Valencia MotoGP Statistical Smorgasbord –Â Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines
Facts and stats from Valencia
This year will mark the 16th Grand Prix of Valencia, which has been held every year since the first visit in 1999. Below are some facts and statistics from the previous 15 Grand Prix events held at the Ricardo Tormo circuit:
- This will be the 13th successive year that Valencia has hosted the final race of the season, meaning the World Championship campaign has ended here more than at any other circuit
- The Valencia circuit is named after Spanish racer Ricardo Tormo, who won the 50cc world title riding for Bultaco in 1978 and 1981. In addition to his 15 Grand Prix victories in the 50cc class, he also had four wins in the 125cc class. His career ended in 1984 due to leg injuries suffered in a crash whilst test riding. Tormo sadly died from leukaemia in 1998
- Dani Pedrosa is the most successful rider at the Valencia circuit with six wins: three in MotoGP, two in 250cc and one in the 125cc class. No other rider has had more than three GP wins at the Valencia circuit
- The premier-class race at Valencia has been won six times by Spanish riders: Sete Gibernau won the 500cc race on a Suzuki in 2001, Dani Pedrosa won the MotoGP race in 2007, 2009 and 2012 and Jorge Lorenzo won in 2010 and 2013
- Since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP formula in 2002, Honda has been the most successful manufacturer with seven victories at the Valencia circuit. Yamaha has had three wins and Ducati two
- Every MotoGP race at Valencia has been won by a rider qualifying on the front row of the grid
- The last non-Spanish rider to win a Grand Prix race in Valencia was Danny Kent in the Moto3 class in 2012
- Only two riders have competed at all 15 previous Grand Prix events at the Valencia circuit: Valentino Rossi and Randy de Puniet
Record equalling win for Marc Marquez
The win by Marc Marquez in Malaysia signalled the 12th time this year he had stood on the top step of the podium. This equals the record for most wins in the premier-class in a single season, held by Mick Doohan since 1997.
Riders with most wins in the premier-class in a single season
12
Mick Doohan – 1997 (500cc)
Marc Marquez – 2014 (MotoGP)
11
Giacomo Agostini – 1972 (500cc)
Valentino Rossi – 2001 (500cc), 2002 (MotoGP) and 2005 (MotoGP)
Marc Marquez closing in on Stoner and Redman
The victory by Marc Marquez in Malaysia was the 44th time that he had been on the top step of the podium in his Grand Prix career. This is just one less GP win than both Casey Stoner and Jim Redman, as shown in the following table. At the age of just 21, Marquez is already the equal 11th most successful GP rider of all-time in terms of Grand Prix wins.
Riders with most Grand Prix victories (all solo classes)
Rider Total wins MotoGP/500cc 350cc Moto2/250cc 125cc 80/50cc
1 Giacomo Agostini 122 – 68 x 500cc – 54 x 350cc
2 Valentino Rossi 108 – 82 x MotoGP/500cc – 14 x 250cc – 12 x 125cc
3 Angel Nieto 90 – 62 x 125cc – 28 x 80/50cc
4 Mike Hailwood 76 – 37 x 500cc – 16 x 350cc – 21 x 250cc – 2 x 125cc
5 = Mick Doohan 54 – 54 x 500cc
5 = Jorge Lorenzo 54 – 33 x MotoGP/50cc – 17 x 250cc – 4 x 125cc
7 Phil Read 52 – 11 x 50cc – 4 x 350cc – 27 x 250cc – 10 x 125cc
8 Dani Pedrosa 49 – 26 x MotoGP/500cc – 15 x 250cc – 8 x 125cc
9 = Jim Redman 45 – 2 x 500cc – 21 x 350cc – 18 x 250cc – 4 x 125cc
9 = Casey Stoner 45 – 38 x MotoGP – 5 x 250cc – 2 x 125cc
11 Marc Marquez 44 – 18 x MotoGP – 16 x Moto2 – 10 x 125cc
Record opportunities for Tito Rabat in Valencia
Having already clinched the Moto2 world title, Tito Rabat arrives at the final race of the year with an opportunity to further enter his name in the record books, as detailed below:
- 326 – Rabat has already attained a total of 326 points in the Moto2 World Championship this year and if he finishes in 13th place or better in Valencia he will set a new record highest points’ total in the intermediate-class of Grand Prix racing – a record that is currently held by Marc Marquez, who scored 328 points in winning the Moto2 world title in 2012
- 17 – Tito Rabat and team-mate Mika Kallio have both finished in the top ten at all 17 races so far in 2014. This is already a record for most top ten finishes in a single season in the intermediate-class of Grand Prix racing, which could be extended with another top ten finish in Valencia
- 13 – Rabat has finished on the podium 13 times so far in 2014. Another top three finish at the final race of the year in Valencia would see him equal the record of 14 podiums in a single season of the intermediate-class, set by Marc Marquez in 2012
- 10 – He has started from pole ten times this year, equalling the record number of poles in a single season in the intermediate-class of Grand Prix racing: by Toni Mang in 1981 and Jorge Lorenzo in 2006
Moto3 world title to be decided in Valencia
The Moto3 title battle goes to the final event of the year with just 11 points separating championship leader Alex Marquez and Jack Miller. Below are the scenarios with regard to the championship title:
- If Miller wins the race, Marquez needs to finish on the podium to become World Champion
- If Miller finishes second, Marquez needs to finish sixth or better to become World Champion
- If Miller finishes third, Marquez needs to finish 10th or better to become World Champion
- If Miller finishes fourth, Marquez needs to finish 13th or better to become World Champion
- If Miller finishes fifth, Marquez needs to finish 15th or better to become World Champion
- If Miller does not finish in the top five, Marquez will become World Champion.
