MotoGP Sepang Statistical Smorgasbord

MotoGP Sepang Statistical Smorgasbord – compiled by Dr. Martin Raines

History of the Malaysian Grand Prix – This year marks the 24th motorcycle Grand Prix event to be held in Malaysia and below are some facts and statistics about GP racing in the country:

The first Malaysian Grand Prix was held in 1991 and it has taken place every year since, with three different venues having been used: Shah Alam, Johor and Sepang
The first Malaysian Grand Prix held at the Shah Alam circuit saw a debut win in the premier-class for John Kocinski, riding a Yamaha. Italian riders dominated the smaller classes with Luca Cadalora (Honda) winning the 250 race and Loris Capirossi (Honda) in the 125 class
The Shah Alam circuit hosted the event for a total of seven years before the Malaysian GP went to Johor for a single year in 1998. The first Malaysian GP to be held at Sepang was in 1999 and this will be the 16th time that Sepang has hosted the event
Yamaha have been the most successful manufacturer in the MotoGP class at Sepang with five victories; both Ducati and Honda have three MotoGP wins at the circuit
The most successful rider at the Sepang circuit is Valentino Rossi with six GP wins (1 x 500cc, 5 x MotoGP), followed by Casey Stoner (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 2 x MotoGP) and Dani Pedrosa (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 2 x MotoGP)
The last rider to win in the MotoGP class at Sepang from pole position was Valentino Rossi in 2006

12 pole positions for Marc Marquez in 2014 – Marc Marquez has already started from pole on 12 occasions during 2014, equalling the record for most poles in a single season in the premier-class of Grand Prix racing since full records became available in 1971, as shown in the following list. If Marquez qualifies on pole once more in 2014 he will take the outright record for most poles in a single season in the premier-class, as none of the seasons prior to 1971 had as many as 13 races in a season.

Riders with most poles in the premier-class in a single season (since 1971)

Mick Doohan – 1997
Casey Stoner – 2011
Marc Marquez – 2014

Freddie Spencer – 1985
Wayne Gardner – 1987

Milestone races for Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa – Both Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa will reach significant milestones in their MotoGP careers at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Nicky Hayden has made 196 starts in the MotoGP class, the same as fellow American Colin Edwards, and in Malaysia he is scheduled to become the American rider with most starts in the premier-class of Grand Prix racing
At the Malaysian GP, Dani Pedrosa is scheduled to become the tenth rider to reach the milestone of 150 starts in the premier-class of Grand Prix racing

Rider Premier-class GP starts

1 Valentino Rossi 250

2 Alex Barros 245

3 Loris Capirossi 217

4= Colin Edwards 196

4= Nicky Hayden 196

6 Carlos Checa 194

7 Kenny Roberts Jnr 167

8 Sete Gibernau 160

9 Jack Findlay 157

10 Dani Pedrosa 149

Breakthrough podium for Bradley Smith – At the Australian Grand Prix, Bradley Smith finished on the podium for the first time since moving up to the MotoGP class at the start of last year. With this podium finish, Smith enters the record books with the following:

He is the first British rider to record podium finishes in all three classes since Charlie Williams finished 2nd in the 500cc race at the 1974 Isle of Man TT, when it was still a world championship event, having previously scored a podium finish in the 125cc TT race in 1972 and won the 250cc class at Isle of Man TT races in 1973 & 1974
Smith 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. Smith 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
Smith’s third place finish in Australia is the first podium for a satellite Yamaha rider since Cal Crutchlow finished second at the German GP last year
He is only the third rider this year from a non-factory team to finish on the podium this year, joining Alvaro Bautista and Aleix Espargaro

Rabat’s second shot at the Moto2 title – Following Tito Rabat’s third place finish in Australia, he now has a 41-point lead over his closest challenger Mika Kallio and could win the title with a good result in Malaysia. This means Kallio must win the race or finish second to keep his title hopes alive. The following scenarios would make Rabat World Champion for the first time in his career:

Should Kallio win the race, Rabat is World Champion if he finishes seventh or higher
Should Kallio finish 2nd, Rabat would need to finish 12th or higher to take the title
Should Kallio finish third or lower, Rabat is World Champion no matter where he finishes

