MotoGP Statistics Update
Argentina 2019
Andrea Dovizioso’s win in Valencia was his 13th in the premier class, equalling Randy Mamola and Max Biaggi. They’re tied second as the riders with the most victories without winning the title, behind Dani Pedrosa (31 wins).
With his win in Qatar, Andrea Dovizioso won the opening race of the season for the third time in his Grand Prix career; he did it in 2004 on his way to clinching his 125cc title as well as last year.
Cal Crutchlow has finished on the podium at least once for eight successive seasons in the MotoGP class, equalling Mike Hailwood between 1960 and 1967. Only one other British rider has had premier class podium finishes in eight or more successive seasons: Geoff Duke (10).
Top Independent Team rider in Qatar in third place, Crutchlow won the race last year in Argentina, becoming the first British rider to lead the premier class championship since Barry Sheene after the opening race of 1979 in Venezuela.
With his fourth-place finish at Losail, Alex Rins has scored points in the last ten successive races. The last time he failed to score any points was in Ger-many last year when he crashed out on the opening lap with Pol Espargaro.
In addition, Alex Rins has finished within the top six in the last eight successive races. The last time he was not inside the top six was in Austria last year, when he was eighth.
Johann Zarco crossed the line in 15th place at the Qatar GP for his first time on the KTM, which is his worst result across the line since he was also 15th in San Marino back in 2017 when he ran out of fuel and had to push his bike to the finish line.
Francesco Bagnaia retired from the race in Losail, which is the first time he has failed to score points since Italy in 2017 when he crashed on the final lap.
First rookie across the line in Qatar, Joan Mir (2017) is the only one of the four rookies this year to have previously won at Argentina in any of the smaller classes.
Along with Joan Mir (2017), Miguel Oliveira (2017 and 2018) is the only one of the four rookies in the MotoGP class this year to have stood on the podium in Argentina.
Termas de Río Hondo is one of the five tracks on this year’s calendar where Jorge Lorenzo has not had a win in the MotoGP class, along with Austin, Sachsenring, Sepang, and Buriram.
MotoGP finishes are closer than ever
Johann Zarco finished the Qatar Grand Prix in 15th place, crossing the line just 15.093 seconds behind race winner Andrea Dovizioso, which is the closest top 15 of all-time in a full-length premier class Grand Prix. This breaks the record set last year in Assen last year.
The following list shows the ten closest top 15 finishes of all-time in the premier class of Grand Prix racing, nine of which have occurred since 2017 (only races that have completed full race distance). Followed by the closest Top Ten finishes, and the closest margins from first to second place.
Closest Top 15 finishes
Closest Top Ten finishes
Closest winning margins 1st to 2nd
Closest winning margins 1st to 2nd
Andrea Dovizioso levels with Jorge Lorenzo
With his win in Losail, Andrea Dovizioso equals Jorge Lorenzo in fifth place on the following list of riders with the longest winning careers in Grand Prix Racing.
Longest winning careers in Grand Prix Racing
MotoGP returns to Termas de Río Hondo circuit for sixth year
This year’s event at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit is the 16th motorcycle Grand Prix to be held in Argentina.
The first Argentina GP took place in 1961 and was held in Buenos Aires; the first time that a Grand Prix had taken place outside of Europe. Not all of the top riders attended the event and the 52-lap, 203km 500cc race was won by home rider Jorge Kissling (Matchless) from fellow country- man Juan Carlos Salatino (Norton).
This is the sixth year that the Argentina GP has taken place at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit. All of the ten previous Grands Prix in Argentina had taken place in Buenos Aires, the last of which was in 1999.
Three riders from Argentina have won Grand Prix races: Sebastian Porto (seven wins in the 250cc class), Benedicto Caldarella (Argentina, 1962) and Jorge Kissling (Argentina, 1961) who both had single victo- ries in the 500cc class.
The last GP win for an Argentinean rider was in the 250cc class at the Dutch TT in 2005, when Sebastian Porto won the race from Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.
