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Catalunya 2018 – Facts and Stats

  • This is the 27th successive year that the Circuit de Catalunya has hosted a grand prix; it was first included in the motorcycle grand prix series in 1992.
  • Only three current venues have a longer ongoing sequence of hosting grand prix events: Jerez, Mugello and Assen.
  • The last time that Spain did not have at least one GP winner across the three classes at the Catalan Grand Prix was 2002.
  • During the four-stroke MotoGP era, Yamaha have taken nine victories at the Catalunya circuit, the last of which was two years ago with Valentino Rossi.
  • Honda have had just four wins at the Catalunya circuit during the MotoGP era, the last of which was in 2014 with Marc Marquez.
  • Ducati with Andrea Dovizioso took the win last year to add to the manufacturers two previous MotoGP wins at the Catalunya circuit, including their very first ever in the class with Loris Capirossi in 2003.
  • The last win by Suzuki at the Catalunya Grand Prix was in the 500cc class in 2000, with Kenny Roberts JNR. Two years ago Maverick Viñales’ finished fourth, which equalled the best result for a Suzuki rider at the Catalunya circuit since the introduction of the MotoGP formula in 2002, which had previously been achieved by John Hopkins in both 2006 and 2007.
  • Aleix Espargaro started from pole three years ago in Catalunya – which was the first pole for Suzuki since Chris Vermeulen took the top qualifying spot at the Dutch TT in 2007.
  • The last Yamaha rider to start from pole in Catalunya was Jorge Lorenzo in 2010, which was also the last time that the rider starting from pole won the MotoGP race at this circuit. In addition to Jorge Lorenzo, the only other rider to have won the MotoGP race at Catalunya from pole position is Valentino Rossi in 2006.
  • There have been nine premier-class victories by Spanish riders at the Catalunya circuit; Alex Criville in 1995 & 1999, Carlos Checa in 1996, Dani Pedrosa in 2008, Jorge Lorenzo in 2010, 2012, 2013 & 2015, and Marc Marquez in 2014.
  • There has been at least one Spanish rider on the podium in the MotoGP race at the Catalan GP for the last eleven years.
  • The eight Moto2 races that have taken place at the Catalunya circuit have been won by seven different riders: 2010 – Yuki Takahashi, 2011 – Stefan Bradl, 2012 – Andrea Iannone, 2013 – Pol Espargaro, 2014 – Tito Rabat, 2015 & 2016 – Johann Zarco and 2017 – Alex Marquez. Of these riders, only Marquez is still competing in the Moto2 class.
  • The six Moto3 GP races that have taken place at the Catalunya circuit have been won by six different riders: Maverick Vinales, Luis Salom, Alex Marquez, Danny Kent, Jorge Navarro and Joan Mir. None of these riders are still competing in the Moto3 class.
  • Honda riders have won the Moto3 race at the Catalan GP for the last four years.

 

By |2018-06-12T13:28:11+00:00June 12th, 2018|Martin Raines Blog, News and Events|1 Comment

A decade of winning in MotoGP for Jorge Lorenzo

Jorge Lorenzo’s victory at the Italian Grand Prix was more than ten years after his first victory in the MotoGP class which came in just his third race of his debut season, at Estoril in Portugal in 2008. As shown in the following list he is just the seventh rider to have a winning career in the premier-class of grand prix racing lasting longer than ten years:

Longest winning careers in the premier-class of Grand Prix

  Rider First GP win Last GP win Length of winning GP career
1 Valentino Rossi Great Britain/2000 Dutch TT/2017 16 years 351 days
2 Alex Barros FIM/1993 Portugal/2005 11 years 204 days
3 Dani Pedrosa China/2006 Valencia/2017 11 years 182 days
4 Phil Read Ulster/1964 Czech/1975 11 years 16 days
5 Giacomo Agostini Finland/1965 West Germany/1976 11 years 7 days
6 Loris Capirossi Australia/1996 Japan/2007 10 years 338 days
7 Jorge Lorenzo Portugal/2008 Italy/2018 10 years 51 days
8 Andrea Dovizioso GBR/2009 Qatar/2018 8 years 235 days
9 Eddie Lawson South Africa/1984 Hungary/1992 8 years 110 days
10 Mick Doohan Hungary/1990 Argentina/1998 8 years 53 days
By |2020-04-29T09:39:52+00:00June 8th, 2018|Martin Raines Blog, News and Events|Comments Off on A decade of winning in MotoGP for Jorge Lorenzo

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.
By |2018-05-31T07:25:55+00:00May 31st, 2018|Martin Raines Blog, News and Events|Comments Off on Italian GP 2018 – Fast Facts

A Mir comparison

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.

 

Rider Moto2 starts to first podium Age at first Moto2 podium Moto2 races to first win Final championship posn. in first Moto2 season
Mir 5 20 years 261 days ? ?
Vinales 2 19 years 91 days 2 3rd
Rins 2 19 years 125 days 10 2nd
Iannone 4 20 years 301 days 4 3rd
Marc Marquez 4 18 years 87 days 4 2nd
Bagnaia 4 20 years 113 days 19 5th

 

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!

By |2020-04-29T09:39:52+00:00May 30th, 2018|Martin Raines Blog, News and Events|1 Comment

Mugello 2018 – Facts and Stats

  • This is the 33rd 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 5th, 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.

 

 

By |2018-05-29T10:25:50+00:00May 29th, 2018|Martin Raines Blog, News and Events|Comments Off on Mugello 2018 – Facts and Stats

Le Mans 2018 – Fast Facts

  • The win by Marc Marquez at Jerez was the 37th 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 2nd place finish at Jerez was the 21st 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 3rd 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 200th 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.
By |2018-05-16T08:47:35+00:00May 16th, 2018|Martin Raines Blog, News and Events|Comments Off on Le Mans 2018 – Fast Facts

French Grand Prix facts and stats

  • 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.

 

 

By |2018-05-15T06:07:32+00:00May 15th, 2018|Martin Raines Blog, News and Events|2 Comments

Jerez 2018 – Fast Facts

  • 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 36th 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 16th 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 6th place finish in Austin was the 20th 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.
By |2020-04-29T09:39:52+00:00May 2nd, 2018|Martin Raines Blog, News and Events|Comments Off on Jerez 2018 – Fast Facts

Spanish Grand Prix facts and stats

  • 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 7th 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.

 

By |2020-04-29T09:39:52+00:00April 30th, 2018|Martin Raines Blog, News and Events|Comments Off on Spanish Grand Prix facts and stats

Austin 2018 – Fast Facts

  • 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 4th 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 4th 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 6th 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 15th 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.

 

By |2018-04-19T15:07:21+00:00April 19th, 2018|Martin Raines Blog, News and Events|Comments Off on Austin 2018 – Fast Facts
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