MotoGP Statistics – Spielberg Red Bull Ring, Austria 2017
Official MotoGP statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines – Grand Prix von Österreich
Motorcycle Grand Prix racing returned to Austria last year after a break of eighteen years, marking the first motorcycling GP event since 1997 in the country, and below are some facts and figures related to Grand Prix racing in Austria.
- The first Austrian GP took place in 1971 at the Salzburgring circuit, which hosted Grand Prix racing on a total of 22 occasions.
- At that first Austrian GP in 1971 Giacomo Agostini (MV Agusta) won the 500cc race, finishing more than a lap ahead of second place finisher Keith Turner.
- Agostini also won the 350cc race, with the other classes being won by the following riders: 250cc – Silvio Grassetti (MZ), 125cc – Angel Nieto (Derbi), 50cc – Jan de Vries (Kreidler).
- The last occasion that a Grand Prix event took place at the Salzburgring circuit was in 1994, when Mick Doohan won the 500cc race with a race average speed in excess of 194 km/h (120 mph)
- Due to the high speed nature of the Salzburgring circuit, and the limited amount of run-off provided, it was considered too dangerous for continued use.
- The current circuit has hosted two previous Grand Prix events prior to last year – in 1996 and 1997, when named the A1-Ring.
- Before last year, Valentino Rossi was the only current rider to have to have raced previously at this circuit in a Grand Prix.
- Rossi’s third place finish in the 125cc race in Austria in 1996 was his first GP podium finish. He again finished on the podium in the 125cc race in Austria in 1997, this time in second place just 0.004 seconds behind Noboru Ueda.
- Last year in Austria Andrea Iannone won for the first time since he moved up to the MotoGP class in 2013 and gave Ducati their first win since Casey Stoner won the Australian GP in 2010.
- The Austrian GP last year gave Ducati their first one-two finish in a MotoGP race since the Australian GP in 2007, won by Casey Stoner from Loris Capirossi.
- The Austrian race last year was the first time that Italian riders have taken the top two places in a premier-class GP both riding Italian bikes since the Finnish 500cc GP at Imatra in 1972 won by Giacomo Agostini, on a MV Agusta, from teammate Alberto Pagani.
- The average speed of the MotoGP race in Austria last year was 182.4 km/h. This was the highest average speed for a Grand Prix race since Mick Doohan won the 500cc German Grand Prix in 1994 at the Hockenheim circuit at an average speed of 203.8 km/h.
- All three riders who started on pole at the Austrian Grand Prix last year went on to take the race win.
Marc Marquez closes in on Max Biaggi
The win by Marc Marquez at the Czech Grand Prix was the 57th time he has stood on the podium in the MotoGP class, just one premier-class podiums less than Max Biaggi achieved during his career.
Dani Pedrosa’s second place finish at Brno was his 109th podium finish in the premier class, moving him above Jorge Lorenzo into a clear second place in the following table of riders with most premier class podium finishes.
Andrea Dovizioso on target for 3000 points
Andrea Dovizioso needs just one more top eight finish to become just the fifth rider in the 69 year history of Grand Prix racing to reach the milestone of 3000 points.
The following list shows the ten riders who have scored most points in the history of GP racing across all solo classes. As shown, Dani Pedrosa needs to score just 42 more points to become just the second rider to reach the milestone of 4000 points.
Tom Lüthi is the only rider on this list who has not raced in the premier class. Note: modern competitors are at an advantage due to the current point scoring system allocating more points to the leading riders).
32 premier class wins on a Honda for Marquez
The victory by Marc Marquez at Brno was the 32nd time he has stood on the top step of the podium in the MotoGP class, all of which have been achieved riding for Honda. As shown in the following table, he needs just one more victory to equal the number of premier-class wins by Valentino Rossi on a Honda
MotoGP Facts and Stats
- Marc Marquez has won the last two MotoGP races – his first back to back wins since he won in Aragon and Japan last year. He has not won three or more successive MotoGP races since he won the opening ten races of the 2014 season.
- Marquez has been on the podium at the last four races, which is his longest run of successive top three finishes since he was on the podium at the final race of 2015 and the opening four races of 2016.
- The pole position by Marc Marquez at Brno was the 41st time he has started from pole in what was his 82nd MotoGP start, giving him a 50% pole percentage. For comparison, the pole to start percentage of other selected current riders are: Jorge Lorenzo – 23.5%, Valentino Rossi – 18.1%, Dani Pedrosa – 15.7%.
- Following the Czech GP, Maverick Viñales maintains his record of being either first or second in the Championship table after every one of the first ten races of 2017. Viñales trails Marc Marquez by 14 points, which is his largest deficit to the Championship leader so far this year.
- Viñales’ third place finish at Brno was his 49th podium finish across the three Grand Prix classes. If he finishes in the top three once more before the end of 2017 he will be the fifth youngest rider of all-time to reach the milestone of fifty grand prix podium finishes, after: Marc Marquez, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.
- Following his sixth place finish at Brno, Andrea Dovizioso has scored a total of 133 points from the opening ten races of 2017; this is the highest score by a Ducati rider after ten races since Casey Stoner had a total of 150 points in 2009.
