Three icons of motorcycle racing will be inducted into MotoGP Legends Hall of Fame throughout the 2020 season:
- Jorge Lorenzo (5X World Champion)
- Max Biaggi (4X World Champion)
- Hugh Anderson (4X World Champion)
The Spaniard Lorenzo, who announced his retirement last season due to some plaguing injuries, will be inducted during the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. The Italian Biaggi is set for induction during the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, and the New Zealander Anderson later during the season.
Jorge Lorenzo
Lorenzo had claimed 68 victories across all classes, including five titles. Lorenzo took his first victory in 2003, and back-to-back titles in the former 250cc class in 2006 and 2007.
While riding for Yamaha, Lorenzo earned the 2010, 2012 and 2015 MotoGP titles. He switched to Ducati in 2017 and took three wins with the Italian manufacturer before switching to Honda and riding alongside Marc Marquez for 2019.
“To be named a MotoGP Legends makes me extremely happy,” Jorge Lorenzo says. “When I began competing in this world, what I really aspired to do was to get into the World Championship.
“To be able to win races and then five World Championships is something that far outweighs what I expected, and to be a MotoGP Legend is something even more difficult to achieve. To be named a Legend means, apart from the titles, that you’ve left a mark on the people and history of this sport. I’d like to thank Dorna and the FIM for their support all these years, and for having included me in this special group of select riders.”
Max Biaggi
The Italian Biaggi joined the Grand Prix series in 1991, competing in a few races for Aprilia before signing with the Italian manufacturer for his first full season in 1992. He would claim four-straight 250cc titles with Aprilia from 1994 through 1997.
Biaggi competed in the premier class from 1998 through 2005, taking 13 wins and finishing runner-up in the championship three times. He joined the World Superbike Championship in 2007, claiming the 2010 and 2012 titles for Aprilia.
He retired after the 2012 season, and has since returned to the GP paddock and manages the Sterilgarda Max Racing Team in Moto3.
“I’m honored to become a MotoGP Legend and know that my name will be up there forever with other important racers like Agostini, Aspar, Nieto, Sheene,” Max Biaggi says.
“I’m happy that my racing legacy will always be remembered and it’s a good feeling that knowing all of my years of hard work are still being recognized, even today. I would like to thank everyone who decided to give me this honor.”
Hugh Anderson
Anderson joined the premier-GP class in 1960, racing in the 500cc and 250cc classes for Suzuki. Two years later, he also competed in the 125cc and 50cc classes, winning races in both of those classes.
He claimed both the 50cc World Championships in 1963 ad 1964 and the 125cc titles in 1963 and 1965. Anderson retired in 1966 after earning 25 Grand Prix wins and four titles in just six years.
“How I felt when receiving the news? At first, apprehension: do my relatively modest achievements warrant this honor,” Hugh Anderson says.
“Will I, can I, do justice to this invitation? Some hours later I felt a feel-good sensation envelope me. A gratification that after all this time the modern world has not forgotten the past and the riders of a very much different era still have some value. A question of the history of our sport being recognized at the highest level. Thank you.”
These three riders now join the other MotoGP Legends:
- Giacomo Agostini
- Mick Doohan
- Geoff Duke
- Wayne Gardner
- Mike Hailwood
- Daijiro Kato
- Eddie Lawson
- Anton Mang
- Angel Nieto
- Wayne Rainey
- Phil Read
- Jim Redman
- Kenny Roberts
- Jarno Saarinen
- Kevin Schwantz
- Barry Sheene
- Marco Simoncelli
- Freddie Spencer
- Casey Stoner
- John Surtees
- Carlo Ubbiali
- Alex Crivillé
- Franco Uncini
- Marco Lucchinelli
- Randy Mamola
- Kork Ballington
- Dani Pedrosa
- Stefan Dörflinger
- Jorge Martinez
- Nicky Hayden