MotoGP Statistics | Vinales continues to makes waves ahead of COTA
Circuit of the Americas 2017 MotoGP Statistics Snapshot
Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines
Maverick Viñales victories at the opening two races of 2017 place him sixth in the following list of youngest riders to have scored back-to-back wins in the premier-class of grand prix racing. He is just 22 days older than Valentino Rossi was when he first achieved back-to-back 500cc GP wins and enters the following list above such grand prix legends as Mike Hailwood and John Surtees.
The only rider to have won back-to-back premier-class grand prix races riding Yamaha machinery at a younger age than Viñales is Johnny Cecotto in the 500cc class in 1977. If Viñales wins in Austin he will become the fifth youngest rider to win three successive premier-class grand prix races, after Marc Marquez, Freddie Spencer, Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi. He would also be the youngest ever rider to win three successive races on a Yamaha.
Youngest MotoGP riders to take back-to-back wins
- Marc Marquez – Germany/USA/2013 – 20 years 154 days
- Freddie Spencer – South Africa/France/1983 – 21 years 104 days
- Johnny Cecotto – Finland/Czech/1977 – 21 years 194 days
- Casey Stoner – Turkey/China/2007 21 years – 202 days
- Valentino Rossi – Japan/South Africa/2001 – 22 years 65 days
- Maverick Viñales – Qatar/Argentina/2017 – 22 years 87 days
- Mike Hailwood – Belgium/Dutch TT/1962 – 22 years 97 days
- John Surtees – IOM TT/Dutch TT/1956 – 22 years 140 days
- Jorge Lorenzo – Spain/France/2010 – 23 years 19 days
- Marco Melandri – Turkey/Valencia/2005 – 23 years 91 days
Grand Prix racing in America
This is the fifth successive year that a MotoGP event has been held at the Austin circuit and below are a selection of facts and stats related to this event.
- In total, there have been 29 previous Grand Prix events hosted in the USA: Daytona held two, Laguna Seca 15, Indianapolis eight and Austin four, with 2017 marking the fifth.
- Marc Marquez has won on each of the eight occasions that he has raced in the MotoGP class in America; four times at Austin, three times at Indianapolis and at Laguna Seca in 2013.
- Only once in these eight appearances in MotoGP in America has Marquez not been on pole; at Laguna Seca in 2013 when he qualified in second place on the grid behind Stefan Bradl.
- The only riders currently competing in the MotoGP class who have won in the class at any of the American circuits are: Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez.
- Ducati have had one rider finish on the podium in Austin for the last three years: Andrea Dovizioso was third in 2014 and second in 2015; Andrea Iannone was third last year.
- Jorge Lorenzo’s second place finish last year is the best result for a Yamaha rider at the Austin circuit.
- Maverick Viñales finished fourth at Austin last year, one place ahead of team-mate Aleix Espargaro. This was the first time since the San Marino Grand Prix in 2007 that Suzuki had two riders finish in the top five places.
- All twelve podium finishers in the four previous MotoGP races held at Austin have been riders from either Spain of Italy.
- The winners of the last three Moto2 races in Austin are now competing in the MotoGP class: Alex Rins, Sam Lowes and Maverick Viñales. The only other rider to win a Moto2 race in Austin is Nico Terol, at the first visit to the circuit in 2013.
- The three riders who finished on the podium in the Moto2 race last year in Austin (Rins, Lowes and Zarco) have all moved up to race in the MotoGP class in 2017.
- Last year’s Moto3 winner in Austin, Romano Fenati, is the only rider who has won at the circuit who is competing in the Moto3 class in 2017.
Maverick Vinales’ joins MotoGP legends
In addition to making him the sixth youngest back-to-back premier-class winner, the wins by Maverick Viñales in the opening two races of 2017 are notable for the following:
- He is the first Yamaha rider since Wayne Rainey in 1990 to win the opening two premier-class grand prix races of the year.
- He is just the fourth Yamaha rider of all-time to win the opening two races of the year in the premier-class of grand prix racing, joining Wayne Rainey (1990), Kenny Roberts (1980) and Jarno Saarinen (1973). Of these riders only Kenny Roberts in 1980 went on to win the third race of the year.
- Viñales is just the second rider in the MotoGP era to win the opening two races of the year; the only other rider to have achieved this is Marc Marquez in 2014.
