The Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1949 to

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

History

The first official Belgian grand prix was held in 1949, but non-championship races were held as far back as 1921. Every Belgian GP was held at the

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

circuit, with the exception of the 1980 season when the round moved to the

Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, ...

circuit due to problems with the new asphalt at Spa-Francorchamps in 1979. After the problems were resolved, Spa-Francorchamps became the host again from 1981 onwards. The last race was held in 1990, and was subject to controversy. At the time, the

FIM–IRTA war The FIM–IRTA war was a political conflict contested throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s by the two representative organizations in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and the International Ro ...

was raging on, and the Belgian Grand Prix became a casualty of this. Bernie Ecclestone decided to double the ticket prices for the

1989 Belgian Grand Prix The 1989 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 27 August 1989. It was the eleventh race of the 1989 Formula One World Championship. The 44-lap race was won from pole position by Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna ...

compared to the 1989 Dutch TT which was held a week earlier. This was much to the anger of the Belgian fans and as a result of this, many fans stayed at home for the 1990 Belgian Grand Prix. This drop in spectators, in combination with the race being held on a Saturday rather than a Sunday (which was similar to the Dutch TT at the time), caused the Belgian GP to be scrapped from the

1991 season File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, 1991 Russian presidential election, elected as Russia's first President of Russia, president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated ...

onwards.

Future

Improvements to the circuit to make it suitable for motorcycle racing were made in autumn 2021 in time for the 2022 endurance season, and the Spa 24 Hours motorcycle race debuted at Spa in June 2022. It is unknown if Spa or another Belgian circuit will apply for MotoGP.

Official names and sponsors

*1949–1975: Grand Prix de Belgique des Motos/Grote Prijs van Belgie voor Moto's (no official sponsor) *1976-1978: Grand Prix Belgique/Grote Prijs Belgie (no official sponsor) *1979: G.P. Moto (no official sponsor) *1980, 1982: Grand Prix of Belgium (no official sponsor) *1981: Grand Prix Moto (no official sponsor) *1983: GP Johnson of Belgium *1984–1985: Johnson GP of Belgium *1986: GP of Belgium (not mentioned in the name but the race was sponsored by Johnson) *1988: GP of Belgium

Gauloises Blondes Gauloises (, "Gaulish" eminine pluralin French; ''cigarette'' is a feminine noun in French) is a brand of cigarette of French origin. It is produced by the company Imperial Tobacco following its acquisition of Altadis in January 2008 in most c ...

*1989: Belgium Motorcycle Grand Prix (no official sponsor) *1990: Belgian Motorcycle Grand Prix (no official sponsor)

Formerly used circuits

File:Spa 1996.jpg, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, used in 1949–1979, 1981–1986, 1988–1990 File:Circuit Zolder-1975-1985.svg, Zolder, used in 1980

Winners of the Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix

Multiple winners (riders)

Multiple winners (manufacturers)

By year

''A pink background indicates an event that was not part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship.''

References

Sources

* {{MotoGP races Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Recurring sporting events established in 1921 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1990 1921 establishments in Belgium 1990 disestablishments in Belgium