MotoGP 2014 – Round Ten – Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix
Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines
Indianapolis Grand Prix facts and statistics – This is the seventh successive year that a motorcycle Grand Prix event has been held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Below are some facts and figures related to the Grand Prix races held at this circuit:
- This will be the 26th occasion that there has been a motorcycle Grand Prix held in the USA. The first two events in 1964 and 1965 were held at the famous Daytona circuit. Fifteen GP events have taken place at the Laguna Seca circuit, there have been six held previously at Indianapolis and two at the new circuit in Austin.
- Yamaha riders won the MotoGP races on the first two visits to Indianapolis, Honda riders have won for the last four years.
- Nicky Hayden’s third place finish in 2009 is the only MotoGP podium by a Ducati rider at the Indianapolis circuit.
- In the first four appearances of MotoGP in Indianapolis one American rider finished on the podium each year: Nicky Hayden was second in 2008 & third in 2009; and
- Ben Spies was second in 2010 and third in 2011. In the 2012 MotoGP race at Indianapolis, the first American rider across the line was Colin Edwards in 13th place and last year it was Nicky Hayden in ninth.
- Dani Pedrosa is the only rider to have had more than a single victory in the MotoGP class at the Indianapolis circuit: in 2010 & 2012.
- Jorge Lorenzo’s five MotoGP podium finishes at the Indianapolis circuit is more than any other rider.
- Five of the riders who will be competing this year have taken part in all six previous MotoGP races that have been staged at the Indianapolis circuit: Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso, Colin Edwards, Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa.
Marc Marquez record numbers – Following the win by Marc Marquez at the German Grand Prix, below are a selection of numbers relating to his current Grand Prix achievements:
- 77 – Marquez has a 77-point advantage after his German Grand Prix victory and if he continues his winning sequence for the next five races he can clinch the title at the Aragon GP irrespective of the results of other riders.
- 41 – The victory by Marc Marquez at the Sachsenring was the 41st time that he has stood on the top step of the podium in his Grand Prix career, making him the 13th most successful GP rider of all-time in terms of Grand Prix wins. He now has just one GP win less than two former multi-time World Champions, Toni Mang and Max Biaggi.
- 21 years 146 days – At the German GP Marquez became the youngest rider to win nine successive premier class races, taking the record from Mike Hailwood who was 24 years 86 days old when he won the ninth of a 12 race winning sequence in 1964. If Marquez wins in Indianapolis, at the age of 21 years 174 days he will become the youngest rider to win ten successive premier class races, taking the record from Mike Hailwood who was 24 years 94 days old when in 1964 he won the tenth of that 12 race winning sequence.
- 21 – Marquez has qualified on the front row at the last 21 MotoGP races. The last time he did not start from the front row was when he was 6th on the grid in Catalunya last year.
- 15 – At the German Grand Prix Marc Marquez scored his 15th win in the MotoGP class, the same number of premier class GP victories as the 1999 500cc world champion Alex Criville scored during his career. Criville was the first Spanish rider to win a premier class GP and also the first Spanish rider to win the premier class world title.
- 9 – Marquez is the first rider to win nine successive MotoGP races since the category was introduced in 2002 as the premier class of Grand Prix racing. The last rider to win nine or more successive premier class races was in 1997 when Mick Doohan won ten successive 500cc GP races.
- 9 – Marquez is the first rider to win the opening nine races of the season in the premier class since Giacomo Agostini won the first 10 races of the 1970 season.
- Agostini is the only rider to have won the opening ten premier class GP races of the season, which he achieved on three occasions: in 1968 he won all 10 races, in 1969 he won the first 10 of 12 races that year and in 1970 he won the first 10 of the 11 races held that year.
- 9 – Marquez has already taken nine wins in 2014. Only five other riders have ever won nine or more premier class GP races in a single season: Mick Doohan – 12 races wins in 1997 and nine in 1994, Valentino Rossi – 11 race wins in 2001, 2002 & 2005 and nine wins in 2003, 2004 & 2008, Giacomo Agostini – 11 wins in 1972 and 10 wins in 1968, 1969 & 1970, Casey Stoner – 10 wins in 2007 & 2011, and Jorge Lorenzo – nine wins in 2010. If Marquez wins again in 2014 he will take the record for most premier class race wins in a single season by a Spanish rider.
