MotoGP 2017 – Round Four – Jerez
Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines
2017 Gran Premio Red Bull de España – Circuito de Jerez
Spanish Grand Prix facts and stats
- Assen is the only current venue that has been used consecutively for a longer period than Jerez.
- A total of 92 grand prix races for solo motorcycles have been held at the Jerez circuit, as follows: MotoGP – 15, 500cc – 15, Moto2 – 7, 250cc – 23, Moto3 – 5, 125cc – 24, 80cc – 3.
- Since the introduction of the MotoGP class in 2002, Honda have had seven victories at Jerez, the last of which was three years ago with Marc Marquez.
- Yamaha have also had seven MotoGP wins at Jerez, including for the last two years.
- Ducati’s only win at Jerez was in 2006 when Loris Capirossi won from pole position. The last time a Ducati rider finished on the podium at Jerez was in 2011 when Nicky Hayden was third.
- Last year Aleix Espargaro finished fifth at Jerez to equal the best ever result for Suzuki at the circuit in the MotoGP era. 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 eleven wins; Alberto Puig in 1995, Alex Criville in 1997, 98, 99, Sete Gibernau in 2004, Dani Pedrosa in 2008 & 2013, 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 thirteen 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 add to his seven in the premier-class.
- Last year was the first since 2009 that Spain did not have at least one winner across the three classes at the Jerez GP.
- There have been five different winners in the MotoGP class at Jerez in the last five years: Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.
- For the last three years at Jerez the rider who has won the MotoGP race has started from pole position.
- The seven Moto2 races that have taken place at Jerez have been won by seven different riders, none of whom are competing full-time in the class in 2017: Toni Elias, Andrea Iannone, Pol Espargaro, Tito Rabat, Mika Kallio, Jonas Folger and Sam Lowes.
- Brad Binder took his first win in sensational style at the Spanish Grand Prix last year, 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 in the lightweight-class of Grand Prix racing for a South African rider.
3000th Grand Prix race
The MotoGP race at Jerez is scheduled to be the 3000th grand prix motorcycle race counting towards the world championship classification across all of the classes. Below are some facts and stats related to this milestone:
- The grand prix world championship series was introduced in 1949 with four classes for solo motorcycles: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc and 125cc.
- The very first race counting towards a world championship classification was the 350cc race at the 1949 Isle of Man TT races, which took place on Monday 13th June and was won by British rider Freddie Frith on a Velocette.
- On reaching the milestone of 3000 GP races at Jerez, the number of races per class will be as follows: 50cc – 172, 80cc – 47, 125cc – 722, Moto3 – 92, 250cc – 716, Moto2 – 126, 350cc – 281, 500cc – 580, MotoGP – 264.
- The 1000th grand prix race was the 50cc race at the German Grand Prix in 1975 at Hockenheim, won by Angel Nieto.
- The 2000th grand prix race was the 500cc race at the Japanese grand prix in 1997 at Suzuka, won by Mick Doohan.
- The country that has hosted the greatest number of grand prix races is Spain, with 373 prior to this weekend.
- The circuit that has hosted the greatest number of grand prix races is Assen, with 262.
Marc Marquez levels with Lorenzo and Stoner
- Marc Marquez qualified on pole in Austin for the fifth successive year, his 39th pole in the MotoGP class – the same number as Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner. Since MotoGP became the premier-class of grand prix racing in 2002, only Valentino Rossi has started from pole on more occasions than Marquez, as shown in the following table:
Valentino Rossi – 50
Jorge Lorenzo – 39
Casey Stoner – 39
Marc Marquez – 39
Dani Pedrosa – 28
30th MotoGP win for Marc Marquez
The win by Marc Marquez in Austin was the 30th time he has stood on the top step of the podium in the MotoGP class, which gives him just one less premier-class GP win than four times 500cc world champions Eddie Lawson.
