Martin Raines Blog

Joan Mir has already impressed in his short time in the Moto2 class in 2018 and it has already been announced that he is moving to the MotoGP class next year with Suzuki. Mir finished on the podium for the first time in the Moto2 class at the French GP in just his fifth start in the class. How does this compare with other top riders in their first year in Moto2? The following table shows this comparison against a selection other riders who have made an immediate impact when moving up to Moto2.

So the question now is – How long before Mir wins for the first time in the Moto2 class, and can he become the first to win the Moto2 title in the first season up from the lightweight-class? Unlikely as he already has a 47 point deficit to the championship leader, but who knows with another 13 races still remaining of 2018. If Mir wins in Catalunya, then it is game-on!

• This is the 33^rd occasion that a GP has been held at the Mugello circuit, including twenty-eight times in consecutive years starting in 1991.

• The first time that Mugello hosted a grand prix event was in 1976. The 500cc race was won by Barry Sheene by the narrow margin of 0.1 sec from Phil Read, in a race lasting over 62 minutes. This was at a time when Suzuki riders dominated the premier-class; the first non-Suzuki rider home was Waerum Borge Nielsen in tenth place riding a Yamaha.

• The layout of the Mugello circuit has remained basically the same since 1976 with the official track length of 5.245km remaining unchanged.

• Yamaha have been the most successful manufacturer in the four-stroke MotoGP era at Mugello with a total of ten wins; five successive victories with Valentino Rossi in the years 2004 through to 2008, in addition to the wins with Lorenzo in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016.

• Mugello is the most successful circuit for Yamaha in terms of MotoGP victories.

• Honda have had four wins in the MotoGP class at Mugello: Valentino Rossi in 2002 and 2003, Dani Pedrosa in 2010, and Marc Marquez in 2014.

• Ducati have had two wins at the Mugello; in 2009 with Casey Stoner and last year with Andrea Dovizioso.

• Dovizioso’s win last year was the first ever GP win in the premier-class at Mugello for an Italian rider on an Italian bike.

• The best results for Suzuki at Mugello in the MotoGP era is 5^th, which was achieved by John Hopkins in 2007 and Loris Capirossi in 2009.

• Loris Capirossi was the first Italian rider to win in the premier-class at Mugello, the 500cc race in 2000 after a race long battle with his countrymen Biaggi and Rossi, both of whom crashed in the closing stages.

• The MotoGP race at Mugello in 2004 is the shortest ever premier-class grand prix race. The race lasted just six laps taking 12 minutes 6.803 seconds, after the first attempt to run the race was stopped due to rain and then restarted for the remaining laps under the rain rules as they stood at that time.

• Italy, together with The Netherlands and Great Britain are the only three countries that have hosted a motorcycle grand prix event in each year since the motorcycling world championship series started in 1949.

• The MotoGP race victories at Mugello in the sixteen years since it was introduced as the premier-class of grand prix racing are shared by just six riders: Valentino Rossi (7 wins), Jorge Lorenzo (5 wins); Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner, Marc Marquez and Andrea Dovizioso all having a single win at Mugello.

• Five of the six riders who have won in the Moto2 class at Mugello are now competing in the MotoGP class: Andrea Iannone (2010 & 2012), Marc Marquez (2011), Scott Redding (2013), Tito Rabat (2014 & 2015) and Johann Zarco (2016). Last year’s winner Mattia Pasini is the only Moto2 winner at Mugello still competing in the class.

• The win by Marc Marquez at Jerez was the 37^th time he has stood on the top step of the podium in the MotoGP class, equalling the number of premier-class GP victories as MotoGP legend Mike Hailwood. He needs just one more win to equal the number of MotoGP victories achieved by Casey Stoner.

• Johann Zarco’s 2^nd place finish at Jerez was the 21^st successive race where he has achieved a point scoring finish. The only race where he has failed to score points since moving up to the MotoGP class was the opening race of last year in Qatar when he crashed while leading the race.

• Last year Zarco was in third place on the grid for his home grand prix – the first front row in the MotoGP class by a French rider since Randy de Puniet at Catalunya in 2010 and the best qualifying result in the premier-class by a French rider at his home race since Christian Sarron was on pole for the 500cc GP at Paul Ricard in 1988. His second place finish in the race made him the first French rider to finish on the podium in the premier-class at his home race since Christian Sarron was second at Paul Ricard in 1988.

• Yamaha have gone 14 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.

• At the French Grand Prix last year Maverick Viñales became only the ninth rider to win a MotoGP race from pole and in the process set a new lap record, joining: Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa, Loris Capirossi, Makoto Tamada, Andrea Iannone.

