Octo British Grand Prix – MotoGP 2016 – Round 12 – Silverstone
Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines
Grand Prix racing at Silverstone
This is the seventh year that Silverstone has hosted a grand prix since motorcycle world championship racing returned to the circuit in 2010 after a gap of 23 years. Below are some facts and statistics related to this event.
- The first motorcycle grand prix event to be held at Silverstone in 1977 was also the first motorcycle grand prix to be held on the British mainland; prior to 1977 the British round of the world championship had been held since 1949 on the 37.73 mile long Isle of Man TT circuit. The move from the Isle of Man was made mainly for reasons of rider safety.
- The winners at that first grand prix at Silverstone in 1977 were: 500cc – Pat Hennen (Suzuki), 350cc & 250cc – Kork Ballington (Yamaha), 125cc –Â Pierluigi Conforti (Morbidelli).
- The original circuit layout used for the grand prix from 1977 to 1986 was 2.93 miles long (4.71 km) and the fastest lap in a race at the circuit during this time was set by Kenny Roberts riding a Yamaha in 1983 at an average speed of 119.5 mph (192.2 km/h).
- The British grand prix was held for ten successive years at the Silverstone circuit, before the event moved to Donington Park in 1987. The British GPÂ returned to Silverstone in 2010 with a revised circuit layout measuring 5.9 km.
- Kork Ballington and Angel Nieto are the two riders with most GP victories at Silverstone, each having won there on six occasions.
- The only two riders who have had more than a single victory at Silverstone since GP racing returned to the circuit in 2010 are Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez. Lorenzo has won the MotoGP race there three times: 2010, 2012 & 2013; Marquez won the 125cc race in 2010 and the MotoGP race in 2014.
- Since the world championship grand prix series returned to Silverstone in 2010, the best results for British riders in the MotoGP class at their home grand prix is 6th – for Cal Crutchlow in 2012 and for Scott Redding last year.
- Yamaha have won four of the six MotoGP races that have taken place at Silverstone, with Honda taking the other two victories.
- The only podium finishes for Ducati at Silverstone came last year – second place finish for Danilo Petrucci and third for Andrea Dovizioso.
- The best MotoGP result for Suzuki at Silverstone is 5th with Alvaro Bautista in 2011.
- Three British riders have won a solo grand prix race at Silverstone; Danny Kent won the Moto3 race last year, Scott Redding won the Moto2 race in 2013Â and Ian McConnachie won in the 80cc class in 1986.
- Only two British riders have started from pole at Silverstone, across all solo GP classes; Barry Sheene in the 500cc class in 1977 and Sam Lowes in Moto2 last year.
Cal Crutchlow ends thirty five year wait
Cal Crutchlow’s maiden MotoGP win at Brno, the first in the premier-class by a British rider for thirty five years, is one for the record books.
- The last British rider to win a premier-class grand prix was Barry Sheene riding a Yamaha in the 500cc Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp on 16th August 1981.
- Barry Sheene’s win in Sweden was the 300th 500cc race that had taken place and was the 138th premier-class victory for British riders. Since Sheene’s win there had been 532 successive premier-class races without a British winner before Crutchlow’s win in Brno.
- At the age of 30 years 297 days he is the oldest rider to take his maiden win in the MotoGP class since Troy Bayliss at the final race of 2006 in Valencia.
- Crutchlow is the first British rider to win a premier-class GP race riding a Honda since Mike Hailwood won the Canadian 500cc Grand Prix in 1967.
- The win at Brno was the 10th MotoGP podium for Crutchlow, which is the greatest number of premier-class podium finishes for any British rider since Barry Sheene.
- Crutchlow is just the sixth rider to win a MotoGP race having never competed full-time in any of the smaller classes of grand prix racing, joining: Nicky Hayden, Makoto Tamada, Troy Bayliss, Chris Vermeulen and Ben Spies.
- Crutchlow is the 17th rider to win in both the premier-class of grand prix racing and in the WSBK championship.
Great day for British riders at Brno
In addition to Cal Crutchlow’s historic win in the MotoGP race, it was a great day for British riders at the Czech grand prix, with a number of long standing records re-written.
- John McPhee won for the first time in the Moto3 class in what was his 76th grand prix start (Seventy two in the Moto3 class plus four in the 125cc class).