Most wins in the premier class of MotoGP racing
- 88 – Valentino Rossi (7 premier-class titles)
- 68 – Giacomo Agostini (8 premier-class titles)
- 54 – Mick Doohan (5 premier-class titles)
- 44 – Jorge Lorenzo (3 premier-class titles)
- 38 – Casey Stoner (2 premier-class titles)
- 37 – Mike Hailwood (4 premier-class titles)
- 31 – Eddie Lawson (4 premier-class titles)
- 30 – Marc Marquez (3 premier-class titles)
MotoGP Facts and Stats
- Aleix Espargaro is scheduled to make his 200th grand prix start at Jerez. He will be the 32nd rider in the 69-year history of the motorcycle world championship series to reach the milestone of 200 GP starts across all classes, and the ninth Spanish rider to do so. The race in Spain will be his 116th start in the MotoGP class, adding to 17 starts in Moto2, 44 in 250cc and 23 in 125cc.
- After his second place finish in Austin, Valentino Rossi heads 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.
- Valentino Rossi is the oldest rider to head the premier-class world championship table since Jack Findlay had joint leadership, together with Barry Sheene, of the 500cc world championship in 1977 at the age of 42. Findlay had won the second race of the year in Austria – a race boycotted by many of the top riders.
- Valentino Rossi has taken a total of twenty-one grand prix wins on Spanish soil, including both his victories last year. 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).
- The win by Marc Marquez in Austin was the 52nd time he has stood on the podium in the MotoGP class, the same number of premier-class podium appearances as 1987 500cc world champion Wayne Gardner. Only ten riders in the 69-year history of motorcycle Grand Prix racing have finished on the podium in the premier-class more often than Marquez.
- Dani Pedrosa’s third place finish in Austin was the 145th time he has stood on the podium across the grand prix classes. This is the same number of GP podium finishes as his great rival Jorge Lorenzo. Only Valentino Rossi (224) and Giacomo Agostini (159) have more top three grand prix finishes than these two Spanish rivals.
- Eleventh place finisher in Austin, Jonas Folger, crossed the line just 18.903 seconds behind race winner Marc Marquez. This is the closest top eleven of the MotoGP era in a race that has covered full distance; the only full length premier-class Grand Prix race ever to have finished with a smaller margin covering the top eleven riders across the line is the 500cc Australian GP in 2000 when 15.939 seconds covering first eleven riders.
- Following fifth place finiishes in the last two races, Johann Zarco is now the highest placed rookie in the championship standings in seventh place, one point ahead of his teammate Jonas Folger. Twenty-two points is the highest point score after the first three races of the year by a rookie on a Yamaha since 2008, when Jorge Lorenzo scored 61 points after the opening three races of the year on the factory Yamaha with James Toseland on the Tech3 Yamaha scoring 29 points.
- Only six riders have scored points in all three of the MotoGP races in 2017: Valentino Rossi, Jonas Folger, Scott Redding, Jack Miller, Tito Rabat and Hector Barbera.
- The win by Marc Marquez in Austin was his 30th MotoGP victory, one more win than his teammate Dani Pedrosa. Marquez is now the rider with most wins of the MotoGP era riding a Honda.
- Last year Valentino Rossi won at Jerez for the first time since 2009. It was the first time that he had won at any circuit in the MotoGP class by starting from pole position and leading across the line on every lap of the race.
- After neither rider finished in the top three at the opening race of the year, teammates Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa both stood on the podium in Austin. This is the first time that the two Repsol Honda riders had been on the podium together since the Catalan Grand Prix last year when Marquez was second and Pedrosa third.
- With his third place finish in Austin, Dani Pedrosa has finished on the podium at least once in all twelve seasons he has competed in the MotoGP class.
- Only two riders have completed more successive years with at least one premier-class GP podium – Valentino Rossi (18) and Giacomo Agostini (13).
Franco Morbidelli takes three wins in a row
Franco Morbidelli’s victories at the opening three races of 2017 place him second in the following list of youngest riders to have scored three successive wins in the Moto2 class since its introduction in 2010.
1. Marc Márquez Netherlands/Italy/Germany/2011 18 years 150 days
2. Franco Morbidelli Qatar/Argentina/Americas/2017 22 years 140 days
3. Johann Zarco Czech/Great Britain/San Marino/2015 25 years 59 days
4. Tito Rabat Czech/Great Britain/San Marino/2014 25 years 112 days
If Morbidelli wins in Jerez, he will become the youngest rider to win four successive Moto2 races, beating Toni Elias (27 years 163 days, Germany/ Czech/Indianapolis/San Marino/2010).
