Aragon MotoGP Statistical Smorgasbord

Aragon MotoGP Statistical Smorgasbord

By Dr. Martin Raines

This is the sixth time that the Aragon circuit has hosted a grand prix event, and below is a selection of facts and statistics related to this grand prix.

• Aragon first hosted a grand prix in 2010, when it became the sixth different circuit that has been used for grand prix racing in Spain. The other circuits that have been used in Spain are: Jerez, Catalunya, Jarama, Montjuich and Valencia.
• Casey Stoner won the first MotoGP race at Aragon in 2010 on a Ducati. In each of the following three years the race was won by Honda riders. Last year Yamaha won at Aragon for the first time.

• Spanish riders have had great success across all three GP classes at the Aragon circuit, winning eleven of the fifteen GP races that have taken place. The only non-Spanish riders to have won a grand prix at the circuit are: Casey Stoner (MotoGP in 2010 & 2011), Andrea Iannone (Moto2 race in 2010) and Romano Fenati (Moto3 in 2014).
• The MotoGP race at Aragon last year was the 800th race in the premier-class of grand prix racing
• Spanish riders have won the last thirteen MotoGP races on Spanish soil. The last non-Spanish rider to win a MotoGP race in Spain was Casey Stoner at Jerez in 2012.
• Maverick Viñales won the Moto2 race at Aragon last year after qualifying on pole for the only occasion during his one season in the intermediate-class of grand prix racing.
• Aragon is one of just two circuits on the current grand prix schedule, along with Austin, where Valentino Rossi has not had a MotoGP victory.

Historic MotoGP podium in Misano

The MotoGP race at Misano was the first ever in which the majority of riders called into the pits twice during the course of the race to change bikes. The resulting podium of Marc Marquez, Bradley Smith and Scott Redding was one for the record books.

• This was the first MotoGP podium where all three of the riders have graduated from the Moto2 class.
• This is also the first MotoGP podium including two riders from satellite teams since the British GP in 2009 at Donington when Andrea Dovizioso on the factory Honda won from Colin Edwards on a Tech3 Yamaha and Randy de Puniet riding an LCR Honda.
• None of the three riders on the podium at Misano appeared on the podium at the previous race at Silverstone – the first time that six different riders have filled the podiums at successive MotoGP races since the final race of 2012 (Pedrosa, Nakasuga, Stoner) and the first race of 2013 (Lorenzo, Rossi, Marquez).
• Scott Redding finished in third place in spite of crashing in the early stages of the race and restarting. The last rider to crash, restart and then finish on the podium was Casey Stoner at Laguna Seca in 2008, when he finished second after crashing at the final corner on the 24th lap when battling with Valentino Rossi for the lead.

• The average age of the podium finishers at Misano was 23 years 128 days, which is the youngest MotoGP podium since the Qatar Grand Prix in 2008 when Casey Stoner won from Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, with the average age of the three riders being 21 years 329 days – the youngest premier-class podium of all-time.
• It was the first time that two British riders have stood together on a grand prix podium since the Venezuelan Grand Prix in 1979 when Barry Sheene took the race win and in third place was Tom Herron from Northern Ireland. The last time that two English riders stood together on a premier-class grand prix podium was at Silverstone in 1978 when Steve Manship finished second and Barry Sheene was third in a race where most riders came in to change wheels and tyres when it started to rain (it was not within the rules in those days to change bikes); the exception was Manship who started the race on intermediate tyres and stayed out for the full race.

Marc Marquez nears half-century of grand prix wins

At Misano, Marc Marquez stood on the top step of a grand prix podium for the 49th time, the same number of grand prix wins as teammate Dani Pedrosa. The next win for either rider would make them just the eighth rider in the history of motorcycle grand prix racing to reach the milestone of fifty GP victories, as shown in the table below.