- This was also the first grand prix win for the Peugeot badged Mahindra machine.
- McPhee was the first British rider to win a grand prix at Brno since John Newbold won the 500cc race around the old Brno road circuit in 1976.
- It was only the second time since 1977 that two British rider have won solo grand prix races on the same day – the other occasions was at Austin last year when Sam Lowes won in Moto2 and Danny Kent in Moto3.
- It is the first time since 1976 that two British riders have taken their maiden grand prix victory in the same season.
- British riders have now won a race in each of the three classes this year. The last time that British riders won at least one races in the equivalent of the three current classes in the same season was 1973, when Phil Read won four times in the 500cc class, Charlie Williams won in the 250cc class and both Chas Mortimer and Tommy Robb won one race each in the 125cc class.
- With Sam Lowes finishing third in the Moto2 race it is only the second time since 1978 that Britain had at least one podium finisher in all three classes on the same day – the other time was in Argentina last year.
- It is the first time since 1976 that Britain have had three different grand prix winners in a single season.
Great variety of race winners across all classes
The 2016 season has seen many different riders winning in all three classes on a scale not seen for a number of years.
- There have been six different MotoGP winners already in 2016 and with seven races of the season still to come it is already the greatest number of different winners in a single season in the MotoGP class since 2006 when there were seven different race winners.
- The last six races in the MotoGP class have been won by six different riders. The last time that there has been a sequence of six races won by different riders was at the end of 2006 and the first race of 2007: Valentino Rossi, Marco Melandri, Loris Capirossi, Toni Elias, Troy Bayliss and Casey Stoner.  The longest ever sequence of different winners in the premier-class was in 1999/2000 when there was a seven different winners in seven races: Alex Criville, Regis Laconi, Taddy Okada, Max Biaggi, Norick Abe, Kenny Roberts and Garry McCoy.
- Together with Jack Miller’s victory at the Dutch TT and Andrea Iannone’s in Austria there have been three first time winners in the MotoGP class in 2016.
- The last year in which there were three first time winners in a single season was in 2006 with Dani Pedrosa, Toni Elias and Troy Bayliss.
- Both Jack Miller and Cal Crutchlow have won in 2016 riding for Independent Teams. The last time that two riders from non-factory teams won in the same season was in 2006 with Marco Melandri and Toni Elias.
- At the Czech grand prix Jonas Folger won for the first time in 2016, making it six different winners in the first eleven Moto2 races of the year.
- The six different winners in the Moto2 class represent six different nations: Switzerland, France, Spain, Great Britain, Japan and Germany.
- At Brno John McPhee became the eighth different winner in the Moto3 class this year. This is already the greatest number of different winners in a single season in the lightweight-class of grand prix racing since 2008 when there were also eight different winners.Of the eight different riders who have won in the Moto3 class this year, for six of them it has been their maiden GP win. The last time that there has been so many first time grand prix winners in a single season in the lightweight-class of grand prix racing was 2005.
- There have already been twenty different grand prix winners so far with seven events of 2016 remaining. This is the largest number of different grand prix winners in a single season since 1982 when the grand prix series also included the 350cc and 50cc classes. Considering just the current three classes or equivalent there has never been as many as twenty different winners in a single season in the 68 year history of grprix racing.
- The twenty different riders that have won grand prix races in 2016 represent ten different nations. This is the greatest number of different nations that have won grand prix races in a single season since 2005 when riders from eleven different nations stood on the top step of the podium.
Grand Prix racing numbers
- 250 – At the British Grand Prix Valentino Rossi is scheduled to become the first rider to reach the milestone of 250 starts in the MotoGP class. Since MotoGP replaced the 500cc category as the premier-class of grand prix racing in 2002 Rossi has only missed four races, all due to injuries received in a crash during practice at the Italian GP in 2010, which resulted in him missing that race as well as the British GP, Dutch TT and Catalan GP.
- 150 – At Silverstone Jorge Lorenzo is schedule to become the seventh rider to reach the milestone of 150 starts in the MotoGP class since it was introduced in 2002 as the premier-class of grand prix racing. Other riders who have passed this milestone are: Valentino Rossi (249 MotoGP starts), Nicky Hayden (216), Colin Edwards (196), Dani Pedrosa (177), Loris Capirossi (158), Andrea Dovizioso (153).
