They have one of the coolest jobs in the world. They are paid with a buck load of money. Who are these 15 highest-paid MotoGP riders?
Fans of MotoGP and racing, you’ll be glad to find out the highest-paid MotoGP riders! For those who don’t know much about MotoGP, we will blow your mind with this interesting part of the sport!
Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix (1949) represents the premier championship of motorcycle road racing. Currently, it is divided into 3 classes: MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3.
MotoGP is the elite class of Grand Prix. It costs up to $3 million to $3.5 million to lease a one MotoGP bike for one racing season.
It is an extreme sport, so only the best riders are selected. However, those who are in the MotoGP are getting paid pretty well, from thousands to millions of dollars. Let’s get to business and see who the highest-paid MotoGP riders are!
15. Maverick Vinales ($300,000)
The 21-years-old Spaniard has just won the 2015 Best Rookie Award in MotoGP Championship. He might have not finished on podium last season, but he wrapped it up as the 12th best among all riders.
This season is only his second year in MotoGP but he already managed to finish on podium in France. His current team, Suzuki, is definitely impressed. The team pays him $300,000 per year.
Next year, he is definitely getting a salary raise because he will be joining the MotoGP legend, Valentino Rossi, in Yamaha.
Vinales advanced to Moto3 and Moto2 swiftly. He only spent one year in 125 cc and finished as the 3rd best. Same thing happened with his career in Moto2. He spent one year longer in Moto3 only to clinch the title on his second season.
14. Stefan Bradl ($350,000)
In 2012, Stefan Bradl came into MotoGP class with his head held up high. Because in the previous year, he just won the Moto2 Championship.
His team back then, LCR Honda, held a high expectation towards him. As a proof, they granted the young German rider with $1.7 million annual salary.
His professional career started in 2005, when he participated in the 125 cc German Championship with KTM. But after his last season with Honda in 2014, he starts to struggle.
He moved to Yamaha Forward for only a half season before he moved to his current team, Aprilia last year. His $1.7 million salary seems to slip away even further. Today, he is paid $350,000 per year.
13. Scott Redding ($500,000)
Scott Redding is one of the rookies of MotoGP race. The British rider is only 23 years old. But this year is already his third season in MotoGP.
Redding joined the 125 cc with Aprilia in 2008. He moved up to Moto2 two years later. He finished the 2013 season as the runner-up with Kalex team before moving up to MotoGP.
He is currently riding for Ducati Pramac team. The team pays him half a million dollar per year. He hasn’t been able to give the team a race victory. But he managed to finish third in San Marino, 2015.
Redding has shown a lot of potential as a rider. Well, he is still young. He still has many years ahead to proof his skills.
12. Danilo Petrucci ($650,000)
Unlike most MotoGP riders, Danilo Petrucci didn’t start the world championship from 125 cc class or Moto2. He directly joined the MotoGP class in 2012.
He came from finishing as the runner-up in Superstock 1000 Cup, the championship he had been competing on for five years before.
It was an interesting decision made by his former team, Ioda. He is now currently racing for Ducati Pramac team. The team pays him $650,000 per year.
This season has been tough for Petrucci. So far, he has only raced once in France. He is still recovering from his hand surgery. Earlier this year, he broke his hand while crashing during Phillip Island final test.
11. Cal Crutchlow ($700,000)
Cal Crutchlow is the former British Supersport Champion, Supersport World Champion, and British Superbike race winner.
He has been in the MotoGP class since 2011, riding a Yamaha Tech 3 from 2011 to 2013. On August 2013, Crutchlow signed a 2-year contract with Ducati.
The Italian racing team paid him $1.2 million per year. Despite being named ‘Rookie of the Year’ in 2013 when he finished 5th with 188 points, his number went down as he moved to LCR Honda in 2015.
Crutchlow is now racing alongside his teammate, Jack Miller. Honda is currently paying him around $700,000 per year.
10. Pol Espargaro ($800,000)
Pol Espargaro is a rookie among many Spaniard riders in MotoGP. For some reason, we will be referring him as Pol instead of Espargaro. You will find out why later on this list.
Pol joined the world championship on 125 cc class in 2006. He finished third in 2010 which granted him the promotion to Moto2 class. His first Moto2 season was hard. But he hung on and won the title on his third season in 2013.
He is now competing for Monster Yamaha Tech 3, alongside Bradley Smith. The team pays him $800,000 per year.
He may have never finished on podium in MotoGP. But he only gets better and better every season. Plus, he is only 24 years old. He has many years ahead to keep on trying.
9. Andrea Iannone ($850,000)
Andrea Iannone is an Italian rider who has been competing in MotoGP since 2013. He joined the world championship on 125 cc class in 2005.
His career back then was not so bright. Until he moved up to Moto2 class in 2010. This is interesting because most riders would have the opposite scenario. He finished 3rd on all three Moto2 seasons he had.
Then Ducati brought him to MotoGP class. The Italian racing team pays him $850,000 per year. He may have never won any MotoGP race, but he is one of the regulars for podium finish.
Unfortunately, this Italian tandem will only last until this season. Iannone will move to Suzuki next year.
8. Aleix Espargaro ($900,000)
Earlier you see Pol Espargaro on this list. This is his older brother. They have been competing side by side since they were both in Moto2 class. Now you see why we refer him as Pol. For the same reason, we will refer to this one as Aleix.
