Assen MotoGP Statistical Analysis

Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines

History of the Dutch TT

Assen is the only venue that has hosted a grand prix event every year since the motorcycle World Championship Grand Prix series started back in 1949. Below are some facts and statistics about the Dutch TT:

This is the 85th time that a Dutch TT event has been held. The first running of the Dutch TT was before the world championship series was created in 1925, and it has taken place every year since, with the exception of the years 1940 to 1945 because of the Second World War. The event became part of the world championship series when it was first created in 1949 and is the only circuit to have been part of the series every year since, making this the 67th Dutch TT that has counted towards the world championship classification.
The original Assen circuit that was used up to 1954, measured 16.54 km. This was reduced to 7.7 km in 1955 and then in 1984 further modifications to the circuit reduced the length to 6.1 km. The current layout has been used since 2006, with a few minor adjustments.
The Dutch TT that took the longest time to complete was the 500cc race in 1950 that took place over eighteen laps of the 16.54 km circuit, a total of 298 km (185 miles). The race was won by Umberto Masetti riding a Gilera in a time of 2 hrs 43.2 seconds.
The 500cc race at the 1975 Dutch TT is the only premier-class grand prix race where the first two riders across the line have been credited with the same race time. Barry Sheene and Giacomo Agostini finished so close that the timekeepers of the day, using manual timing accurate to 0.1 sec, were unable to split them.
There have been a total of 256 world championship grand prix races for solo motorcycles held at the Assen circuit.

Assen has hosted a Grand Prix every year since 1925, with the exception of the six from 1940 to 1945 because of the Second World War.

Yamaha are the most successful manufacturer at the Dutch TT since the start of the four-stroke MotoGP formula, with seven victories. Honda has had five MotoGP wins at the Dutch TT and Ducati a single win in 2008.
The last win by Suzuki at the Dutch TT was in the 500cc race in 1993 with Kevin Schwantz. The best results by Suzuki in the MotoGP era at the Dutch TT are 5th place finishes by John Hopkins in 2007 and Chris Vermeulen in 2009.
Ben Spies’ win at the Dutch TT in 2011 was the last MotoGP race won by a rider other than one of the following; Casey Stoner, Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo.
The last rider to win the MotoGP race at the Dutch TT in successive years is Valentino Rossi, in 2004 and 2005.
Last year at the Dutch TT, Aleix Espargaro riding the Forward Yamaha started from pole for the first time in his grand prix career on his 150th grand prix appearance.
The rider with most GP victories at Assen is Angel Nieto with 15 wins in the 125cc and 50cc classes, followed by Giacomo Agostini who had 14 wins riding 500cc and 350cc machines.
Among the current riders, Valentino Rossi has been the most successful at Assen with a total of eight victories, six in MotoGP and one each in the 250cc and 125cc classes.
Four Dutch riders have won grand prix races at their home circuit; Paul Lodewijkx the 50cc race in 1968, Wil Hartog the 500cc race in 1977, Jack Middelburg the 500cc race in 1980 and Hans Spaan the 125cc race in 1989.
The last Dutch rider to finish on the podium at the Dutch TT is Wilco Zeelenberg – 3rd in the 250cc race in 1994.

Dani Pedrosa levels with Mick Doohan

Dani Pedrosa’s third place finish in Catalunya was the 95th time that he has 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 premierclass as five times world 500cc champion, Mick Doohan. Both Doohan and Pedrosa have achieved all of their premierclass podiums riding for Honda. Jorge Lorenzo’s win in Catalunya was the 89th time he has stood on the podium in the MotoGP class, moving him above Giacomo Agostini in the table below.

Jorge Lorenzo equals Mike Hailwood

Jorge Lorenzo’s victory at the Catalan Grand Prix was the 37th time he has stood on the top step of the podium in the MotoGP class. As shown in the following list, this is the same number of premier-class grand prix wins as four-time 500cc world champion Mike Hailwood. One more win for Lorenzo and he will equal the number of career victories of Casey Stoner in the MotoGP class.

