6 most successful MotoGP liveries
Liveries are like face paint worn by the red Indians, when they went to a battle. They scream of warfare and lend a unique character to the racing machines (besides making them easy to follow during a race). This countdown lists the most successful liveries to feature in the premier class of motorcycle racing – the FIM World Grand Prix Championship, now known as MotoGP.
MV Agusta Red and Silver
Though racing is presumed to be a sport full of loud liveries, this wasn’t the case in the good old days. For most of the racing teams, it was essentially a way to satisfy their lust for speed. As such, the racing liveries in the early days were a representation of the company’s traditional colours, unlike the ones today which are majorly influenced by their sponsors. MV Agusta dominated the premier class of motorcycle racing, which eventually became MotoGP as we know today, starting from the late 1950s right up to 1974. Throughout his time, the company stuck to its classic red and silver livery for its racing bikes. Under the command of legends like Phil Read, Giacomo Agostini, Mike Hailwood, Gary Hocking and John Surtees, MV Agusta 500cc racing machines collectively won a mind-boggling 18 world championship titles.
Honda Repsol
The Honda Repsol racing colours are sure to go down in the history books as one of the most iconic racing liveries. This is partly due to the amount of money they pour into the marketing, but also because of the glory of 11 championship titles brought to it by Àlex Crivillé, Mick Doohan, Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Nicky Hayden and more recently, Marc Marquez. The Repsol livery started appearing on the Honda NSR500 in 1995 when the bike had already won a title. Except for a brief hiatus in the early 2000, when Honda moved to Nasstro Azzuro , the Repsol livery and the NSR500 religiously featured on the top of the leader board, till the bike was replaced by the four-stroke RC211V in 2001. The Repsol livery went graciously with this new bike and together they won six more titles.
Yamaha Marlboro
The red and white Marlboro livery had its glory days in 1988 and the early 1990s, when it adorned the championship winning bike for four seasons. Ridden by Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey, the YZR500 trumped the likes of Honda and Suzuki in the premier class racing, though its winning streak came to an end post 1993. Yamaha Motor Racing continued to use the Marlboro livery till the 2000 season, and the red and white Yamaha could only come second to the Honda NSR500. With the curtain falling on the 2002 season, Yamaha ended its fairly successful association with Marlboro.
Honda Rothmans
The Rothmans livery is one of the most instantly recognisable paint schemes in motorsports, thanks to its popularity in rallying, endurance racing and even Formula One. In 1985, the British tobacco manufacturer got into motorcycle Grand Prix racing, in association with Honda. Over the next few years, the navy blue and white-liveried Honda NSR500 won three championships, driven by Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner and Eddie Lawson. The two stuck together till the 1994 season, leading to one of the longest manufacturer-sponsor associations in the history of MotoGP.
Yamaha Fiat Blue and White
Though it might seem that I am being partial to Yamaha for including three of its liveries in this list, but the data speaks for itself. Since Fiat tied up with Yamaha, they won three world championships in quick succession, two with Rossi and one with Jorge Lorenzo. It is in this livery that the YZR-M1 struck back in 2008, after falling behind Honda and Ducati in the previous two seasons. The blue and white colours with big FIAT lettering might not be as appealing as the other liveries in this list, but it sure goes down in the history books as one of the most successful liveries in MotoGP.
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