MotoGP Stats update with Martin Raines ahead of Motegi MotoGP

MotoGP Stats | Grand Prix of Motegi Japan, October 2016

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Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines

Twin Ring Motegi – Grand Prix racing at Motegi

The Motegi circuit was first added to the grand prix schedule in 1999 and has hosted a GP event every year since. Below are some facts and figures about grand prix racing at Motegi:

This will be the 18th occasion that a grand prix event has been held at the Motegi circuit.
Since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP formula in 2002, Honda have had six MotoGP victories at the Motegi circuit.
Yamaha have won the MotoGP race at Motegi on four occasions.
Ducati have had four MotoGP wins at the Motegi circuit, the last of which was with Casey Stoner in 2010. The best result for Ducati at Motegi since 2010 is the fifth place finish for Andrea Dovizioso in both 2014 and 2015.
Suzuki and Kenny Roberts Jnr won the first premier-class grand prix (then the 500cc class) held at Motegi in 1999 and repeated the win in 2000. Since the introduction of MotoGP as the premier-class of grand prix racing in 2002 the best result for Suzuki is fifth with John Hopkins in 2005.
Dani Pedrosa is the rider with most GP wins at the Motegi circuit with five (3 x MotoGP, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 125cc). Four other riders have had three GP victories at Motegi: Loris Capirossi (3 x MotoGP), Toni Elias (2 x 250cc, 1 x Moto2), Mika Kallio (2 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc) and Jorge Lorenzo (3 x MotoGP).
Home riders have taken eight GP victories at the Motegi circuit: Masao Azuma – 125cc/1999, Shinya Nakano – 250cc/1999, Daijiro Kato – 250cc/2000, Youichi Ui – 125cc/2001, Tetsuya Harada – 250cc/2001, Makoto Tamada – MotoGP/2004 & Hiroshi Aoyama – 250cc in both 2005 and 2006.
The last Japanese rider to finish on the podium at Motegi, in any of the three classes, is Hiroshi Aoyama – 2nd in the 250cc race in 2009.

Another milestone win for Marc Marquez

The win by Marc Marquez at Aragon was another milestone win in a number of ways:

It was his first win on Spanish soil since the final race of 2014 at Valencia.
It ended a run of four races without Marquez finishing either first or second – his longest sequence of races without a top two finish since moving up to the MotoGP class.
The win was the 54th time he has stood on the top step of the podium across the three classes of grand prix racing. This is the same number of grand prix wins achieved by five times 500cc world champion Mick Doohan. Only five riders have scored more GP wins than Marquez and Doohan: Giacomo Agostini (122 GP wins), Valentino Rossi (114), Angel Nieto (90), Mike Hailwood (76) and Jorge Lorenzo (64).
His win in Aragon was the 49th time that Marquez has stood on the podium in the MotoGP class. One more top three finish and he will become the 14th rider in the 68 year history of motorcycle grand prix racing to reach the milestone of 50 podium finishes in the premier-class. If he finishes on the podium before the Aragon GP next year he will become the youngest ever rider to reach the milestone of 50 podium finishes in the premier-class, taking the record from Valentino Rossi.
The win by Marquez at Aragon was the 88th time he has stood on the podium across all grand prix classes, just one less career podium finish than both Casey Stoner and Luigi Taveri.
His win in Aragon gave Marquez a 52 points lead over Valentino Rossi in the title chase and a 66 point advantage over Jorge Lorenzo. Marquez can clinch the title in Japan if he wins the race with Rossi finishing no higher than 15th AND Lorenzo finishing no higher than 4th.

Marc Marquez closes in on team-mate

The win by Marc Marquez in Aragon was the 28th time that he has stood on the top of the podium in the MotoGP class, just one less MotoGP win than his team-mate Dani Pedrosa. As can be seen in the following table, only seven riders have more premier-class victories than the two Honda team-mates.

Jorge Lorenzo just one podium behind Dani Pedrosa

With his second place finish in Aragon, Jorge Lorenzo has stood on the podium in grand prix racing on 143 occasions across all three classes. This is just one less GP podium finish than his great rival Dani Pedrosa. As shown in the following table only Valentino Rossi and Giacomo Agostini have more top three grand prix finishes than these two Spanish rivals.