Aleix is currently racing for Suzuki Ecstar team. The team pays him $900,000 annually. Considering he has never won any world championship title before, that is a good number.
He joined MotoGP in 2010 with Ducati. But one year later, he went back to Moto2. It was a good decision because he got his first podium finish at Catalan Grand Prix that year.
ART team took him back to MotoGP in 2012. Only until 2014 with Yamaha Forward, he could take his first pole position in Netherlands and finished second in Aragon.
7. Alvaro Bautista ($950,000)
The 31-year-old Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer started his MotoGP career in 2010 with Suzuki. He moved to the Honda-equipped Gresini Racing team in the 2012.
That year, Bautista succeeded in setting the fastest lap in qualifying and got his first MotoGP pole position at British Grand Prix. On that same year, his first MotoGP podium came at San Marino Grand Prix.
He moved to Aprilia last year. Since then, his career seems to gloom. Last year, in the 2015 season, he could only finish 16th in the Riders’ Championship with 31 points.
Bautista was paid $1.4 million annually by the Gresini Racing team. But now, the number went down to approximately $950,000 per year from Aprilia.
6. Andrea Dovizioso ($1 million)
Born in Forlimpopoli, Italy, on March 23, 1986, Andreea Dovizioso started his professional career when he was so young. In 2004, he won the 125 cc World Championship and moved up to the MotoGP class 3 years later.
In 2012, Dovi was signed by Ducati. He’s been racing for the Italian racing team ever since. His teammate is a fellow Italian rider, Andrea Iannone. Dovi is currently paid $1 million annually.
This season hasn’t been so great for Dovi. He already crashed out of the race three times in the row from a podium position.
What is more frustrating is the fact that on those three crashes, he was taken down by another driver, which one of them was his own teammate. Ouch.
5. Bradley Smith ($1 million)
If you googled the name “Bradley Smith”, there would be at least five popular people goes by that name popping up on your screen. The Bradley Smith we have here is the British motorcyclist.
The 25-year-old man is currently racing for Monster Yamaha Tech 3. The team pays him $1 million per year. This is pretty big considering his highest achievement in MotoGP is only finishing 3rd once in Australia, 2014.
Smith has never won any championship title either. But he is considered to be consistent throughout his career.
We hope to see Bradley Smith winning a MotoGP race before his career ends. The last time he took that highest spot was in 125 cc class at Valencia Grand Prix, 2010.
4. Dani Pedrosa ($4 million)
Dani Pedrosa is one of the three leading Spaniards in the MotoGP class. The 30-year-old rider is currently riding for Repsol Honda Team alongside the former World Champion, Marc Marquez.
He has been riding for the team since he started his MotoGP career in 2006. In fact, it goes far way back to the beginning of his World Championship Grand Prix career in 2001.
Pedrosa might have not been successful in clinching the world championship title, but he has proven himself as a top-class contender. Throughout the last decade of his MotoGP career, he managed to finish as the top five riders every season.
Honda is paying him around $2.5 million of annual salary. However, he will receive bigger bonus than his teammate for each race. By the end of this season, he will take home a $4 million paycheck.
3. Jorge Lorenzo ($6.5 million)
Born in May 1987, Jorge Lorenzo Guerrero is the reigning MotoGP world champion. He has won the title three times (in 2010, 2012, and 2015). It is interesting that he uses his middle name instead of his last name, isn’t it?
He is currently leading the 2016 Riders’ Championship. He didn’t win any 125 cc title. But he won the 250 cc title twice in 2006 and 2007.
The 29-year-old Spaniard is currently riding for the Yamaha Factory Racing Team which pays him $6.5 million annually.
This fact is pretty surprising because he is the reigning world champion but he is not the highest-paid MotoGP rider. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why he will move to Ducati next season.
2. Marc Marquez ($10 million)
Marc Marquez has achieved a lot of success in the racing world at a very young age. He set the world record of youngest MotoGP World Champion when he was yet to be 21 years old in 2012.
Then, the Spaniard clinched the title again for the following two years before the contender team, Yamaha, knocked him off the leading two spots.
He is considered to be lucky to start his MotoGP career with a huge team such Repsol Honda straightaway. But to be fair, he showed a remarkable result in a short period of time in both 125 cc and Moto2 class.
In the earlier year, Repsol Honda paid him $4 million a year. Now, the number has gone way up to $10 million. This puts him as the second highest-paid MotoGP rider.
1. Valentino Rossi ($12 million)
Valentino Rossi has been racing for his entire life. He first started his professional racing career in the 125 cc class over two decades ago. Since then, he has won the World Championship title for nine times.
Born in 1979, Vale is 37 years old now. But it doesn’t stop him from being the man to beat on the race track in MotoGP. Even though it has been seven years since the last time he clinched the world title, he is still very much capable of being the fastest and winning a race.
Vale won the world champion title of 125 cc class in 1997. The he won the 250 cc class title in 1999. He moved up to 500 cc class to win the title in 2001. He achieved all of those on his second year debut in each class. After that, Vale clinched the MotoGP title for five times.
There are more interesting facts in the MotoGP legend’s life you may not know about. Take a look at this article, What You Need to Know about Valentino Rossi, to find out more!
