MotoGP pre-season statistics smorgasbord heading to Qatar

MotoGP 2022 – Round One – Qatar – Statistics

Most successful riders at the Qatar GP

• Jorge Lorenzo – 6 (3xMotoGP, 2x250cc, 1x125cc)
• Casey Stoner – 5 (4xMotoGP, 1x250cc)
• Valentino Rossi – 4 (4xMotoGP)
• Maverick Viñales – 3 (2xMotoGP, 1xMoto3)
• Andrea Dovizioso – 2 (2xMotoGP)
• Marc Marquez – 2 (1xMotoGP, 1xMoto2)
• Sam Lowes – 2 (2xMoto2)
• Nico Terol – 2 (2x125cc)

Most successful manufacturers at the Qatar GP

• Yamaha – 10
• Ducati – 5
• Honda – 3

Yamaha is the most successful manufacturer in Qatar with 10 MotoGP wins, with four riders: Valentino Rossi (2005, 2006, 2010, 2015), Jorge Lorenzo (2012, 2013, 2016), Maverick Viñales (2017, 2021/1), Fabio Quartararo (2021/2).

Ducati have five MotoGP wins in Qatar with two riders: Casey Stoner (2007, 2008, 2009) and Andrea Dovizioso (2018, 2019). Losail International Circuit is the second most successful track for Ducati in the premier class tied with Sepang and Motegi, and after Red Bull Ring (six wins).

Honda have had three MotoGP wins in Qatar. Honda’s last win at the track: Marc Marquez in 2014 from pole.

Since he stepped up to the premier class, Marquez has always been the first Honda rider in all of the MotoGP races he’s competed in in Qatar. Last year, he missed both races and his team-mate Pol Espargaro was the top Honda.

Suzuki’s best MotoGP result in Qatar: fourth with John Hopkins (2007), Alex Rins (2019, 2021/2), Joan Mir (2021/1).

Aprilia’s best MotoGP result in Qatar: sixth with Aleix Espargaro in 2017.

KTM made their full-time debut in MotoGP in Qatar in 2017. Brad Binder finished eighth in 2021/2 (Doha GP) which is the best result for the Austrian manufacturer at this track in the class.

At the 2021 Qatar GP, Johann Zarco set a new top speed record in MotoGP in FP3 at Losail with 362.4 km/h, more than 100 m/s. This record was later equalled by Brad Binder in FP3 in Mugello.

The top 15 in the MotoGP race at the 2021 Doha GP is the closest ever in the premier class, with 8.928s between Fabio Quartararo and Miguel Oliveira. Three of the ten closest MotoGP top 15s have occurred at Losail.

14 World Champions in MotoGP

The MotoGP grid comprises 24 riders with five rookies (Remy Gardner, Raul Fernandez, Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Darryn Binder).

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There are 14 GP World Champions; a new record for the full-time MotoGP entry list for the opening race. They have 24 World Championships between them, which is six less than last year. Record: 32 (2018).

12 riders on the full-time MotoGP entry list have won premier class races (one more than 2021) and have 111 wins between them (169 last year).

With 59 MotoGP wins, Marc Marquez has more wins in the class than all the 23 other riders combined (52).

23 riders have victories in at least one of the three classes of Grand Prix racing (four more than 2021), with a total of 330 Grand Prix victories (379 in 2021). The only rider who has no win so far is Aleix Espargaro.

One rookie is a GP winner and World Champion: Remy Gardner (six Moto2 wins, 2021 Moto2 World Champion). However, Raul Fernandez, who was 2018 Moto3 Junior World Champion, has 10 GP wins (eight in Moto2 and two in Moto3).

Marco Bezzecchi has six GP wins (three in both Moto2 and Moto3), Fabio Di Giannantonio has three GP wins (one in Moto2 and two in Moto3) and Darryn Binder has one GP win in Moto3. Darryn Binder is the second rider to join MotoGP directly from Moto3, along with Jack Miller in 2015.

The oldest rider is Andrea Dovizioso, 35 years 348 days old on race day at the Qatar GP. The youngest is Raul Fernandez, 21 years and 134 days old. The average age of the grid is 26 years and seven months, which is the second lowest average age on the entry list of the opening race of the season since the introduction of MotoGP in 2002, after Qatar 2008 (26 years and four months).

MotoGP Facts and Stats

Francesco Bagnaia won the final MotoGP race last year in Valencia from Jorge Martin and Jack Miller, which is the first Ducati 1-2-3 since the introduction of MotoGP in 2002. It was the 21st 1-2-3 for one manufacturer in the MotoGP era:Honda (17), Yamaha (3) and Ducati (1).

10 riders have previously won Grand Prix races at the Lusail circuit: Andrea Dovizioso, Fabio Quartararo, Francesco Bagnaia, Franco Morbidelli, Jack Miller, Joan Mir, Jorge Martin, Marc Marquez, Maverick Viñales, Pol Espargaro.

19 riders have finished on the podium in Qatar in MotoGP since the first race at the track. Seven of them are on the fulltime entry list in 2022. Andrea Dovizioso leads the count, with six MotoGP podiums at the track.

Since MotoGP was introduced in 2002, eight different riders have won the opening race of the year: Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, Maverick Viñales, Andrea Dovizioso and Fabio Quartararo.

Since 2001, there have been only five occasions on which the rider who clinched the title at the end of the year didn’t stand on the podium at the opening race: 2008 (Rossi), 2015 (Lorenzo), 2017 (Marquez), 2020 (Mir) and Quartararo (2021). Of them, only Mir failed to finish within the top five (he crashed out at the Spanish GP in 2020).

Over the last 10 years (since 2012), only one Honda rider has won the opening race of the season: Marc Marquez (2014).

None of the five rookies in MotoGP this year has previously won in Qatar in any of the smaller classes. However, all of them except Marco Bezzecchi has previously finished on the podium at the track: Darryn Binder (P3 in 2021/1 and P2 in 2021/2 in Moto3), Fabio Di Giannantonio (P3 in 2021/1 in Moto2), Raul Fernandez (P3 in 2021/2 in Moto2) and Remy Gardner (P2 in both Moto2 races last year).

With Fabio Quartararo, Joan Mir and Marc Marquez all aged under 30, this is the first time since 2011 there are three MotoGP World Champions under 30 on the grid for the opening race since 2011 with Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden.

March 6th is the second earliest start date for the season after 1964, when it started on February 2nd in Daytona with the very first GP held in the United States. On Sunday, it will be 112 days since the final race in Valencia last year, equalling the shortest time between the final event of one season and the first of the following from 2018-2019 and 2019-2020.

Statistics compiled by Dr. Thomas Morsellino

2022 MotoGP Round One
Time Schedule (AEDT)

Friday (Sat)

Saturday (Sun)

Sunday (Mon)

2022 Provisional MotoGP Calendar

(*Subject to change*)