RIDERS WITH MOST WINS IN MotoGP/500cc CLASS

84 – Valentino Rossi (7 premier-class titles)
68 – Giacomo Agostini (8 premier-class titles)
54 – Mick Doohan (5 premier-class titles)
38 – Casey Stoner (2 premier-class titles)
37 – Mike Hailwood (4 premier-class titles),
37 – Jorge Lorenzo (2 premier-class titles)
31 -Eddie Lawson (4 premier-class titles)
26 – Dani Pedrosa (0 premier-class titles)
25 – Kevin Schwantz (1 premier-class title),
24 – Wayne Rainey (3 premier-class titles)

Great success for Yamaha factory team in 2015

Yamaha celebrate their second 1-2 finish of MotoGP 2015 — Yamaha celebrated their second 1-2 finish of MotoGP 2015 at Catalunya

The world championship classification is headed by Valentino Rossi, just one point ahead of teammate Jorge Lorenzo. These two riders have had great success so far in 2015 on their factory Yamaha machines, resulting in the following records and milestones:

At the Catalunya Grand Prix Jorge Lorenzo became the first Yamaha rider to win four or more successive MotoGP races since Valentino Rossi won five in a row in 2008.
Those five successive wins by Rossi in 2008 was also the last time, before the current run of success, that Yamaha have won five successive MotoGP races.
Jorge Lorenzo has won the last four MotoGP races from start to finish, leading across the line at the end of every lap, which is 103 consecutive laps in the lead. This is a new record in the MotoGP era for consecutive laps led by an individual rider.
In addition to the 103 laps led by Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi led across the line for the final two laps of the race in Argentina. This means that Yamaha have led the last 105 laps, which equals the existing record for laps led by a manufacturer in the MotoGP era; this was achieved by Honda across the Czech, Portuguese, Rio, Pacific, Malaysian and Australian Grands Prix in 2003.
A win by any Yamaha rider at the Dutch TT and it will be six successive premier-class wins for Yamaha for the first time in the 67 year history of grand prix motorcycle racing.

Grand Prix racing numbers

MotoGP 2015 Round Seven Catalunya MotoGP Qualifying Front Row

100 – Aleix Espargaro’s pole position at the Grand Prix of Catalunya was the 100th pole in the MotoGP class for Spanish riders, split as follows: Jorge Lorenzo – 31, Dani Pedrosa – 27, Marc Marquez – 25, Sete Gibernau – 12, Carlos Checa – 2, Aleix Espargaro – 2, Alvaro Bautista – 1. The number of MotoGP poles by other nations are as follows: Italy – 68, Australia – 42, USA – 11, Great Britain – 3, Japan – 4, Brazil – 2, France – 1, Germany – 1.
37 – Jorge Lorenzo’s victory in Catalunya was the 37th time he has stood on the top step of the podium in the MotoGP class. Only two riders have more MotoGP wins since it became the premier-class of grand prix racing in 2002; Casey Stoner with 38 and Valentino Rossi with 71.
27 -Tito Rabat’s third place finish in Catalunya was the 27th time that he has stood on the podium in the Moto2 class; this equals the record for most podium finishes in Moto2 held by Tom Luthi.
26 – French Moto2 rider Louis Rossi celebrates his 26th birthday on the Tuesday before the Dutch TT.
23 years – On the day of qualifying at the Dutch TT it will be exactly twenty three years to the day that Alex Criville became the first Spanish rider totake a 500cc GP win, at the 1992 Dutch TT.
6th – Maverick Viñales finished sixth at the Grand Prix of Catalunya at the age of just 20 years 153 days. This makes him the second youngest rider to have a top six finish in the MotoGP class since it was introduced in 2002. The only rider to finish in the top six at a younger age was Marc Marquez when he was third in his debut in the class in Qatar in 2013 at the age of 20 years 49 days. The sixth place finish by Viñales in Catalunya is also the best MotoGP result for Suzuki since Alvaro Bautista finished sixth in Aragon in 2011.