A first chance at the Moto3 world title for Alex Marquez – Alex Marquez heads to the Malaysian Grand Prix with a 20-point lead atop the Moto3 Riders’ standings. The younger brother of MotoGP World Champion Marc could become a World Champion for the first time at Sepang this weekend, should any of the following scenarios involving himself, Jack Miller and Alex Rins come to fruition. Alex Marquez becomes World Champion this weekend under the following circumstances:

Marquez wins the race and Miller does not finish second
Marquez is 2nd and Miller does not finish on the podium
Marquez is 3rd and Miller 6th or lower
Marquez is 4th and Miller 9th or lower
Marquez is 5th and Miller 11th or lower
Marquez is 6th and Miller 12th or lower
Marquez is 7th and Miller 13th or lower, with Rins not winning the race
Marquez is 8th and Miller 14th or lower, with Rins not winning the race
Marquez is 9th and Miller 15th or lower, with Rins not winning the race
Marquez is 10th, Miller does not score and Rins does not win

Record-breaking Moto3 race at Phillip Island – The Moto3 race in Australia was another fantastic battle, with the first six riders crossing the finish line within a quarter of a second of the race winner. Below are the new records set by the race in Australia, together with the previous best for the Moto3/125cc class (only races that have completed full race distance are considered for inclusion in the following table):

Australia 2014 – Time covering top four finishers 0.044 sec – Previous record Italy/2014/Mugello – 0.121 sec
Australia 2014 – Time covering top five finishers 0.134 sec – Previous record Italy/2008/Mugello – 0.178 sec
Australia 2014 – Time covering top six finishers 0.242 sec – Previous record Czech/2014/Brno – 0.310 sec

Grand Prix racing numbers

122 – Jorge Lorenzo’s second place finish in Australia marked the 122nd time that he had stood on a GP podium across all classes: one more podium finish than Phil Read achieved across his GP career. Only four riders have stood on the podium in Grand Prix racing more often than Lorenzo: Valentino Rossi (194 podium finishes), Giacomo Agostini (159), Angel Nieto (139) and Dani Pedrosa (134)
50 – Maverick Viñales’ victory at Phillip Island was the 50th win for Spanish riders in the Moto2 class
45 Constructors’ points – Following the Australian Grand Prix, Honda heads the Constructors’ Championship by 45 points from Yamaha. This means that Honda will clinch their 21st premier-class Constructors’ title in Malaysia if any Honda rider finishes in the top 11, even if a rider from closest challenger Yamaha wins the race
40 Teams’ points – Following the Australian Grand Prix, Repsol Honda Team have a 40-point lead in the MotoGP Teams’ championship; if they outscore their closest rival, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, by five points or more they will take the Teams’ title in Malaysia
33rd birthday – Hiroshi Aoyama celebrates his 33rd birthday on the day of qualifying at the Malaysian Grand Prix
31 – After the Moto3 Australian Grand Prix, Alex Marquez has a 20-point lead over Jack Miller, with only other remaining title contender Alex Rins 41 points in arrears of his championship-leading team-mate. This means that, if Marquez can score 31 points or more over the final two Grands Prix, he will become World Champion no matter where his rivals finish in the two races
24 – Thomas Luthi’s second place finish in Australia signalled the 24th time that he had stood on the podium in the Moto2 class. Only one rider has more podium appearances in the Moto2 class: Marc Marquez with 25
24th birthday – Danilo Petrucci will celebrate his 24th birthday on Friday at Sepang
22 – Alex Rins’ third place finish in Australia was the 22nd time he had stood on the podium in the Moto3 class, equalling the record for most Moto3 podium finishes by Maverick Viñales
15 – On the first day of practice at Sepang, it will be exactly 15 years to the day since Alex Criville finished sixth at the 1999 Rio GP to become the first Spanish rider to win the premier-class world title and the first European rider to win the title since Franco Uncini in 1982
15 – Maverick Viñales, who is still only 19 years of age, took the 15th victory of his GP career in Australia. This is the same number of victories that Jorge Lorenzo achieved whilst still a teenager. Only three riders have scored more than 15 GP wins before reaching the age of 20: Marc Marquez (26 wins whilst still a teenager), Dani Pedrosa (21) and Valentino Rossi (17)
5 – Jack Miller’s win at Phillip Island was his fifth win in the Moto3 class. This becomes the most GP wins by any Australian rider in the lightweight-class (Moto3/125cc) of Grand Prix racing, surpassing the four wins achieved by Tom Phillis in 1961 – the year he won the title
4 – Valentino Rossi’s win in Australia was the fourth successive victory in MotoGP for Yamaha. This is the first time since 2009 that Yamaha has taken four successive GP wins, with Jorge Lorenzo and Rossi having celebrated two apiece. The last time Yamaha took five successive MotoGP wins was in 2008, all with Rossi
3 – At the Australian Grand Prix, three Yamaha riders finished on the MotoGP podium for the first time since the French GP at Le Mans in 2008, when Valentino Rossi won from Jorge Lorenzo and Colin Edwards
2 – 2014 is the first year that two British riders (Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith) have finished on the podium in the premier-class in a single season since 1989, when Niall Mackenzie and Simon Buckmaster both had 500cc GP podiums. Buckmaster’s podium was at Misano – a race that was boycotted by the top riders due to safety issues
0 – Repsol Honda Team did not pick up any points in the Teams’ Championship at Philip Island. The last time that Repsol Honda had a zero score was at Phillip Island in 2010, when Dani Pedrosa did not start the race due to injury and Andrea Dovizioso crashed out. The last time that both Repsol Honda riders started a race but failed to finish was at the Dutch TT in 2009, when both Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa crashed out
0 – No Honda rider finished in the top five places at the Australian GP – the first time this had occurred since the Australian Grand Prix in 2010

