Martin Raines

• 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.

• The 2018 German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring will be the 80^th Grand Prix event to be held on German soil

• The first motorcycle Grand Prix to be held in Germany was the West German Grand Prix held at the Solitude circuit in 1952, when it was reported that 400,000 spectators turned up to watch.  Ireland’s Reg Armstrong won the 350cc and 500cc races riding Nortons.  The home crowd had plenty to cheer, with Rudi Felgenheier winning the 250cc race on a DKW and Werner Haas winning the 125cc race on a NSU.

• The first East German Grand Prix was held at the Sachsenring road circuit in 1961. The original circuit used for this event was a closed road circuit 8.73km in length. The East German GP continued to be held at the Sachsenring each year until 1972, after which the original road circuit was considered too dangerous for Grand Prix racing.

• The West German Grand Prix was held every year from 1952 through to 1990, when East and West joined to become a unified Germany. Four different circuits were used during this period 1952 to 1990: Solitude, Schotten, Nurburgring and Hockenheim.

• There has been a German Grand Prix held every year since unification; from 1991 to 1994 at the Hockenheim circuit, followed by three years at the Nurburgring and since 1998 at the new Sachsenring circuit.

• In addition to those mentioned above, one other Grand Prix event has been held in Germany: The Baden-Wurtemberg GP held in 1986 at the Hockenheim circuit for just the 80cc and 125cc classes.

• The newly built Sachsenring circuit was initially just 3.508km long when first opened in 1998, with one short section of track from the old road circuit. Major modifications to the circuit in 2001 and then additional slight alterations in 2003 resulted in the current 3.671 km track layout.

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

• This will be the 21^st successive year that a grand prix event has been held at the new Sachsenring circuit.

• Since Grand Prix racing returned to the Sachsenring circuit in 1998 there have been seven podium finishes by home riders: Ralf Waldmann was third in the 250cc race in 1999, Steve Jenkner was third in the 125cc race in 2002, Stefan Bradl finished second in the 125cc category in 2008, Sandro Cortese finished third in the 125cc race in 2010, Stefan Bradl was second in 2011 in Moto2, in 2012 Sandro Cortese won the Moto3 race; Jonas Folger was 2^nd in the Moto2 race in 2016 and 2^nd in the MotoGP race last year.

• Since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP class in 2002, Honda have been the most successful manufacturer at the Sachsenring with twelve wins, including the last eight years.

• Yamaha have had three wins at this circuit, the last of which was with Valentino Rossi in 2009, which was also the last MotoGP win in Germany by a non-Honda rider.

• Ducati’s single MotoGP victory in Germany was with Casey Stoner in 2008. Andrea Doviziosos’s third place finish two years ago is the only podium for a Ducati rider at the Sachsenring circuit since Casey Stoner was third in 2010.

• Honda riders have also qualified on pole for the German GP for the last seven years; the last non-Honda rider to start from pole for a MotoGP race at the Sachsenring was Jorge Lorenzo in 2010 on a Yamaha.

• The only podium finish for Suzuki in Germany in the MotoGP era is when Chris Vermeulen finished third in 2008.

• 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).

• The eight Moto2 races at the Sachsenring have been won by seven different riders: Toni Elias (2010), Marc Marquez (2011 & 2012), Jordi Torres (2013), Dominique Aegerter (2014), Xavier Simeon (2015), Johann Zarco (2016) and Franco Morbidelli (2017). All of these eight Moto2 wins have been from the front row of the grid.

• The six Moto3 races at the Sachsenring have been won by six different riders: Sandro Cortese, Alex Rins, Jack Miller, Danny Kent, Khairul Idham Pawi and Joan Mir. None of these rider still compete full-time in the Moto3 class.

Dani Pedrosa finished the Dutch TT in 15^th place, crossing the line just 16.043 seconds behind race winner Marc Marquez – the closest top fifteen of all-time in a full length premier-class grand prix. This breaks the record set at the opening race of 2018 in Qatar.

The following list shows the ten closest top fifteen finishes of all-time in the premier-class of grand prix racing, three of which are from the opening eight races of 2018 and four from 2017, showing just how competitive MotoGP is currently.  (Only races that have completed full race distance are considered for inclusion in the following table):

• The MotoGP podium at the Catalunya Grand Prix (Lorenzo, Marquez, Ross) set new records for the accumulated number of grand prix wins (246) and the accumulated number of premier-class wins – 173.

• At the Dutch TT Jorge Lorenzo could become just the second rider to win three successive races on a Ducati; the only rider to have achieved this previously is Casey Stoner.

• If Jorge Lorenzo wins the Dutch TT he will be the oldest rider to win three or more successive premier-class races since Mick Doohan in 1998.