- The Red Bull Ring in Austria is the only circuit on the current calendar where Valentino Rossi has not had a podium finish in the premier class. Rossi has finished on the podium in the premier class at 26 different circuits; all those on the current calendar with the exception of the Red Bull Ring, plus the following: Donington, Estoril, Indianapolis, Istanbul, Laguna Seca, Rio, Shanghai, Suzuka and Welkom. Rossi needs to finish in the top three at one more circuit to equal the record of Mick Doohan of finishing on the podium at most different circuits in the premier class.
- Like Rossi, Dani Pedrosa has stood on the podium in the premier class at all circuits on the current calendar, with the exception of the Red Bull Ring. If he finishes in the top three in Austria it will be the 23rd different circuit where he has had a podium in the premier class.
- Johann Zarco’s 12th place finish at the Czech GP was his ninth successive points scoring finish, following his crash at the opening race of the year in Qatar. With this result Zarco maintains his lead in the rookie classification, but by a reduced margin of just 11 points over teammate Jonas Folger who has been the first rookie across the line in each of the last two races.
- Pol Espargaro’s 9th place finish at Brno is the best result yet for KTM in their first season competing in the MotoGP class. He finished with a gap of 30.754 seconds to race winner Marquez – the smallest margin so far that a KTM rider has had to the race winner.
- All three riders appearing on the MotoGP podium at the Czech GP were from Spain. The last time that Spanish riders filled the podium in a MotoGP race outside of Spain was at the German Grand Prix in 2014, when Marc Marquez won from Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.
- At the Czech GP Cal Crutchlow was the first Independent Team rider across the line for the third time in 2017. Johann Zarco has also been the first Independent Team rider across the line three times this year, Danilo Petrucci twice and both Aleix Espargaro and Jonas Folger once each.
- Even though Marc Marquez extended his lead at the head of the Championship, the MotoGP title chase is still the closest top five at this stage of the season since the current scoring system was introduced in 1993. Just 31 points cover the top five riders in the championship classification after ten races, compared to the previous closest which was 51 points in 2006.
Moto2 Facts and Stats
- Tom Lüthi won for the first time this year in Brno, his tenth victory in Moto2 so far, equalling Pol Espargaró. From third place on the grid, he finished fourth in Spielberg in 2016.
- Álex Márquez crossed the line in second in Czech Republic, his fifth podium finish in the Moto2 class.
- Miguel Oliveira stood on the podium for the fifth time this year in Brno. He crossed the line in 14th last year in Austria from 18th on the grid.
- Leader of the Championship Franco Morbidelli was eighth in Brno, his worst result since he was also eighth in wet-weather conditions last year at the same track.
- Morbidelli was second in Spielberg last year, which was his best Grand Prix result at that time. He is also the only rider who has stood on a Moto2 podium at the Red Bull Ring still currently competing in the class.
- Luca Marini crossed the line in fourth in Brno, his best result so far of his Grand Prix career.
- Fifth in Brno, Xavi Vierge equalled his best result from Argentina earlier this year.
- Joe Roberts became the third American rider who has scored points in the Moto2 class, alongside Kenny Noyes and Jason Di Salvo.
- Brad Binder will celebrate his 22nd birthday on the first day of the Austrian Grand Prix, while Mattia Pasini will celebrate his 32nd birthday on race day.
Moto3 Facts and Stats
- Joan Mir has won six times in the opening ten races of the season. This is the greatest number of wins any rider has achieved from the opening ten races of the year in the lightweight-class of Grand Prix racing since 1997, when Valentino Rossi won eight times in the opening ten races of the year. This is his seventh victory so far in Moto3, equalling Brad Binder.
- In the Moto3 era, starting in 2012, only three riders have scored the same or more points than Mir (190 points) over the opening ten races of the year: 2015 – Danny Kent (190), 2013 – Luis Salom (208) and Maverick Viñales (194).
- Joan Mir won his first ever Grand Prix in Austria last year from his first and only pole position so far.
- Romano Fenati recorded his fourth successive second place, the first rider who achieve that feat in the Moto3 class.
- Romano Fenati is now in third in the podiums standing in Moto3 with 21, behind Álex Rins (23) and Maverick Viñales (22).
- Romano Fenati qualified in 11th on the grid last year in Spielberg. He split with his team on Saturday night and then didn’t take part in the race.
- Arón Canet finished in third in Brno, the fifth podium finish of his career. He was 21st last year in Austria, his worst finishing position of his rookie season in the Moto3 class of grand prix racing.
- Fourth in Brno was the best result for Bo Bendsneyder since he was third in Sepang last year. He was seventh in Spielberg last year, his best result at the time.
- The most recent Moto3 rider to win from pole position is Brad Binder last year at Phillip Island.
- The Czech GP was the eighth all Honda podium this season in the Moto3 class. Last year in Austria, there were only three Honda riders inside the Top 10 with Enea Bastianini (3rd), Fabio Di Giannantonio (8th) and Livio Loi (10th).
