2019 MotoGP – Round 10 – Brno
Monster Energy Grand Prix České republiky
The 2019 Czech Grand Prix will be the 50th to be held at Brno and below are some facts and statistics related to the previous GP events at the circuit.
The only venue that has hosted more Grand Prix events than Brno is Assen in The Netherlands, which has hosted the Dutch TT in each of the 71 years of the motorcycling World Championship.
The first Czechoslovakian Grand Prix was held at Brno in 1965. The 500cc race, held over thirteen laps of the original 13.94 km long road circuit, was won by Mike Hailwood on an MV Agusta in a time of 1 hour 11 min 23.2 sec.
In 1975, the circuit was shortened to 10.92 km to improve safety. The last premier class race held on the road circuit at Brno was in 1977 and was won by Johnny Cecotto on a Yamaha.
The circuit was subsequently considered too dangerous for the large capacity machines. The smaller capacity machines continued to compete in Grand Prix races on the Brno road circuit until 1982, before it was removed from the calendar for safety concerns.
The current circuit was first used for Grand Prix racing in 1987 and hosted the Czechoslovakian GP until 1991. Brno did not appear on the calendar in 1992, but the event was back on the calendar in 1993 as the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic and has taken place every year since.
This will be the 32nd time that the current circuit has hosted a Grand Prix event, during which time the circuit has remained virtually unchanged. Minor modifications were made to the circuit in 1996 which extended the length from 5.394 km to the current
5.403 km.
A total of 162 Grand Prix races for solo motorcycles have been held at Brno since 1965 as follows: MotoGP – 17, 500cc – 25, 350cc – 17, Moto2 – 9, 250cc – 40, Moto3 – 7, 125cc – 38, 80cc – 3, 50cc – 6.
Since the first Grand Prix race in the premier class in Brno, Honda is the most successful manufacturer with 18 wins, eight in the MotoGP class, the last of which came with Marc Marquez back in 2017.
Yamaha have had 12 wins in the premier class including six in the MotoGP class since 2002 with Max Biaggi (1), Valentino Rossi (3) and Jorge Lorenzo (2). Ducati have taken three MotoGP wins at Brno: with Loris Capirossi in 2006, Casey Stoner in 2007 and Andrea Dovizioso last year. Dovizioso crossed the line ahead of his teammate Jorge Lorenzo, making it the sixth Ducati 1-2 in the premier class.
The last win for Suzuki at Brno was in the 500cc class in 1989, with Kevin Schwantz. Suzuki have had two podium finishes in the MotoGP class: second with John Hopkins in 2007 and third with Loris Capirossi in 2008.
The best result for an Aprilia rider at Brno in MotoGP is an eighth-place finish with Aleix Espargaro in 2017. In 2017, Pol Espargaro was the only KTM rider across the line in Brno, in ninth place, which is the best result for the Austrian manufacturer at this track in the premier class.
The best result for a Czech rider in the MotoGP class at Brno is ninth for Karel Abraham in 2012 riding a Ducati. There have only been two podium finishes for Czech riders at the current Brno circuit across all classes: Lukas Pesek was third in the 125cc class back in 2007 on a Derbi, and Jakub Kornfeil was third in Moto3 last year on a KTM.
Max Biaggi (4 x 250cc, 2 x 500cc, 1 x MotoGP) and Valentino Rossi (1x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP) are the most successful riders at the current Brno circuit, each with seven wins.
The nine Moto2 races that have taken place at Brno have been won by nine different riders: Toni Elias (2010), Andrea Iannone (2011), Marc Marquez (2012), Mika Kallio (2013), Tito Rabat (2014), Johann Zarco (2015), Jonas Folger (2016), Tom Lüthi (2017) and Miguel Oliveira (2018).
Previously in MotoGP
| Previously… in MotoGP |
| 299 – In Germany, Valentino Rossi finished in eighth place, scoring points for the 299th time since he stepped up to the premier class of Grand Prix racing in 2000. |
| 124 – The win for Marc Marquez at the German GP was the 124th time he has been on the podium in his Grand Prix career. Only five riders have been on the podium on more occasions in Grand Prix racing. |
| 60 – Lorenzo Dalla Porta’s win at the Sachsenring is the 60th for Honda in the Moto3 class since its introduction in 2012, equalling KTM as the most successful manufacturer in the category. |
| 50 – At the Sachsenring, Marc Marquez set the fastest lap of the race for the 50th time since he stepped up to the premier class in 2013. Only two riders have set more fastest laps in the class: Valentino Rossi (75) and Giacomo Agostini (69). |
| 31 – Since the opening Grand Prix in Qatar, 31 different riders have stood on the podium across all GP classes, one less than last year. Only Marc Marquez, with eight podium finishes, has finished on the podium more than five times in the opening eight Grands Prix of the season. |
| 16 – With Marc Marquez’s win at the Sachsenring, Honda has won for the 10th successive time at the track, 16th overall as in Mugello. |
MotoGP Facts and Stats
At the Sachsenring, Marc Marquez won his fifth race out of the opening nine races of the season.
