Martin Raines

Cal Crutchlow’s win in Argentina, that took him to the head of the championship standings, will go down in the record books for many reasons, including:

– Last time a British rider led the premier-class championship was Barry Sheene riding a Suzuki after opening race of 1979 in Venezuela.

– Barry Sheene lost the lead of the championship after next race in Austria on 29th April – so time between Sheene losing the title lead and Cal Crutchlow heading it after Argentina is 38 years 344 days.

– Number of premier-class races without a British rider leading the championship is 589.

– Crutchlow is the first Independent Team rider to head the MotoGP championship classifications since Sete Gibernau in 2004.

– This was Crutchlow’s third MotoGP win, the same number of victories as 2006 world champions Nicky Hayden, both who did not compete in any of the smaller classes of GP racing. All the riders who have taken more MotoGP wins than Hayden and Crutchlow had progressed to the MotoGP class after competing in one of the smaller GP classes.

– Only two riders have taken more MotoGP wins than Crutchlow as Independent Team riders: Sete Gibernau with 8, and Marco Melandri with 5.

– He is the sixth oldest rider to win a MotoGP race, after: Valentino Rossi, Troy Bayliss, Alex Barros, Loris Capirossi and Max Biaggi.

– Crutchlow is the oldest British rider to win a premier-class grand prix since Phil Read won the 500cc Czech Grand Prix in 1975.

– The British riders who have more premier-class GP wins than Crutchlow are: Mike Hailwood, John Surtees, Geoff Duke, Barry Sheene, Phil Read and Les Graham. All of these riders have at least one premier-class world title to their name.

– The win Cal Crutchlow in Argentina means he has now finished on the podium at least once for seven successive seasons in the MotoGP class. Only two other British riders have had premier-class podium finishes in seven or more successive seasons: Mike Hailwood and Geoff Duke.

– He is the first rider who has not come through from the smaller classes of GP racing to lead the MotoGP championship classification since Nicky Hayden at the final race of 2006.

• In Qatar Andrea Dovizioso became the first Ducati rider to win the opening MotoGP race of the year since Casey Stoner in 2009. If he should win in Argentina it will be Ducati’s first ever victory at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit and the first time that a Ducati rider has won both of the opening two MotoGP races of the year.

• Dovizioso’s win in Qatar was the 9^th time he has stood on the top step of the podium in the MotoGP class – the same number of premier-class victories as Loris Capirossi. Only three Italian riders have had more premier-class GP wins than Dovizioso – Valentino Rossi, Giacomo Agostini and Max Biaggi.

• A win in Argentina for Dovizioso would make him just the third rider in the MotoGP era to win the opening two races of the year; the only other riders to have achieved this is Marc Marquez in 2014 and Maverick Viñales last year.

• Marc Marquez has started on pole on each of the four occasions that MotoGP has visited Argentina. He has won the race in both 2014 and 2016, and crashed out in both 2015 and 2017.

• The 2^nd place finish by Marc Marquez in Qatar was the 64^th time he has stood on the podium in the MotoGP class, the same number of premier-class podiums as Wayne Rainey. Only seven riders have stood on the podium more often than Marquez in the premier-class: Rossi, Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Doohan, Agostini, Lawson and Stoner.

• With his third place finish in Qatar Rossi extended his record of finishing on the podium every season for twenty-three successive years. The second longest run of successive years with grand prix podium finishes is twenty by Angel Nieto.

• Rossi has finished on the podium at least once in all nineteen seasons competing in the premier-class – also a record. His closest challenger in this record is Giacomo Agostini with thirteen successive years in the premier-class with at least one podium finish.

• Cal Crutchlow was the first of the Independent Team riders across the line in Qatar in 4^th place, equalling his best ever result at the opening race of the year from 2012. Crutchlow finished 3^rd last year in Argentina – his only podium of 2017.

• Johann Zarco won the Moto2 race in Argentina in both 2015 and 2016, and finished 5^th last year in just his second race in the MotoGP class.

• Hafizh Syahrin finished 14^th on his MotoGP debut in Qatar to become the first Malaysian rider ever to score points in the premier-class of grand prix racing.

• Just 0.027 seconds separated Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez in Qatar – the 8^th closest finish of all-time in the premier-class.

