On Saturday at Misano, MotoGP CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta presented Loris Capirossi with a Legend medal in front of his family, friends and colleagues.
This is a press release from MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group…
Misano Adriatico, Italy (September 12, 2026) — Loris Capirossi is now officially a MotoGP Legend! The popular Italian took his place in the history books in Misano on Saturday as MotoGP CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta presented him with his Legend medal in front of his family, friends and colleagues.
Across all classes, Capirossi made 328 starts, taking 29 GP wins (8 in 125cc, 12 in 250cc and 9 in MotoGP). He has 99 podiums, 41 pole positions and three titles and is the youngest Grand Prix World Champion after taking the 1990 125cc world title aged 17 years and 165 days old. Pedro Acosta was crowned in 2021, aged 17 years and 166 days old, just one day older. For more than three decades, Capirossi was also the last rider to take the title in his rookie season in 125cc/Moto3—until Acosta.
Capirossi gave Ducati their first MotoGP win at the 2003 Catalan GP in the Italian manufacturer’s debut MotoGP season. It was Ducati’s first GP win in any class since Mike Hailwood’s victory in 125cc at the 1959 Ulster GP.
He has won with three different manufacturers in MotoGP: Yamaha, Honda and Ducati—one of only five riders to achieve the feat, along with Mike Hailwood, Randy Mamola, Eddie Lawson and Maverick Viñales. He has taken podiums with four: Honda, Yamaha, Ducati and Suzuki.
The 17 years and 49 days between his maiden win, in 125cc at the 1990 British GP, and his final one, in MotoGP at the 2007 Japanese GP, gives him the second longest winning career, only surpassed by Valentino Rossi (20 years, 311 days).
Capirossi retired at the end of 2011 in Valencia, as the record holder for Grand Prix starts at that time, with 328 across 22 seasons (1990-2011). His iconic #65 was retired from MotoGP in 2016.
Now, he’s MotoGP’s Race Direction representative and continues to play a vital role in the sport. He’s also one of the paddock’s biggest characters and one of its most popular.
Congratulations, Loris!
Loris Capirossi: “It’s a really emotional moment for me, because everyone’s dream is to one day be a MotoGP Legend, and I want to say thank you so much to Carmelo, to Carlos, to everyone at MotoGP, to all the people inside this room, because I see many faces I’ve known for a long time, people who work with me, who make my life easy to do the seasons I did. I also want to say to the manufacturers because I raced for many different manufacturers: thank you to Honda because they gave me the opportunity to win my first two titles, Yamaha to win the first race in 500, to the beautiful bike, this Aprilia, for giving me the opportunity again to be world champion in 1998. And of course the Ducati on the other side, the first bike I win with in MotoGP and for giving me the great opportunity to fight for the title until the end in 2006. And, of course, to Suzuki because they gave me the last podium in MotoGP.
“I learned a lot in all those years, but I think the best thing is all the friends in that world, and I am really happy to still be here and involved in that. I want to dedicate this award to my family, to my mum, my dad, my brother, my wife and my son because to get those kinds of results you need strong help from the family. Also I want to say, Carmelo, I am proud and happy and this is, for sure, one of the best moments of my career, because in racing, always one or two hours before the race started, I’d feel strange in my stomach, butterflies, and that happened again this morning. Thank you for that emotion.”
