The MotoGP™ race at the Dutch TT will be the 250th since it was introduced as a replacement for the 500cc class as the premier-class of motorcycle grand prix racing. Below is a selection of MotoGP™ milestones:
| Date | Number | Location | Milestone |
| April 2002 | 1 | Suzuka, Japan | First MotoGP™ race won by Rossi on a Honda, Japanese wildcard Akira Ryo is second on a Suzuki and Carlos Checa third on a Yamaha. |
| September 2002 | 12 | Rio, Brazil | Rossi clinches the first MotoGP™ title at Rio with four races to spare. |
| October 2002 | 15 | Phillip Island, Australia | Jeremy McWilliams’ pole is the last ever for a two-stroke in the MotoGP™ class and the first for a rider using Bridgestone tyres. |
| May 2003 | 20 | Le Mans, France | First use of new rain rules designed to do away with aggregate races sees the race restarted as a 13-lap sprint that is won by Sete Gibernau. |
| June 2003 | 22 | Catalunya | Loris Capirossi gives Ducati their first GP win since 1959, and the first win by an Italian rider on an Italian bike since Agostini on the MV Agusta in 1976. |
| August 2003 | 26 | Brno, Czech | At the Czech GP Chris Burns becomes the last ever rider to race a two-stroke in the MotoGP™ class. |
| November 2003 | 32 | Valencia | Rossi’s last race for Honda, which he wins wearing a Austin Powers paint scheme designed by the winner of a magazine competition. |
| April 2004 | 33 | Welkom, South Africa | Rossi wins his first race on a Yamaha, beating Agostini’s record sequence of 22 consecutive podium finishes. |
| July 2004 | 39 | Rio, Brazil | Makoto Tamada gives Bridgestone their first win in the top class. |
| October 2004 | 47 | Phillip Island, Australia | Valentino Rossi wins a last-lap battle with Sete Gibernau to retain the title and give Yamaha their first top-class title in 12 years. |
| July 2005 | 56 | Laguna Seca, USA | MotoGP™ returns to the USA. Home favourite Nicky Hayden takes his maiden MotoGP™ win. |
| May 2006 | 69 | Shanghai, China | Dani Pedrosa takes his maiden win in only his fourth MotoGP™ race. |
| September 2006 | 79 | Phillip Island, Australia | The flag-to-flag wet-weather rules are used for the first time, every rider pits to change bikes. Marco Melandri wins. |
| October 2006 | 82 | Valencia | The final race of the 990cc era is won by Troy Bayliss, who is the only wild card or replacement rider to win a MotoGP™ race. Capirossi is second to give Ducati their first ever one-two, and Hayden is third to become the first rider other than Rossi to have won the MotoGP™ world title. |
| May 2007 | 87 | Le Mans, France | Chris Vermeulen wins in the wet, having swapped bikes in a flag to flag race, ending Suzuki’s six year winning drought and marking Vermeulen’s only race win in the class. |
| September 2007 | 97 | Motegi, Japan | Casey Stoner becomes the world champion on a Ducati. Also the first race that saw riders swap bikes part way through a race due to weather conditions changing from a wet to dry race. |
| March 2008 | 101 | Losail, Qatar | Qatar hosts the first night race held in the World Championship history won by Casey Stoner and saw Lorenzo qualify on pole for his first race in the MotoGP™ class. |
| April 2008 | 103 | Estoril, Portugal | Lorenzo takes his first victory in the MotoGP™ in his rookie season after starting on pole. |
| September 2008 | 115 | Motegi, Japan | Rossi takes his fifth MotoGP™ class title with three races to go. |
| April 2009 | 119 | Losail, Qatar | Casey Stoner wins the first race after the introduction of the Bridgestone control tyre. |
| October 2010 | 150 | Sepang, Malaysia | Lorenzo took his first MotoGP™ World Championship title and went on to set a record for the most points amassed during a single season in the premier class, with a total of 383 points. |
| October 2011 | 169 | Phillip Island, Australia | Casey Stoner was crowned as MotoGP™ World Champion for the second time, this time riding a Honda, making him the final 800cc champion before the premier-class changed to 1000cc engines. |
| October 2012 | 186 | Sepang, Malaysia | Dani Pedrosa took his fifth victory from six races. This was arguably Pedrosa’s best chance to take a championship title. |
| October 2012 | 187 | Phillip Island, Australia | Lorenzo took the World Champion title after Pedrosa crashed out of the lead early on. |
| April 2013 | 190 | Austin, USA | Marquez took his first MotoGP™ victory in his rookie season to become the youngest ever rider to win a MotoGP™ race. |
| June 2013 | 195 | Assen | Rossi took his first victory since 2010 after returning to Yamaha after two largely unsuccessful years on Ducati. |
| November 2013 | 206 | Valencia | Marquez became the youngest premier class World Champion. Marquez also became the first rookie since Kenny Roberts in 1978 to win the championship. |
| August 2014 | 216 | Indianapolis, USA | A win in Indianapolis was the last of a sequence of ten successive wins for Marquez. |
| September 2014 | 220 | Aragon | Aleix Espargaro finished in second position on the Forward Yamaha bike, the best result for a rider in the Open-Class category. |
| November 2014 | 224 | Valencia | Championship winner Marquez won for the 13th time in 2014, a new record for the most premier-class wins in a single season. |
| June 2015 | 231 | Catalunya | Lorenzo won at Catalunya, taking his forth success win for the first time in his career. |
| October 2015 | 241 | Sepang, Malaysia | After an incident between Marquez and Rossi which saw them collide and Marquez fall from his bike, Rossi was penalized, resulting in him starting the final race of the season in Valencia from the back of the grid. |
| November 2015 | 242 | Valencia | At the final race of the season Lorenzo took his seventh win of the season, while Rossi could only finish in fourth from the back of the grid, meaning Lorenzo won the championship by five points. |
| May 2016 | 248 | Mugello, Italy | A new top speed record was set by Andrea Iannone in the race of 354.9 km/h |