Indy MotoGP Sunday Race Day Guide
Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines
MotoGP
• Marc Marquez has qualified on pole for the fifth time in 2015. He has won on all previous six appearances in the MotoGP class on American soil. Marquez is aiming to take back-to-back wins for the first time this year.
• In second place on the grid is twice times Indianapolis winner Dani Pedrosa, equalling his previous best qualifying results of 2015 which he had at Qatar and Germany.
• Jorge Lorenzo is on the front row of the grid for the seventh time this year. Lorenzo has finished on the podium and been the first Yamaha rider across the line at Indianapolis for the last three years and was the last non-Honda rider to win the MotoGP race in Indianapolis, in 2009.
• Cal Crutchlow heads the second row of the grid, which equals his best qualifying this year. Crutchlow will be aiming to get on the podium for the first time in the USA in his MotoGP career.
• Danilo Petrucci starts from fifth place on the grid – his best ever MotoGP qualifying result. This is the first time that he is the highest placed Ducati rider in qualifying.
• Bradley Smith is in sixth place on the grid, equalling his best qualifying of the year which he had at Le Mans.
• Andrea Iannone, who celebrates his 26th birthday on race day in Indianapolis, heads the third row of the grid.
• Championship leader Valentino Rossi, who starts from eighth place on the grid, will be aiming to win in America for the first time since he won the first ever MotoGP race at Indianapolis is 2008.
• Maverick Viñales takes the final place on the third row and is the highest placed Suzuki rider on the grid for the first time.
• Andrea Dovizioso will be making a record 231st successive grand prix start, from the head of the fourth row of the grid.
• Pol Espargaro, who has qualified in 11th place on the grid, took his very first win in grand prix racing in the 125cc class at Indianapolis in 2009.
• Aleix Espargaro starts from 12th place on the grid – his worst qualifying result so far in 2015.
Moto2
• Alex Rins starts from pole for the second time in his rookie season in the Moto2 class. If he wins the race in Indianapolis he will become the fourth youngest winner in the Moto2 class, after Marc Marquez, Maverick Viñales and Shoya Tomizawa.
• Tito Rabat, who won the Moto2 race in Indianapolis two years ago, starts from the front row for the eighth time in 2015.
• Mika Kallio, the winner from pole in Indianapolis last year, has qualified on the front row of the grid for the first time in 2015.
• Tom Luthi heads the second row of the grid at one of just four circuits on the current GP schedule where he has not had a podium finish.
• In fifth place on the grid is Jonas Folger, whose only two top six finishes so far in 2015 have been victories in Qatar and at Jerez.
• Takaaki Nakagami has qualified in sixth place on the grid and will be aiming for his first podium since he had four successive second place finishes in 2013.
• Championship leader Johann Zarco will be going for his ninth successive podium finish, starting in eighth place on the grid.
Moto3
• Danny Kent starts from pole for the fourth time in 2015, which is the greatest number of poles in a single season by a British rider across all classes since Barry Sheene qualified on pole on seven occasions in the 500cc class in 1977.
• In second place on the grid is Miguel Oliveira, who missed the last race in Germany due to injury, after winning two of the previous three races.
• In third place on the grid is Zulfahmi Khairuddin, which is his first front row start since he was on pole at the Malaysian GP in 2012, and is a great improvement on his previous best qualifying this year, which was 17th place on the grid in Germany.
• This is the first time this year that two KTM riders have qualified on the front row of the grid.
• Heading the second row is Enea Bastianini, who is still looking for his first GP victory having already finished on the podium seven times in his short GP career.
• In fifth place on the grid is Fabio Quartararo, who has crashed out three times in the last five races.
• Brad Binder is in sixth place on the grid – his best qualifying result since he was fourth fastest qualifier at Jerez.
• Heading the third row of the grid is last year’s winner at Indianapolis, Efren Vazquez.
