MotoGP Valencia Race Day Guide
MotoGP Statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines
• Jorge Lorenzo starts from pole for the fifth time in 2015. This is Jorge Lorenzo’s first pole position at Valencia in any of the three Grand Prix classes. He is aiming to become just the third rider to overturn a points’ deficit at the final race of the year to become premier-class world champion, alongside Wayne Rainey and Nicky Hayden.
• Last year’s Valencia MotoGP winner Marc Marquez, starts from second place on the grid – his 11th successive front row start.
• Taking the final place on the front row is Dani Pedrosa, who will be aiming to take back-toback MotoGP wins for the first time since Jerez and Le Mans in 2013. Pedrosa has won six times previously at Valencia (3 x MotoGP, 2 x 250cc, 1 x 125cc).
• Heading the second row of the grid is Aleix Espargaro – his best qualifying result since the Dutch TT. This is the best qualifying result at Valencia by a Suzuki rider since Kenny Roberts started the 500cc race from pole in 2000.
• In fifth place on the grid for the third successive race is Cal Crutchlow, the eighth time this year he has been on the second row.
• Bradley Smith, who has qualified in sixth place on the grid, has scored points at all seventeen races so far in 2015 and needs another top ten finish to become the fourth rider to have eighteen points scoring MotoGP finishes a single season.
• Heading the third row is Andrea Iannone, the highest placed Ducati rider on the grid.
• Pol Espargaro, who has qualified in eighth place on the grid, will be aiming for a first top six finish since the Dutch TT.
• In ninth place on the grid is Andrea Dovizioso, who was the first Ducati rider across the line last year in Valencia in fourth place.
• The leading Open Class rider on the grid for the 13th time this year is Hector Barbera, who is currently leading the battle for the Open Class championship by five points from Loris Baz, who is starting just one place behind him on the grid.
• Championship leader Valentino Rossi starts from 26th and last place on the grid after incurring a penalty from the race in Malaysia. The only other time that Rossi has started from the back row of the grid was after receiving a penalty in Qatar in 2004 when he made up fourteen places on the first lap before crashing on the sixth lap when he was in 4th place.
Moto2
• Tito Rabat starts from pole for the second successive year at Valencia; he finished the race second last year – his first Grand Prix podium finish at the circuit.
• The 2015 Moto2 world champion Johann Zarco starts from second place on the grid. If he finishes the race in 12th place or better he will set a new record points total for the intermediate-class of Grand Prix racing.
• Alex Rins is in third place on the grid – the tenth time in his rookie season in the Moto2 class that he has qualified on the front row.
• Thomas Luthi, the Moto2 winner in Valencia 12 months ago, starts the race from 4th place on the grid, the same qualifying result as last year.
• Lorenzo Baldassarri starts from fifth place on the grid, equaling his previous best qualifying result that he achieved two weeks ago in Malaysia.
• Julian Simon is in sixth place on the grid – his best qualifying result of the year. Simon won the 125cc race at Valencia in 2009.
Moto3
• John McPhee is starting from pole for the second time in his Grand Prix career. His previous pole was three weeks ago in Australia when he was second fastest in qualifying but then got promoted to pole position when fastest qualifier Danny Kent received a grid penalty.
• Romano Fenati is in second place on the grid, which is just the fourth time in his Grand Prix career he has qualified on the front row.
• Efren Vazquez takes the final place on the front row, equaling his previous best grid position of the year in Australia.
• Heading the second row of the grid is Miguel Oliveira, who has finished either first or second at the last five races.
• Jorge Navarro, who has qualified in fifth place on the grid, has been on the podium three times in the last four races, having never previously stood on a Grand Prix podium.
• Championship leader Danny Kent, the winner of the Moto3 race in Valencia three years ago, has qualified down in 18th place on the grid. Kent can clinch the world title by finishing 14th, even if championship rival Oliveira wins the race.
