It is an obligation and an identification which over time has become a source of marketing and a symbol of emotions. The number on a competition motorcycle was initially an administrative and regulatory formality, but the environment and the fans transformed it into something very much alive to respect. In motorcycle Grand Prix, you cannot draw all the numbers and some are even sacred and therefore untouchable. Which ones and why? Here is the answer…
It has become a tradition. The promoter of motorcycle Grands Prix, Dorna, withdraws certain starting numbers, either in memory of fatally injured riders, or because of exceptional performances which made them a legend during their lifetime.
So the starting number 58 has not been awarded since the death of the Gresini Honda rider Marco Simoncelli during a disastrous Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang in 2011. Even the 69 is no longer available since the bicycle accident during training that the former world champion Nicky Hayden carried out near Misano in 2017. Likewise, 74 no longer affected since the fatal accident of the former 250cc world champion Daijiro Katoh at Suzuka in 2003.
For more joyful reasons, since relating to their journey, their career and their contribution to the category, the starting numbers associated with Kevin schwantz et Loris Capirossi, which are respectively the 34 and 65 were also blocked by MotoGP officials.
In the Moto2 category, two starting numbers were removed from the list: 48 after the death of Shoya Tomizawa in Misano in 2010 and the 39th after the accident louis salom in Catalonia in 2016.