- He is just the ninth rider to win back-to-back races in the MotoGP era, joining Valentino Rossi, Sete Gibernau, Loris Capirossi, Marco Melandri, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez. Of these, in addition to Viñales, only Lorenzo and Rossi have done so riding for Yamaha.
- The win in Argentina extends his sequence of point scoring finishes to eighteen. The last time he failed to score any points was in Argentina last year well he crashed out of third place with less than three laps remaining.
Honda’s early season winning streak broken
For the first time since 2010 Honda have failed to win either of the opening two MotoGP races of the year. However, Honda riders have dominated the MotoGP events hosted in the USA as shown by the following:
- Marc Marquez riding a Honda has qualified on pole and won all four MotoGP races that have taken place in Austin.
- The last thirteen MotoGP races in the USA have all been won by Honda riders. The last non-Honda MotoGP winner in the USA was Jorge Lorenzo, at Laguna Seca in 2010 on a Yamaha.
- Honda riders have qualified on pole for the last nine MotoGP races held in the USA.
- The last non-Honda rider to start from pole at any of the US circuits is Jorge Lorenzo at Laguna Seca in 2012.
- Honda have won sixteen of the twenty-one premier-class grand prix races that have taken place in the USA in the MotoGP era.
Marc Marquez closes in on Lorenzo and Stoner for pole
Marc Marquez qualified on pole in Argentina for the four successive year, the 38th pole in the MotoGP class. Since MotoGP became the premier-class of grand prix racing in 2002 only three riders have started from pole on more occasions than Marquez, as shown in the following table.
- Valentino Rossi – 50
- Jorge Lorenzo – 39
- Casey Stoner – 39
- Marc Marquez – 38
- Dani Pedrosa – 28
MotoGP Stats and Facts ahead of the Circuit of the Americas
- The third place finish for Cal Crutchlow in Argentina means he has now finished on the podium at least once for six successive seasons in the MotoGP class. Only four other British riders have had premier-class podium finishes in six or more successive seasons: Mike Hailwood, Barry Sheene, Geoff Duke and Peter Williams.
- The same rider has won both of the opening two races of the year in all three classes. The last time that this happened was in 1992, when the three riders were: 125cc – Ralph Waldmann, 250cc – Luca Cadalora, 500cc – Mick Doohan.
- In Argentina Yamaha had four riders finish in the top six places for the first time since the final race of 2015 in Valencia.
- Marc Marquez has not stood on the top step of the podium since he clinched the 2016 MotoGP world title at the Japanese Grand Prix last year. During this five race period he has picked up just 38 world championship points.
- Scott Redding is one of just nine riders who has scored points in both of the two opening races of the year and his score of 17 points puts him into fourth place in the world championship classification and the highest placed of the Independent Team riders.
- Neither of the Honda factory rider have finished on the podium at the first two races of the year. The last time that the Repsol Honda factory team did not have a top three finish in either of the first two races of the year was in 2000.
- Johann Zarco’s fifth place finish in Argentina is the best result for a French rider in a fully dry MotoGP race since Randy de Puniet finished fourth in Catalunya in 2010.
- Johann Zarco was the first rookie across the line in Argentina one place ahead of team-mate and fellow rookie Jonas Folger. The last time that two rookie riders in the MotoGP class finished together in the top six was at the German Grand Prix in 2013, won by Marc Marquez with Bradley Smith in sixth.
- Jonas Folger heads the rookie standings after the first two races with 16 points, which is the highest score after the first two races of the year by a rookie since Marc Marquez in 2013.
- In Argentina Valentino Rossi once again finished on the podium after starting from a low grid position. This was the 35th time he has finished on the podium in the premier-class after not starting from one of the top six places on the grid.
- The age difference between Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi is 15 years 330 days. This is the largest age difference between the top two finishers in a premier-class grand prix race since twenty-six-year-old Giacomo Agostini won the 1969 German Grand Prix, at the Hockenheim circuit, from forty-six-year-old German rider Karl Hoppe.
- Alvaro Bautista’s fourth place finish in Argentina is the best result by a Independent Team Ducati rider in a full dry race and not involving a compulsory pit-stop since Toni Elias finished third at the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano in 2008.