• Fifteenth place finisher in Qatar, Karel Abraham, finished just 23.287 second behind race winner Dovizioso – the closest ever top 15 finish in the 70-year history of premier-class grand prix racing. The previous record was 26.082 second covering the first 15 riders across the line at Aragon last year.

• Another indication of how competitive the MotoGP field is in 2018 – in Qatar another nineteen riders lapped within 1 second of the fastest lap of the race set by Dovizioso.

• The cumulative wining time for the three races in Qatar added up to just 0.162 seconds, which is smallest cumulative time across the three classes in the 70-year history of motorcycle grand prix racing when all three races have run for full distance. The previous record was 0.213 seconds at the German GP in 2006. (The cumulative winning time across the three classes at the Italian GP in 2016 was just 0.087 seconds, but the length of the Moto2 race was reduced to just 10 laps).

• Honda need just one more victory to become the first manufacturer to reach the milestone of 750 grand prix wins across all classes. The breakdown by class following the opening race in Qatar is as follows: MotoGP – 131, 500cc – 156, 350cc – 35, 250cc – 207, Moto3 – 43, 125cc – 164, 50cc – 13.

• This year’s event at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit is the 15^th motorcycle grand prix to be held in Argentina.

• The first Argentinean GP took place in 1961 and was held in Buenos Aires; the first time that a grand prix had taken place outside of Europe. Not all of the top riders attended the event and the 52 lap, 203 km, 500cc race was won by home rider Jorge Kissling (Matchless) from fellow countryman Juan Carlos Salatino (Norton).

• This is the fifth year that the Argentinean GP has taken place at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit. All of the ten previous grand prix in Argentina had taken place in Buenos Aires, the last of which was in 1999.

• Three riders from Argentina have won grand prix races; Sebastian Porto (seven wins in the 250cc class), Benedicto Caldarella and Jorge Kissling who both had single victories in the 500cc class.

• The last GP win by an Argentinean rider was in the 250cc class at the Dutch TT in 2005, when Sebastian Porto won the race from Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.

• The only current full-time grand prix rider who has raced in a grand prix at the Buenos Aires circuit is Valentino Rossi, who won the 250cc race in 1998 & was third in 1999.

• Marc Marquez has been on pole on all four occasions MotoGP has visited the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit

• Termas de Rio Hondo is the only circuit on the 2018 schedule where Valentino Rossi still holds the MotoGP lap record.

• Marc Marquez and Honda have twice won the MotoGP race in Argentina – in 2014 and 2016.

• The other two MotoGP wins in Argentina have both been by Yamaha riders –  Valentino Rossi in 2015 race after starting down in 8^th place on the grid, and Maverick Viñales last year. Yamaha riders filled four of the top six places in the MotoGP race in Argentina last year.

• Last year in Argentina Viñales made it two wins from the opening two races of the season – the first Yamaha rider since Wayne Rainey in 1990 to win the opening two premier-class grand prix races of the year.

• Andrea Dovizioso’s second place finish in 2015 is the only podium finish for a Ducati rider in Argentina.

• The best result for a Suzuki rider at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit is seventh with Aleix Espargaro three years ago.

• The four Moto2 races that have taken place at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit have all been won by riders now competing in the MotoGP class: Tito Rabat in 2014, Johann Zarco in 2015 & 2016, and Franco Morbidelli last year. In each of the past four years the Moto2 race winner in Argentina has gone on to take the world title.

• Last year in Argentina Miguel Oliveira qualified on pole position for the first time since moving up to the Moto2 class – the first Portuguese rider to start from pole position in the intermediate-class of grand prix racing.

– This will be the 15^th occasion that a grand prix event has been held at the Losail circuit and the 11th under floodlights.

– This will be the 12th successive year that the Losail circuit has hosted the opening grand prix event of the year. No circuit has hosted the opening grand prix of the year on more occasions than Losail.

– Yamaha have been the most successful manufacturer in the MotoGP class at the Losail circuit with eight wins, including five times in the last six years.

– Honda have had three MotoGP wins in Qatar, the last of which was in 2014 with Marc Marquez.

– Ducati won at Losail for three consecutive years, 2007 to 2009, with Casey Stoner riding.