5 – Maria Herrera finished 15th in the Moto3 race in Catalunya to become the fifth female rider to score points in grand prix racing, along with: Taru Rinne – 125cc, Tomoko Igata – 125cc, Katja Poensgen – 250cc and Ana Carrasco – Moto3.
4 – At the Grand Prix of Catalunya Danny Kent took his fourth win of 2015 to become the first British rider to have four or more GP wins in a single season since Barry Sheene won six races on his way to taking the 1977 500cc world title. This was also the last time that a British rider won a world title in any class of solo motorcycle grand prix racing.
3 – Assen is one of just three circuits, along with Catalunya and Motegi, where Marc Marquez has not started from pole in the MotoGP class.
2- At the Grand Prix of Catalunya, Johann Zarco took his second victory of 2015. This is the first time that a French rider has had more than a single victory in the intermediate class of grand prix racing in a single season since Randy de Puniet took three 250cc GP wins in 2003.
2 – Loris Baz finished 13th in Catalunya and Mike di Meglio was 15th; this is the first time that France have had two point scoring finishers in a MotoGP race since the final race of 2008 in Valencia when Sylvain Guintoli was 12th and Randy de Puniet 15th.

Moto2 stats and facts

Johann Zarco finished fourth in the Moto2 race at the Dutch TT last year – his best result from six grand prix starts at the Assen circuit. 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
Thomas Luthi’s second place finish at Assen in 2008 was his first podium finish at the Dutch TT and his best ever result in the 250cc class. He has had one podium finish in the Moto2 class at the Dutch TT – third in 2010.
Anthony West’s two grand prix wins have both been at the Dutch TT – the 250cc race in 2003 and the Moto2 race last year, both of which took place in wet conditions. These two wins came exactly eleven years apart.
Tito Rabat’s best result at the Dutch TT is fourth in the Moto2 race in 2012. Assen is one of only two circuits on the current grand prix schedule where Rabat has not had a podium finish in the Moto2 class, along with the Sachsenring. Rabat crashed on the sighting-lap last year, but was able to take up his pole position after repairs to the bike due to a delayed start because of a sudden heavy rain shower.
Sam Lowes crashed out of the Moto2 race at Assen last year, on the ninth lap when in second place; he re-started but crashed again before the end of the lap, ending his race. Lowes won the World Supersport race in 2013 on his way to taking the world title.
Simone Corsi qualified on pole and finished third in the 125cc class at the Dutch TT in 2008 – his only podium finish at the Assen circuit. Corsi crashed at Assen last year when leading the Moto2 race by ten seconds; he re-started to finish 13th.
Alex Rins has finished on the podium in the Moto3 class for the last two years at Assen: third in 2013 and second last year.
Mika Kallio won the 125cc race from pole position at the Dutch TT back in 2006. He finished third in the Moto2 race last year – his first podium at Assen since 2006.
Past winners at the Dutch TT who are currently competing in the Moto2 class, in addition to West and Kallio mentioned above, are: Alex Marquez ( Moto3/2014) and Luis Salom ( Moto3/2013).

Moto3 stats and facts

Danny Kent has had a single podium finish at Assen; third in the Moto3 race in 2012, his first ever podium finish in grand prix racing. Since taking the lead in the championship standings with a win in Austin, Kent has increased his lead in the championship at each of the subsequent races.
None of the riders currently competing in Moto3 have ever won at the Dutch TT.
Enea Bastianini has been on the podium six times already in his short Moto3 career, including five second place finishes, but has yet to stand on the top step. Bastianini crashed out of the Moto3 race at Assen last year at the chicane at the end of the first lap.
In 2013, Miguel Oliveira achieved pole position at Assen for Mahindra Racing: their first and so far only pole in Moto3 (in addition to Danny Webb’s 125cc pole for Mahindra at Valencia in 2011). Oliveira finished third last year at the Dutch TT – his only podium finish of 2014.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Miguel Oliveira claimed a career first Moto3 victory, and becomes the first Portuguese winner in Grand Prix history. — Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Miguel Oliveira claimed a career first Moto3 victory, and became the first Portuguese winner in Grand Prix history with his victory at Mugello 2015

Niccolo Antonelli finished fifth last year at the Dutch TT – his best result of 2014. His fourth place finish two weeks ago in Catalunya equalled his best ever GP results that he had at both Le Mans and Mugello in 2012.
At the Dutch TT last year Romano Fenati ran wide into the gravel trap at the chicane on the first lap, dropping him back to 31st place. He set a new lap record while working his way back up to eighth before crashing on the 14th lap, then re-starting to eventually finish 18th.