Riders with most Grand Prix victories (All solo classes)

Rider Total wins MotoGP/500cc 350cc Moto2/250cc 125cc 80/50cc

1 Giacomo Agostini 122 – 68  x 500cc – 54 x 350cc

2 Valentino Rossi 112 – 86 x 500cc/MotoGP – 14 x 250cc – 12 x 125cc

3 Angel Nieto 90 – 62 x 125cc – 28 x 50/80cc

4 Mike Hailwood 76 – 37 x 500cc – 16 x 350cc – 21 x 250cc – 2 x 125cc

5 Jorge Lorenzo 59 – 38 x MotoGP – 17 x 250cc – 4 x 125cc

6 Mick Doohan 54 – 54 x 500cc

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7 Phil Read 52 – 11 x 500cc – 4 x 350cc – 27 x 250cc – 10 x 125cc

8= Dani Pedrosa 49 – 26 x MotoGP/500cc – 15 x 250cc – 8 x 125cc

8= Marc Marquez 49 – 23 x MotoGP – 16 x 250cc – 10 x 125cc

10= Jim Redman 45 – 2 x 500cc – 21 x 350cc – 18 x 250cc – 4 x 125cc

10= Casey Stoner 45 – 38 x MotoGP – 5 x 250cc – 2 x 125cc

Aragon scheduled to host 100th Moto2 race

The Moto2 race at Aragon will be the 100th Moto2 race to take place since it was introduced as replacement for the 250cc class in 2010. Below are some facts and statistics from the ninety-nine Moto2 races that have taken place so far.

• The only rider to have started all ninety-nine Moto2 races that have taken place is Dominique Aegerter. Anthony West has missed just one Moto2 race and Tom Luthi has missed two.
• A total of twenty-six different riders have stood on the top step of the podium in the Moto2 class.
• The rider with most Moto2 wins, with sixteen, is Marc Marquez, followed by Tito Rabat with 11 wins, Pol Espargaro – 10 wins, Andrea Iannone – 8 wins, Toni Elias – 7 wins, and Johann Zarco – 6 wins.
• A total of forty-two different riders have finished on the podium in the Moto2 class.
• Tito Rabat is the rider with most Moto2 podium finishes, with thirty-one. Next along are; Tom Luthi – 27, Marc Marquez – 25, Pol Espargaro – 23, Andrea Iannone – 19 and Johann Zarco – 18.

• The Moto2 winners have come from twelve different nations: Spain – 53, Italy – 10, France, Germany – 7, Switzerland – 6, Finland, Britain – 4, San Marino – 3, Japan – 2, Australia, Belgium, Czech – 1.
• Twenty-six different riders start have from pole position in the Moto2 class. The three riders with most the Moto2 poles are: Tito Rabat, Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro, all who have been on pole fourteen times in Moto2.
• Kalex are the most successful chassis manufacturer in the Moto2 class with forty-seven wins. Other manufacturers who have taken Moto2 wins are: Suter (32 wins), Moriwaki (8), Speed Up (7), FTR (2), Motobi (2), Tech3 (1).

Johann Zarco could take the Moto2 title in Aragon

Following Johann Zarco’s win at Misano, he now has a 93-point lead over his closest challenger Tito Rabat and could potentially win the title in Aragon. Zarco needs to increase his lead over Rabat by at least seven points to clinch the world title, as well as not losing more than ten points to Alex Rins who still has a mathematical chance of taking the title.

The following scenarios would make Zarco world champion:

• If Zarco wins the race and Rabat does not finish second
• If Zarco is second and Rabat finishes no higher than fourth
• If Zarco is third and Rabat finishes no higher than seventh
• If Zarco is fourth and Rabat finishes no higher than tenth and Rins does not win the race
• If Zarco is fifth and Rabat finishes no higher than 12th and Rins does not win the race
• If Zarco is sixth and Rabat finishes no higher than 13th and Rins does not win the race
• If Zarco is seventh and Rabat finishes no higher than 14th and Rins does not finish first or second
• If Zarco is eighth and Rabat finishes no higher than 15th and Rins does not finish first or second
• If Zarco is ninth and Rabat does not score any points and Rins does not finish first or second

Grand Prix racing numbers

• 100 – Alvaro Bautista will make his 100th start in the MotoGP class at the Aragon Grand Prix. His ninety-nine MotoGP starts have been on bikes from three different manufacturers: Suzuki – 32, Honda – 54 and Aprilia – 13.

