Facts and figures from MotoGP at Le Mans – Stats man!

Facts and figures from Grand Prix racing at Le Mans – Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines

The Le Mans circuit has one of the longest traditions of Grand Prix racing on the current MotoGP schedule. Below are some facts and figures about Grand Prix racing at Le Mans:

• Le Mans has hosted a Grand Prix event on 26 previous occasions, including the Grand Prix ‘Vitesse du Mans’ in 1991, which was the only season when two Grand Prix events have been held in France in the same year
• Le Mans was first used for a Grand Prix event in 1969, when the 500 race was won by Giacomo Agostini, who lapped all other riders on his MV Agusta
• The Le Mans circuit has been used for the MotoGP event for the last 14 years in succession, starting in 2000
• Since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP formula in 2002, Honda have had six wins at Le Mans, Yamaha five and Suzuki one, in 2007 with Chris Vermeulen – Suzuki’s only GP victory in the four-stroke MotoGP era to date
• The riders with most victories at Le Mans are Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, who have each stood on the top step of the podium on four occasions; Lorenzo has had a single win in the 250 class to add to his three MotoGP wins, whereas Pedrosa has won once in the 125 class, twice in 250s and last year in the MotoGP class for the first time
• There have been five GP wins at Le Mans by French riders: Jean Aureal won the 125 race in 1969, Guy Bertin the 125 race in 1979, Patrick Fernandez the 350 race in 1979, Mike di Meglio the 125 race in 2008 and Louis Rossi the Moto3TM race in 2012
• In addition to Le Mans, there have been seven other circuits that have hosted the French GP (the figure in brackets is the number of times each circuit has hosted the French Grand Prix): Paul Ricard (13), Clermont-Ferrand (10), Nogaro (2), Reims (2), Rouen (2), Albi (1) and Magny-Cours (1)

Marc Marquez makes perfect start to the season

At the Spanish Grand Prix, Marc Marquez continued his perfect season of winning every race from pole position and in doing so he has re-written the record books:

• Marquez is the first rider to win the opening four races of the year in the premier class since Mick Doohan in the 500 tier in 1992
• He is the first rider to win four successive premier class races from pole position since Valentino Rossi at the final three races of 2003 and the opening race of 2004
• He is the first rider to win the opening four races of the year, all from pole position, since Giacomo Agostini in the 500 class in 1971. That year, Agostini continued winning from pole all the way through to the eighth race of the year in Finland
• In addition to his four pole positions this year, Marquez also started from pole at the final race of 2013. The last rider to qualify on pole in five successive MotoGP races was Casey Stoner in 2011
• Marquez has a championship lead of 28 points over team-mate Dani Pedrosa. This is the largest points advantage after the first four races in the MotoGP class since 2005, when Valentino Rossi had a 37-point margin over Marco Melandri after the first four races
• His victory at the Spanish GP was his first victory at the Jerez circuit, which until then had been the only venue left on the current GP schedule on which he had not won in his Grand Prix career. He is now the only rider to have won at all circuits on the 2014 calendar
• He is also the only rider to have started from a World Championship pole position at all of the circuits on the 2014 schedule

At the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, Marquez has the potential to achieve the following:

• Victory would make him the youngest ever rider, at the age of 21 years and 90 days, to win five successive races in the premier class, taking the record from Mike Hailwood who was 22 years and 160 days old when he won five successive races in the 500 class in 1962, riding an MV Agusta
• By winning in France, he could become the first rider since Valentino Rossi on a Yamaha in 2008 to win five successive MotoGP races
• He could become the first rider since Giacomo Agostini in 1972, riding an MV Agusta, to win the opening five races of the year in the premier class
• If Marquez qualifies on pole and wins the race, this would be the first time that a rider has won five or more successive premier class races from pole since Mick Doohan, on a Honda, won ten successive races from pole in 1997
• If Marquez is the fastest qualifier at Le Mans, this will mark the first time that a rider has started from pole at six or more consecutive MotoGP races since Casey Stoner was on pole at seven successive races in 2008, riding a Ducati

Marc Marquez closes in on Jorge Martinez

The victory by Marc Marquez at Jerez marked the 36th time that he had stood on the top step of the podium in his Grand Prix career. This is just one less GP win than Jorge ‘Aspar’ Martinez achieved over his career, during which he won four world titles: three in the 80cc class and one in 125s. At the age of just 21, Marquez is already the 16th most successful GP rider of all-time in terms of Grand Prix wins.

Dani Pedrosa levels with Giacomo Agostini

Dani Pedrosa’s third place finish at Jerez was the 88th time that he had stood on the podium since moving up to the MotoGP class in 2006. As shown in the table below, this is the same number of podium finishes in the premier class as eight-time 500 World Champion Giacomo Agostini. Valentino Rossi tops the list and is on target to become the first rider to reach the milestone of 150 podium appearances in the premier class of Grand Prix racing.

