GP Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini – Sunday 6 September
MotoGP
• Valentino Rossi starts from pole for the sixth time this year – the most poles he has had in a single season since joining Yamaha. This is Rossi’s first ever GP pole at the Misano circuit. He has had three wins from his previous five poles in 2009, at Assen, Sachsenring and Brno.
• This is the tenth pole of the year for Yamaha, equalling their best ever haul of premier-class poles in a single season – achieved in both 1978 and 1988.
• Misano is one of just three current circuits at which Dani Pedrosa has not had a MotoGP podium; the others are Indianapolis and Phillip Island.
• Third on the grid, Jorge Lorenzo has maintained his record of qualifying on the front row at every race in 2009. Following his victory at Indianapolis, Lorenzo will be aiming to score back-to-back MotoGP victories for the first time.
• Leading the second row of the grid is Toni Elias, who has equalled his best qualifying performance of the year which he achieved at Brno, where he also finished on the podium for the only time in 2009. Last year at Misano, Elias was the first Ducati rider home in third place.
• Colin Edwards is starting from the second row of the grid for the tenth time in 2009.
• Sixth place on the grid, Nicky Hayden, will be aiming to score back-to-back podiums for the first time since he did so at Assen and Sachsenring in 2007.
• At the last race in Indianapolis, Alex de Angelis became the first ever rider from San Marino to finish on the podium in the premier-class.
• Randy de Puniet has failed to finish the first lap of the race on both previous visits to Misano.
• Loris Capirossi is making his 29th start in a Grand Prix race on Italian soil across all three classes.
• Aleix Espargaro, having only his second start in MotoGP, has qualified just one second slower that the fastest Ducati rider on the grid, Nicky Hayden.
250cc
• Hiroshi Aoyama, who is making his 100th Grand Prix start, has qualified on pole for the first time since the Malaysian Grand Prix last year riding a KTM.
• This is the first pole for a Honda rider in the 250cc class since Hiroshi Aoyama’s brother Shuhei was on pole at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2007.
• Second on the grid is Hector Barbera. who is starting from the front row for the eighth successive race.
• Marco Simoncelli missed the opening race of the year in Qatar, but since then has started on the front row at every race. Misano is one of just two current circuits where Simoncelli has not had a podium finish in the 250cc class; the other is Losail.
• Fourth on the grid is Mattia Pasini, who is starting from the front row for the first time since the Japanese Grand Prix back in April.
• Eighth fastest qualifier Alvaro Bautista, is starting from the second row of the grid for the fourth successive race after having qualified on the front row for the opening eight races of the year. Bautista won the 250cc race last year at Misano after qualifying down in 11th on the grid.
125cc
• None of the riders currently competing in the 125cc class have previously won a GP at the Misano circuit.
• Bradley Smith starts from pole for the third time this year. He is the first British rider to start a Grand Prix race from pole at the Misano circuit. This is his second pole of the year in Italy – his previous one at Mugello led to a race win.
• Second on the grid, Julian Simon starts from the front row for the eleventh time this year.
• Andrea Iannone, in third place on the grid, will be aiming to score his first GP podium at home in Italy.
• Nico Terol has finished in the top four six times in the past seven races.
• If sixth fastest qualifier Pol Espargaro wins the race it will be the 50th win for Derbi in the 125cc class. Espargaro will be making his 50th Grand Prix start.
• Qualifying in 34th place on the grid is Jacub Jantulik, who at the age of 15 years and 3 days will be the third youngest rider to race in a GP after Jorge Lorenzo and Stefano Bianco. He is only the second ever rider from Slovakia to race in a Grand Prix event; the other was Vladimir Castka.