• 23 – The win by Marc Marquez at Misano was the 23rd time he has stood on the top step of the podium in the MotoGP class – just one premier-class grand prix win less than three times 500cc world champion Wayne Rainey.
• 22 years 252 days – At the age of 22 years 252 days Scott Redding is the youngest British rider to finish on the podium in the premier-class since Gary Lingham finished third at the Belgium GP in 1979, a race that was boycotted by the top riders over safely concerns. Redding is the youngest British rider to finish on the podium in a non-boycotted premier-class GP race since John Newbold won the 500cc Czech GP in 1976.
• 12 – Johann Zarco has finished on the podium at the last twelve successive Moto2 races. The only rider who has had a longer sequence of successive podium finishes in the intermediate-class of grand prix racing is Max Biaggi, who finished in the top three in seventeen successive 250cc GP races across the seasons 1995 & 1996.
• 6 years – Valentino Rossi has not won a MotoGP race at any of the Spanish circuits for more than six years, since the Grand Prix of Catalunya in 2009.
• 6 – Johann Zarco took his sixth win of 2015 at the San Marino Grand Prix – the greatest number of GP victories ever achieved in a single season by a French rider.
• 4th – The fourth place finish by Loris Baz at the San Marino Grand Prix is the best result in the MotoGP class by a French rider since Randy de Puniet finished fourth at the Grand Prix of Catalunya in 2010.
• 4 – Following Jorge Lorenzo’s crash at Misano there are now four riders in the MotoGP class who have scored points at ever race in 2015: Valentino Rossi, Andrea Iannone, Bradley Smith and Danilo Petrucci.
• 4 – All four of the factory satellite teams have had riders finish on the podium in 2015: Monster Yamaha Tech3 – Bradley Smith; Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS – Scott Redding; Octo Pramac Racing – Danilo Petrucci; LCR Honda Team – Cal Crutchlow.
• 3 – Johann Zarco has won the last three Moto2 races, the first French rider ever to win three successive races in any class of grand prix racing.

Moto2 stats and facts

• None of the riders currently competing in the Moto2 class have won an intermediate-class grand prix at the Aragon circuit.
• Johann Zarco has twice finished on the podium at the Aragon Grand Prix – second in the 125cc race in 2011 and third in the Moto2 race last year. Since taking the lead in the Moto2 championship standings with a win in Argentina, Zarco has increased his lead in the championship at each of the subsequent races. He has won the last three Moto2 races and if he wins again in Aragon he will equal the record for most successive wins in the Moto2 class set by Toni Elias in 2010.
• Tito Rabat has finished second in the Moto2 race in Aragon for the last two years.
• Alex Rins has started from pole in the Moto3 class at Aragon for the last two years. Two years ago he won the Moto3 race at Aragon after a race long battle with Maverick Viñales, last year he made a mistake when battling for the lead on the 11th lap and dropped back to seventh place before recovering to finish fourth.

• Alex Marquez has finished on the podium for the last two years in the Moto3 race in Aragon: second last year and third in 2013.
• Tom Luthi set the fastest lap of the Moto2 race last year at Aragon, on his way to finishing in fourth place – his best ever result at the circuit.
• Sam Lowes finished ninth at Aragon last year after qualifying down in 20th place on the grid. Lowes won the world Supersport race at Aragon in 2012.
• In addition to Alex Rins mentioned above, the only other rider currently competing in Moto2 who has won a grand prix at the Aragon circuit is Luis Salom, who won the Moto3 race there in 2012.
• Jonas Folger has had a single podium finish at Aragon; third in the Moto3 race in 2012, after qualifying on pole position for the first time in his grand prix career.
• Takaaki Nakagami’s third place finish in the Moto2 race at Misano is the first podium by a Japanese rider in any class of grand prix racing since Nakagami himself finished second at the same circuit two years ago.

Moto3 stats and facts

• Danny Kent finished third last year at the Aragon Grand Prix, one of just two podium finishes he achieved during 2014. Kent also set a Moto3 lap record in 2012 on his way to finishing fourth at Aragon.
• Romano Fenati won the Aragon Moto3 race last year after qualifying in 13th place on the grid and finishing the first lap down in 19th place. Fenati is the only rider currently competing in the Moto3 class to have won a grand prix at the Aragon circuit.
• Enea Bastianini won his first grand prix at the last event at Misano, to become the third Italian rider to win in Moto3 this year. The last time that Italy had three different winners in the lightweight-class of GP racing was in 2004 when Andrea Dovizioso, Roberto Locatelli and Marco Simoncelli all won in the 125cc class.

• Nico Antonelli has now finished on the podium at the last three successive races, after not finishing on the podium in his first sixty-one Moto3 starts.
• Arriving in Aragon, Honda have a lead of 89 points over KTM in the Moto3 Constructors Championship. To secure the constructors title in Aragon, Honda need to score eleven points more than KTM. Honda last won the constructors title in the lightweight-class back in 2001.