In the MotoGP era since 2002, every rider who won at least five of the opening nine races went on to win the title: Valentino Rossi (8 – 2002, 5 – 2004 and 7 – 2005), Casey Stoner (5 – 2007), Jorge Lorenzo (6 – 2010 and 5 – 2012) and Marc Marquez (9 – 2014 and 5 – 2018).
Since the Catalan GP last year, Marc Marquez has only failed to score points three times: Australia and Valencia in 2018, and Austin this season. In the last 18 races he has finished, he has always been on the podium and finished third only once, in Brno.
Maverick Viñales finished second at the Sachsenring, which is his 19th podium finish in the premier class, equalling John Kocinski and Marco Lucchinelli on the list of riders with most podium finishes in the class.
His Dutch TT win and German GP podium make this Maverick Viñales fifth back-to-back podium finish since he stepped up to the MotoGP class in 2015. At the Czech GP, he will be aiming to stand on the podium three times in a row for the first time in the class.
Following the Dutch TT, Yamaha have scored 153 points in the Constructor’s World Championship classification, which is the lowest points accumulated after the opening nine races by Yamaha since 2006 when the Japanese manufacturer had 147 points
after the British GP.
With Marc Marquez and Maverick Viñales, this is the second successive Spanish 1-2 and the third with both riders along, with Austin last year and the Dutch TT this year. It’s the the 49th overall in the premier class of Grand Prix racing.
In Germany, Cal Crutchlow finished third, which is his first podium finish since he was also third in the opening race in Qatar this year. This is Crutchlow’s 18th premier class podium finish, equalling Christian Sarron.
Danilo Petrucci crossed the line in fourth place as the highest placed Ducati rider. This is the first time Ducati riders failed to stand on the podium in the two successive races since Assen and Germany last year.
Jack Miller crossed the line in sixth place in Germany and is now leading the Independent Team rider classification, three points ahead of Fabio Quartararo and Cal Crutchlow who both have 67 points.
Valentino Rossi crossed the line in eighth place at the German GP, which is the first time he scored points since he crossed the line in fifth place at the French GP. In addition, at the Sachsenring, Valentino Rossi scored points for the 299th time in the premier class. In Brno, he will be aiming to become the first rider to reach the milestone 300 premier class
races in the points.
At the Czech GP, it will be the 24th successive year that Valentino Rossi will have started a Grand Prix race at Brno. It will be just the second circuit, along with Jerez, he will have raced at in every year of his Grand Prix career. The other three circuits that have appeared on the Grand Prix schedule every year whilst Rossi has been racing (Mugello, Catalunya and Assen) were all circuits at which he didn’t start following his injury sustained in practice at the Italian GP back in 2010.
In Germany, Pol Espargaro crossed the line in 12th place, scoring his 56th point this season so far. This is already the highest points accumulated by a KTM rider in one season since Austrian manufacturer stepped up to the MotoGP class in 2017.
Only two riders have now scored points in all nine of the MotoGP races in 2019: Danilo Petrucci and Pol Espargaro. The last time Pol Espargaro failed to score any points was in Malaysia last year when he retired from the race. At the German GP, Fabio Quartararo crashed out for the first time in a premier class race, but he is still leading the fight for the Rookie of the Year with 67 points ahead Joan Mir (39 points), who scored his third successive top 10 finish, Miguel Oliveira (15) and Francesco Bagnaia (11).
The only two of the four rookies in the MotoGP class this year to have previously won at Brno any of the smaller classes are Miguel Oliveira, who won last year in the Moto2 class, and Joan Mir, who won in the Moto3 class in 2017 on his way to clinching the title.
However, fellow rookie Francesco Bagnaia has stood on the podium at Brno, finishing third last year in Moto2.
