MotoGP Statistics Update
Jerez 2020 with Dr. Thomas Morsellino
12 World Champions in MotoGP 2020
MotoGP grid: 22 riders, three rookies, 12 World Champions – one more Champion than 2019, equalling the record from 2015/2018. They have 29 GP World Championships between them (one less than last year). The record is 32 (2018).
Nine riders on the full-time MotoGP entry list have won premier class races and they have 173 wins between them. 20 riders have had victories in at least one of the three classes of Grand Prix racing (one more than last year), with a combined total of 395 wins (419 in 2019).
Two of the three rookies are GP winners and World Champions: Brad Binder (15 wins and 2016 Moto3 World Champion) and Alex Marquez (12 wins, 2014 Moto3 World Champion and 2019 Moto2 World Champion). Iker Lecuona has two podiums, both in Moto2.
Oldest rider: Valentino Rossi, 41 years 154 days old on race day at the Spanish GP.
Youngest: Iker Lecuona, 20 years 195 days old.
Grand Prix Racing at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto
First used in 1987, this is the 34th successive year that a Grand Prix has been held here. With the cancellation of Dutch TT at Assen and the Italian GP at Mugello in 2020, Jerez also becomes the current venue that’s been used consecutively for the longest period, ahead of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (28 successive years) and Brno (27).
There have been seven different MotoGP winners at Jerez since the introduction of the class in 2002: Valentino Rossi (6 wins), Marc Marquez (3), Jorge Lorenzo (3), Dani Pedrosa (3), Casey Stoner (1), Loris Capirossi (1) and Sete Gibernau (1).
Honda’s last win in the premier class at Jerez: Marc Marquez in 2019.
Yamaha’s last win in the premier class at Jerez: Valentino Rossi in 2016, from pole.
Ducati’s only win in the premier class at Jerez: Loris Capirossi in 2006, from pole. The last time Ducati finished on the podium at Jerez was in 2017 when Jorge Lorenzo took third (also his first podium with Ducati).
The last of Suzuki’s two victories at Jerez came in 2000 when Kenny Roberts Jr. won the 500cc race on his way to clinching the world title. Last year, Alex Rins finished second, which was the best result for Suzuki at Jerez since the introduction of MotoGP in 2002.
Aleix Espargaro’s ninth place in 2017 was the best result for an Aprilia rider in Jerez in the premier class since Doriano Romboni was sixth back in 1997.
Mika Kallio finished 10th in 2018, the best result at Jerez for KTM in the premier class.
Alberto Puig’s victory at Jerez on May 7th, 1995, was the first win for a Spanish rider in the premier class on home soil.
Jerez has been the most successful circuit for Spanish riders in the premier class, with a total of 14 wins (ahead of Le Mans, with 13). They are: Alberto Puig in 1995; Alex Criville in 1997, 98, 99; Sete Gibernau in 2004; Dani Pedrosa in 2008, 2013, 2017; Jorge Lorenzo in 2010, 2011, 2015; and Marc Marquez in 2014, 2018, 2019. There has also been at least one Spanish rider on the podium in the MotoGP race at Jerez for the last 16 years.
Last year at the Spanish GP, Fabio Quartararo, aged 20 years and 14 days old, qualified on pole position for the first time in his rookie season, becoming the youngest rider ever to do so, taking the record from Marc Marquez (20 years and 62 days old in Austin in 2013).
Seven of the riders lining up for the MotoGP race at Jerez have previously won Grand Prix races at the track: Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, Pol Espargaro, Bradley Smith, Alex Marquez, Brad Binder and Maverick Viñales.
Most successful riders by wins at Jerez
- Valentino Rossi – Nine wins (6 x MotoGP – 1 x 500 – 1 x 250 – 1 x 125)
- Jorge Lorenzo – Five wins (3 x MotoGP – 2 x 250)
- Dani Pedrosa – Four wins (3 x MotoGP – 1 x 250)
Mick Doohan – Four wins (4 x 500)
Alex Criville – Fou wins (3 x 500 – 1 x 125)
MotoGP Facts and Stats
It will be 245 days on Sunday since the last premier class race in Valencia, which is the longest time between the final premier class race of one season and the first of the following one since 1985-1986 (245 days) and 1980-1981 (245). Record: 279 days (1949-1950).
2020 is Valentino Rossi’s 25th successive year as a Grand Prix rider. During that time, he has only missed five races – after breaking his leg at Mugello in 2010 and in training in 2017.
Marc Marquez has been on the last 16 podiums in MotoGP, which equals Valentino Rossi who did it from Japan/2014 to Great Britain/2015. At Jerez, he is aiming for his 17th successive podium to equal Mick Doohan (Australia/1994 – Japan/1995). Record: 23, Valentino Rossi (Portugal/2002 – South Africa/2004).
At the Spanish GP, Ducati will be aiming to become the fifth manufacturer to reach the milestone of 50 premier class wins with Honda (309), Yamaha (229), MV Agusta (139) and Suzuki (93).
At the Spanish GP, Maverick Viñales will be aiming to reach the milestone of 2000 points scored in Grand Prix racing and become the 16th rider to do so. He has 1985.
Jerez is hosting the opening MotoGP race of the season for the first time since 2006, when Loris Capirossi took the only Ducati win at the track so far.
In the MotoGP era since 2002, seven different riders have won the opening race of the year: Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, Maverick Viñales and Andrea Dovizioso.
In the MotoGP era since 2002, there have been only three occasions on which the rider who clinched the title at the end of the year didn’t stand on the podium at the opening race: 2008 (Rossi), 2015 (Lorenzo) and 2017 (Marquez). However, they all finished within the top five.
Rookie Brad Binder is the first South African rider to race in MotoGP since its introduction back in 2002 and the first in the premier class since Shane Norval at the Catalunya GP back in 2000.
Two of the three rookies in MotoGP this year have previously won a Grand Prix race at Jerez in the smaller classes: Alex Marquez (Moto2, 2017) and Brad Binder (Moto3, 2016).
At the Spanish GP, Aleix Espargaro is scheduled to make the 250th start of his Grand Prix career.
Johann Zarco will celebrate his 30th birthday on Thursday before the opening day of the Spanish GP. Zarco’s best result at Jerez in MotoGP is a second place in 2018 riding a Yamaha.
1. Marc MARQUEZ SPA Honda 159.2
2. Johann ZARCO FRA Yamaha 158.9 +5.241
3. Andrea IANNONE ITA Suzuki 158.7 +8.214
2020 Jerez MotoGP Schedule (AEST)
Source: MCNews.com.au