Martin Raines

• This is the ninth successive year that the Aragon circuit has hosted a grand prix event.

• Aragon first hosted a grand prix event in 2010, when it became the sixth different circuit that has been used for grand prix racing in Spain. The other circuits that have been used in Spain are: Jerez, Catalunya, Jarama, Montjuich and Valencia.

• Casey Stoner won the first MotoGP race at Aragon in 2010 on a Ducati, the only victory for the Italian manufacturer at this circuit.

• Honda are the most successful manufacturer at the Aragon circuit with five MotoGP victories, with three different riders: Casey Stoner in 2011, Dani Pedrosa in 2012 and Marc Marquez in 2013, 2016 and 2017.

• Jorge Lorenzo has given Yamaha two MotoGP victories at the Aragon circuit, in 2014 and 2015.

• Spanish riders have had great success across all three GP classes at the Aragon circuit, winning seventeen of the twenty-four GP races that have taken place. The only non-Spanish riders who have had a grand prix win at the circuit are: Casey Stoner (MotoGP in 2010 & 2011), Andrea Iannone (Moto2 race in 2010), Romano Fenati (Moto3 in 2014), Miguel Oliveira (Moto3 in 2015), Sam Lowes (Moto2 in 2016) and Franco Morbidelli in Moto2 last year.

• Casey Stoner’s two victories are the only occasions that a non-Spanish rider has stood on either of the top two steps of the podium in the MotoGP class at the Aragon circuit.

• In addition to Casey Stoner’s win in 2010, the only podium finishes for Ducati riders at Aragon are; third for Nicky Hayden in 2010, third for Cal Crutchlow in 2014 and third for Jorge Lorenzo last year.

• The best result at Aragon for Suzuki is the fourth place finish achieved in 2016 by Maverick Viñales.

• Aleix Espargaro finished 6^thin Aragon last year to equal the best ever result for Aprilia in the MotoGP class.

• Only four different riders have started from pole in the MotoGP class at Aragon: Casey Stoner (2010 & 2011), Jorge Lorenzo (2012), Marc Marquez (2013, 2014. 2015. 2016) and Maverick Vinales last year.

• Aragon is one of just five circuits on the current grand prix schedule that run in an anti-clockwise direction, along with Austin, Sachsenring, Phillip Island and Valencia.

• Aragon is one of just four circuits on the current grand prix schedule where Valentino Rossi has not had a MotoGP victory, along with Austin, the Red Bull Ring in Austria and the Buriram International Circuit in Thailand that is being used for the first time this year.

• Last year in Aragon the top 15 MotoGP riders crossed the line covered by 26.082 seconds, setting a new record for the closest top 15 of all-time in the premier-class.

• The first four riders across the line in the MotoGP race in Aragon last year were all from Spain, for just the second time ever in the premier-class.

• The eight Moto2 races that have taken place at the Aragon circuit have been won by eight different riders: 2010 – Andrea Iannone, 2011 – Marc Marquez, 2012 – Pol Espargaro, 2013 – Nico Terol, 2014 – Maverick Vinales, 2015 – Tito Rabat, 2016 – Sam Lowes and 2017 – Franco Morbidelli. None of these riders are now competing in the Moto2 class.

• Six of the eight Moto2 races at Aragon have been won from pole, the exceptions are; Pol Espargaro in 2012 from second place on the grid and Franco Morbidelli last year from the head of the second row.

• The six Moto3 GP races that have taken place at the Aragon circuit have been won by six different riders: 2012 – Luis Salom, 2013 – Alex Rins, 2014 – Romano Fenati, 2015 – Miguel Oliveira, 2016 – Jorge Navarro and 2017 –  Joan Mir. None of these riders are still competing in the Moto3 class.

• This is the 22nd time that Misano has hosted a motorcycle grand prix event.

• The first grand prix event to take place at Misano was in 1980; the 500cc race was over 40 laps of the circuit that measured 3.448 km and ran in an anti-clockwise direction and was won by Kenny Roberts.

• The Misano circuit hosted a GP event for a total of ten occasions between the years of 1980 and 1993.

• Misano did not have a grand prix event for thirteen years following the accident that ended the career of Wayne Rainey in 1993.

• When GP racing returned to Misano in 2007, it was on a much revised 4.18 km circuit running in the opposite direction to the earlier layout.

• There have been twenty previous San Marino Grand Prix events. The first San Marino Grand Prix was held at Imola in 1981. Three different circuits have hosted the San Marino Grand Prix – Imola twice (1981 & 1983), Mugello four times (1982, 84, 91 and 93) and Misano on fourteen occasions (1985, 86, 87 and from 2007 onwards).

