Loris Capirossi was inducted as an official MotoGP Legend at Misano on Saturday, adding the title to a career that already includes three world championships, 29 Grand Prix victories and a place in Ducati’s early premier-class history. MotoGP confirmed the ceremony in its official report from the San Marino Grand Prix weekend.
MotoGP CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta presented Capirossi with his Legend medal in front of the Italian’s family, friends and paddock colleagues. The ceremony gave a formal marker to a career that stretched from the 1990 125cc season to Capirossi’s retirement at the end of 2011. It also placed a major figure from Italian motorcycle racing at the centre of a Misano weekend already shaped by strong home interest.
Three titles and 328 Grand Prix starts
Capirossi’s record covers all three classes that formed the main route to the premier category during his career. He made 328 Grand Prix starts, collected 99 podiums and took 41 pole positions. His 29 wins came across 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP, with eight victories in the smallest class, 12 in 250cc and nine in the premier category.
His first title came in the 1990 125cc championship, when he became the youngest Grand Prix world champion at 17 years and 165 days. That record stood until Pedro Acosta won the 2021 Moto3 title at 17 years and 166 days, one day older. Capirossi then added the 1991 125cc crown before taking the 1998 250cc championship, establishing a rare record of success across different stages of the Grand Prix ladder.
The range of that achievement gives the induction more substance than a simple career total. Capirossi was not only a successful MotoGP rider. He built a long competitive life through the smaller classes, carried that speed into the 500cc era and remained a front-line rider after the championship became MotoGP in 2002.
The Ducati breakthrough at Barcelona
Capirossi’s 2003 Catalan Grand Prix victory carries a separate place in the history books. It gave Ducati its first MotoGP win during the manufacturer’s debut season in the class. MotoGP’s official account also records that the result was Ducati’s first Grand Prix victory in any class since Mike Hailwood won the 125cc race at the 1959 Ulster Grand Prix.
That 2003 season made Capirossi a central part of Ducati’s return to the top level. He later won MotoGP races with Honda and Yamaha as well as Ducati, a feat achieved by only five other riders listed in MotoGP’s account: Mike Hailwood, Randy Mamola, Eddie Lawson and Maverick Viñales. He also stood on the podium for four manufacturers, adding Suzuki to those four winning marques.
For readers using the current San Marino weekend as a way into the sport’s history, Bettista’s Misano 2026 event preview sets out the circuit and its place on the calendar. Capirossi’s induction adds a human layer to that venue context without changing the weekend’s sporting results.
From race winner to Race Direction representative
The length of Capirossi’s winning span is another measure of his durability. His first Grand Prix victory came in the 1990 British 125cc race, while his last arrived in the 2007 Japanese MotoGP race. The 17 years and 49 days between those wins is the second-longest winning career in Grand Prix history, behind Valentino Rossi’s 20 years and 311 days.
Capirossi retired in Valencia at the end of the 2011 season after holding the record for Grand Prix starts. MotoGP retired his number 65 in 2016, preserving an identifier associated with his time on the grid. His work did not end with that final race. He now serves as MotoGP’s Race Direction representative, giving him an ongoing role in the sport’s competition and safety structure.
That continuing connection helps explain why the Misano presentation resonated inside the paddock. The ceremony recognised the rider who helped define Ducati’s first MotoGP chapter, but it also acknowledged a former champion who remains part of the championship’s working fabric. Bettista’s report on the 2026 opening rounds provides a wider view of how the modern championship has developed, while the Silverstone title-fight analysis shows the competitive setting in which today’s riders are building their own records.
Capirossi’s official Legend status is now part of the MotoGP record. The next chapters of the 2026 season will be written by a new generation, but the Misano ceremony made clear how much of the championship’s modern identity was shaped by the Italian rider’s three-class career.
