Honda claim 300th premiere class win in France

By Bike Review • 5 years ago •

A cold French Grand Prix saw Marc Marquez take a faultless victory to extend his lead in the MotoGP World Championship. The win is Honda’s 300thvictory in the premier class, the first manufacturer to achieve such success in the premier class.

Marc Marquez celebrates

Jim Redman and the Honda RC181 achieved Honda’s first win in the premier class back in 1966 at Hockenheim with Mike Hailwood becoming the second winner a few races later in Brno.

Mick Doohan

Freddie Spencer returned Honda to the top step of the podium in the 500cc class in 1982 at Spa-Franchoramps on the NS500. Takazumi Katayama would become the first Japanese rider to win in the 500cc class for Honda the same year.

1984 marked the debut of the NSR500 – the legendary 500cc machine taking a total of 132 wins and saw the likes of Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner, Alex Criville and Eddie Lawson claim the premier class title and seven Constructors World Championships.

Miller celebrates his podium in Assen in 2017 riding for Honda

The debut of the four-stroke era saw Honda achieve immediate success with the RC211V, winning the first race at the 2002 Japanese GP. The RC211V, RC212V and RC213V have seen Honda take 144 wins in the four-stroke era, including Marquez’s win at the French GP.

The Honda collection

Marc Marquez has yet to match Mick Doohan’s 54 premiere wins, but certainly seems to be taking a good crack at it, while Jack Miller contributed a premiere win to Honda back in 2017.