• Yamaha have been the most successful manufacturer in MotoGP since the grand prix series returned to Misano in 2007 with six victories, the last was with Valentino Rossi in 2014.

• Honda have had a four MotoGP wins at the Misano circuit, including the last three years.

• Ducati’s single victory at Misano was in 2007 with Casey Stoner. Since Stoner’s win in 2007 Ducati have had four more podium finishes at this circuit: Toni Elias 3^rd in 2008, Valentino Rossi 2^nd in 2012, and last year Danilo Petrucci finished 2^nd with Andrea Dovizioso 3^rd.

• Suzuki has had two podium finishes in the MotoGP era at Misano circuit, both of which came in 2007 when Chris Vermeulen finished second and John Hopkins third. Vinales’ 5^th place finish in 2016 was the best result for a Suzuki rider at Misano since Loris Capirossi finished 5^th in 2009.

• The most successful rider at Misano since racing returned to the circuit in 2007 is Marc Marquez with five victories (1 x 125cc, 2 x Moto2, 2 x MotoGP)

• Dani Pedrosa’s victory in 2010 is the last time that the MotoGP race at Misano was won by a rider starting from pole position.

• The MotoGP podium in 2015 at Misano was: Marc Marquez, Bradley Smith and Scott Redding – the first MotoGP podium where all three of the riders had graduated from the Moto2 class.

• Three Italian riders finished in the top five at Misano last year, all riding Ducati motorcycles. The last time that three Italian riders on Italian bikes finished in the top five in the premier-class was at Imola in 1972 when Giacomo Agostini on a MV Agusta won from team-mate Alberto Pagani, with Ducati rider Bruno Spaggiari completing the podium.

• The eight Moto2 races that have taken place at Misano have been won by seven different riders: 2010 – Toni Elias, 2011 & 2012 – Marc Marquez, 2013 – Pol Espargaro, 2014 – Tito Rabat, 2015 – Johann Zarco, 2016 – Lorenzo Baldassarri, 2017 – Tom Luthi. Of these riders only Baldassarri is competing in the Moto2 class in 2018.

• Five different riders have won the six Moto3 races that have taken place at Misano: 2012 – Sandro Cortese, 2013 & 2014 –Alex Rins, 2015 – Enea Bastianini, 2016 – Brad Binder, 2017 – Romano Fenati.

This is the ninth Grand Prix at Silverstone since it returned to the circuit in 2010. However, Silverstone had hosted the British round of the world championship on ten previous occasions from 1977 to 1986 and below is a brief recap of what happened in those years.

The first Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone was in 1977, when the British round of the world championship was moved from its previously traditional home of the Isle of Man TT circuit

1977 – This was the final race of the season and British hopes were high for a win in the 500cc class by a home rider, with reigning champion Barry Sheene qualifying on pole on his factory Suzuki.  However Sheene retired with mechanical problems on lap nine.  This left the door open for team-mate Steve Parrish to lead the race into the closing stages only to crash in the closing stages of the race.  Fellow Britain John Williams then moved into the lead before he also crashed out. Finally the third factory Suzuki rider, American Pat Hennen, took the victory.  Kork Ballington had a double victory in the 350cc and 250cc classes on his private Yamaha machines and in the 125cc race, Pierluigi Conforti took his only ever GP victory.

1978 – The 500cc GP ended in chaos, after rain started to fall mid-way through the race.  With no specific rules to deal with such a situation, the riders had to enter the pits to change tyres.  Barry Sheene (Suzuki) was by far the quickest rider after the tyre change but suffered with a pit stop that took over 7 minutes.  By contrast the eventual winner Kenny Roberts (Yamaha) was in the pits for less than 3 minutes.  Splitting these two riders on the podium was Britain’s Steve Manship, who had gambled on starting the race with intermediate tyres.  Kork Ballington (Kawasaki) won the 350cc race from British riders Tom Herron and Mick Grant.  Toni Mang scored the first of his record 33 victories in the 250cc class, with Herron once again finishing second.  Angel Nieto won the 125cc race riding a Minarelli from British rider Clive Horton.

1979 – The two top riders of the day, Barry Sheene and Kenny Roberts, exchanged the lead throughout the 500cc race.  Roberts eventually took the win by 0.03 seconds in one of the closest finishes of all-time.  In the 250cc race Morbidelli factory rider Graziano Rossi (Valentino’s father) fell on the final lap of the race when holding a two second lead.  Kork Ballington (Kawasaki) took advantage of Rossi’s misfortune to win the race and then did the double by winning the 350cc race.  Angel Nieto repeated his 125cc victory of the previous year.