Great start to 2017 for Franco Morbidelli
In addition to making him the second youngest rider to win three Moto2 races in a row, the wins by Franco Morbidelli in the opening three races of 2017 are notable for the following:
- He won the three opening intermediate-class races of 2017; the first time since Daijiro Kato in Japan, South Africa and Spain in 2001.
- He is just the ninth rider of all-time to win the opening three races of the year in the intermediate category of grand prix racing, joining: Werner Haas (1954), Carlo Ubbiali (1956), Tarquinio Provini (1958), Phil Read (1965), Mike Hailwood (1966), Jarno Saarinen (1973), Luca Cadalora (1991 & 1992) and Daijiro Kato (2001). Of these riders, Haas in 1954, Ubbiali in 1956, Read in 1965, Hailwood in 1966 and Kato in 2001 went on to win the fourth race of the year.
- He is the first Italian rider to win three consecutives races in the intermediate category since Marco Melandri won at Italy, at Catalunya and in the Netherlands in 2002. Melandri went on the win the next three races of that season.
- He won his third Moto2 race in Austin, the 14th Italian victory in 125 Moto2 races so far.
Moto2 Facts and Stats
- Last year, Franco Morbidelli qualified in fourth on the grid in Jerez and crossed the line in the same place; his best dry weather result at that time.
- Tom Lüthi finished second in Austin – his 38th podium finish in Moto2. Last year in Jerez, he qualified on fifth on the grid and crossed the line in sixth. His best result on that track is a second place in 2011.
- Tom Lüthi, Simone Corsi and Dominique Aegerter are the only riders currently competing in the Moto2 class who have stood on the podium in Jerez since the introduction of the category in 2010.
- Takaaki Nakagami finished third in Austin, equalling his best result so far this season – the 18th podium for Japanese riders in Moto2. Last year in Jerez, he finished seventh from twelfth on the grid.
- Álex Márquez crossed the line in fourth in Austin, his best result since his only podium finish in Moto2 in Aragón last year.
- Dominique Aegerter finished fifth in Austin, the best result for Suter this season so far and its best result since Tom Lüthi won in Valencia in 2014.
- Aegerter’s best result in Jerez is a second place finish in 2014.
- Tito Rabat, Mika Kallio and Sam Lowes are the only riders to have won from pole position in Moto2 in Jerez since 2010.
- Fabio Quartararo qualified on pole position for the first time in Moto3 in Jerez in what was his fourth career grand prix in 2015.
Moto3 Facts and Stats
- In Austin, Romano Fenati took his eighth victory in Moto3, equalling Danny Kent, Álex Rins and Maverick Viñales. The current record is held by Luis Salom, with nine wins.
- In Austin Fenati became the rider with the highest Moto3 World Championship career points total with 699 points, in front of Brad Binder (677) and Álex Rins (689).
- Fenati is the first Moto3 rider to win twice on two different tracks, in Jerez (2012-2014) and Austin (2016-2017). He won his first Moto3 race in Jerez. With Nicolò Bulega, he is the only one on the current Moto3 grid who has stood on the podium at this track.
- Jorge Martín crossed the line in second in Austin; his fourth GP podium finish and the 116th podium for a Spanish rider in Moto3. He crashed during the race in Jerez last year. His best result at that track is a 14th place during his rookie season in 2015. He will be aiming to win his first race of his career.
- Martin’s teammate, Fabio Di Giannantonio, stood on the podium in Austin, his best result since his third place in Brno last year. He crashed on the last lap last year in Jerez.
- Enea Bastianini finished fourth in Austin, his best result since his fourth place in Valencia last year. He crossed the line in eighth last year in Jerez, his best result at this track so far.
- Nicolò Bulega crossed the line in fifth in Austin, his best result since his third place in Motegi last year. Second across the line in Jerez last year from pole position is his best result so far of his grand prix career.
- No rider has won the Moto3 race in Jerez after qualifying on pole. The last rider to win a lightweight-class grand prix from pole at Jerez is Marco Simoncelli in the 125cc class in 2005.
Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines
