We are the Champions (Part One)...

Motorcycling has long been a love of the British, and not just recreationally either; they love to compete too.  Over the next two days, I will post a list of the solo motorcycling World Champions from the UK.  Today I will concentrate on the different classes of road-racing, and tomorrow, I will go through the various other sports.

MotoGP (road-racing)

Formerly known as the 500cc World Championship, MotoGP is regarded as the Blue Riband event of competitive motorcycling.  The World Championship was introduced in 1949.

1949 - Leslie Graham
1951 - Geoff Duke
1953 - Geoff Duke
1954 - Geoff Duke
1955 - Geoff Duke
1956 - John Surtees
1958 - John Surtees
1959 - John Surtees
1960 - John Surtees
1962 - Mike Hailwood
1963 - Mike Hailwood
1964 - Mike Hailwood
1965 - Mike Hailwood
1973 - Phil Read
1974 - Phil Read
1976 - Barry Sheene
1977 - Barry Sheene

350cc World Championship (road-racing)

The second of the four road-racing classifications, this too was introduced in 1949, but was discontinued after the 1982 season.  As with the MotoGP, please note the glory years of the 1950's!

1949 - Freddie Frith
1950 - Bob Foster
1951 - Geoff Duke
1952 - Geoff Duke
1953 - Fergus Anderson
1954 - Fergus Anderson
1955 - Bill Lomas
1956 - Bill Lomas
1957 - Keith Campbell
1958 - John Surtees
1959 - John Surtees
1960 - John Surtees
1966 - Mike Hailwood
1967 - Mike Hailwood

250cc World Championship (road-racing)

Interesting thing to note here is the fact that Mike Hailwood won both the 350cc and 250cc Championships in 1966 and 1967, and these coming after four straight wins in the 500cc class!

1957 - Cecil Sandford
1961 - Mike Hailwood
1964 - Phil Read
1965 - Phil Read
1966 - Mike Hailwood
1967 - Mike Hailwood
1968 - Phil Read
1970 - Rodney Gould
1971 - Phil Read

 Phil Read Yamaha RD56 250 by ahisgett licensed under CC BY 2.0 

125cc World Championship (road-racing)

Never a class that provided much success for British riders, certainly in recent years.  It is worth noting that, like Mike Hailwood, Phil Read became World Champion in three classes also.

1952 - Cecil Sandford
1967 - Bill Ivy
1968 - Phil Read
1969 - Dave Simmonds

Superbike World Championship (road-racing)

What makes Superbikes different from other road-racing classes is that the bikes are simply highly-tuned versions of machines available to the public, rather than purpose-built machines.  The inaugural World Championship was held in 1988.

1994 - Carl Fogarty
1995 - Carl Fogarty
1998 - Carl Fogarty
1999 - Carl Fogarty
2003 - Neil Hodgson
2004 - James Toseland
2007 - James Toseland
2013 - Tom Sykes