- 4 – Only four other rider riders have won nine or more successive races in the history of premier class Grand Prix racing: Giacomo Agostini, Mike Hailwood, John Surtees and Mick Doohan.
Spain close in on 500th Grand Prix win – The victory by Marc Marquez at the Sachsenring was the 498th Grand Prix win by Spanish riders. By winning two of the three races in Indianapolis, Spain would become just the second nation to reach the milestone of 500 Grand Prix wins across all solo classes. The top ten most successful nations are shown in the table below:
Below is a full list of the 37 Spanish riders who have won Grand Prix races, together with the number of wins:
- 90 – Angel Nieto (62 x 125cc, 1 x 80cc, 27 x 50cc)
- 52 – Jorge Lorenzo (31 x MotoGP, 17 x 250cc, 4 x 125cc)
- 48 – Dani Pedrosa (25 x MotoGP, 15 x 250cc, 8 x 125cc)
- 41 – Marc Marquez (15 x MotoGP, 16 x Moto2, 10 x 125cc)
- 37 – Jorge Martinez (15 x 125cc, 22 x 80cc)
- 20 – Alex Criville (15 x 500cc, 5 x 125cc)
- 19 – Ricardo Tormo (4 x 125cc, 15 x 50cc)
- 17 – Toni Elias (1 x MotoGP, 7 x Moto2, 7 x 250cc, 2 x 125cc)
- 16 – Alvaro Bautista (8 x 250cc, 8 x 125cc), Nico Terol (13 x 125cc, 3 x Moto2)
- 15 – Pol Espargaro (10 x Moto2, 5 x 125cc), Sito Pons (15 x 250cc)
- 13 – Maverick Viñales (1 x Moto2, 8 x Moto3, 4 x 125cc)
- 10 – Hector Barbera (250cc x 4, 125cc x 6)
- 09 – Sete Gibernau (8 x MotoGP, 1 x 500c), Luis Salom (9x Moto3)
- 08 – Hector Faubel (8 x 125cc), Julian Simon (8 x 125cc)
- 07 – Tito Rabat (7 x Moto2)
- 06 – Alex Rins (6 x Moto3)
- 05 – Carlos Cardus (5 x 250cc), Fonsi Nieto (5 x 250cc)
- 04 – Emilio Alzamora (4 x 125cc), Santiago Herrero (4 x 250cc)
- 03 – Sergio Gadea (3 x 125cc), Juan Garriga (3 x 250cc), Alex Marquez (3 x Moto3)
- 02- Salvador Canellas (1 x 125cc, 1 x 50cc), Carlos Checa (2 x 500cc), Alex Debon (2 x 250cc), Manuel Herreros (2 x 80cc), Herro Torrontegui (2 x 80ccc)
- 01 – Benjamin Grau (1 x 125cc), Pablo Nieto (1 x 125cc), Victor Palomo (1 x 350cc) Alberto Puig (1 x 500cc), Jordi Torres (1 x Moto2)
99 wins for Spain in the premier class
The victory by Marc Marquez at the German Grand Prix was the 99th win by Spanish riders in the premier class of Grand Prix racing. Alex Criville was the first Spanish rider to win in the premier class – the 500cc race at the Dutch TT in 1992 and since then seven other Spanish riders have added to the total along with Criville. As shown in the following table, Spain becomes the fifth nation to reach the milestone of 100 premier class GP wins.