• Following his wins at Mugello and Catalunya if Jorge Lorenzo wins the Dutch TT he will become only the third rider of the MotoGP era to win three or more successive MotoGP races for two different manufacturers, joining Valentino Rossi (Honda and Yamaha) and Casey Stoner (Ducati and Honda). In addition to Rossi and Stoner the only other rider to score three or more successive premier-class grand prix races on motorcycles from two different manufacturers is Geoff Duke in the 500cc class on both Norton and Gilera.

• The win in Catalunya was the 112^th time Jorge Lorenzo has stood on the podium in the MotoGP class, the exact same number as Dani Pedrosa. Only Valentino Rossi has stood on the podium more often in the premier-class of grand prix racing.

• Lorenzo’s win in Catalunya was the 150^th time he has stood on the podium in his grand prix career. He is fourth rider ever to reach the milestone of 150 grand prix podium finishes, joining Valentino Rossi, Giacomo Agostini and Dani Pedrosa.

• Two years ago at the Dutch TT Jack Miller took his first win in the MotoGP class; this was the first win in MotoGP by an Independent Team rider since Toni Elias won in Portugal in 2006.

• The last eight MotoGP poles at the Dutch TT have been taken by eight different riders: Jorge Lorenzo was on pole in 2010 followed in successive years by – Marco Simoncelli, Casey Stoner, Cal Crutchlow, Aleix Espargaro, Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso and Johann Zarco.

• In the last seven years only two riders have won the MotoGP race at the Dutch TT from pole position: Casey Stoner in 2012 and Valentino Rossi in 2015.

• In Catalunya Jorge Lorenzo became the first rider to win in the MotoGP class having started from pole positions since Marc Marquez at Phillip Island last year.

• Neither Dani Pedrosa nor fellow factory Honda rider Marc Marquez has started from pole in the MotoGP class at the Dutch TT. The last Honda rider to start from pole in the MotoGP class at the Dutch TT was Casey Stoner in 2012.

• The last rider to win the MotoGP race at the Dutch TT in successive years is Valentino Rossi, in 2004 and 2005.

• Last year Valentino Rossi become the oldest winner in the MotoGP era at the age of 38 years 129 days, which also made him the 7^th oldest winner of all-time in the premier-class of grand prix racing.

• If Marc Marquez finished in the top three at the Dutch TT it will be his 69^th podium in the MotoGP class, equalling the number of MotoGP podiums achieved by Casey Stoner.

• Last year at the Dutch TT, Scott Redding became just the second British rider (along with Cal Crutchlow) in the MotoGP era to set a fastest lap in a race.

• Yamaha have gone 17 MotoGP races without a win, since the Dutch TT last year. This is 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 two riders have scored points at all five MotoGP races in 2018: Maverick Vinales and Danilo Petrucci.

• Maverick Vinales has scored points in the last 17 successive races. The last time that he did not finish in a point scoring position was the Dutch TT last year when he crashed at the chicane at the end of the 12th lap.

• This year the Dutch TT takes place in July for the first time since 1955.

• The Dutch TT became part of the world championship series when it was first created in 1949 and Assen is the only circuit to have been part of the series every year since, making this the 70^th Dutch TT that has counted towards the world championship classification.

• In 2016 the Dutch TT was held on Sunday for the first time; all previous Dutch TT events had taken place on Saturday

• The original Assen circuit, that was used up to 1954, measured 16.54 km. This was reduced to 7.7 km in 1955 and then in 1984 further modifications to the circuit reduced the length to 6.1 km.  The current layout has been used since 2006, with a few minor adjustments.

• The 500cc race at the 1975 Dutch TT is the only premier-class grand prix race where the first two riders across the line have been credited with the same race time. Barry Sheene and Giacomo Agostini finished so close that the timekeepers of the day, using manual timing accurate to 0.1 sec, were unable to split them.

• Yamaha are the most successful manufacturer at the Dutch TT since the start of the four-stroke MotoGP formula with nine victories, seven for Valentino Rossi and one each for Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies.

• Honda have had six MotoGP wins at the Dutch TT with six different riders: Valentino Rossi, Sete Gibernau, Nicky Hayden, Casey Stoner, Marc Marquez and Jack Miller.

• Ducati’s single MotoGP win at the Dutch TT came in 2008 with Casey Stoner. Ducati has had just three podium finishers at Assen in the past seven years: Andrea Dovizioso was second in 2014, Scott Redding third in 2016 and Danilo Petrucci second last year.

• The last win by Suzuki at the Dutch TT was in the 500cc race in 1993 with Kevin Schwantz. The best results by Suzuki in the MotoGP era at the Dutch TT are 5^th place finishes by John Hopkins in 2007 and Chris Vermeulen in 2009.