• Jorge Lorenzo is the rider with most grand prix victories at Le Mans, having stood on the top step of the podium on six occasions at the French circuit; a single win in the 250cc class to add to his five MotoGP wins.

• Two years ago at Le Mans, Lorenzo crossed the line 10.654 seconds ahead of Valentino Rossi; Lorenzo’s largest margin of victory in a dry MotoGP race

• The podium finishers at the last two MotoGP races have all graduated from the Moto2 class.  Prior to the start of this year only one podium has included only riders that have graduated from Moto2 – at Misano in 2015 (Marquez, Smith, Redding).

• The top four riders in the championship standings after the Spanish Grand Prix are riders who have graduated from the Moto2 class.

• Maverick Viñales took the MotoGP at Le Mans last year, at the circuit where he scored his first 125cc GP win in 2011. This was the last time that Vinales has stood on the top step of the podium. Vinales also won the Moto3 race at Le Mans in 2013 and had his first MotoGP podium at the circuit in 2016 when he finished 3^rd on a Suzuki.

• Yamaha riders have taken the top two places at the French Grand Prix for the last three years.

• Tom Luthi has had great grand prix success at Le Mans, with four victories: 125cc in 2005 & 2006, Moto2 in 2012 & 2015.

• Rossi has had twelve podium finishes in the premier-class at Le Mans, including three victories; in 2002 riding a Honda, 2005 riding the 990cc Yamaha and in 2008 on Yamaha’s 800cc machine.

• At the French Grand Prix Tito Rabat is scheduled to make his 200^th grand prix start. Rabat has already scored 24 points in the opening four races of 2018 compared with 35 points throughout the whole of 2017.

• Le Mans has hosted a grand prix event on thirty previous occasions, including the Grand Prix “Vitesse du Mans” in 1991, which is the only year that two grand prix events have been held in France in the same year.

• Le Mans was first used for a grand prix event in 1969, when the 500cc race was won by Giacomo Agostini, who lapped all the other riders in the race on his MV Agusta.

• This is the 19th successive year that the Le Mans circuit has hosted a motorcycle grand prix event, starting in 2000.

• In addition to Le Mans, there have been seven other circuits that have hosted the French GP (the figure in brackets is the number of times each circuit has hosted the French Grand Prix): Paul Ricard (13), Clermont-Ferrand (10), Nogaro (2), Reims (2), Rouen (2), Albi (1), Magny-Cours (1).

• Since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP formula in 2002 Honda have had seven wins at Le Mans, the last of which was four years ago with Marc Marquez.

• Yamaha have had eight MotoGP wins at Le Mans, including for the last three years, 2015 & 2016 with Jorge Lorenzo and last year with Maverick Vinales.

• Chris Vermeulen took his single MotoGP win at Le Mans in 2007 riding a Suzuki. Prior to Maverick Viñales winning at Silverstone in 2016, this was the only GP victory in the four-stroke MotoGP era for Suzuki. Viñales finished third at Le Mans in 2016 – the first MotoGP podium for Suzuki since Loris Capirossi was third at Brno in 2008.

• The best results for Ducati at the Le Mans circuit are second place finishes for Loris Capirossi in 2006 and Valentino Rossi in 2012.

• The only non-Spanish rider to win a MotoGP race at Le Mans in the past nine years is Casey Stoner in 2011.

• The podium at the French Grand Prix last year (Vinales, Zarco, Pedrosa)was only the fourth since the start of 2013 that did not include one of either Marc Marquez or Valentino Rossi. The other podium in this period that did not include either of these two riders were: 2013 – Italy (Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Crutchlow), 2014 – Aragon (Lorenzo, Aleix Espargaro, Crutchlow), 2016 – Austria (Iannone, Dovizioso, Lorenzo). Two other races in 2017 had neither Rossi or Marquez on the podium: Mugello (Dovizioso, Vinales, Petrucci) and Malaysia (Dovizioso, Lorenzo, Zarco).

• There have been five GP wins at the Le Mans circuit by French riders: Jean Aureal won the 125cc race in 1969, Guy Bertin the 125cc race in 1979, Patrick Fernandez the 350cc race in 1979, Mike di Meglio the 125cc race in 2008 and Louis Rossi the Moto3 race in 2012.

• Of the sixteen MotoGP races held at Le Mans, nine have either started in wet conditions or rain has started during the race. The only years that the MotoGP race at Le Mans has been run under full dry conditions are: 2004, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

• The eight Moto2 races that have taken place at Le Mans have been won by seven different riders: Toni Elias, Marc Marquez, Tom Luthi, Scott Redding, Mika Kallio, Alex Rins and Franco Morbidelli. The only rider to have more than a single Moto2 win at Le Mans is Tom Luthi. None of these Moto2 winners at Le Mans is still competing in the Moto2 class in 2018.