The 99 premier class GP wins by Spain have been shared by eight riders, as follows:
- 31 – Jorge Lorenzo
- 25 – Dani Pedrosa
- 15 – Alex Criville, Marc Marquez
- 09 – Sete Gibernau
- 02 – Carlos Checa
- 01 – Toni Elias, Alberto Puig
Moto2 stats and trivia
- Round 10 will mark the second half of the 2014 Moto2 season. Over the first nine GPs, wins have been collected by five different riders as follows: four for Tito Rabat (Qatar, Argentina, Italy and Catalunya), two for Mika Kallio (Spain and France) and one each for Maverick Viñales (Americas), Anthony West (Netherlands) and Dominique Aegerter (Germany)
- Respective victories at Assen and the Sachsenring for West and Aegerter mean that the Moto2 class has welcomed new winners at both of the last two races (the Australian and Swiss have become the 20th and 21st different winners since the class was inaugurated in 2010)
- Aegerter’s Sachsenring victory made him the tenth Swiss rider to win a World Championship Grand Prix; it also marked the first victory of 2014 for a Suter motorcycle and means that three different chassis manufacturers (Kalex, Speed Up and Suter) have won the last three races
- Although the first World Championship event at Indianapolis was staged in 2008, the first intermediate class race did not come until one year later, as the 2008 edition of the 250cc race was delayed and eventually cancelled as the remnants of Hurricane Ike hit the Speedway
- Last year, Tito Rabat won from Takaaki Nakagami, Scott Redding and Pol Espargaro as Kalex-manufactured bikes filled the top four positions in the race; fastest lap was posted by Julian Simon, which marked the second time in Moto2 (and the third time in his career) that the Spaniard had set fastest laps in back-to-back Grands Prix
- Marc Marquez is the only repeat intermediate class winner at Indianapolis, having won back-to-back the Moto2 races of 2011 and 2012; the three others winners are Marco Simoncelli (250cc, 2009), Toni Elias (Moto2, 2010) and Tito Rabat (Moto2, 2013)
- Elias’ 2010 Indianapolis victory came from sixth place on the grid; this is the lowest grid position from which any rider has won an intermediate class Grand Prix at ‘The Brickyard’
- Only once has the Indianapolis Moto2 race been won from pole position (Marquez in 2011)
- Luis Salom will celebrate his 23rd birthday on the Thursday before the race
- Both Mattia Pasini and Jonas Folger will have birthdays on the Wednesday after the race: the Italian will turn 29 whereas the German will become 21 years of age
Moto3 stats and trivia
- Round 10 will mark the second half of the 2014 Moto3 season. Over the first nine Grands Prix, wins have been collected by three different riders as follows: four for Jack Miller (Qatar, Americas, France and Germany), three for Romano Fenati (Argentina, Spain and Italy) and two for Alex Marquez (Catalunya and Netherlands). This means that, for the second year in a row, three riders have won across the opening nine Moto3 Grands Prix, whereas four different riders celebrated victory across the opening nine races of the first Moto3 season in 2012
- Although the margin between winner Miller and second place finisher Brad Binder was only 0.180 seconds in Germany, this was the second largest winning margin for Miller thus far (two of his victories to date – in Texas and Le Mans – have come by less than one tenth of a second)
- For the first time this season, three different manufacturers were represented on the Moto3 podium last time out at the Sachsenring as Jack Miller, Brad Binder and Alexis Masbou finished first, second and third for KTM, Mahindra and Honda, respectively; this means a KTM-powered bike has missed out on the rostrum in only one Moto3 race since the class was inaugurated (at Assen this year) and that Mahindra have now collected podium finishes at the last two Grands Prix (one third place and one second place)
- The first lightweight class Grand Prix at Indianapolis was staged in 2008. It looked as though Pol Espargaro was set for a career-first Grand Prix victory, but the race was red-flagged due to the threat of remnants from Hurricane Ike and so Nico Terol was handed the victory on countback; Espargaro would have to wait for another year before finally winning his first Grand Prix, at Indianapolis in 2009, as he beat Bradley Smith and Simone Corsi
- Nico Terol is the most successful lightweight class rider in Indianapolis, having won three of the four 125cc Grands Prix to have been staged at the track: in 2008, 2010 and 2011