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Moto2 Facts and Trivia

• Three French riders will line up on the intermediate class grid at Le Mans, as Moto2 regulars Johann Zarco and Louis Rossi are joined by wildcard entry Lucas Mahias (Promoto Sport)
• Marc VDS Racing Team head to Le Mans having won three of the opening four Grands Prix of the year; between Tito Rabat and Mika Kallio, the duo have led almost 65% of racing laps so far in 2014 (57 laps in comparison with 31 for the rest of the field put together)
• Simone Corsi’s run of consecutive fifth place finishes came to an end last time out in Jerez, as the Italian crashed twice during the race – a misfortune also suffered by Sam Lowes
• Le Mans is the most successful circuit to date in the career of Tom Luthi, who won the 125 races of 2005 and 2006; on top of this, his victory of 2012 means he is the only rider on the current Moto2 grid to have won at Le Mans in the class
• A total of four riders on the current Moto2 grid have won at Le Mans: Tom Luthi (as explained above), Julian Simon (won the 125 race in 2009), Maverick Viñales (clinched his career-first win in 125s in 2011 plus last year’s Moto3 race) and Louis Rossi (Moto3 in 2012)

Moto3 Facts and Trivia

• None of the riders on the Moto3 grid have won in any World Championship class at Le Mans
• Jack Miller and Romano Fenati have each won 50% of the four Grands Prix so far in 2014, with Fenati’s victory at Jerez having been the 50th for KTM in Grand Prix racing; this also means that Spanish riders, who won every race in 2013, are yet to pick up a victory this year
• As is the case in Moto2, three French riders will race in their home Moto3 event and these also consist of two class regulars and one wildcard: Alexis Masbou and Jules Danilo will be joined on the lightweight grid by Reynald Castillon (Team RMS), who makes his GP debut
• Over the course of the opening four Moto3 races this season, three riders have finished on the podium on three occasions: Jack Miller, Romano Fenati and Efren Vazquez – however, only once have the trio locked out a rostrum and this was in Austin
• With 12 podium positions having been on offer so far in 2014, KTM and Honda have collected six apiece from the Losail, Austin, Termas de Rio Hondo and Jerez events
• At his home Grand Prix, Jules Danilo will celebrate his 19th birthday on race day

Zarco to celebrate Sarron anniversaries at Le Mans 

Frenchman Johann Zarco will race a special Christian Sarron livery in France, with 2014 marking 30 years since his fellow countryman clinched the 1984 250cc world title and 20 years since Christian and brother Dominique Sarron won the prestigious Bol d’Or. Facts on Christian and Dominique Sarron:

• Christian Sarron is one of only three French riders to have won the 250 world title (along with Olivier Jacques and Jean-Louis Tournadre); he is one of only three Frenchmen to win a premier class Grand Prix (the others are Pierre Monneret and Regis Laconi, who also clinched one win apiece); Sarron is the only French rider to win both 250cc and 500cc races
• Christian and Dominique Sarron are the only pair of brothers to have both won races in the intermediate class of Grand Prix racing; at the 1987 French GP at Le Mans, Dominique was on pole for the 250 race and Christian for the 500 race – a feat they repeated at both the Dutch TT at Assen and French GP at Paul Ricard in 1988; no other pair of brothers has ever started from pole position in two different Grand Prix classes at the same race event

Grand Prix Racing Numbers

• 83 – After the first four races of the year, Tito Rabat has scored 83 points; this is the highest score achieved in the Moto2 class after the first four races of the year since the category was introduced in 2010
• 59 – The victory by Marc Marquez at the Spanish GP signalled the 59th time he had stood on a Grand Prix podium. A top three finish in France will make him the 25th rider in the 65-year history of motorcycle Grand Prix racing to reach the milestone of 60 podium finishes
• 50 – Romano Fenati’s victory in the Spanish Moto3 race was the 50th Grand Prix win for KTM. Casey Stoner gave KTM their first Grand Prix win, in the 125 class in Malaysia in 2004. The breakdown of the 50 GP wins by KTM is: Moto3 – 28 wins, 125cc – 13 wins, 250cc – 9 wins. The rider who has given KTM the most GP victories is Mika Kallio, who won for the marque seven times in the 125 class and five times in the 250 class
• 45 years – On race day at Le Mans, it will be exactly 45 years to the day – at the 1969 French Grand Prix at Le Mans – that Jean Aureal, riding a Yamaha, became the first French rider to win a 125cc race
• 20 years and 264 days – At the Spanish Grand Prix, Jonas Folger became the youngest German rider to finish on the podium in the Moto2/250 class since Horst Kassner finished third in the 250 Belgian Grand Prix of 1956, at the age of 19
• 16 years – On the day of qualifying at Le Mans, it will be exactly 16 years since the 1998 Italian GP at Mugello, when Marcellino Lucchi took his first win in the 250cc class, at the age of 41 and some 16 years after making his Grand Prix debut
• 6 – On race day at Le Mans, it will be exactly six years to the day since Mike di Meglio won the 125 race at the 2008 French GP to become the first home rider to win at Le Mans in the 125 class since Guy Bertin in 1979
• 4 – Dani Pedrosa has started the season with podium finishes at the opening four MotoGP races of the year for the first time since 2008. Another top three finish for Pedrosa at Le Mans will mean has been on the podium at the first five MotoGP races of the year for the first time
• 2 – Romano Fenati has won the last two Moto3 races. This is the first time that an Italian rider has taken back-to-back wins in the lightweight class of Grand Prix racing since Andrea Iannone won the opening two 125 races of the 2009 season, in Qatar and Japan. If Fenati wins at Le Mans, he will become the first Italian rider to win three successive lightweight class Grands Prix since Marco Melandri in 1999
• 2nd – Dominique Aegerter’s second place finish in the Moto2 race at Jerez was his best ever Grand Prix result from 124 career starts to date. His three previous podium finishes have all seen him standing on the third step of the podium
• 0 – The Moto2 podium of Jerez did not include any riders from Spain. The last GP podium – across all three classes – that did not include a Spaniard was the Moto2 race at Silverstone last year, which was won by Great Britain’s Scott Redding from Takaaki Nakagami of Japan and Tom Luthi from Switzerland