PTT Thailand Grand Prix
Chang International Circuit
MotoGP Stats and Facts
At the Aragón GP, Marc Márquez won for the 41st time on what was his 103rd start in the premier class, which represents a winning rate of 39.8%: 23 times on his 32 visits to anticlockwise circuit and 18 on his 71 visits to clockwise circuits.
Marc Márquez won from third on the grid at the MotorLand. Of his 41 victories in the premier class, 38 came after qualifying on the front row.
At MotorLand, Marc Márquez crossed the line for the 19th successive time, which is his longest sequence without retiring from the race. The last time he failed to finish a race was at Silverstone last year after a mechanical issue.
This is Marc Márquez’ third successive win at MotorLand and his fifth overall in any class at this track. Marc Márquez is now leading the Championship with 72 points ahead of Andrea Dovizioso; this is the highest margin after the opening thirteen races of the
season in the premier class since 2014 and the 74-point margin between Marc Márquez and Dani Pedrosa after the San Marino GP.
Andrea Dovizioso stood on the podium for the 89th time of his Grand Prix career, equalling three-time World Champion Luigi Taveri and two-time World Champion
Casey Stoner in 13th place on the list of riders with the most podium finishes.
In Aragón, Andrea Dovizioso stood on the podium for the fourth successive time. This is the first time he managed to do this podium-finish streak since he stepped up to the MotoGP class in 2008.
With Andrea Dovizioso’s podium at the MotorLand, this was the 11th podium finish for Ducati after the opening thirteen races of the season, one more than 2017. Only
once Ducati riders have had more podium finishes at this stage of the season in the MotoGP class, 13 in 2007 with Casey Stoner, Loris Capirossi and Alex Barros.
With his second-place finish in Aragón, Andrea Dovizioso (2081 points) moves above Alex Barros (2079) into fifth place of the riders with most points in the premier class of Grand Prix racing.
Andrea Iannone was third at the Aragón GP, which is his 10th podium finish in the premier class and his third so far this year along with Austin and Jerez. In addition, this is his 34th podium finish in Grand Prix racing, one less podium finish than Renzo Pasolini who stands in 15th place in the list of the Italian riders with the most podium finishes.
With Andrea Iannone’s third-place finish in Aragón, this was the fifth podium finish for Suzuki this year, accumulating six concession points. The Japanese manufacturer therefore lose their concessions.
Álex Rins crossed the line in fourth place in Aragón for the second successive time, making the first Suzuki 3–4 since Japan two years ago with Maverick Viñales followed by Aleix Espargaró.
Following the Aragón GP, Suzuki have scored 147 points in the Constructor’s World Championship classification, which is the highest points accumulated after the opening thirteen races by Suzuki since 2007 when the Japanese manufacturer had 191 points after the San Marino GP.
Fifth across the line in Aragón, Dani Pedrosa equalled his best result of the year so far along with Le Mans and Barcelona. This is the 13th successive races without a podium finish for Dani Pedrosa, which is his longest sequence of races without a podium finish in his Grand Prix career.
Aleix Espargaró finished sixth at the Aragón GP, which his best result since he was also sixth at the MotorLand last year. Espargaró equalled the best result for Aprilia in the MotoGP class since 2002.
Valentino Rossi crossed the line in eighth place in Aragón as the highest-placed Yamaha rider, which is the worst result across the line for Yamaha since Japan last year and the worst in dry-weather conditions since Valencia in 2007 with Sylvain Guintoli in 11th.
Yamaha riders have not won since Assen last season with Valentino Rossi (23 successive races), which is the longest winless streak for the Japanese manufacturer in the premier class of Grand Prix racing.
In addition, Yamaha riders have not stood on the podium since Germany this year (4 successive races) with both Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales, which is the longest sequence without a podium finish for Yamaha since 2007.
Following the Aragón GP, Yamaha have scored 202 points in the Constructor’s World Championship classification, which is the lowest points accumulated after the opening thirteen races by Yamaha since 2003 when the Japanese manufacturer had 143 points after the Pacific GP.
Thirteenth across the line in Aragón, Bradley Smith scored his best result since Germany earlier this year. Smith is scheduled to make his 100th Grand Prix start in the MotoGP class in Thailand. He will become the fifth British rider in the 70-year history of motorcycle Grand Prix racing to reach the milestone of 100 premier class starts along with Cal Crutchlow (136), Jeremy McWilliams (118), Ron Haslam (108) and Niall Mackenzie (104).