1980 – After a great battle early in the 500cc race, Randy Mamola (Suzuki) pulled clear of fellow American Kenny Roberts to win the race with Marco Lucchinelli finishing third and Graziano Rossi finishing fourth.  Toni Mang (Kawasaki) won the 350cc race and Kork Ballington (Kawasaki) was once again victorious in the 250cc class.  In the 125cc class Loris Reggiani (Minarelli) took his first ever Grand Prix win.

1981 – The edge was taken of this race as early as the third lap when race leader and pole position man Graeme Crosby crashed and took out Barry Sheene and forced championship leader Marco Lucchinelli into the catch fencing.  Dutchman Jack Middelburg (Suzuki) went on to win the race from Randy Mamola and Kenny Roberts.  This was the last time that a premier-class GP race was won by a true privateer rider.  Toni Mang (Kawasaki) won both the 350cc and 250cc race.  The home crowd were given something to cheer with Keith Huewen finishing second in the 350cc race.  Angel Nieto (Minarelli) won in the 125cc class at Silverstone for the third time.

1982 –   Barry Sheene had a huge crash in practice that eliminated him from the 500cc race and Kenny Roberts’ race was short lived with a crash at the first corner.  With his two main challengers out of the race, Franco Uncini (Suzuki) cruised to a comfortable victory which effectively sealed the world title.  Jean-Francois Balde (Kawasaki) won a tremendous 350cc race and Martin Wimmer (Yamaha) won the 250cc race from pole having crashed out of the earlier 350cc race which he also started from pole.  Angel Nieto won the 125cc race once again – this time riding a Garelli.

1983 – The 500cc race was run in two parts, after the race had been stopped due to a big crash in which Norman Brown and Peter Huber lost their lives.  Kenny Roberts took overall victory from great rival Freddie Spencer with Randy Mamola making it an all USA podium.  There was an historic win in the 250cc race with Jacque Bolle giving Pernod their one and only GP victory.  Angel Nieto won the 125cc race at Silverstone for the fifth time.

1984 – Riding as a replacement for the injured Freddie Spencer, Randy Mamola won first time out on the V-four Honda from fellow American Eddie Lawson and British rider Ron Haslam.  Christian Sarron (Yamaha) won the 250cc race on the way to taking the world title and Angel Nieto won the 125cc race and in doing so clinched his 13^th and last world title.

1985 – In horrendously wet conditions, Freddie Spencer (Honda) won the 500cc race after finishing fourth in the earlier 250cc race to clinch the world championship title.  British rider Alan Carter had led the 250cc race until mid distance before crashing and re-starting to finish seventh.  Toni Mang (Honda) took the 250cc race victory from Reinhold Roth and Manfred Herweh in an all German podium.  Austrian rider August Auinger (Monnet) won the 125cc race.

1986 – As in the previous year, the event was held in terrible wet weather.  Wayne Gardner (Honda) had a start to finish win in the main race after starting from pole position.  Winner of the 250cc race was Dominique Sarron (Honda) – brother of the winner of the race in 1984.  Alan Carter crashed out of the 250cc race once again; this time on the last lap while challenging for the lead.  August Auinger (Bartol) repeated his 125cc win of the previous year.  History was made in the 80cc race held in the dry weather on Saturday, when Ian McConnachie (Krauser) became the first British rider to win a Grand Prix race for solo motorcycles around the Silverstone circuit.

• Motorcycle Grand Prix racing returned to Austria in 2016 after a break of eighteen years.

• In 2016 Austria staged a motorcycle grand prix event for the first time since 1997.

• The first Austrian grand prix took place in 1971 at the Salzburgring circuit, which hosted grand prix racing on a total of 22 occasions.

• At that first Austrian GP in 1971 Giacomo Agostini (MV Agusta) won the 500cc race, finishing more than a lap ahead of second place finisher Keith Turner. Agostini also won the 350cc race, with the other classes being won by the following riders: 250cc – Silvio Grassetti (MZ), 125cc – Angel Nieto (Derbi), 50cc – Jan de Vries (Kreidler).

• The last occasion that a grand prix event took place at the Salzburgring circuit was in 1994, when Mick Doohan won the 500cc race with a race average speed in excess of 194 km/h (120 mph)

• Due to the high speed nature of the Salzburgring circuit, and the limited amount of run-off provided, it was considered too dangerous for continued use for grand prix racing.

• The current circuit has hosted two previous grand prix events prior to 2016 – in 1996 and 1997, when named the A1-Ring.

• Prior to 2016 Valentino Rossi was the only current rider to have to have raced previously at this circuit in a grand prix.

• Rossi’s third place finish in the 125cc race in Austria in 1996 was his first GP podium finish. He again finished on the podium in the 125cc race in Austria in 1997, this time in second place just 0.004 seconds behind Noboru Ueda.

