	9	5	4	7	& —	94	9
1987	Spain	Martínez, JorgeJorge Martínez	Derbi	10	7	7	9	& —	129	43
1988	Spain	Martínez, JorgeJorge Martínez	Derbi	7	7	6	7	& —	137	40
1989	Spain	Herreros, ManuelManuel Herreros	Derbi	6	0	0	4	& —	92	12

Multiple champions

Multiple champions of the 50/80cc class

Rider	Total	Seasons
Nieto, ÁngelÁngel Nieto	6	1969, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977
Dörflinger, StefanStefan Dörflinger	4	1982, 1983, 1984, 1985
Anscheidt, Hans GeorgHans Georg Anscheidt	3	1966, 1967, 1968
Martínez, JorgeJorge Martínez	3	1986, 1987, 1988
Anderson, HughHugh Anderson	2	1963, 1964
de Vries, JanJan de Vries	2	1971, 1973
Tormo, RicardoRicardo Tormo	2	1978, 1981
Lazzarini, EugenioEugenio Lazzarini	2	1979, 1980

By constructor

50/80cc championships won by constructor

Constructor	Total
Derbi	7
Suzuki	6
Kreidler	5
Bultaco	4
Kreidler Van Veen	2
Krauser	2
Honda	1
Zündapp	1

By nationality

50/80cc championships won by nationality

Nationality	Riders	Total
Spanish	4	12
Swiss	1	4
German	2	4
Dutch	2	3
Italian	1	2
New Zealander	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 0-85112-046-6.
• Morrison, Ian (1991). Guinness Motorcycle Fact Book. Guinness Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-953-6.
• Walker, Mick (2000). Mick Walker's German Racing Motorcycles. Redline Books. ISBN 0-9531311-2-2.

General

• "Winners". MotoGP. Retrieved 7 May 2011.

Specific

1. Marshall 1997, p. 289
2. "Basics". MotoGP. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
3. "History". MotoGP. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
4. Morrison 1991, p. 14
5. "Points". MotoGP. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
6. Teitge, Stefan. "World 80cc championship overview". Motorsport–archive. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
7. Walker 2000, p. 117