- The fastest lap of the MotoGP race in Argentina was set by Maverick Viñales with a time of 1 minute 39.694 seconds. During the course of the race another sixteen riders set lap times within one second of this fastest lap time; the first time in a MotoGP race that seventeen riders have posted lap times within one second of the fastest lap of the race.
Moto2 Facts and Stats
- Franco Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) is the first Italian rider to win back-to-back in the intermediate category since Marco Simoncelli in 2009.
- He is also the first rider to win the two opening intermediate grand prix races since Jorge Lorenzo in 2007.
- Last year, Morbidelli qualified in 9th on the grid in Austin and crossed the line in 14th; the only occasion since then that he has failed to score points is when he crashed out of the wet race in Germany.
- Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) crossed the line in second for the first time of his Moto2 career in Argentina, becoming the first Portuguese rider to stand on the podium in the intermediate category. Last year in Austin, he qualified on 20th on the grid and crashed during the race in his rookie year.
- Tom Lüthi (CarXpert Interwetten) finished third in Argentina – his 37th podium finish in Moto2, which is more than any other rider. He finished 7th in Austin last year, from 5th on the grid. His best result on that track is a sixth place in 2014.
- Dominique Aegerter (Kiefer Racing) is the only rider currently competing in the Moto2 class who has stood on the podium in the Moto2 class at Austin since its introduction to the calendar in 2013 – third place finish in 2014 ; the third podium finish of his career at that time. He crossed the line in fourth last year.
- Xavier Siméon (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) qualified on pole position in Austin in 2015, his most recent pole position.
- Fabio Quartararo (Pons HP 40) finished second at Austin in Moto3 in 2015 to claim his first podium in just his second grand prix start of his career.
Moto3 Facts and Stats
Joan Mir takes strong Moto3 start to 2017 season
Joan Mir’s (Leopard Racing) victories at the opening two races of 2017 place him sixth in the following list of youngest riders to have scored back-to-back wins in the Moto3 class since its introduction in 2012.
If Mir wins in Austin, he will become the second youngest rider to win three successive Moto3 races, after Maverick Viñales (17 years 170 days, Catalunya/Great Britain/Netherlands/2012).
In addition to making him the sixth youngest back-to-back Moto3 class winner, the wins by Joan Mir in the opening two races of 2017 are notable for the following:
- He won the two opening races of the year; the first rider to do so since Jack Miller won in Qatar and Austin in 2014.
- Mir is the first Honda rider since Masao Azuma in 1999 to win the opening two lightweight grand prix races of the year.
- He is the first Spanish rider to win back-to-back Moto3 races since Álex Rins won at Silverstone and Misano in 2014.
- He is just the fifth Honda rider of all-time to win the opening two races of the year in the lightweight class of grand prix racing, joining Kuninitsu Takahashi (1962), Ralf Waldmann (1992), Dirk Raudies (1993) and Masao Azuma (1999). Of these riders only Dirk Raudies and Masao Azuma went on to win the third race of the year.
- He won his third Moto3 race in Argentina, the 36th Spanish victory in the 90 Moto3 races so far.
General Moto3 stats ahead of COTA
- Joan Mir (Leopard Racing), John McPhee (British Talent Team) and Jorge Martín (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) stood on the podium for the second time in a row; the first time since Alex Rins,
- Maverick Viñales and Álex Márquez in Misano and Aragon in 2013.
- This is the first time since 1972 (Parlotti, Mortimer and Jansson) that the same riders stood on the podium in the same order for the two opening lightweight-class races of a season.
- John McPhee finished second in Argentina – his fourth podium finish in 83 GP starts. He finished sixth in Austin two years ago from 15th on the grid, his best result at that track.
- Jorge Martín crossed the line in third in Argentina; his third GP podium finish. He crashed during the race on his two previous visits to Austin.
- Romano Fenati (Marinelli Rivacold Snipers) is the only rider currently competing in the Moto3 class who has had podium finishes in the previous fourth years that the grand prix event has been held in Austin, with a second place finish in 2014 and a victory last year.
- Honda have had only one pole and one win in the Moto3 class in Austin, with Danny Kent in 2015.
- María Herrera (AGR Team) scored her first point of the season in Argentina after Nicolò Bulega was penalised post-race and dropped out the points. This makes 17 points in her grand prix career so far; only two female riders have scored more grand prix points since the world championship started in 1949 – Tomoko Igata (30) and Taru Rinee (25).