• Two years ago in Austria Andrea Iannone won for the first time since he moved up to the MotoGP class in 2013 and gave Ducati their first win since Casey Stoner won the Australian GP in 2010.

• Ducati have won both MotoGP races held at this circuit, with Iannone in 2016 and Dovizioso last year.

• The Red Bull Ring is the only circuit on the current schedule (that has been used previously) where Marc Marquez has not had a MotoGP victory.

• The Red Bull Ring is one of only seven circuits where Ducati have won in successive seasons, along with Brno, Donington, Losail, Motegi, Phillip Island, Sepang.

• The Austrian GP in 2016 gave Ducati their first one-two finish in a MotoGP race since the Australian GP in 2007, won by Casey Stoner from Loris Capirossi.

• The Austrian race in 2016 was the first time that Italian riders have taken the top two places in a premier-class GP both riding Italian bikes since the Finnish 500cc GP at Imatra in 1972 won by Giacomo Agostini, on a MV Agusta, from team-mate Alberto Pagani.

• The average speed of the MotoGP race in Austria last year was 182.6 km/h, the highest average speed for a grand prix race since Mick Doohan won the 500cc German Grand Prix in 1994 at the Hockenheim circuit at an average speed of 203.8 km/h.

Tenth place finisher at the Czech GP, Andrea Iannone, crossed the line just 8.326 seconds after race winner Andrea Dovizioso. This is the closest top ten of all-time in the premier-class of grand prix racing, in a race that has gone full race distance.

Here is a full list of the top ten closest races of all-time in the premier-class (Only races that have completed full race distance are considered for inclusion in the following table):

This illustrates what great racing there is in MotoGP at the moment, with three of the opening ten races of 2018 appearing in the above table.

• The MotoGP podium at the Dutch TT had the youngest average age since the Dutch TT two years earlier when Jack Miller won from Marc Marquez and Scott Redding.

• The podium at the Dutch TT: Marquez (Honda), Rins (Suzuki) and Vinales (Yamaha) was the first all-Spanish podium in the premier-class with the three riders on bikes from three different manufacturers.

• With Andrea Dovizioso finishing fourth at the Dutch TT on a Ducati, it was the third time in MotoGP this year that four different manufacturers had filled the top four places.

• Dani Pedrosa, the 15th place finisher at the Dutch TT, crossed the line just 16.043 seconds behind race winner Marc Marquez. This is a new record for the closest top 15 finishers in a premier-class grand prix, taking the record from the opening race of this year in Qatar when 23.287 second covered the first 15 riders across the line.

• With four different manufacturers filling the top four places at the Dutch TT and Pol Espargaro taking the first KTM across the line in 13^th place just one place ahead of his brother Aleix on the first Aprilia home, there were six different manufacturers covered by less than sixteen seconds.  Never before in the previous 865 premier-class grand prix races in the 70 year history of the world championship series have six manufacturers finished within 16 seconds of the winner.

• The rider with most victories at the new Sachsenring circuit is Marc Marquez with eight wins (1 x 125cc, 2 x Moto2, 5 x MotoGP), followed by Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa with six wins (2x 250cc, 4 x MotoGP).

• In each of the last eight years at the Sachsenring Marc Marquez has qualified on pole and won the race; 2010 in the 125cc class, 2011 & 2012 in Moto2 and for the last four years in MotoGP.

• Sachsenring is the only circuit on the 2017 schedule where Honda have won in the MotoGP class for each of the last eight years – three wins by Dani Pedrosa followed by five wins for Marc Marquez.

• Valentino Rossi was the last non-Honda rider to win at the Sachsenring – in 2009 on a Yamaha.

• With Danilo Petrucci crashing out at Assen, the only rider who has scored points at MotoGP all races so far in 2018 is Maverick Vinales who has scored points at the last 18 races.

• Yamaha have gone 18 MotoGP races without a win, since the Dutch TT last year. This is equals their longest winless sequence in the MotoGP era that included the last two races of 2002 and the 16 races of 2003. The last time Yamaha went more than 18 races without a premier-class win was when Honda set a record 22 race winning streak which included all of the 15 races of 1997 plus the first 7 races of 1998. This streak was ended with a win by Simon Crafar on a Yamaha at Donington.

• The second place finish by Alex Rins at the Dutch TT is the best result for a Suzuki rider since Maverick Vinales won at Silverstone in 2016.

• All three races at the last two events have been won by the rider starting from pole position. This six race streak of winners from pole is the longest since 2010, when there was also a six race winning streak from pole. The last time that a more than six successive GP races have been won from pole was in 1991; the 500cc race in Japan, all three races in Australia the two races at Laguna Seca and first two races at Jerez.