Final race deciders in Moto3
This is the seventh time that the lightweight-class world title has been settled in Valencia since it became the final event on the Grand Prix calendar in 2002. Below are some notes of the previous times that it has happened:
- 2002 – Manuel Poggiali (Gilera) had a chance of taking the title at the Valencia GP; he had an eight-point deficit to Arnaud Vincent (Aprilia). However, Vincent finished second in front of Poggiali at the final race to become the first French rider to win the 125cc world title
- 2005 -Mika Kallio (KTM) needed to win the race at Valencia to take the title, with Thomas Luthi (Honda) finishing lower than 13th. Although Kallio did as required in winning the race, Honda rider Luthi took the title by cruising home for an ninth place finish
- 2007 – Gabor Talmacsi (Aprilia) had a ten-point advantage over team-mate Hector Faubel at the start of the Valencia race in 2007. The two riders took the top two places on the grid and Faubel won a fantastic race in which the top five riders crossed the line covered by less than a second; however, Talmacsi did enough to take the title by finishing second
- 2010 – Nico Terol (Aprilia) had an outside chance of taking the title, arriving at Valencia with a 17-point deficit to Marc Marquez (Derbi). Terol finished third, one place in front of Marquez who did enough to take the title
- 2011 – This was the last ever 125cc world title and the fight was between Nico Terol (Aprilia) and Johann Zarco (Derbi). Terol came second to take the title, whilst Zarco crashed out on the third lap
- 2013 – With just five points covering KTM riders Luis Salom, Alex Rins and Maverick Viñales at the top of the Moto3 championship table, any of the three riders would win the world title in Valencia with a race victory, irrespective of where their rivals finished. Salom’s championship hopes disappeared when he crashed on the 15th lap. The battle between Rins and Viñales went down to the final corner, with Viñales taking the win to clinch the world title
Grand Prix racing numbers
- 360 wins – The combined total of Grand Prix victories for the riders on the entry list for the MotoGP race in Valencia. If all of the GP winners line up on the grid for the race, it will set a new record for greatest aggregate number of GP wins for riders starting a Grand Prix race; the record has been set several times throughout the year and currently stands at 352 GP wins for the riders lining up on the grid for the MotoGP race in Australia this year
- 289 points – Mika Kallio already has a total of 289 points in the Moto2 World Championship, which is already the greatest ever points total than any rider has ever achieved in finishing second in the intermediate-class of the World Championship
- 168 starts – At the Valencia GP, Hiroshi Aoyama is scheduled to make his 168th Grand Prix start, which will equal Nobuatsu Aoki’s record for most GP starts by a Japanese rider
- 86 Spanish wins – The victory by Marc Marquez in Malaysia was the 86th win for Spanish riders in the MotoGP class since it was introduced as the premier-class of Grand Prix racing in 2002. This is just one less MotoGP win than Italian riders have achieved
- 23 years, 332 days – At the age of 23 years and 322 days at the Malaysian GP, Bradley Smith became the youngest British rider to clinch back-to-back top five finishes in the premier-class of GP racing since John Newbold at the Czech and West German GPs of 1976
- 18 wins – The win for Marc Marquez in Malaysia was his 18th in the MotoGP class: the same number of premier-class GP wins that Wayne Gardner achieved during his career. One more win for Marquez would see him will equal the number of premier-class victories of Barry Sheene
- 16 teenage wins – Maverick Viñales, who is still only 19 years of age, took the 16th victory of his Grand Prix career in Malaysia. Only three riders have scored more than 16 GP wins before reaching the age of 20: Marc Marquez (26 wins whilst still a teenager), Dani Pedrosa (21) and Valentino Rossi (17)
- 13 poles – At the Malaysian Grand Prix, Marc Marquez started from pole for the 13th time in 2014, which is a new record for most pole positions in a single season in the premier-class of Grand Prix racing