Winning streak at the same circuit
The win for Marc Marquez in Germany was the seventh successive time he has stood on the top step of the podium in the premier class at the Sachsenring, equalling Valentino Rossi at Mugello. Only one rider has won more than seven successive races at the
same track in the premier class:
| Successive wins | Rider | Track |
| 9 | Giacomo Agostini | Imatra (1965 – 1973) |
| 8 | Giacomo Agostini | Spa-Francorchamps (1966 – 1973) |
| 7 | Marc Marquez | Sachsenring (2013 – 2019) |
| 7 | Valentino Rossi | Mugello (2002 – 2008) |
| 6 | Marc Marquez | Circuit of the Americas (2013 – 2018) |
| 6 | Casey Stoner | Phillip Island (2007 – 2012) |
| 6 | Mick Doohan | Mugello (1993 – 1998) |
| 6 | Giacomo Agostini | Sachsenring (1967 – 1972) |
In addition to Marquez’ seventh successive win in the MotoGP class at the Sachsenring, it was his 10th successive victory in Germany including his Moto2 win at the track in both 2011 and 2012 and his 125cc win in 2010. Giacomo Agostini holds the record in Finland with 13th successive wins at Imatra: 8 x 500cc (1966 – 1973) and 5 x 350cc (1969 – 1973).
Marc Marquez closes in on Mike Hailwood Marc Marquez’ win at the Sachsenring was the 75th of his Grand Prix career, just one less GP win than nine-time World Champion Mike Hailwood (76) as shown in the table below of riders with most GP wins. There are just three riders in the history of Grand Prix racing who have taken more wins than Hailwood.
| Pos | Rider | Wins | MGP/500 | 350 | M2/250 | 125 | 80/50 | |||
| 1 | Giacomo Agostini | 122 | 68 | 54 | / | / | / | |||
| 2 | Valentino Rossi | 115 | 89 | / | 14 | 12 | / | |||
| 3 | Angel Nieto | 90 | / | / | / | 62 | 28 | |||
| 4 | Mike Hailwood | 76 | 37 | 16 | 21 | 2 | / | |||
| 5 | Marc Marquez | 75 | 49 | / | 16 | 10 | / | |||
| 6 | Jorge Lorenzo | 68 | 47 | / | 17 | 4 | / | |||
| 7= | Mick Doohan | 54 | 54 | / | / | / | / | |||
| 7= | Dani Pedrosa | 54 | 31 | / | 15 | 8 | / | |||
| 9 | Phil Read | 52 | 11 | 4 | 27 | 10 | / | |||
| 10= | Jim Redman | 45 | 2 | 21 | 18 | 4 | / | |||
| 10= | Casey Stoner | 45 | 38 | / | 5 | 2 | / | |||
In addition, this was the 85th podium finish in the premier class for Marc Marquez, three less than Giacomo Agostini, who is in fifth place in the list of riders with the most podium finishes in the class.
Great start to the season for Marc Marquez
At the Sachsenring, Marc Marquez qualified on pole position for the 85th time in his Grand Prix career and the 57th time in the premier class, one less than the record held by Mick Doohan (58).
This was Marc Marquez’s 34th win in the premier class after qualifying on pole position. 45 of his 49 wins in the class came after qualifying within the top three. Marc Marquez’ win at the Sachsenring is the sixth time that he had won at any circuit in the MotoGP class after qualifying on pole position, leading across the line on every lap and setting the fastest lap of the race along with Jerez (2014), Austin (2014, 2016, 2018) and Termas de Rio Hondo (2019).
At the Sachsenring, Marc Marquez set the fastest lap of the race for the 50th time since he stepped up to the premier class in 2013. Only two riders have set more fastest laps in the class, Valentino Rossi (75) and Giacomo Agostini (69).
Marc Marquez has won at least five GPs per season over the past ten years, across three different categories: 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP, beating his own record set over the last two years. Previously, Mike Hailwood was the only rider to have achieved at least five victories per season over seven years, across at least three classes, between 1961 and 1967.
In addition, Marc Marquez has won at least five GPs per season (in any class of GP racing) over the past ten years, equalling the record set by Giacomo Agostini between 1966 and 1975 in 350cc and 500cc.
Considering only the premier class, Marc Marquez has won at least five GPs per season over the past seven years, beating the record set by Valentino Rossi (2001-2006) and Giacomo Agostini (1967-1972), who each won at least five races over six consecutive
seasons.
Following the German GP, Marc Marquez has 185 points, which is the second-highest points accumulated after the opening nine races by Marquez in the MotoGP class. 2014 was the highest, when he had won the nine opening races and accumulated 225
points.
With his brother Alex winning in Moto2, this was the fifth time both of them won on the same day, along with France and Catalunya earlier this year and Catalunya and Assen back in 2014 when both were on their way to winning their respective titles in
Moto3 and MotoGP.