- The lightweight race at Indianapolis has been won from pole position on two occasions: Nico Terol (125cc, 2011) and Alex Rins (Moto3, 2013)
- Marc Marquez was fastest in qualifying for the 125cc race at Indianapolis in 2010; this marked the Spaniard’s first pole position on American soil
- Last year, Alex Rins led home Alex Marquez in a one-two finish for the Estrella Galicia 0,0 team; the podium was completed by Maverick Viñales for Team Calvo, also setting fastest lap in what would prove to be the third and final fastest lap in his title-winning Moto3 campaign
- Brad Binder will celebrate his 19th birthday on the Monday after the race at Indianapolis
Grand Prix racing numbers
- 3,997 – Following his fourth place finish in Germany, Valentino Rossi has scored a total of 3,997 points in the premier class of Grand Prix racing during his career and by finishing in the top 13 in Indianapolis he would become the first rider to reach the milestone of 4,000 points in the MotoGP/500cc class. The second highest point scorer of all-time in the premier class is Mick Doohan with 2,298
- 144 – Valentino Rossi made his 144th start in MotoGP riding for Yamaha at the German Grand Prix. This gives him the record for most starts in the premier class on-board Yamaha, taking the record from the late Norick Abe, whose last MotoGP start in Valencia in 2004 was his 143rd premier class appearance riding Yamahas
- 77 – Jorge Lorenzo’s third place finish at the German GP was the 77th time he has stood on the podium in the premier class; this is just one less podium finish that four times 500cc World Champion Eddie Lawson
- 55 – On the first day of practice at the Indianapolis GP it will be exactly 55 years ago to the day that 19 year-old Mike Hailwood, riding a Ducati, won the 125cc race at the Ulster Grand Prix in 1959 to become the youngest ever Grand Prix winner at that time
- 55 – There have been 55 MotoGP races without a winner from the USA, since Ben Spies won at the Dutch TT in 2011
- 45 – There have been 45 MotoGP races without a rider from the USA finishing on the podium, since Ben Spies finished second at the final race of 2011 at Valencia
- 29 years – Brad Binder’s second place finish in the Moto3 race at the Sachsenring made him the first South African rider to stand on a Grand Prix podium for 29 years, since Mario Rademeyer finished third in the 250cc race at the South African GP in 1985 at Kyalami
- 21 – At the German Grand Prix, Dominique Aegerter won for the first time in his GP career to become the 21st different winner in the Moto2 class since it was introduced at the start of 2010
- 19 years 221 days – Franco Morbidelli, at the age of 19 years 221 days, finished in sixth place in the Moto2 race at the German GP, the youngest Italian rider to finish in the top six in the intermediate-class of GP racing since Marco Simoncelli in 2006
- 19 – In spite of the very mixed conditions at the German Grand Prix, Bradley Smith, who crossed the line in 19th place, was just 56.293 seconds behind race winner Marc Marquez. This is the first time ever in a premier class Grand Prix that has gone full distance, that the first 19 riders have crossed the finishing line within one minute
- 18 – At the German GP Marc Marquez set his 18th fastest lap since moving up to the MotoGP class; this is the same number of fastest laps recorded by Jorge Lorenzo during his years in the MotoGP class
- 9 – The last nine MotoGP races in the USA have been won by Honda riders. The last non-Honda MotoGP winner in the USA was Jorge Lorenzo at Laguna Seca in 2010 riding a Yamaha
- 5th – Andrea Iannone finished fifth in Germany, which is the best result by a satellite Ducati rider since Toni Elias finished third at Misano in 2008
- 4 – The last four MotoGP races in the USA have been won by Marc Marquez: the last MotoGP race in the USA not won by Marquez was in Indianapolis in 2012 when Dani Pedrosa took the victory
- 4 – Indianapolis is one of just four current circuits where Jorge Lorenzo has not started from pole in any of the Grand Prix classes; the other three are Austin, Valencia & Argentina
- 4 – At the German GP, Jack Miller became just the second Australian to win four races in the lightweight class in a single season, equalling the achievement of Tom Phillis from 1961 when he won the world title
- 3.495s – Marc Marquez won at Indianapolis last year by 3.495s – his largest margin of victory in his rookie year in the MotoGP class
- 0 – At the German GP there were no Spanish riders on either the Moto3 or Moto2 podium. The last time that this occurred was at the Malaysian GP in 2012