• None of the eight previous Moto2 races at Le Mans has been won by the rider starting on pole position.

• The six Moto3 races that have taken place at Le Mans have been won by six different riders: Louis Rossi, Maverick Viñales, Jack Miller, Romano Fenati, Brad Binder and Joan Mir. Only two of these victories were not on a KTM machine – Louis Rossi in 2012 riding a FTR Honda and Joan Mir last year on a Honda.

• Eight different riders have finished on the podium in the first three races if 2018, only Marc Marquez has been on the podium more than once in MotoGP this year. The last time as many as eight different riders finished on the podium in the first three premier-class races of a season was back in 1996.

• For the first time since 2013, the first three MotoGP races of the year have been won by three different riders. Not since 2008 have four different riders been on top of the podium in MotoGP at the first four races of the year (Stoner, Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Rossi).

• Yamaha have gone 13 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.

• At the Spanish Grand Prix last year Dani Pedrosa won from Marc Marquez – one of three occasions that the two team mates took the top two places in 2017, along with the Czech GP and Aragon.

• At the Spanish Grand Prix last year Jorge Lorenzo finished on the podium for the first time on a Ducati. This was the first podium finish for Ducati at the Jerez circuit since Nicky Hayden was third in 2011. Lorenzo has had three victories in the MotoGP class at Jerez, in 2010, 2011 and 2015.

• Dovizioso’s best results from ten starts in the MotoGP class at Jerez are 5th in 2012 riding a Yamaha, and in 2014 and last year on the Ducati. Jerez the current circuit that have been used previously where he has not had a podium in the MotoGP class.

• Marc Marquez has finished on the podium in all five years he has competed in the MotoGP class at Jerez, including a win in 2014 which is his only GP victory in any class at Jerez.

• The win by Marc Marquez in Austin was the 36^th time he has stood on the top step of the podium in the MotoGP class. He now needs just one more win to equal the number of premier-class GP victories as MotoGP legend Mike Hailwood.

• Maverick Viñales won the Moto3 race at the Spanish GP five years ago, on his way to taking the world title – his only grand prix podium finish at Jerez.

• Valentino Rossi has taken a total of twenty-one grand prix wins on Spanish soil. The breakdown of wins by circuit is as follows: Catalunya – 10 (6 x MotoGP, 1 x 500cc, 2 x 250cc, 1 x 125cc), Jerez – 9 (6 x MotoGP, 1 x 500cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 125cc), Valencia – 2 (2 x MotoGP).

• Dani Pedrosa won at Jerez last year, the 16^th successive season that Pedrosa had taken at least one grand prix win across the three classes, which is the record as the longest sequence of successive years that a rider has achieved at least one grand prix victory. He has two other victories in the MotoGP class at Jerez, in 2008 and 2013.

• Johann Zarco’s 6^th place finish in Austin was the 20^th successive race where he has achieved a point scoring finish. The only race where he has failed to score points since moving up to the MotoGP class was the opening race of last year in Qatar when he crashed while leading the race. Zarco has never stood on the top step of the podium at Jerez in any of the GP classes.

• Just five different riders have stood on the top step of the MotoGP podium at Jerez during the last eleven years: Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi three times each, with Marc Marquez and Casey Stoner each taking a single victory.

• After making 49 Moto3 grand prix starts without a win, Jorge Martin has now stood on the top step of the podium three times in the last four races.

• This is the 32nd successive year that a motorcycle grand prix event has been held at the Jerez circuit; it was first used in 1987.

• Assen is the only current venue that has been used consecutively for a longer period than Jerez.

• A total of 95 grand prix races for solo motorcycles have been held at the Jerez circuit as follows: MotoGP – 16, 500cc – 15, Moto2 – 8, 250cc – 23, Moto3 – 6, 125cc – 24, 80cc – 3.

• Since the introduction of the MotoGP class in 2002, Honda have had eight victories at Jerez, including last year with Dani Pedrosa.

• Yamaha have had seven MotoGP wins at Jerez, the last of which was two years ago with Valentino Rossi.

• Ducati’s only win at Jerez was in 2006 when Loris Capirossi won from pole position. Jorge Lorenzo’s third place finish last year was the first podium for Ducati at Jerez since 2011 when Nicky Hayden was third.