Moto2 stats and trivia

On the quest for a maiden World Title with two races to go, Tito Rabat heads to Malaysia with a 41-point lead over team-mate Mika Kallio. The Spaniard will win the crown this weekend if his points lead is 25 or more at the end of the race
Mika Kallio sits second in the standings, as he has done after all races bar one, and challenging Rabat for a first title of his own; the Finn is now the only rider other than Rabat who can still claim the title, meaning that the Marc VDS Racing Team will celebrate the feat no matter what happens from now onwards. In order to keep his title hopes alive for Valencia, Kallio must win or finish second in Malaysia, but Rabat could still win the world title despite this happening (as explained in the Rabat’s second shot at the Moto2 title section)
Maverick Viñales – thee times a winner this year, including in Australia last weekend – is third overall but, now 61 points behind championship leader Rabat, he no longer holds a mathematical possibility of winning this year’s world title
Last year in Malaysia, Tito Rabat claimed victory – his third and final win of the season. 2013 World Champion-to-be Pol Espargaro was second to make it a one-two finish for Sito Pons’ team, while Tom Luthi completed the podium; just behind, championship contender Scott Redding was pipped to sixth position by Johann Zarco
Tom Luthi and Tito Rabat are the only two riders to have won the Moto2 Malaysian Grand Prix from pole position, in 2011 and 2013 respectively
At the first Moto2 Malaysian Grand Prix in 2010, victory went to Italy’s Roberto Rolfo to mark the first and only Moto2 win of his career; this was career victory number four, having won three 250cc races over the course of 2003-04

Moto3 stats and trivia

With just two races and a maximum 50 points left, Alex Marquez still leads the Moto3 World Championship (having led since Aragon); he could become World Champion for the first time this weekend (as explained in A first chance at the Moto3 world title for Alex Marquez)
Jack Miller, who led the standings from the start of the campaign until crashing in the Aragon Grand Prix, sits second overall and is the reduced margin of 20 points behind Marquez thanks to his victory at home on Phillip Island last weekend
Alex Rins is still third overall and 41 points behind championship leader Marquez; he is now the only rider other than Marquez and Miller who can still win the title
Last year, a thrilling end to the race saw Luis Salom edge out Alex Rins by just 0.069 seconds while Miguel Oliveira, Alex Marquez, Maverick Viñales and Jack Miller made up the top group of six riders which ended the race together
At the first Moto3 Malaysian Grand Prix in 2012, pole position went to local favourite Zulfahmi Khairuddin – this remains his only career pole position to date; in the race, he missed out on victory to title-winning Sandro Cortese by just 0.028 seconds
Oliveira’s 2013 top three finish marked the first Moto3 podium for a Mahindra bike, while the Portuguese rider posted fastest lap for the third and final time that season
Zulfahmi Khairuddin celebrated his 23rd birthday on the Monday before the race