Top 10 Famous Racing Numbers

Everyone craves the number one plate, but that isn't the most famous number in racing. Here's a list of the top 10 famous racing numbers:

46: Valentino Rossi

Rossi runs the 46 for one simple reason - it was the number his dad ran. Denying 9 chances to run the number 1 plate, Rossi has created a whole brand behind the digits - the most recognizable number in the world today.

7: Barry Sheene

The 7, with a French dash through it, is instantly associated as the number behind Sheene’s success. Sheene wore the 7 as a lucky charm, and through his big crashes may not suggest as such, you’d have to admit it was a pretty charmed life. 

34: Kevin Schwantz

34 was Schwantz’s uncle’s number, and it was an omen when he turned up to test Yoshimura Suzuki that the bike was sporting this number. The story would be complete if Schwantz’s uncle, Darryl Young, was a Suzuki agent – but he wasn’t, he was a Yamaha…

69: James Whitham, Nicky Hayden

The planets collided when Whitham raced for the Durex sponsored Suzuki team. Since then, Nicky Hayden has taken up the mantle of chief 69-er. The reason? It looks the same upside down as the right way up, or maybe there was another reason?

58: Marco Simoncelli

Eugene Laverty aside, Marco Simoncelli was fast making the number 58 his own, but thanks to a tragic set of circumstances on the 23rd October 2011 in Sepang, the number will forever be associated with the charismatic Italian – originally he used 37. R.I.P Sic 

111: Aaron Slight, Ruben Xaus

Aaron Slight and Ruben Xaus didn’t always run the 111 plate, but both finished their careers using the number. Origins of the use are unsure, but in Japanese legend, number 1 is the most desired number, 11 the next and 111.

27: Casey Stoner

Mick Doohan used the 27 plate early in his career, and Casey Stoner took the number when he came into GPs in 2002 – through he reverts to number one plate after he earned it.

3: Joey Dunlop, Max Biaggi

The most famous 3 must surely belong to Joey Dunlop who settled into his number as easily as he slipped into his yellow Arai. Max Biaggi has also staked a claim on the number, especially in those years when he hasn’t been world champion.

21: Troy Bayliss

Bayliss had a few numbers, eventually settling on the 21 in 2000 after a few years running on 32. Unable to use the number in MotoGP, Bayliss swapped the numbers round to 12, and then just swapped them back in WSB. 

52: James Toseland, Danny Kent

Danny Kent is running the 52 plate in honour of two-time WSB champ, James Toseland. Toseland used the number from early in his career, turning it into a British version of the number 46 – with a motif as part of the branding exercise.