Grand Prix racing numbers

232 – The three riders standing on the podium in Aragon (Marquez, Lorenzo, Rossi) had a record accumulated total of 232 grand prix wins across all classes. The previous record was 230 GP wins for the three riders standing on the podium, set two weeks earlier at Misano (Pedrosa, Rossi, Lorenzo).
200 – Sandro Cortese is scheduled to make his 200th GP start at the Japanese Grand Prix. Cortese made his grand prix debut at the age of fifteen at Jerez in 2005. Since making his GP debut he has only failed to start on one occasions, which was at Le Mans earlier this year when he withdrew due to knee injury, ending a sequence of 190 successive GP starts. Cortese is the first German rider to reach the milestone of 200 grand prix starts, and at the age of 26 years 284 days, he will be the youngest rider ever to reach this milestone, taking the record from Jorge Lorenzo who made his 200th GP starts on his 27th birthday at the Spanish GP in 2014.
100 – At the Japanese Grand Maverick Viñales is scheduled to make his 100th grand prix start, including 17 in the 125cc class, 32 in Moto3 and 18 in Moto2.
49 – With a 52 points lead at the head of the world championship, Marc Marquez needs to take just 49 points at the four remaining races to clinch the world title even if closest challenger Valentino Rossi wins all four races. For example, 1 x second place finish + 1 x 3rd + 1 x 4th would give Marquez the title.
41 – Italy and Spain have had exactly the same number of podium finishes across the three grand prix classes in the first fourteen events of the year, both countries having had 41 top three finishes.
39 – This is the 39th occasion that a grand prix event has been held in Japan. The very first Japanese Grand Prix was held back in 1963 at the Suzuka circuit. The three circuits that have hosted grand prix events in Japan (together with number of GP events held) are: Suzuka (19 times), Motegi (17) and Fisco (2).
23.071 seconds – At the Aragon Grand Prix Alvaro Bautista finished just 23.071 seconds behind race winner Marc Marquez. In a full length MotoGP race this is the smallest margin separating an Aprilia rider from the race winner.
11th – The first Ducati rider across the line in Aragon was Andrea Dovizioso in 11th place. This is the first time since the French GP in 2008 that Ducati have not had a top ten finisher in the MotoGP class.
3 – On three occasions the Motegi circuit has been the venue for the deciding race in the MotoGP World Championship: 2007 in the favour of Casey Stoner, 2008 for Valentino Rossi and in 2014 when Marc Marquez took the title.
2 – Motegi and the Red Bull Ring are the only two circuits on the current schedule where Marquez has not had a win in the MotoGP class

Moto2 stats and facts

Johann Zarco won the 125cc race in Japan in 2011 from pole position – this was his first victory in grand prix racing and his only win in the 125cc class. Zarco finished 4th two years ago at Motegi, and last year he won the race, from pole position, to clinch the Moto2 world title.
Alex Rins finished fourth in the Moto3 race at Motegi in his rookie season in 2012 and this is his best result at the circuit. In 2013 he qualified on pole at Motegi, then crashed at the final corner on lap sixteen when battling for a podium finish. Two years ago he finished 10th at Motegi, and last year he was 11th. Motegi is the only circuit on the current schedule at which Rins has not had a podium finish in grand prix racing.
Sam Lowes crashed out in the early stages of the race at Motegi in his rookie Moto2 season of 2014, and last year he finished 8th in Japan. Lowes has started from pole five times in 2016, which is already the greatest number of poles in a single season by a British rider since Barry Sheene qualified on pole on seven occasions in 1977.
Tom Luthi has finished on the podium at Motegi on three occasions in the Moto2 class; third in both 2011 & 2013, and a race victory in 2014 when he qualified in second place on the grid, then got the holeshot and led the race from start to finish. Last year he crashed out of 4th place on the third lap.
Franco Morbidelli, who finished seventh two years ago at Motegi, missed the Japanese Grand Prix last year after breaking his leg in a motocross accident. He has finished on the podium four times in the last seven races.
Takaaki Nakagami’s best result at this home races is 7th in the Moto2 race in 2012. Last year he crashed out of third place on the fifth lap; he re-joined the race and went on to finish in 22nd position.
Jonas Folger has finished on the podium twice at Motegi in the last three years; third in Moto3 race in 2013 and second in the Moto2 race last year.
Sandro Cortese finished 3rd last year at Motegi – his only podium finish of 2015.
Alex Marquez, who picked up his first podium finish since moving up to the Moto2 class at Aragon, has twice won the Moto3 race at Motegi, in both 2013 and 2014.
In addition to Luthi, Zarco and Marquez mentioned above, two other riders currently competing in the Moto2 class have had grand prix wins at Motegi: Mattia Pasini won the 125cc race back in 2007 and Danny Kent won the Moto3 race in 2012 – his first GP win.

Moto3 stats and facts

Newly crowned world champion Brad Binder finished third at the Japanese Grand prix two years ago. Last year he finished 17th in Japan after crashing out of third place on the 11th lap and re-starting.
Last year in Japan Niccolo Antonelli got the holeshot from second place on the grid and led the race all the way to the finish to take his second grand prix victory. Antonelli is the only rider currently competing in Moto3 to have taken a GP win at Motegi.
Jorge Navarro finished third last year in Japan after finishing the first lap down in 13th place.
John McPhee was seventh in Japan in 2013, which was his first top ten finish and he was fourth two years ago at Motegi, which was his best grand prix result at that time. Last year he finished in ninth place at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The last Japanese rider to have a top ten finish in the lightweight-class of grand prix racing at the Japanese Grand Prix was Tomoyoshi Koyama who finished seventh in 2006.
Andrea Locatelli celebrates his 20th birthday on race day in Japan.