The only current full-time Grand Prix rider who has raced at the Buenos Aires circuit is Valentino Rossi, who won the 250cc race in 1998 and was third in 1999.
Marc Marquez has twice won the MotoGP race in Argentina from pole position in 2014 and 2016. He was also on pole in Argentina in 2015 and in 2017 but crashed when battling for the lead.
The riders other than Marquez to win a MotoGP race at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit are Valentino Rossi, who won the 2015 race after starting down in eighth place on the grid; Maverick Viñales, who won in 2017 from the sixth on the grid and Cal Crutchlow last year from tenth on the grid.
Since the introduction of the Termas de Rio Honda circuit to the calen-dar in 2014, Honda have had three wins in MotoGP with two different riders: Marc Marquez (2014, 2016) and Cal Crutchlow (2018).
Yamaha have had two MotoGP wins in Argentina for two different riders: Valentino Rossi (2015) and Maverick Viñales (2017).
Andrea Dovizioso’s second-place finish in 2015 is the only podium finish in MotoGP for a Ducati rider in Argentina.
The best result for a Suzuki rider at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit is the third place for Alex Rins last year.
Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda CASTROL 40’36.342
2. Johann ZARCO Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +0.251
3. Alex RINS Team SUZUKI ECSTAR +2.501
Stefan Bradl’s seventh-place finish in 2016 is the best result so far for an Aprilia rider at the Termas de Rio Honda circuit. Scott Redding was the highest-placed Aprilia rider last year in 12th.
Pol Espargaro finished 11th last year in Argentina, which is the best re-sult at the track for a KTM rider.
The five Moto2 races that have taken place at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit have been won by four different riders, three of them are now competing in the MotoGP class: Tito Rabat (2014), Johann Zarco (2015 & 2016), Franco Morbidelli (2017) and Mattia Pasini (2018).
The five Moto3 races that have taken place at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit have been won by five different riders: Romano Fenati (2014), Danny Kent (2015), Khairul Idham Pawi (2016), who was the first Malaysian rider to win a Grand Prix race in any class, Joan Mir (2017) and Marco Bezzecchi (2018). None of the five races held at the track have been won from pole position.
MotoGP by numbers
78 – With his second-place finish at the Qatar GP, Marc Marquez equalled Eddie Lawson in sixth place on the list of riders with the most podium finishes in the premier class with 78, behind Giacomo Agostini with 88.
52– At the Qatar GP, Andrea Dovizioso stood on the podium for the 52nd time in the premier class of Grand Prix racing, equalling Wayne Gardner.
15.093 – The top 15 in the MotoGP race at the Qatar GP is the closest ever in the premier class. There were 15.093 seconds between Andrea Dovizioso and Johann Zarco, beating the record set last year in Assen.
13 – Andrea Dovizioso’s win in Qatar was his 13th in the premier class of Grand Prix racing, equalling Max Biaggi in third place on the list of the most successful Italian riders in the class, behind Valentino Rossi (89) and Giacomo Agostini (68).
12– With Kaito Toba’s win in Losail, Japan became the 12th different nation to have won in the Moto3 class since its introduction in 2012.
9.636– In addition, the top 10 was the second-closest in the premier class, with 9.636 seconds between Andrea Dovizioso and Aleix Espargaro.
5 – Andrea Dovizioso’s win at the Qatar GP is the fifth for Ducati at Losail International Circuit, equalling the record set by the Italian manufacturer in the premier class at Motegi and Sepang.
3.514– The 15th-place finisher in the Moto3 race in Qatar, Gabriel Rodrigo, crossed the line just 3.514 seconds behind race winner Kaito Toba; this is the sixth closest top 15 of all-time in Grand Prix racing.
0.102 – The winning margin across all classes at the Qatar GP is 0.102 seconds, which is the lowest winning margin across all classes since the Italian GP in 2016 (0.087 seconds).
Source: MCNews.com.au