MotoGP Stats Update
2019 – Round Five – Le Mans
MotoGP Facts and Stats
With Dr. Thomas Morsellino
Only two different riders have led the Championship standings in the opening four races of the 2019 season: Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez and there have been four leader changes over the opening four races for the second successive year.
Alex Rins’ second-place finish in Jerez was his eighth successive top five finish since Japan last year. In addition, Rins has scored points in the last 13 successive races. The last time he failed to score any points was in Germany last year when he crashed on the opening lap.
Before the French Grand Prix, Alex Rins sits in second place in the Championship and is the highest-placed Suzuki rider in the premier class after the opening four races of the season since Kenny Roberts Jr. led after the Spanish Grand Prix in 2000.
Following the Spanish GP, Suzuki have scored 69 points in the Constructors’ World Championship classification, which is the highest points accumulated after the opening four races by Suzuki since 2000 when they had 80 points at this stage of the season.
Maverick Viñales crossed the line in third place in Jerez, which was his first podium finish on home soil since he stepped up to the premier class of Grand Prix racing in 2015. It was Maverick Viñales’ 57th podium finish, equalling Randy Mamola and one less than soon-to-be MotoGP Legend Stefan Dörflinger.
With Marc Marquez, Alex Rins and Maverick Viñales, the MotoGP podium in Jerez was the 19th with three Spanish riders. In addition, this is the third Spanish 1-2-3 in Jerez in the premier class along with 2013 and 2017.
Jerez was the second time since Marc Marquez stepped up to the MotoGP class in 2013 that he was the oldest rider on the podium, along with the Dutch TT last year, also alongside Alex Rins and Maverick Viñales.
Neither of the two Yamaha factory riders have won at least one of the four opening races for the second successive year. The last time that the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team did not have a win in any of the first four races of the year in two successive seasons was in 2002 and 2003.
Massimo Meregalli
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team Director
“We‘ve kept pretty busy after the Grand Prix of Spain, because we want to show stong form at the French GP. We made some small improvements during the Jerez test, and we will give them another go this weekend to see if they give us an edge. We know that the Le Mans Bugatti circuit is usually a good track for us, so we want to exploit this weekend to the fullest and score the best results possible. We know both Maverick and Vale are fast here, so we aim to be competitive in every session of the race weekend and have both our riders fight at the front.”
Only seven riders have scored points in all four of the MotoGP races in 2019: Danilo Petrucci, Alex Rins, Takaaki Nakagami, Valenti- no Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso, Johann Zarco and Pol Espargaro.
With Jack Miller crashing out of the race in Jerez, Takaaki Nakagami is now second in the Independent Team riders’ classification, although he equals Miller’s 29 points.
At the French GP, Karel Abraham is scheduled to make the 200th start of his Grand Prix career, becoming the first Czech rider to reach that milestone.
Jorge Lorenzo is the rider with most Grand Prix victories at Le Mans, having stood on the top step of the podium on six occasions at the French circuit; a single win in the 250cc class adds to his five MotoGP wins.
The only two riders of the four rookies in the MotoGP class this year to have previously won a GP race at Le Mans in any of the smaller classes are Francesco Bagnaia, in Moto2 last year, and Joan Mir in Moto3 back in 2017. However, Fabio Quartararo won the CEV
Moto3 race at the track back in 2014.
In Jerez, none of the four rookies scored any points for the first time this year. But Fabio Quartararo is still leading for the Rookie of the Year with 17 points ahead of Francesco Bagnaia (9), Joan Mir (8) and Miguel Oliveira (7).
Motorcycle Grand Prix Racing at Le Mans
Le Mans has hosted a Grand Prix event on 31 previous occasions, including the Grand Prix “Vitesse du Mans” in 1991, which is the only year that two Grand Prix events have been held in France in the same year.
Le Mans was first used for a Grand Prix event in 1969, when the 500cc race was won by Giacomo Agostini, who lapped all the other riders in the race on his MV Agusta.
This is the 20th successive year that the Le Mans circuit has hosted a motorcycle Grand Prix event, starting in 2000.
In addition to Le Mans, there have been seven other circuits that have hosted the French GP: Paul Ricard (13 times), Clermont Ferrand (10), Nogaro (2), Reims (2), Rouen (2), Albi (1), MagnyCours (1).
Since the first Grand Prix in the premier class, Honda have had 14 wins at Le Mans, the last of which was last year with Marc Marquez.
Yamaha have had 10 wins at Le Mans in the premier class, including three successive wins with Jorge Lorenzo (2015 & 2016) and Maverick Viñales in 2017, which was the 500th win for a Yamaha rider in Grand Prix racing.
Suzuki have had five wins at Le Mans in the premier class, the last of which was in 2007 with Chris Vermeulen. Prior to Maverick Viñales winning at Silverstone in 2016 and Alex Rins this year in Austin, this was the only GP victory for Suzuki since the introduction of the MotoGP class in 2002. Viñales finished third at Le Mans in 2016, which was the first podium for Suzuki since Loris Capirossi was third at Brno in 2008.
The best results for Ducati at the Le Mans circuit are second place finishes for Loris Capirossi in 2006, Valentino Rossi in 2012 and Danilo Petrucci last year.