- 63 – The pole position by Marc Marquez at Brno was the 63rd of his grand prix career across all classes. This is the same number of pole as both Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. These three riders have most poles in the modern-era of grand prix racing (since 1974) when full pole position data is available.
- 48 – The third place finish by Marc Marquez at Brno was the 48th time he has stood on the podium in the MotoGP class, the same number of premier class podiums achieved by MotoGP Legend Mike Hailwood.
- 16 years – The last British rider to finish on the podium in the premier-class at the British Grand Prix was sixteen years ago, when Jeremy McWilliams finished third in the 500cc race at Donington in 2000.
- 5 years – None of the three winners at the Czech Grand Prix were from either Spain or Italy. The last time that this occurred was at Phillip Island in 2011 when the three race winners were: Casey Stoner, Alex de Angelis and Sandro Cortese.
- 2 – Avinta Ducati Team rider Loris Baz finished fourth at the Czech GP one place ahead of team-mate Hector Barbera. This is the first time that a nonfactory team has had two riders finish in the top five in a MotoGP race since the Australian GP in 2012 when Monster Yamaha Tech3 riders Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso finished third and fourth.
- 0 – With Takaaki Nakagami crashing out of the Czech GP after a collision with Simone Corsi there are now no riders in the Moto2 class that have scored points at all eleven races of 2016.
- 0 – With Brad Binder crashing out of the lead of the race at Brno, there are now no riders in the Moto3 class who have scored points at all eleven races of 2016.
Moto2 stats and facts
- Prior to last year Johann Zarco’s only podium finish at Silverstone was second in the 125cc race in 2011, which was his best grand prix result at that time. Last year he won the Moto2 race at Silverstone from third place on the grid. He also qualified on pole two years ago at the BritishGP – his first pole in the Moto2 class.
- Alex Rins has finished on the podium at Silverstone for the last three years: second in Moto3 race in 2013, a Moto3 race victory from pole position in 2014, and second place last year after leading the race in the early laps.
- Sam Lowes finished seventh two years ago the Moto2 race at Silverstone and last year he finished sixth after qualifying on pole position. He has also raced at Silverstone in the World Supersport championship, finishing second in both 2012 and 2013.
- Jonas Folger won the wet 125cc race at Silverstone in 2011 – his first ever grand prix win. After his win at Brno he will be aiming for back-to-back wins for the first time in his grand prix career.
- Tom Luthi has had two podium finishes at Silverstone – third in 2013 and second in 2010 just 0.057 seconds behind race winner Jules Cluzel.
- Takaaki Nakagami qualified on pole at Silverstone three years ago and finished second behind Scott Redding after leading for three laps mid-race.
- Alex Marquez finished on the podium in the Moto3 class at Silverstone in both 2013 and 2014. Last year he finished fourth at the British GP – his equal best result of his rookie season in Moto2 class. His fifth place finish at Brno was his best result since Silverstone last year.
- Danny Kent won the Moto3 race last year at Silverstone on his way to taking the world title. Kent finished seventh at the Czech GP – his best result since he finished sixth at the opening race of the year in Qatar.
- Mattia Pasini finished fourth at the Czech Grand Prix, equalling his best ever result in the Moto2 class that he had achieved just two races before in Germany.
Moto3 stats and facts
- None of the riders currently competing in the Moto3 race have won a grand prix at the Silverstone circuit.
- Brad Binder has only managed to score one point from his four Moto3 starts at Silverstone – 15th place in 2014. Last year Binder crashed on the third lap, re-started only to crash again later in the race.
- Jorge Navarro qualified on pole last year at Silverstone – the only occasions so far in his grand prix career that he has been on pole. In the race at Silverstone last year Navarro crashed out of the race at Maggots on the opening lap.
- Enea Bastianini finished third in the Moto3 race at Silverstone in 2014. Last year he crashed out of the race on the penultimate lap when holding sixth position.
- Jakub Kornfeil finished second last year at Silverstone – his best ever grand prix result. Two years ago he set the fastest lap of the race on his way to finishing fifth at Silverstone, which equalled his best grand prix result at that time.
- Niccolo Antonelli took the final podium place last year at Silverstone, after starting the race down in 18th place on the grid.
