Motorcycle Racing History
Sachsenring (Germany), July 18th, 2010 – It was the 14th of June 1968 when the Australian motorcycle racer Barry Smith rode a Derbi 50 to victory on the motorcycling world’s most legendary TT track: the Isle of Man.
It was the first victory for a “Bala Roja” (red bullet), as the Derbi was called by the Spanish enthusiasts.
That triumph came six years after the Derbi’s world début at the Spanish GP in 1962 which was then run on the Montjuïc track in Barcelona.
Victory number 100 arrived today on the German track at Sachsenring where multiple world champion Angel Nieto (Spain) won for the first time on a Derbi on 13 July 1969.
The Derbi’s 100 victories (17 in 50cc, 25 in the 80cc, 57 in 125cc and one in the 250cc) have earned the Catalan manufacturer 19 World Championships, 8 Manufacturer Championships (2 in 50cc, 3 in the 80cc and 3 in 125cc) and 11 Rider Championships (3 in 50cc, 4 in the 80cc class and 4 in 125cc).
With the Márquez victory, Derbi (which today is part of the Piaggio Group) enters into the number of the elite few manufacturers with more than 100 victories in the World Motorcycle Championship along with Honda, Yamaha, Aprilia, MV Agusta and Suzuki.
Great champions have raced and won with the Derbi. To name a few, Jorge ‘Aspar’ Martínez (32 victories on the Derbi), Angel Nieto (30 victories), Japanese rider Youichi Ui (11), Jorge Lorenzo (4) and Frenchman Mike di Meglio (4).