The only non-Spanish rider to win a MotoGP race at Le Mans since 2009 is Casey Stoner in 2011.
There have been five GP wins at the Le Mans circuit for French riders: Jean Auréal (125cc – 1969), Guy Bertin (125cc – 1979), Patrick Fernandez (350cc – 1979), Mike Di Meglio (125cc – 2008) and Louis Rossi (Moto3 – 2012).
The best result by a French rider at Le Mans in the MotoGP class is second by Johann Zarco in 2017; the third podium finish from a French rider at Le Mans in the premier class after Raymond Roche was second in 1985 and Christian Sarron third in 1987.
Of the 17 MotoGP races held at Le Mans, nine have either started in wet conditions or rain has started during the race. The only years that the MotoGP race at Le Mans has been run under full dry conditions are: 2004, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and last year.
The nine Moto2 races that have taken place at Le Mans have been won by eight different riders: Toni Elias (2010), Marc Marquez (2011), Tom Lüthi (2012 & 2015), Scott Redding (2013), Mika Kallio (2014), Alex Rins (2016), Franco Morbidelli (2017) and Francesco Bagnaia (2018).
The seven Moto3 races that have taken place at Le Mans have been won by seven different riders: Louis Rossi, Maverick Viñales, Jack Miller, Romano Fenati, Brad Binder, Joan Mir and Albert Arenas. Only two of them have been won by non-KTM riders: Louis Rossi (FTR Honda – 2012) and Joan Mir (Honda – 2017).
Marc Marquez closes in on Jorge Lorenzo
At Jerez Marc Marquez won for the 46th time in MotoGP on what was his 112th start in the class, which is just one less premier class GP win than his three-time MotoGP World Champion teammate Jorge Lorenzo.
Rider – Premier Class Wins
- Valentino Rossi 89 (Titles 7)
- Giacomo Agostini 68 (Titles 8)
- Mick Doohan 54 (Titles 5)
- Jorge Lorenzo 47 (Titles 3)
- Marc Marquez 46 (Titles 5)
- Casey Stoner 38 (Titles 2)
- Mike Hailwood 37 (Titles 4)
- Eddie Lawson 31 (Titles 4)
- Dani Pedrosa 31 (Titles 0)
- Kevin Scwantz 25 (Titles 1)
299 premier class victories for Honda
The win for Marc Marquez at the Spanish Grand Prix was the 299th win for Honda in the premier class of Grand Prix racing.
The closest rival to Honda in the premier class of Grand Prix racing is Yamaha with 227 wins, followed by MV Agusta (139), Suzuki (92) and Ducati (47).
Mick Doohan is the most successful Honda rider in the premier class of Grand Prix racing with 54 wins, ahead of Marc Marquez with 46 wins. Valentino Rossi is third with 33 victories, ahead of Dani Pedrosa with 31 and Freddie Spencer with 20.
Freddie Spencer, Randy Mamola, Max Biaggi, Alex Barros, Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner have won with at least two different Honda bikes in the premier class. Among them, Pedrosa is the only rider who has won with three different bikes in
the class.
The list of wins by Honda bikes in the premier class is as follows: NSR500 (132 wins), RC213V (71), RC211V (48), RC212V (24), NS500 (14), RC181 (10).
Jim Redman won Honda’s first 500cc motorcycle Grand Prix in West Germany in 1966 but over the next two decades the wins were few and far between. It took until 1989 and Phillip Island for Wayne Gardner to notch up Honda’s 50th premier class victory. From there Honda started a roll of domination that was rarely interrupted.
Carlos Checa took the 100th win for Honda in 500 GP at Catalunya in 1996 and five years later Valentino Rossi notched the 150th win. In 2006 Nicky Hayden took Honda’s 200th win which happened at Assen.
In 2014 Marc Marquez took Honda’s 250th premier class victory in Qatar and at Jerez was also the man to notch up Honda’s 299th win.
50th anniversary of the first GP in Le Mans
The French GP this year will mark the 50th year anniversary of the first Grand Prix held at Le Mans circuit since the first GP event held in 1969. Below are some facts and statistics of the Grand Prix held at Le Mans (including the Grand Prix “Vitesse du Mans” in 1991).
A total of 71 different riders have stood on the top step of the podium in Le Mans. The rider with most GP wins is Jorge Lorenzo with six, followed by Tom Lüthi (4), Dani Pedrosa (4), Marc Marquez (3), Valentino Rossi (3), Maverick Viñales (3) and Freddie Spencer (3).
A total of 162 different riders have finished on the podium in Le Mans. Valentino Rossi is the rider with most podium finishes, with 13, followed by Jorge Lorenzo (8), Dani Pedrosa (8), Andrea Dovizioso (8) and Tom Lüthi (6).
The winners have come from 13 different nations; Spain leads with 20 different winners, ahead of Italy (15), Japan (6), France (5), Germany (5).
Honda is the most successful manufacturer in Le Mans with 34 wins followed by Yamaha (14), Aprilia (8), Suzuki (6), Derbi (6) and Kalex (6).
Source: MCNews.com.au