Andrea Dovizioso closes in on Mick Doohan Andrea Dovizioso crossed the line in fifth place at the Sachsenring and scored his 2279th point since he stepped up to the MotoGP class in 2008. At the Czech GP, he will be aiming to move above Mick Doohan, who is in fourth place in the list of riders with most points scored in the premier class.
| Pos | Rider | 500/MotoGP |
| 1 | Valentino Rossi | 5211 |
| 2 | Dani Pedrosa | 2970 |
| 3 | Jorge Lorenzo | 2890 |
| 4 | Mick Doohan | 2298 |
| 5 | Andrea Dovizioso | 2279 |
| 6 | Alex Barros | 2079 |
| 7 | Marc Marquez | 2040 |
| 8 | Loris Capirossi | 1840 |
| 9 | Casey Stoner | 1815 |
| 10 | Nicky Hayden | 1698 |
Mid-Season Report
There have been five different winners in the opening nine MotoGP races of the year, which is the third time there have been five different winners at this stage of the season since the introduction of the class in 2002, along with 2006 and 2017.
In addition, there have been nine different riders who have stood on the podium in the opening nine MotoGP races of the season, two less than the entire 2018 season. The record at this stage of the season in the MotoGP class since its introduction in 2002 is 12 back in 2007.
Two different riders have led the Championship classification in the opening nine MotoGP races of 2018: Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Márquez.
Ten different riders have qualified within the top three in MotoGP during the opening nine races of 2019. Three of them have qualified on pole position, three less than at this stage of the 2018 season.
Eight different riders have led at least one lap across the line since the opening MotoGP race in Qatar, one less than last year at this stage of the season. Marc Marquez leads the way with 142 laps, followed by Andrea Dovizioso (23) and Danilo Petrucci (14).
Eight different riders have led at least one of the 44 free practice sessions (FP3 in Austin was cancelled due to weather conditions) or one of the nine Q2 sessions. Marc Marquez leads the way with 24 sessions on top followed by Fabio Quartararo (13), Maverick Viñales (7), Danilo Petrucci (5), Valentino Rossi (1), Francesco Bagnaia (1), Alex Rins (1) and Andrea Dovizioso (1). All 22 riders competing full-time in MotoGP class have scored points since the opening race in Qatar.
On this day…
| July 30th |
| At the 1972 Finnish GP, Jarno Saarinen won his home GP in 250cc, his fourth victory of the season, to clinch his only title in GP racing. |
| July 31st |
| At the 1982 British GP, Angel Nieto took his 50th win in the 125cc class (his 77th overall). |
| At the 1971 Finnish GP, Giacomo Agostini took his sixth 350cc win to clinch his 10th title in GP racing, becoming the rider with most titles. |
| August 1st |
| At the 1981 British GP, Anton Mang won the 350cc race to take the first of his two titles in the class. |
| August 2nd |
| In Imatra back in 1976, Pat Hennen won the 500cc race to be- come the first American to win in the premier class. |
| At the 2005 German GP, Valentino Rossi won the MotoGP race after it was interrupted following a crash for John Hopkins and then restarted for 25 laps. Rossi (now 115 wins) equalled Mike Hailwood with 76 GP wins, only Agostini (122 GP wins) and An- gel Nieto (90) had more wins at that time. 14 years later, at the 2019 German GP, Marc Márquez took his 75th GP win. |
| At the 1987 British GP, Jorge “Aspar” Martinez took his sixth win in the opening seven races of the season to clinch his second successive 80cc title. |
| At the 1983 British GP held at Silverstone, Angel Nieto won the 125cc race to clinch the 125cc title (his 12th) while Carlos La-vado took his first 250cc title by taking fourth. |
| At the same GP in Imatra, Johnny Cecotto took the first of his three wins in the 500cc class, while Barry Sheene finished sixth to clinch his second successive title in the class. |
| August 3rd |
| At the 1986 British GP, Ian McConnachie won the 80cc race, be- coming the first British rider to win at Silverstone in GP racing. |
| August 4th |
| At the 1953 French GP, Pierre Monneret finished second in the 350cc race, becoming the first French rider to stand on the podium in GP racing (solo classes). |
| Takazumi Katayama won the 350cc race held in Imatra back in 1977 to become the first Japanese rider to clinch a title in GP racing. |
| At the 1996 Austrian GP, Valentino Rossi finished third in the 125cc class behind Ivan Goi (who became the youngest winner in the class at that time) and Dirk Raudies, which was the first of Rossi’s 234 podium finishes in Grand Prix racing so far. |
| At the 1993 British GP, Jean-Philippe Ruggia won the 250cc race held at Donington Park, which was the first of his three wins in Grand Prix racing. |
Source: MCNews.com.au