This Sunday at Le Mans the
MotoGP competitors will be competing for the honour of winning the landmark 600th premier-class Motorcycle Grand Prix.
The pinnacle of two-wheeled racing was limited to 500cc machines from the beginning of the World Championship series back in 1949 until the start of last year, when four-strokes of up to 990cc were allowed to enter.
A selection of Grand Prix milestones in the premier-class are given below (GP number in brackets):
June 1949 (1) - Great Britain: The first GP in the premier-class, held at the Isle of Man, won by Harold Daniell riding a factory Norton.
September 1952 (27) - Italy: Les Graham gives MV Agusta the first race win in the premier-class, at Monza.
October 1953 (36) - Spain: Fergus Anderson at 44 years old is the oldest rider to win in the premier-class, at Montjuic.
June 1957 (60) - Great Britain: The longest ever GP of 301.84 miles, held over 8 laps of the Mountain circuit in the Isle-of-Man, won by Bob McIntyre
August 1962 (100) - East Germany: Mike Hailwood (MV Agusta) wins the 100th race in the premier-class, at the Sachsenring.
May 1966 (131) - West Germany: Jim Redman gives Honda its first ever GP win in the premier-class at Hockenheim, this also being the first by a Japanese manufacturer.
September 1969 (171) - Yugoslavia: Opatija Godfrey Nash riding a Norton becomes the last rider to win riding a single-cylinder machine.
August 1971 (191) - Ulster GP: Jack Findlay (Suzuki) takes the first win in the premier-class riding a two-stroke machine.
June 1972 (200) - Dutch TT: Giacomo Agostini wins the 200th race riding a MV Agusta, at Assen.