MotoGP Quarterly BAS! Stats and milestones so far in 2023

MotoGP quarterly report!

The first five races of the blockbuster 2023 MotoGP season have started the new era in style. With close competition and some truly spectacular battles on track, the verdict is already in – with TV audiences up by 27 per cent and the stands welcoming 40 per cent more fans this year than last. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve seen so far, as well as some of the milestones still up for grabs.

In the first five events, every manufacturer has been on the Grand Prix podium. Ducati and Honda have won Grand Prix races, and KTM has come close as Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was just two tenths off in Jerez. The Austrian factory have also already chalked up their first wins in the Tissot Sprint – two of them, again with Binder.

After the announcement of the new sporting format, there was plenty talk about who would emerge as a specialist in the sprint to the finish. So far, it’s an 80 per cent share enjoyed by reigning Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and KTM’s Binder, with two apiece. The rider who many thought would thrive in the Saturday showdown also won the most recent Sprint: Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing).

So far, 11 riders – 50 per cent of the grid – have been on the Grand Prix podium. That matches the first five Grands Prix of 2020 as the golden era of close competition continues.

The riders who have been on the Grand Prix podium and not the Sprint podium are Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), 2021 Champion Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) and Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP).

The only rider who has been on the podium on Saturday and not Sunday is Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). The eight-time World Champion nearly changed that last time out and few would bet against the number 93 erasing that stat by the Sachsenring (at the latest?). Marquez also didn’t race in three events, potentially skewing the stat.

There have been three wins for Independent Teams so far in 2023 – two for Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and one for Alex Rins (LCR Honda Castrol). The only year to match that after the first five races in the MotoGP era is 2020.

Before 2023, there had also only been two events in the MotoGP era where Independent Teams locked out the GP podium: Qatar 2004 and Portugal 2020. This season, it’s already happened twice. Argentina saw Bezzecchi win from Zarco and Alex Marquez, and the French GP was also won by Bezzecchi, this time ahead of Martin and Zarco.

Fittingly ahead of the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley, there are some great stats for the home heroes. The top two in the Championship – Bagnaia and Bezzecchi – are split by both one point and one podium. They’re equal on Grand Prix wins so far in 2023 with two apiece, but Bezzecchi pulls ahead on rostrums, with three. That also makes the number 72 the rider with the most GP podiums so far.

Thanks to the duo, 2023 is also the first time there are four wins for Italian riders over the opening five MotoGP races since 2006 when Loris Capirossi, Valentino Rossi and Marco Melandri did the honours.

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Portuguese GP: Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) made his 218th premier class start to move into fourth on the all-time list. He equalled MotoGP Legends Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden, and has since pulled ahead of both – although Pedrosa added another with that stunning wildcard in Jerez. Valentino Rossi leads the way with 372 premier class starts, ahead of soon-to-be MotoGP Legend Andrea Dovizioso (248) and Alex Barros (245), with Aleix Espargaro now fourth on 222.

Argentina GP: Bezzecchi became a premier class winner. There are now only eight riders on the grid who have not yet won a premier class Grand Prix: Zarco, A Marquez, Pol Espargaro (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3), Raul Fernandez (CryptoData RNF MotoGP Team), Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and rookie Augusto Fernandez (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3).

Americas GP: Rins became the eighth rider to have won with two manufacturers in the MotoGP era along with Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Andrea Dovizioso, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Viñales, Max Biaggi and Valentino Rossi.

Quartararo moved one above Max Biaggi on the list of Yamaha riders with most premier class podiums. The Frenchman is now solo in sixth, with 29 podiums on a Yamaha.

Spanish GP: Bagnaia drew equal with Max Biaggi in fourth on the list of most successful Italian riders in the premier class. They have 13 wins each.

French GP: Le Mans broke MotoGP’s all-time event attendance record with 278,805 spectators.

Marc Marquez vs Marc Marquez

When – if? – when he wins again, it will be the longest gap between victories for the number 93. It was 581 days between Valencia 2019 and the 2021 German Grand Prix. On race day at Mugello it will be 595 days since he won the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, and at the Sachsenring it will be 602. Shall we stop counting there?

It’s been five Grands Prix of more MotoGP than ever, and we still can’t get enough! There’s history on the line at the Italian GP – and plenty of glory for the home heroes too…

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2023 MotoGP Calendar