- 10 Spanish wins at home – Spanish riders have won the last ten MotoGP races on Spanish soil. The last non-Spanish rider to win a MotoGP race in Spain was Casey Stoner, at Jerez in 2012
- 9 Constructors’ points – Following the win by Efren Vazquez in Malaysia, Honda lead KTM in the Moto3 Constructors’ title battle by nine points, and will clinch the title in Valencia if a Honda rider finishes either first or second. If the first Honda rider crosses the line in third place, with a KTM rider winning the race, then the two constructers will be equal on points, with KTM taking the title due to a greater number of victories. Honda last won the Constructors’ title in the lightweight-class of GP racing in 2001
- 0.385 seconds – After another tremendous race-long battle at the Malaysian GP, the first three riders across the finish line in the Moto3 race were covered by just 0.385 seconds. This was the 12th time this year that the podium finishers in the Moto3 class have been covered by less than half a second
Moto2 stats and trivia
- Tito Rabat heads to Valencia as the new Moto2 World Champion, having become the 109th different rider to claim a World Championship title. He has become the first rider ever to lead the Moto2 standings for a whole season and is now looking to achieve more records (explained in Record opportunities for Tito Rabat in Valencia)
- Mika Kallio is looking to seal second position in a World Championship for what would be the third time, having finished runner-up in the 125cc title races of 2005 and 2006; first to Tom Luthi and then to Alvaro Bautista
- Maverick Viñales’ target for the weekend is to overhaul Mika Kallio for second place in the championship; having already won four Grands Prix in his maiden Moto2 season, the Spaniard heads to Valencia just 15 points behind the Finnish rider
- Last year in Valencia, Nico Terol claimed what remains his and the Aspar team’s last Moto2 race victory to date. Team-mate Jordi Torres was second as Johann Zarco pipped Simone Corsi in a photo finish for the final podium spot. Already World Champion at the previous round in Japan, Pol Espargaro led in the early stages but slipped back down the field following a lowside at the Angel Nieto corner
- Michele Pirro is the only rider to have won a Moto2 race in Valencia from pole position, having done so in the closing Grand Prix of the 2011 season
- Lorenzo Baldassarri has his 18th birthday on the Thursday before the race
- Robin Mulhauser will turn 23 on Friday in Valencia
- Mika Kallio will celebrate his 32nd birthday on the day of qualifying
Moto3 stats and trivia
- Alex Marquez leads the standings into the season finale, having hit the front following the Aragon Grand Prix; he is looking to join his brother Marc in becoming the first pair of siblings ever to each claim World Championship titles
- 11 points behind Marquez is Jack Miller, who led the championship for the duration until MotorLand Aragon. He is looking to become the second lightweightclass World Champion from Australia; the first was Tom Phillis back in 1961
- Alex Rins sits third in the championship. Unlike last year, when he lost the title at the final corner of the final lap to Maverick Viñales, he is no longer in the hunt for the crown. However, the Spaniard is looking to confirm his third place in the championship, with compatriot Efren Vazquez entering the race 14 points in arrears
- In the 2013 Valencia Grand Prix, fans were treated to a sensational finale as Maverick Viñales, Alex Rins and Luis Salom provided a triangular shootout for the title; if any of the trio won the race, they would also claim their maiden World Championship. Following an unforced error that removed Salom from the action, Viñales overhauled Rins out of the final corner to dramatically seal the championship
- At the first Moto3 Valencia Grand Prix in 2012, Danny Kent celebrated his second Grand Prix victory; this remains the last GP victory to date for any British rider
- Isaac Viñales turns 21 on Thursday before the race
- Luca Grunwald will have his 20th birthday on the Monday after Valencia