• Two years ago Aleix Espargaro finished fifth at Jerez to equal the best ever MotoGP result for Suzuki at the circuit. Suzuki’s last victory at Jerez was in 2000, when Kenny Roberts won the 500cc race on his way to taking the world title.

• Jerez has been the most successful circuit for the Spanish riders as regards premier-class victories, with a total of twelve wins; Alberto Puig in 1995, Alex Criville in 1997, 98, 99, Sete Gibernau in 2004, Dani Pedrosa in 2008, 2013 and 2017, Jorge Lorenzo in 2010, 2011 & 2015, and Marc Marquez in 2014.

• There has been at least one Spanish rider on the podium in the MotoGP race at Jerez for the last fourteen years, a sequence that started in 2004.

• Alberto Puig’s victory at Jerez on 7^th May 1995 was the first win for a Spanish rider in the premier-class on home soil.

• Valentino Rossi is the most successful rider at the Jerez circuit with nine grand prix victories to his name; a single victory in both the 125cc and 250cc classes to add to his seven in the premier-class.

• There have been four different winners in the MotoGP class at Jerez in the last four years: Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa.

• For the last four years at Jerez the rider who has won the MotoGP race has started from pole position.

• The eight Moto2 races that have taken place at Jerez have been won by eight different riders: Toni Elias, Andrea Iannone, Pol Espargaro, Tito Rabat, Mika Kallio, Jonas Folger, Sam Lowes and Alex Marquez. Of these only Lowes and Marquez are competing in the Moto2 class in 2018.

• Brad Binder took his first grand prix in sensational style at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2016, starting from the last place on the grid as a penalty for a technical infringement, and riding his way through the field to win by over three seconds. This was the first ever win the lightweight-class of Grand Prix racing for a South African rider.

• No rider has won the Moto3 GP race at Jerez after starting on pole position.

• Six different riders have finished on the podium in the first two races of the year – the first time this has occurred since 1977 when the second race of the year in Austria was boycotted by the leading factory riders for safety reasons.

• The first two riders across the line in in Argentina were both Independent Team riders; the last time this occurred was at the Grand Prix of Turkey in 2006, when Marco Melandri won from Casey Stoner.

• Championship leader Cal Crutchlow best results in Austin have been 4^th place finishes in both 2013 and 2017. He will be aiming to be the first British rider to win back-to-back premier-class GP races since Barry Sheene in 1977. The last Independent Team rider to win back-to-back MotoGP races was Marco Melandri at the final two races of 2005.

• Marc Marquez riding a Honda has qualified on pole and won all five MotoGP races that have taken place in Austin.

• The last fourteen MotoGP races in the USA have all been won by Honda riders. The last non-Honda MotoGP winner in the USA was Jorge Lorenzo, at Laguna Seca in 2010 on a Yamaha.

• Honda riders have qualified on pole for the last ten MotoGP races held in the USA. The last non-Honda rider to start from pole at any of the US circuits is Jorge Lorenzo at Laguna Seca in 2012.

• Honda have won seventeen of the twenty-two premier-class grand prix races that have taken place in the USA in the MotoGP era.

• After his second place finish in Austin last year Valentino Rossi headed the championship classification for the first time since he arrived at the final race of 2015 at Valencia with a seven-point lead over Jorge Lorenzo.

• In Argentina Jack Miller became the first Independent Team Ducati rider to start from pole in the MotoGP class. His 4^th place finish in Argentina is his best result since his win at the Dutch TT in 2016. Miller won the Moto3 race in Austin in 2014.

• Andrea Dovizioso’s second place finish in 2015 is the best result for a Ducati at the Austin circuit. Dovizioso was the first Ducati rider across the line last year in Austin in 6^th place.

• At the Argentinian GP Alex Rins took his first podium finish since moving up to the MotoGP class at the start of last year, in just his 15^th MotoGP start. Rins has a great record at the Austin circuit, winning the Moto3 race in 2013 and the Moto2 race in 2016. He missed the race in Austin last year due to injury.

• The first four riders across the line in Argentina rode bikes from four different manufacturers; the last time this happened was at the Australian GP in 2016.

• Seventeen different rider has finished on the podium across the three classes in the first two GP events of the year. Only Aron Canet in Moto3 has been on the podium at both events.

• Hafizh Syahrin was the first Rookie across the line in Argentina in ninth place and now heads the Rookie of the Year classification with 9 points from Franco Morbidelli who has 6 points.

• Yamaha have gone 12 MotoGP races without a win, their longest winless sequence since Honda won the opening 12 races of 2014. The last time that Yamaha went longer than 12 races without a win was the 18 races that included the last two races of 2002 and the 16 races of 2003.

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.