At the Teruel GP of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship, Spanish rider Jaume Masia, achieved a new milestone for the company by propelling the Japanese manufacturer to the 800th Grand Prix victory on 25th October 2020. The feat has been achieved on the NSF250RW. In addition to this, the achievement has come approximately 66 years after Soichiro Honda’s famous declaration into the racing world. In 1954, Soichiro Honda announced the entry into the coveted Isle of Man TT race and in 1959 the company became the first Japanese motorcycle brand to have entered the Isle of Man TT. In 1960, Honda started competing in the 125cc and 250cc classes and only a year later Australian Tom Phillis on the Honda RC143 in the 125cc Spanish Grand Prix of 1961 achieved the first Grand Prix victory and Jaume Masia crossed the finish line taking Honda towards its 800th win on the same Grand Prix in 2020.
After the landmark success in the 1962 Spanish Grand Prix, Honda would further expanded its racing programme and the company started to compete in the 350cc & 500cc segment. The Japanese brand won many victories until Honda paused its factory racing activities. In 1979, the company returned to the world stage, achieving premier class success with Freddie Spencer aboard the NS500 in 1982. In the 2001 Japanese Grand Prix, Valentino Rossi took the brand to a new important milestone with 500 wins. The success was achieved in the 125cc, 250cc and 500cc classes. In 2002, the change into the four-stroke MotoGP class bringing more victories for Honda and at the Indianapolis Grand Prix in 2015, Marc Marquez clinched the 700th win for Honda.
To recap, Honda’s 1st Grand Prix victory was achieved by Tom Phillis on the Honda RC143 at the 1961 Spanish 125cc GP, 100th Grand Prix victory was achieved by Luigi Taveri on the Honda RC116 at the 1966 Dutch 50cc TT, Jimmy Filice won the 1988 US 250cc GP on the Honda NSR250 achieving 200th Grand Prix victory, Alex Criville, on the Honda NSR500 1992 Dutch 500cc TT brought in the 300th Grand Prix victory, on the 400th Grand Prix victory for Honda by Haruchika Aoki with the 1996 Brazilian 125cc GP, the 500th Grand Prix victory was achieved by 2001 Japanese 500cc GP on the Honda NSR500, the 600th Grand Prix victory is credited to Dani Pedrosa for 2005 Australian 250cc GP on the Honda R250RW, the 700th Grand Prix victory was won by Marc Marquez at a large 2015 Indianapolis MotoGP riding the Honda RC213V and now the 800th Grand Prix victory has been achieved by Jaume Masia.