Italian GP 2018 – Fast Facts
- At Mugello last year it was the first time since the Italian Grand Prix in 2008 that the winners of all three races were Italian riders. On that occasion it was: MotoGP – Valentino Rossi, 250cc – Marco Simoncelli and 125cc – Simone Corsi.
- Andrea Dovizioso win at Mugello last year was the third time that he had stood on the top step of the podium in the MotoGP class, but for the first time in fully dry conditions.
- Dovizioso’s win last year at the Italian GP was the first ever GP win in the premier-class for an Italian rider on an Italian bike at the Mugello circuit. The previous premier-class Grand Prix win by an Italian rider on an Italian manufactured motorcycle in Italy was by Gianfranco Bonera in the 500cc race at the 1974 Nations Grand Prix at Imola in 1974.
- At the Italian Grand Prix last year Ducati had three riders finish in the top five in a dry MotoGP race for the first time since the Australian GP in 2007 won by Casey Stoner from factory Ducati team-mate Loris Capirossi with Alex Barros in fifth on the Pramac Ducati.
- Tenth place finisher at Mugello, Andrea Iannone, crossed the line just 15.502 seconds after race winner Andrea Dovizioso – which was the closest ever top ten finish in the MotoGP class in a race that has run for full distance. Later in the year this record was re-written when just 1414.075 seconds covered the top ten finishers in Aragon.
- The sixth place finish by Marc Marquez at the Italian Grand Prix last year was the first time he has finished a race outside of the top five in a race where he has not either been penalised or crashed and re-started, since the 125cc race at Brno in 2010. Marquez has won in all three classes at Mugello: 125cc race in 2010, Moto2 in 2011 and MotoGP in 2014.
- Valentino Rossi is the most successful rider across all the classes at Mugello, with a total of nine victories; one each in 125cc and 250cc classes to add to his seven successive MotoGP wins (2 x Honda + 5 x Yamaha), the last of which came in 2008. Following his third place finish at Le Mans Rossi has scored a premier-class career total of 4989 points. A 5th place finish or better at Mugello will see him become the first rider to reach the milestone of 5000 career points in the premier-class of grand prix racing.
- Prior to last year Lorenzo had finished either first or second for eight successive years at Mugello, including five wins in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016.
- This weekend at Mugello Pol Espargaro is scheduled to make his 200th Grand Prix start. He will be the second youngest rider to reach this milestone, after Sandro Cortese. His brother Aleix made his 200th GP start last year and this gives them the honour of becoming the first siblings to both reach the milestone of 200 grand prix starts.
- Andrea Iannone qualified on pole in 2015 at Mugello riding a Ducati – his first pole in the MotoGP class. This was the first time that an Italian rider on an Italian bike had qualified on pole for a premier-class grand prix in Italy since Giacomo Agostini was on pole for the 500cc GP at Imola in 1972.
- Yamaha have gone 15 MotoGP races without a win, their longest winless sequence since the 18 race winless streak that included the last two races of 2002 and the 16 races of 2003.
- Only three riders have scored points at all five MotoGP races in 2018: Maverick Vinales, Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller.
- Mattia Pasini first Moto2™ win at Mugello last year was the first time he had stood on the top step of the podium since winning the 250cc race at Mugello in 2009.
- In the Moto3 class last year at Mugello, Andrea Migno took his first Grand Prix victory in what was his 51st grand prix start.
- Last year the 15th place finisher in the Moto3 race, Jorge Martin, crossed the line just 1.553 seconds behind race winner Andrea Migno; this is the closest top 15 in any class in the 69-year history of motorcycle grand prix racing.