MotoGP Brno: Stats & Facts

MotoGP News

For the 41st time, Brno will host the Czech Republic Grand Prix, Round 10 of the 2010 MotoGP Championship.

Brno begins the second half of the MotoGP season, bringing another challenge for the Spaniard who currently dominates the championship with 210 points, Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo.

The 23-year-old has won six out of nine races, and his closest challenger, Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, is 72 points behind.

At last year’s event, Lorenzo DNF’d while trying to snatch the lead from his teammate, Valentino Rossi. The Italian Rossi went on to win at Brno last year, en route to his ninth world title.

The action begins with Free Practice 1 on Friday, Aug. 13, and continues through the weekend until the race on Sunday.

Here’s some official MotoGP statistical data about Brno to absorb before the race weekend.

Statistics and Facts from the previous Grand Prix events at the current Brno circuit:

• 1987 – The first 500cc race to be held at the current Brno circuit was won by Wayne Gardner (Honda) from his great rival Eddie Lawson (Yamaha).
• 1988 – Jorge Martinez (Derbi) won both the 125cc and 80cc races on his way to taking the world titles in both classes. This was the last ever occasion that a rider has won two Grand Prix races on the same day.
• 1989 – Kevin Schwantz took the win in the 500cc race from fellow American riders Eddie Lawson and Wayne Rainey. This is the only win for Suzuki at the current Brno circuit.
• 1991 – Alessandro Gramigni scored his first ever GP victory, which was also the first ever win in the 125cc class for Aprilia.
• 1993 – In the 500cc class, Wayne Rainey won from Yamaha team-mate Luca Cadalora. This was Rainey’s last ever race win, just two weeks before his career-ending crash at Misano.
• 1994 – Max Biaggi riding an Aprilia won the 250cc Grand Prix at Brno. Biaggi went on to take three more victo- ries in the 250cc class at the Czech GP and then added three more wins in the premier-class, making him equal with Valentino Rossi with seven wins, the two most successful riders at the current Brno circuit.
• 1996 – Valentino Rossi won the 125cc GP at Brno riding an Aprilia – his first ever Grand Prix win. The 500cc race ended with Alex Criville taking the win from team-mate Mick Doohan by just 0.002 seconds in one of the closest finishes of all time.
• 1998 – Max Biaggi (Honda), in his debut season in the 500cc class, won for the second time in 1998 – a victory often remembered for the near-vertical wheelie over the finish line.
• 1999 – Championship leader in the 125cc class, Masao Azuma, survived a spectacular crash virtually uninjured during practice when he collided with a young deer that had strayed onto the track.
• 2001 – Valentino Rossi (Honda) won the 500cc race to become the first rider to win in all three Grand Prix classes at the current Brno circuit.
• 2006 – Loris Capirossi’s MotoGP victory at Brno in 2006 came 16 years and 15 days after his first GP victory in the 125cc race at Donington in 1990, giving him the longest winning career in Grand Prix racing. The top 15 ri- ders across the line were covered by just 29.296 seconds; the closest top fifteen of all time in the premier-class.
• 2007 – Casey Stoner (Ducati) dominated the MotoGP race at Brno with a start to finish win from pole position. In second place was John Hopkins, taking his best ever Grand Prix result.
• 2008 – Valentino Rossi’s winning margin of 15.004 seconds at the Czech Grand Prix in 2008 is the biggest ever winning margin in the four-stroke MotoGP era in a dry weather race.
• 2009 – With his win in the MotoGP race, Valentino Rossi became the rider with most podium finishes in the history of Grand Prix racing with a total of 160.

MotoGP Rider Facts:

