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THE RACERS.
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Who was the best? Hailwood? Ago? Surtees? Nieto? Read? Redman? Duke? Enders? Roberts? Haas? Sheene? Braun? Ivy? Cecotto? Saarinen? Graham? Frith? I have no doubt that if you set fifty or so bikers down and asked the question you would probably get several answers, depending of course from what country you hail from, there is always a bit of nationalism in all of us. |
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| On this page I have listed the champions of each classes from the start of the official world championships at their inception in 1949. | |
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IIn the year 1949 up
to and including 1961 there were five classes,
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| YEAR | 50CC | 125CC | 250CC | 350CC | 500CC | SIDECARS |
| 1949 | Nello Pagani | Bruno Ruffo | Freddie Frith | Les Graham | Eric Oliver | |
| 1950 | Bruno Ruffo | Dario Ambrosini | Bob Foster | UmbertoMasetti | Eric Oliver | |
| 1951 | Carlo Ubbiali | Bruno Ruffo | Geoffrey Duke | Geoffrey Duke | Eric Oliver | |
| 1952 | Cecil Sandford | Enrico Lorenzetti | Geoffrey Duke | Umberto Masetti | Cyril Smith | |
| 1953 | Werner Haas | Werner Haas | Fergus Anderson | Geoffrey Duke | Eric Oliver | |
| 1954 | Ruppert Hollaus | Werner Haas | Fergus Anderson | Geoffrey Duke | Wilheim Noll | |
| 1955 | Carlo Ubbiali | Herman Muller | Bill Lomas | Geoffrey Duke | Willy Faust | |
| 1956 | Carlo Ubbiali | Carlo Ubbiali | Bill Lomas | John Sutees | Willhein Noll | |
| 1957 | Tarquinio Provini | Cecil Sandford | Keith Campbell | Libero Liberati | Fritz Hillebrand | |
| 1958 | Carlo Ubbiali | Tarquinio Provini | John Surtees | John Surtees | Walter Schneider | |
| 1959 | Carlo Ubbiali | Carlo Ubbiali | John Surtees | John Surtees | Walter Schneider | |
| 1960 | Carlo Ubbiali | Carlo Ubbiali | John Surtees | John Surtees | Helmut Fath | |
| 1961 | Tom Phillips | Mike Hailwood | Gary Hocking | Gary Hocking | Max Deubel |
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From 1962 we had a new class added, the 50cc class |
| 1962 | Ernest Degner | Luigi Taveri | Jim Redman | Jim Redman | Mike Hailwood | Max Deubel |
| 1963 | Hugh Anderson | Hugh Anderson | Jim Redman | Jim Redman | Mike Hailwood | Max Deubel |
| 1964 | Hugh Anderson | Luigi Taveri | Phil Read | Jim Redman | Mike Hailwood | Max Deubel |
| 1965 | Ralph Bryans | Hugh Anderson | Phil Read | Jim Redman | Mike Hailwood | Fritz Scheidegger |
| 1966 | Hans-Georg Anscheit | Luigi Taveri | Mike Hailwood | Mike Hailwood | Giacomo Agostini | Fritz Schneidegger |
| 1967 | Hans-Georg Anscheidt | Bill Ivy | Mike Hailwood | Mike Hailwood | Giacomo Agostini | Klaus Enders |
| 1968 | Hans-Georg Anscheidt | Phil Read | Phil Read | Giacomo Agostini | Giacomo Agostini | Helmut Fath |
| 1969 | Angel Nieto | Dave Simmonds | Kel Carruthers | Giacomo Agostini | Giacomo Agostini | Klaus Enders |
| 1970 | Angel Neito | Dieter Braun | Rodney Gould | Giacomo Agostini | Giacomo Agostini | Klaus Enders |
| 1971 | Jan de Vries | Angel Nieto | PhilRead | Giacomo Agostini | Giacomo Agostini | Horst Owesle |
| 1972 | Angel Nieto | Angel Nieto | Jarno Saarinen | Giacomo Agostini | Giacomo Agostini | Klaus Enders |
| 1973 | Jan de Vries | Kent Andersson | Dieter Braun | Giacomo Agostini | Phil Read | Klaus Enders |
| 1974 | Hans Van Kessell | Kent Andersson | Walter Villa | Giacomo Agostini | Phil Read | Klaus Enders |
| 1975 | Angel Nieto | Paolo Pileri | Walter Villa | Johnny Cecotto | Giacomo Agostini | Rolf Steinhausen |
| 1976 | Angel Nieto | Pierpaolo Bianch | Walter Villa | Walter Villa | Barry Sheene | Rolf Steinhausen |
| 1977 | Angel Neito | Pierpaolo Bianch | Mario Lega | Takazumi Katayama | Barry Sheene | George O'Dell |
| 1978 | Ricardo Tormo | Eugenio Lazzarini | Kork Ballington | Kork Ballington | Kenny Roberts | Rolf Biland |
| 1979 | Eugenio Lazzarini | Angel Neito | Kork Ballington | Kork Ballington | Kenny Roberts | Rolf Biland |
| 1980 | Eugenio Lazzarini | Pierpaolo Bianchi | Anton Mang | Jon Ekerold | Kenny Roberts | Jock Taylor |
| 1981 | Ricardo Tormo | Angel Neito | Anton Mang | Anton Mang | Marco | Lucchinelli |
| 1982 | Stefan Dorflinger | Angel Neito | Jean-Louis Tournadre | Anton Mang | Franco Uncini | Werner Schwarzel |
| 1983 Seen the demise of the 350cc class |
| 1983 | Stefan Dorflinger | Angel Neito | Carlos Lavado | Freddie Spencer | Rolf Biland | |
| 1984 | Stefan Dorflinger | Angel Neito | Christian Sarron | Eddie Lawson | Egbert Steuer |
| 1985 arrived and two more classes bit the dust, the 50cc and the sidecar although thankfully the sidecars do run with the superbikes these days |
| 1985 | Fausto Gresini | Freddie Spencer | Freddie Spencer | |||
| 1986 | Luca Cadalora | Carlos Lavado | Eddie Lawson | |||
| 1987 | Fausto Gresini | Anton Mang | Wayne Gardner | |||
| 1988 | Jorge Martinez | Sito Pons | Eddie Lawson | |||
| 1989 | Alex Criville | Sito Pons | Eddie Lawson | |||
| 1990 | Loris Capriossi | John Koscinski | Wayne Rainey | |||
| 1991 | Loris Capriossi | Luca Cadalora | Wayne Rainey | |||
| 1992 | Alessandro Gramigni | Luca Cadalora | Wayne Rainey | |||
| 1993 | Dirk Roudies | Tetsuya Harada | Kevin Schwantz | |||
| 1994 | Kazuto Sakata | Massimiliano Biaggi | Mike Doohan | |||
| 1995 | Haruchika Aoki | Massimiliano Biaggi | Mike Doohan | |||
| 1996 | Haruchika Aoki | Massimiliano Biaggi | Mike Doohan | |||
| 1997 | Valentino Rossi | Massimiliano Biaggi | Mike Doohan |
| 1998 | Kazuto Sakata | Loris Capriossi | Mike Doohan |
| 1999 | Emilio Alzamora | Valentino Rossi | Alex Criville |
| 2000 | Roberto Locatelli | Olivier Jaque | Kenny Roberts Jnr | |
| 2001 |
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