Celebrate a milestone with us on the anniversary of the first ever Grand Prix race, on this day in 1949 –
Thursday,
13 June 2024 – We’re
celebrating our 75th anniversary throughout 2024 and today we’re celebrating
our official birthday! The very first Grand Prix race in the FIM Grand Prix
World Championship took place 75 years ago today.
The day was the 13th of June 1949, and the race was the inaugural showdown in
the 350cc World Championship. It took place on the Isle of Man as part of the
very first Grand Prix weekend, which later saw the very first premier class
race take place on the 17th of June. So we’ll be celebrating throughout this
weekend, with some vintage touches on motogp.com!
Before this very special anniversary season began, we took a tour through some
of the champion, race winner and manufacturer stats as of the conclusion of 2023 –
celebrating the full 75 seasons of competition that concluded in Valencia last
year. 2023 was its own fitting milestone too, with the season total attendance
of nearly three million fans setting a new all-time record.
As we celebrate in 2024, the numbers also continue to impress, with significant
crowd increases on last season seen at Portimão, Jerez, Barcelona and Mugello –
in addition to a new all-time weekend attendance record set at Le Mans. The
French Grand Prix beat its own record it set last year, with a stunning 297,471
fans attending in 2024.
Next, the celebrations will touch down in Assen – the place that’s hosted the
most Grands Prix, and for the longest. Part of the inaugural calendar in 1949
and hosting every year since barring a one-year absence in 2020, the track is
known as the Cathedral of Speed for a reason. Now it only continues to build
its legend, maintaining the spirit that fuelled its origins but reimagining it
into a modern, safe and spectacular racetrack.
Join us there for the 2024 Dutch TT and then come along for the ride as we
return to the unique Sachsenring the weekend after, with two classics coming
thick and fast. Then catch your breath before MotoGP™ roars back into life at
Silverstone for one of our biggest #MotoGP75 celebrations yet – with our 75th
Anniversary Special set
to unveil a whole MotoGP™ grid of vintage-inspired liveries on Thursday of the
British GP at 14:00 LT.