MotoGP race day preview Brno

MotoGP

• A Yamaha rider is starting from pole in MotoGP for the seventh successive race.

• Valentino Rossi starts from pole for the third race in a row. Last year at Brno, Rossi won by 15.004 seconds, the biggest ever winning margin in the four-stroke MotoGP era in a dry race. If Rossi finishes in the top three he will set a new outright record of 160 podium finishes in Grand Prix racing. Giacomo Agostini’s record of 159 podium finishes has stood since 1977.

• Valentino Rossi’s pole position time is the fastest ever lap of the Brno circuit by a motorcycle, breaking the previous record set by Rossi on a 990cc Yamaha in 2006. This is the first new pole record since the introduction of the single-tyre rule at the start of this year.

• Second on the grid, Jorge Lorenzo has maintained his record of qualifying on the front row at every race in 2009.

• Third fastest qualifier is Dani Pedrosa, whose only podium in the MotoGP class at the Czech GP was 3rd in 2006 from ninth on the grid.

• Fourth on the grid is Toni Elias’ best qualifying result of the year. Elias finished second at Brno last year after qualifying down in 13th.

• Fifth on the grid equals the best qualifying result of the year for Colin Edwards, who has not had a top six finish at Brno during his Grand Prix career.

• Following Andrea Dovizioso’s win at Donington, if any of the Honda riders win here at Brno it will be the first back-to-back MotoGP victories for Honda since the introduction of the 800cc capacity limit.

• Alex de Angelis has scored points at every race so far this year and if he finishes 12th or better he will exceed his points’ total from the whole of last year.

• Loris Capirossi has equalled his grid position of last year at Brno, qualifying ninth fastest. Capirossi’s third place finish here last year was his 99th podium finish in GP racing and the last time he stood on the podium.

• Mika Kallio has equalled his best qualifying result of his debut season in MotoGP.

250cc

• Marco Simoncelli is starting from pole for the third time in 2009. Simoncelli’s victory in Germany is the only race this year in the 250cc class won from pole position.

• Hiroshi Aoyama starts from the front row for the eighth time this year. If he wins the race he would be the first Honda rider to take back-to-back 250cc GP victories since Dani Pedrosa in 2005.

• Hector Barbera has finished fourth for the last two years at Brno but has never had a podium finish at the circuit during his GP career.

• Alex Debon’s victory at Brno last year was his second victory of 2008 and is the last time that he has stood on the top step of the podium.

• Mike di Meglio finished second last year at Brno on his way to taking the 125cc world title.

• Sixth place on the grid is the best qualifying result for Roberto Locatelli since the final race of 2006 at Valencia.

125cc

• Andrea Iannone is on pole for the second time this year; his other was at the Japanese Grand Prix when he went on to win the race. Iannone has won on each of the four occasions he has been on a Grand Prix podium.

• Second on the grid is the best qualifying result of the year for Nicolas Terol.

• Sandro Cortese is starting from the front row for only the second time in 2009. His only other front row start this year was pole at the Dutch TT where he crashed on the fifth lap.

• Julian Simon’s 4th place on the grid is his ninth front row start of the year. His eighth place finish in the 250cc race in 2007 is his best result at Brno. After victories in Germany and Britain, Simon could become the first rider to take three successive wins in the 125cc class since Alvaro Bautista in 2006.

• Last year’s winner at Brno, Stefan Bradl, has qualified in 6th place on the grid. Bradl is still looking for his first podium finish of the year.

• Aprilia have won the last eleven races in the 125cc class – their longest ever sequence of successive wins.

• Lucio Cecchinello set the 125cc lap record at Brno in 2003 and this is the longest standing current lap record in Grand Prix racing.


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