– The best result for a Suzuki rider at the Losail circuit is the fourth place finish by John Hopkins in 2007.

– The riders with most GP victories at Losail is Jorge Lorenzo with six victories (3 x MotoGP, 2 x 250cc, 1 x 125cc).

– Aleix Espargaro’s sixth place finish in Qatar last year equalled the best ever result for Aprilia in the MotoGP class achieved by Colin Edwards at the opening race of the 2003 season at Suzuka in Japan.

– Since ±MotoGP was introduced as the premier-class of grand prix racing in 2002, six different riders have won the opening race of the year: Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez and Maverick Viñales.

– In Qatar last year Sam Lowes, who recorded the slowest “fastest lap” in the MotoGP race posted a lap just 1.891 seconds slower than the fastest lap of the race set by Johann Zarco. Never previously in the MotoGP class have 23 riders posted a lap time within two seconds of the fastest lap set during a race.

– The only four current riders who have won in the MotoGP class in Qatar are; Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez and Maverick Vinales.

– None of the previous winners of the Moto2 race in Qatar are competing in the class in 2018, although two riders who have won in the 250cc class at the Losail circuit are entered in the Moto2 class in 2018: Mattia Pasini (2008) and Hector Barbera (2009).

– The only previous Qatar GP winner competing in the Moto3 class in 2018 is Niccolo Antonelli who won the Moto3 race in 2016.

There is often debate on which is the “Golden Era” of motorcycle grand prix racing. Is it the early years of the world championship in the 1950’s, or perhaps the 1960’s when the Japanese manufacturers invested huge amounts to become successful. Or maybe the 1970’s which saw the start of what we now consider the “modern era” of grand prix racing when the original closed road circuits gave way to purpose built tracks. Or the great times of 1980s into the early 1990s when fierce rivalries between a handful of riders from USA and Australia tamed the fearsome 500cc 2-strokes. Then there is the emergence of the four-stroke MotoGP class in 2002 which also coincided with the career of one Valentino Rossi.

I have been following motorcycle grand prix racing for 50 years, covering most of the era’s mentioned about, but for me it is none of these. The Golden Era is now! When I ventured this opinion of Twitter recently, someone asked, why do I consider this the Golden Era. Well here are a few reasons:

• Fantastic depth of talent: Of the 24 riders on the full-time MotoGP entry list for 2018, 12 are grand prix world champions and 21 of them have stood on the top step of a grand prix podium, with a total of 461 GP victories between them.

• Competitive machinery: All 24 riders on the grid have bikes either supplied direct from the factory or indirectly as a “satellite” rider. Added to this the rule changes over recent years have resulted in bikes that are more closely matched than ever before.

• Close racing: Due to the great depth of talent and competitive machinery, the racing last year was closer than ever with seven of the twelve closest premier-class grand prix races occurring in 2017 (more detail in my previous blog: www.nick-harris.co.uk/how-close-will-motogp-be-in-2018)

• Unpredictable: Over the last 50 MotoGP races there have been nine different winners. Over this period no single rider has dominated in terms of race wins, Marquez with 15 victories is the rider who has stood on the top step of the podium most. The other wins are distributed as follows: Lorenzo – 10, Dovizioso – 7, Pedrosa – 5, Rossi – 5, Vinales – 4, Crutchlow – 2 and one each for Iannone and Miller.

• Nineteen races: The 2018 race schedule has added another new circuit to the calendar to bring the number of races up to a record 19, across 15 different countries. Although the addition of an extra race is not universally popular with everyone working in the MotoGP paddock, it is great for the fans!

• Great worldwide following: As Nick stated in an earlier blog (www.nick-harris.co.uk/over-two-and-a-half-millions-fans-cant-be-wrong/), the number of fans turning up at the race tracks to watch the races is at a record level and the TV audience continues to increase each year. Added to that is the enormous number of fans who follow the sport online and on Social Media.

• Fierce rivalry: The rivalry between the current top riders means that on track no quarter is asked or given, providing incredible close racing.

So while it is always fun to look back nostalgically to past era’s and discuss the great races and riders (through rose tinted spectacles?), never forget that in 20 years’ time what is happening NOW will be remembered as THE “Golden Era”.