• Just 0.063 second separated Valentino Rossi and Danilo Petrucci at the end of the Dutch TT last year; the sixth closest finish of the MotoGP era, after: 2006/Portugal (0.002 seconds), 2011/Valencia (0.015 sec), 2016/Italy (0.019 sec), 2003/Czech (0.042 sec), 2003/Germany (0.060 sec).

• The rider with most GP victories at Assen is Angel Nieto with 15 wins in the 125cc and 50cc classes, followed by Giacomo Agostini who had 14 wins riding 500cc and 350cc machines.

• Among the current riders, Valentino Rossi has been most successful at Assen with a total of ten victories, eight in MotoGP and one each in the 250cc and 125cc classes.

• The eight Moto2 races at the Dutch TT have been won by seven different riders: Andrea Iannone (2010), Marc Marquez (2011 & 2012), Pol Espargaro (2013), Anthony West (2014), Johann Zarco (2015), Takaaki Nakagami (2016) and Franco Morbidelli (2017). Of these riders, all with the exception of West are now competing in the MotoGP class.

• The six Moto3 races at the Dutch TT have been won by six different riders: Maverick Vinales (2012), Luis Salom (2013), Alex Marquez (2014), Miguel Oliveira (2015), Francesco Bagnaia (2016), Aron Canet (2017). Of these riders only Canet still competes in the Moto3 class.

• Only once has the Moto3 race at Assen been won by a rider qualifying on the front row – in 2014 when Alex Marquez qualified in second place on the grid.

• Moto3 rookie Bo Bendsneyder finished 9^th at his home grand prix in 2016, which is the best result for a Dutch rider in any class of grand prix racing at the Dutch TT since Jurgen van den Goorbergh finished ninth in the 500cc race in 2001.

• Jorge Lorenzo’s won the Italian Grand Prix by 6.37 seconds which is the largest winning margin at Mugello in the MotoGP era and also the largest winning margin for a Ducati rider since Casey Stoner won the Australian GP in 2010 by 8.598 seconds, which was also the last start-to-finish win for a Ducati rider.

• Although Lorenzo had a clear lead at the front of the race, the battle behind him for points was as close as ever. The 9^th place finisher Alvaro Bautista ended the race just 11.154 seconds behind Lorenzo, making this the closest top nine of the MotoGP era in a race that has gone the full distance.

• The total accumulated age of the three riders on the MotoGP podium in Mugello was 102 years 209 days – the oldest podium in the premier-class since the Grand Prix of Finland in 1975 which was won by Giacomo Agostini from Tepi Lansivouri and Jack Findlay

• Jorge Lorenzo is first rider to win in MotoGP on both Yamaha and Ducati (Loris Capirossi won on Yamaha and Ducati, but his Yamaha win was in the 500cc class). With his win at Mugello Lorenzo is the seventh rider to have a winning career spanning more than 10 years in the premier-class, joining: Rossi, Barros, Pedrosa, Read, Agostini and Capirossi.

• Lorenzo’s win at Mugello came more than 14 years after his first GP win I the 125cc class at Rio in 2003. Only four riders have longer winning careers in Grand Prix racing than Lorenzo: Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi, Angel Nieto and Dani Pedrosa.

• Lorenzo’s win in Italy was the 149^th time he has stood on the podium in his grand prix career. His next top three finish will make him just the fourth rider ever to reach the milestone of 150 grand prix podium finishes, joining Valentino Rossi, Giacomo Agostini and Dani Pedrosa.

• Valentino Rossi is the most successful rider across all grand prix classes at the Catalunya circuit with ten victories (1 x 125cc, 2 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 6 x MotoGP). The next most successful, with five wins is Jorge Lorenzo (1 x 250cc, 4 x MotoGP).

• The last rider to win a MotoGP race starting from pole position was Marc Marquez at Phillip Island last year. This eight race sequence without a rider winning from pole is the longest in the MotoGP class since there was 12 races without a winner from pole starting with the 2006 Portuguese GP.

• Ten different riders have finished on the podium in the first six races of 2018 – the same number of different podium finishers throughout the whole of 2017.

• In Catalunya two years ago Maverick Viñales set the fastest lap of the race on his way to finishing 4^th riding a Suzuki – his first fastest lap in the MotoGP class.

• Yamaha have gone 16 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 two riders have scored points at all five MotoGP races in 2018: Maverick Vinales and Danilo Petrucci.

• Arriving at Catalunya Hafizh Syahrin and Franco Morbidelli are level on points in the battle for the Rookie of the Year title, each with 17 points.