Facts and figures from Grand Prix racing at Jerez
With Dr. Martin Raines – MotoGP Official Statistician
This is the 29th successive year that a motorcycle grand prix event has been held at the Jerez circuit since it was first used in 1987. Below are some facts and statistics relating to grand prix racing at Jerez:
- Assen is the only current venue that has been used consecutively for a longer period than Jerez.
- A total of 86 grand prix races for solo motorcycles have been held at the Jerez circuit as follows: MotoGP – 13, 500cc – 15, Moto2 – 5, 250cc – 23, Moto3 – 3, 125cc – 24, 80cc – 3.
- Spain has been the most successful nation at the Jerez circuit, having taken a total of twenty-nine grand prix victories across all classes: 6 x MotoGP, 4 x 500cc, 3 x Moto2, 6 x 250cc, 1 x Moto3, 6 x 125cc, 3 x 80cc.
- Since the introduction of the MotoGP class in 2002, Honda have had seven victories at Jerez, Yamaha five and Ducati have had one win, with Loris Capirossi in 2006.
- Only three non-Spanish riders have won in the MotoGP class at Jerez – Valentino Rossi (2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 & 2009), Loris Capirossi (2006) & Casey Stoner (2012).
- Jerez has been the most successful circuit for the Spanish riders as regards premier-class victories, with a total of ten wins; Alberto Puig in 1995, Alex Criville in 1997, 1998, 1999, Sete Gibernau in 2004, Dani Pedrosa in 2008 & 2013, Jorge Lorenzo in 2010 & 2011, and Marc Marquez in 2014.
- There has been at least one Spanish rider on the podium in the MotoGP race at Jerez for the last eleven years, a sequence that started in 2004. Alberto Puig’s victory at Jerez on 7th May 1995 was the first win for a Spanish rider in the premier-class on home soil.
- Valentino Rossi is the most successful rider at the Jerez circuit with eight grand prix victories to his name; a single victory in both the 125cc and 250cc classes to add to his six in the premier-class.
- Suzuki’s last victory at Jerez was in 2000, when Kenny Roberts won the 500cc race on his way to taking the world title. The best result for Suzuki since the introduction of the MotoGP class in 2002 is 5th with Loris Capirossi in 2008.
- Last year Marc Marquez became the first rider to win the MotoGP race at Jerez from pole position since Loris Capirossi in 2006. Spain has had at least one winner across the three classes at the Jerez GP for the last five years.
- Last year Marc Marquez won for the first time in any GP class at Jerez, and consequently has now won at least one GP race at all circuits on the current schedule.
Valentino Rossi closes in on 200th grand prix podium
Valentino Rossi’s win in Argentina was the 199th time that he has stood on the podium in his grand prix career.
One more top three finish and he will become the first rider in the 67 year history of grand prix racing to reach the milestone of 200 podium finishes, and below are some of the details of this achievement, starting with a breakdown of his podiums by category:
Rossi has finished on the podium on nine distinctly different motorcycles during his grand prix career, as shown below:
Rossi’s victory in Argentina was his first podium at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit and means that he has now finished on the podium at all eighteen circuits on the current grand prix schedule.
In total he has finished on the podium at thirty-three different circuits during his grand prix career, more than any other rider in the 67 year of grand prix motorcycle racing.
The circuit at which he has had most podium finishes is Phillip Island, where he has been on the podium on fifteen occasions (1st x 8, 2nd x 2, 3rd x 5).
The rider who is second to Rossi in the all-time list of podium finishers in grand prix racing is fifteen-times World Champion, Italian Giacomo Agostini, who stood on the podium 159 times during his grand prix career.
Breakthrough win for Johann Zarco
After finishing on the podium on seven previous occasions since moving up to the Moto2 class at the start of 2012, Johann Zarco finally got to stand on the top step at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit in Argentina. This gives Zarco a number of new records and milestones:
- Zarco’s win in Argentina is his second GP victory, his other was in the 125cc class at Motegi in 2011.
- He is the first French rider to win races in both the lightweight-class (Moto3/125cc) and the intermediate-class (Moto2/250cc) of grand prix racing.
- He is only the second French rider to win a grand prix in the Moto2 class, along with Jules Cluzel, who won at Silverstone in 2010.
- Zarco leads the championship standings for the first time in his grand prix career.
- He is the first French rider to top the intermediate-class championship standings since Randy de Puniet led the 250cc standings following the Dutch TT in 2004.
- Together with Aleix Masbou’s victory in Moto3 at Qatar, this is the first year that French riders have taken wins in two different classes in the same season since 2005, when Randy de Puniet won a race in the 250cc class and Mike Di Meglio in the 125cc class.
Another good day for British riders in Argentina
After the success of winning two races in Austin, British riders again had a good day in Argentina across all three class:
- With Danny Kent winning the Moto3 race, together with third place finishes for Sam Lowes in Moto2 and Cal Crutchlow in MotoGP, it was the first time that Britain has had podium finishers in three current GP classes (or equivalent) at a GP event since the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1978 when Clive Horton finished second in the 125cc race, Tom Herron was second in the 250cc race, and Steve Manship and Barry Sheene finished second and third in the 500cc race.
- Danny Kent is the first British rider to win back-to-back races in the lightweight-class (Moto3/125cc) since 1971 when Barry Sheene won at the Swedish 125cc GP at Anderstorp and then a week later won the Finnish GP at Imatra.
- Kent won the Moto3 race in Argentina by 10.334 seconds. Which is the largest margin of victory in the lightweight-class of grand prix racing in a fully dry race since Nico Terol won the 125cc race at the Grand Prix of Catalunya in 2011 by 10.356 seconds.
- Kent is the first rider to win back-to-back lightweight class grand prix races both by a margin of greater than eight seconds since Dirk Raudies in 1993.