Cal Crutchlow crashed out in Aragón, meaning that Danilo Petrucci is now leading the Independent Team rider classification for the first time since (following) Austria earlier this season with 124 points, followed by Cal Crutchlow (113) and Johann Zarco (106).
At the Aragón GP, Franco Morbidelli crossed the line in 11th, which is his best result since he was 9th in Jerez earlier this year. Morbidelli is now leading the Rookie of the Year classification with 31 points, followed by Hafizh Syahrin (24) and Takaaki Nakagami (18).
Grand Prix racing in Asia
This is the first time that Thailand has hosted a Grand Prix event and below are some facts and statistics related to the previous GP events in Asia:
Buriram (Chang International Circuit) is the 28th circuit to hold a MotoGP race since it replaced the 500cc class as the premier class of motorcycle Grand Prix racing in 2002.
In addition, Thailand is the 20th different country to host a MotoGP race since 2002 and the 7th different Asian country to host a Grand Prix event (all solo classes) along with Qatar, Turkey, Japan, Malaysia, China and Indonesia.
A total of 273 Grand Prix races for solo motorcycles have taken place in Asia as follows: MotoGP – 55, 500cc – 30, Moto2 – 44, 350cc – 4, 250cc – 47, Moto3 – 40, 125cc – 49, 80cc – 4.
Buriram becomes the 11th different circuit that has been used for Grand Prix racing in Asia.
The other circuits that have been used in Asia are as follows: Suzuka (56 Grand Prix races), Motegi (57), Losail (45), Fisco/Fuji (8), Sepang (56), Shah Alam (21),
Johor (3), Shanghai (12), Istanbul Park (9), and Sentul (6).
Asian riders have had great success across all solo Grand Prix classes in Asia, winning 43 of the 273 GP races (15,7%) that have taken place, all of them coming from Japan. The last Asian rider to win on any of the Asian tracks is Shoya Tomizawa in Moto2 in Qatar back in 2010.
Honda is the most successful manufacturer in Asia in the MotoGP class since 2002 with 20 victories, with 9 different riders: Dani Pedrosa (7), Valentino Rossi (3), Marc Márquez (3), Marco Melandri (2), Makoto Tamada (1), Max Biaggi (1), Casey Stoner (1), Sete Gibernau (1) and Alex Barros (1).
Yamaha has had 19 wins in the MotoGP class since 2002, with 4 different riders: Valentino Rossi (11), Jorge Lorenzo (6), Max Biaggi (1) and Maverick Viñales (1).
Ducati has had 16 wins in the MotoGP class in Asia. The last Ducati rider to win in Asia is Andrea Dovizioso this year in Qatar.
The best result in Asia for Suzuki in the MotoGP class is the second-place finish achieved in 2002 by Akira Ryo at Suzuka.
The Chang International Circuit venue will be the 37th different circuit that Valentino Rossi has raced at during his Grand Prix career, and the 28th in the premier class.
Buriram is one of just four circuits on the current Grand Prix schedule where Valentino Rossi has not had a MotoGP victory yet, along with Austin, the Red Bull Ring in Austria and Aragón. Rossi has won at 23 different circuits so far in the premier class of GP racing.
Valentino Rossi is the most successful rider in the MotoGP class in Asia with 14 wins: Sepang (5), Losail (4), Suzuka (2), Shanghai (2) and Motegi (1).
Marc Márquez levels with Mike Hailwood
At the Aragón GP, Marc Márquez won for the 41st time in the premier class, which is also his 41st Grand Prix win riding a Honda, equalling Mike Hailwood.
Dani Pedrosa and Mick Doohan are the most successful Honda riders in Grand Prix racing with 54 wins each, ahead of Jim Redman as shown in the following table:
Marc Márquez closes in on Jorge Lorenzo
Marc Márquez’ win in Aragón was the 67th of his Grand Prix career, just one less GP win than three-time MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (68).
There are just five riders in the history of Grand Prix racing who have scored more wins than Márquez, who will be 25 years and 232 days old on race day in Thailand, as shown in the table below of riders with most GP wins:
In addition, Marc Márquez won for the 41st time in the MotoGP class, six less than Jorge Lorenzo, who stands in fourth place in the list of riders with most Grand Prix wins in the premier class.
Jorge Lorenzo closes in on Jack Findlay
At the Thai GP, Jorge Lorenzo is scheduled to make his 282nd Grand Prix start, equalling Jack Findlay in fifth place of riders with most Grand Prix starts.
