MotoGP: 4 Riders with most wins in a single season

Consistent results that include a decent number of wins in a single season ensure that a rider is always in contention for the MotoGP championship gold. This mantra works for many and often leads to close and interesting battles with at least two riders in the fray for the world championship.

However, at times, a particular rider dominates the entire field by securing a huge number of wins in a single season, which along with leaving his rivals in the dust, nets him the championship gold with a huge points tally.

Let us take a trip down the memory lane and look closer at the four riders who dominated a season by managing to win the most races in a single MotoGP season.

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#4 Valentino Rossi - 11 wins

Valentino Rossi holds seven MotoGP World Championships

Valentino Rossi kicks-off the list with eleven race wins in a single season. The prolific Italian rider managed to secure eleven wins on multiple occasions between 2001 and 2005.

The 2001 season, which was also the last season before the dawn of the MotoGP era, Rossi took eleven wins out of sixteen races in the 500cc class to claim his first premier class championship with 325 points.

The Italian managed to equal his record the following season with four-stroke engines and took his second successive championship with 355 points, 140 points higher than his Italian adversary Max Biaggi.

The 2005 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the third time the Doctor claimed eleven race wins in a single season. Driving for the Yamaha team, Rossi's eleven wins ensured that he would claim his fifth consecutive world championship.

Also, interestingly, he is one of the few riders who managed to win the championship with two different teams.

#3 Giacomo Agostini - 11 wins

Giacomo Agostini is one of the greatest motorcycle riders of all time

Considered by many as one of the best motorcycle riders of all time, Giacomo Agostini's record of eleven wins in the premier class came in the year 1972.

Riding the MV Augusta machine, the Italian won eleven races from eleven starts that season to claim his seventh successive world championship in the premier class. These eleven wins out of the thirteen races that season also meant that Agostini managed to record yet another season in the MotoGP class with a win percentage of over 80%.

Apart from the eleven wins in the 1972 season, the Italian managed to claim ten race wins in a single season on three other occasions.

Throughout his career, Giacomo Agostini has won 122 races in the 350cc and the 500c class and managed to claim 15 world championships, with eight of them coming in the 500c class.

#2 Mick Doohan - 12 wins

Mick Doohan is a five-time MotoGP World Champion

Mick Doohan takes the second spot on the list with twelve race wins in a single Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. His record came during the 1997 season, which was the ninth MotoGP season of his career.

Riding a Honda machine, the Australian entered the 1997 season in the hunt for his fourth world championship. Doohan started the year well and went on to win twelve of the fifteen races that were a part of the season. Furthermore, he finished second in two of the three races that he failed to claim the top spot of the podium.

That dominating performance netted his fourth championship with 340 points, some 160 points greater than the second-placed rider.

During his career that lasted over a decade, the Australian won the 500cc world championship five times, which interestingly, came in five consecutive years.

#1 Marc Marquez - 13 wins

Marc Marquez is the youngest MotoGP World Champion

Marc Marquez took the world by a storm by clinching the MotoGP World Championship in his debut season, a feat that was never seen since the dawn of the MotoGP era.

After winning his first title in 2013, the Spaniard charged into his second season in the premier class with a conviction to retain his title. Marquez won the first ten races of the 2014 season in a row, dominating the entire first half of the season.

He suffered in the second half of the season but still managed to secure three more wins to take his overall tally to thirteen wins in a single MotoGP season, setting a new record in the process.

So far, Marc Marquez has managed to capture five MotoGP world championships in the first six seasons of his career in the premier class. Being only 25 years old, it should be no surprise if he challenges Rossi and Agostini for the most MotoGP World Championships in the not so distant future.