Grand Prix racing numbers
200 – Andrea Dovizioso’s second place at the Grand Prix of the Argentina was the 200th time he has finished in a point scoring position across all classes. He is only the fifth rider in the sixty-seven year history of motorcycle grand prix racing to reach the milestone of 200 points scoring finishes, along with Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi, Alex Barros and Dani Pedrosa.
100 – MotoGP rookie Loris Baz finished 14th in Argentina to become the 100th rider to score points in the MotoGP class since it was introduced as the premier-class of grand prix racing in 2002.
89 – The win by Valentino Rossi in Argentina was the 89th victory in the MotoGP class by Italian riders since MotoGP became the premier-class of grand prix racing in 2002. This is one more win than Spanish riders have achieved in the MotoGP class over the same period.
66 – Valentino Rossi has scored 66 points already in 2015, his highest points total after the first three races of the year since 2005 when he opened the season with two wins and a second place finish.
56.236 seconds – Marco Melandri, who finished in 20th place in Argentina, finished just 56.236 seconds behind race winner Valentino Rossi. This is the first time in the 67 years of motorcycle grand prix racing, in a race that has gone full distance, that the first 20 riders across the line in a premier- class GP have finished within one minute.
28 – Jorge Lorenzo celebrates his 28th birthday on the day following the Spanish Grand Prix.
8 – Valentino Rossi’s last three MotoGP wins have been achieved after starting in eighth place on the grid.
8 – Cal Crutchlows 3rd place finish in Argentina was the eighth time has stood on the podium in MotoGP. Only one rider has more podium finishes in the MotoGP class without having stood on the top step: Colin Edwards with twelve.
4 – Championship leader and twice winner so far in 2015, Valentino Rossi, has only led across the line for a total of four laps in 2015. Other riders who have led races year are: Marc Marquez – 40 laps, Jorge Lorenzo – 15 laps, Andrea Dovizioso – 9 laps.
4 – Danny Kent has four career wins in the Moto3 class. Only three British riders have had more wins than Kent in the Moto3/125cc class of grand prix racing: Bill Ivy – 14 wins, Phil Read and Dave Simmonds – each with 10 wins.
3 – Cal Crutchlow’s third place finish in Argentina was his first podium riding a Honda. Crutchlow is now among an elite group of riders who have had podium finishes in the MotoGP class riding bikes from three different manufacturers; other to have achieved this are: Valentino Rossi (Honda, Yamaha, Ducati), Alex Barros (Honda, Yamaha, Ducati), Loris Capirossi (Honda, Ducati, Suzuki), Andrea Dovizioso (Honda, Yamaha, Ducati) and Marco Melandri (Yamaha, Honda,
Kawasaki). Crutchlow is the first rider to finish on the podium in three successive years on bikes from three different manufacturers since Eddie Lawson in 1989/90/91 on Honda, Yamaha and Cagiva.
Moto2 stats and facts
Championship leader Johann Zarco has had a single podium at Jerez; third in the 125cc race in 2011. His best result at Jerez in the Moto2 class is the eighth place finish he achieved last year. Following his win in Argentina, Zarco could become the first French rider to win back-to-back intermediate-class grand prix races since Christian Sarron in 1984.
Alex Rins finished third in the Moto3 race at the Spanish Grand Prix last year – his first GP podium finish at Jerez. He qualified on pole for the Moto3 race at Jerez in 2012 in just his second GP start and in the race finished fourth. He was again on pole at Jerez in 2013 when he crashed out of the race. He is the first Moto2 rookie (other than in the first year of the class in 2010) to have two podium finishes in the opening three races of the year.
Two years ago in Jerez, Esteve Rabat making his 113th grand prix start, took his maiden GP win after qualifying on pole for the first time in his grand prix career. Last year Rabat finished 4th at Jerez, one of just four occasions in 2014 that he did not stand on the podium.
Only once since the Moto2 class debuted in 2010 has the Jerez race winner gone on to claim the world title; this was in 2010 itself, when Toni Elias picked up his first win of the season
At the Spanish Grand Prix last year, Jonas Folger became the youngest German rider to finish on the podium in the Moto2/250cc class since Horst Kassner finished third in the 250cc Belgium GP in 1956 at the age of nineteen. Folger ran wide on the opening lap in Argentina and then set a new Moto2 lap record on his way to finishing in ninth place.
Mika Kallio won the Moto2 race at Jerez last year from pole position. He also won the 250cc race at Jerez in 2008 riding a KTM.
Dominique Aegerter finished second last year at Jerez, which was his best grand prix result before taking a win in Germany later in the year.
Moto3 stats and facts
Danny Kent has won the last two Moto3 races and a victory for Kent at Jerez would make him the first British rider to take three or more successive grand prix wins in any class since Barry Sheene won three successive 500cc GP races in 1977, and the first to do so in the lightweight-class since Dave Simmonds won seven successive races in 1969, the year he became 125cc world champion riding a Kawasaki.
Efren Vazquez finished second in the Moto3 race at the Spanish Grand Prix last year – his first GP podium finish at the Jerez circuit.
Romano Fenati has won the Moto3 race twice in Jerez during the last three years, both times after qualifying in 10th place on the grid. In 2012 he won the wet Moto3 race at Jerez by 36 seconds in only his second ever grand prix start. He won again last year from Efren Vazquez and Alex Rins, with just 0.147 seconds covering the three riders at the chequered flag.
The last rider to win the lightweight-class grand prix at Jerez from pole position was Marco Simoncelli back in 2005.
German rider Philipp Oettl will celebrate his 19th birthday on race day in Spain. Philipp’s father Peter was twice a podium finisher in Jerez: third in the 80cc race of 1989 and second in the 125cc race of 1994.
