What is the MotoGP™ Points System? – all you need to know

Each year the best riders in the world do battle at spectacular Grands Prix events around the world, with the MotoGP™ points system ultimately deciding who will be crowned as the World Champion.

In each MotoGP™ Sprint and race the best performing riders earn points, which are tallied up in the championship standings, with those rankings changing after each Grand Prix.

Ever since the inaugural FIM World Championship in 1949, when it was just six events, the riders have competed in various categories, with their race results contributing to an overall tally in the standings. Over the years there have been many closely fought season-long title battles, with MotoGP™ championship points being contested right down to the last lap of the final race of the year.

In the premier class the MotoGP™ points system has been updated several times over the decades. The current system had been in place and unchanged since 1993, when it was updated in 2023 as the MotoGP™ Sprint was added to the Grand Prix schedule, adding extra excitement to Saturday afternoons.

In this ultimate guide to how MotoGP™ points work we’ll delve into all these details, explaining the current system, recalling some historical highlights and examining some of the tactics employed by the teams in MotoGP™ to push their riders’ up the standings.

Whenever fans want to see the current MotoGP™ championship points tally, they can visit the official MotoGP™ results section, where every lap time and every riders’ performance at each Grand Prix can be checked. 

How are points awarded in MotoGP™?

In MotoGP™ a rider can earn a maximum haul of 37 points from each Grand Prix, with the winner of the Sprint on a Saturday afternoon taking 12 points and victory in the race on Sunday earning the winning rider 25 points.

In each full-length Sunday race the first 15 riders to cross the finish line earn points for their championship tally. In the MotoGP™ Sprint the scoring system is different, with the first nine riders to finish.

This is how the points are allocated per position in the MotoGP™ scoring system for Sprints and Sunday races:

The MotoGP™ points system therefore rewards riders highly for victories and podium positions, with every rider working as hard as they can to get the best possible result in each race.

The combined results from every Grand Prix are totalled up in the MotoGP™ standings and the rider who accumulates the most points over the course of the season will become the winner of the World Championship. In 2025 there are 22 Grands Prix on the MotoGP™ calendar so the maximum possible point total is 814, though winning every Sprint and race is highly improbable given how close the competition is between the riders.

Legendary MotoGP™ Title Battles: Historical examples of close Championship fights

Whilst the MotoGP™ points system does place an emphasis on victories and podium results, it also gives riders a platform to build their championship strategy on consistency. Every top 15 result counts and even championship contenders will fight for a sole point in 15th place if that’s the best they can achieve on the day.

Riders do this because they know that title fights can go right down to the final race of the season and World Championships can be won or lost by the finest of margins. Indeed, there have been several famous examples of last round title deciders over the decades.

American Nicky Hayden made consistency count in 2006, when he secured his only MotoGP™ world title in the final race of a season which had seen him take just one victory. His third place at the Valencia GP, final event of the year, combined with a 13th place finish for his title rival Valentino Rossi after the Italian crashed out and had to remount, saw Hayden take the crown by just five points. 

Third place in the final race of 2013 at Valencia was also enough to earn rookie Marc Marquez his maiden MotoGP™ World Championship by just four points, despite his closest rival Jorge Lorenzo winning the race.

In 2015 it was Lorenzo’s turn to enjoy the last race title glory, winning again in Valencia to snatch the championship from his teammate Rossi, who finished fourth after starting at the back of the grid following his infamous clash with Marquez in Sepang at the penultimate GP of the year. If you’re new to the sport, that is a dramatic rabbit hole to explore!

The last three seasons have produced drama at the final Grand Prix of the year, with the 2022 and 2023 titles clinched by Francesco Bagnaia.

In 2022 he fought back from a 91-point deficit to Fabio Quartararo to secure the title at Valencia, then in 2023 he retained the title by winning the final race – also at Valencia – whilst Jorge Martin crashed out, giving the Italian back-to-back championships.

Martin took sweet revenge in 2024, winning the title in the last race of the year at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. 

In this article on some of the closest ever MotoGP™ title battles, you’ll find more details and some great videos, featuring some of the racing’s biggest names fighting for crucial championship points right down to the last corner of the final race of the season.

How do MotoGP™ teams and riders strategise to maximise their points totals?

Given how MotoGP™ points work, the teams and riders work tactically throughout the season to add to their championship points totals.

Rider form, injuries, riding style, weather and the suitability of the specific manufacturers’ bikes to the various circuits visited in MotoGP™ can all play a part in the riders’ chances of winning races – and ultimately winning the title.

Luck also plays a part, as riders can crash out and miss out on points due to a collision with another rider, when the incident may not even be their fault.

So riders must use strategy to keep earning as many points as they can, particularly on days when a race victory or podium result is beyond their reach, for whatever reason that might be.

Pushing too hard for a win, or just to beat a title rival, can cause the rider to crash out unnecessarily due to tyre wear or rider error. It is a question of balancing consistency with the strongest result possible to continually build up maximum points.

The season is long and suffering a DNF (did not finish) result is not uncommon. Whilst riders do their best to avoid crashes and to finish every race, if they do suffer a bad result they know that consistency pays off in the end. 

Hayden’s aforementioned 2006 title was secured with just one race win, plus consistent podium and top five results. Likewise in 2020 Spaniard Joan Mir took the title after a sole race win, but with six additional podium results putting him ahead of his rivals.

With the current MotoGP™ scoring system there has never been a tie in MotoGP™ points for the title.

However if that was to be the case the regulations of MotoGP™ state the following: “In the event of a tie in the number of points, the final positions will be decided on the basis of the number of best results in the races (number of first places, number of second places etc.).”

“In the event that there is still a tie then, the date in the Championship at which the highest place was achieved will be taken into account with precedence going to the latest result.”

Keep track of who is racking up the points and leading the MotoGP™ standings via the official MotoGP™ results section.