• Jorge Lorenzo has an excellent record in the smaller classes at Brno with a win in the 125cc class in 2004, followed by three successive podium finishes on a 250cc machine, including victories in 2006 and 2007. He also started from pole at Brno in each of his three years riding in the 250cc class. In the MotoGP class in 2008 he finished tenth at Brno after missing the driest part of the qualifying session and his best lap was outside the cut-off time but he was allowed to start at the discretion of Race Direction. Last year Lorenzo crashed out of the Czech GP on lap 18 when battling for the lead with teammate Rossi.
• Dani Pedrosa has won in both of the smaller classes at Brno; in the 125cc class in 2003 and on a 250cc machine in 2005. He finished third at Brno in 2006, his first year in MotoGP, from ninth on the grid. In 2007 he was fourth and in 2008 he fin- ished down in 15th suffering from grip problems with his Michelin tires. Last year he had his best ever result at Brno in the MotoGP class, finishing in second place.
• Andrea Dovizioso has finished second at Brno on three occasions in the smaller classes – on each occasion behind Jorge Lorenzo. He finished 9th on his first ride at Brno on a MotoGP machine in 2008, and was the first rider across the line using Michelin tyres. Last year he was fourth at the Czech Grand Prix after making several attempts to pass Elias in the closing stages to get on the podium. Dovizioso qualified in third place for the Grand Prix at Laguna Seca – his first front row start since moving up to the MotoGP class.
• Casey Stoner dominated the race at Brno in 2007 by qualifying on pole and leading from start to finish, finally winning by almost eight seconds. In 2008 he again dominated qualifying, ending up with more than a second advantage over the rest of the field and then led in the early laps be- fore crashing out on lap seven. Last year the Czech Grand Prix was the first of the races that he missed suffering from ill- ness. Stoner’s second place finish at Laguna Seca is his best result since he won in Malaysia last year.
• Valentino Rossi scored his very first win in GP racing at Brno in 1996 in the 125cc class, after starting from pole for the first time in his GP career. He also won the 250cc race in 1999 on his way to taking the world title. From his ten starts in the premier-class at Brno, Rossi has had five wins and three second place finishes. The only two occasions he failed to finish on the podium was three years ago when he was seventh and in 2002 when he suffered rear tire failure whilst battling for the lead with great rival Max Biaggi. Last year he qualified on pole and only surrendered the race lead for a brief period to Lorenzo on lap seventeen.
• Nicky Hayden’s third place in 2007 is his only podium finish at the Brno circuit. In 2008 he missed the event having cracked his right heel riding a Supermoto machine. Last year at the Czech GP, Hay- den was the first Ducati rider across the line in 6th place.
• Ben Spies raced at Brno last year in the World Superbike series; he qualified on pole and then crashed out of the first race in an incident with Michel Fabrizio, before going on to win the second race by a comfortable six-second margin from Max Biaggi.
• Randy de Puniet won the 250cc race at Brno back in 2003. His 8th place finish in 2007 on a Kawasaki is the best result he has achieved from four MotoGP starts at the Brno circuit. In a remarkable parallel to this year where he hopes to ride despite breaking his leg just four weeks ago in Germany, De Puniet finished 10th in 2009 with seven screws recently inserted in an ankle that he had broken less than three weeks previously in an accident while riding a motocross bike.
• Marco Melandri was the youngest ever rider to compete in a Grand Prix at that time when he made his GP debut at Brno in 1997. Melandri is a three-time winner at Brno in the smaller classes; the 125cc race in both 1998 and 1999 and the 250cc race in 2002. His best result in the MotoGP class at Brno is 5th in 2006. He did not start at the Czech GP in 2007 due to injuries he had received in a crash at the previous event at Laguna Seca. In 2008 on the Ducati he finished 7th at the Czech GP, which was his second best result of the year. Last year he qualified down in 15th but had made his way up to 9th before colliding with Kallio in the final corner and crashing out.
• Marco Simoncelli made his Grand Prix debut in the 125cc class at the Czech Grand Prix as a fifteen year-old in 2002. Simoncelli has started from pole in the 250cc class at Brno for the last two years; finishing 3rd in 2008 and taking his first win at Brno last year.
• Brno is one of Colin Edwards’ less successful circuits, being one of just three current tracks that have been used before this year where he has not had a top six finish in his Grand Prix career; the others are Misano and Sepang. Edwards’ seventh place finish at the USA Grand Prix is his best result since he was 4th at the final race of 2009 in Valencia.
• Brno is one of just three current circuits that he has raced previously where Hector Barbera did not have a podium finish in either of the smaller GP classes; the others are Le Mans and Indianapolis. Barbera’s mechanical failure at the US Grand Prix meant he lost his record of being the only non-factory rider to score points in every MotoGP race in 2010.
• Loris Capirossi will be making his 20th appearance at a Grand Prix event at Brno across the three classes. Capirossi has finished in the top six eleven times from his twelve races in the premier-class at Brno, which includes a victory in 2006 and three other podium finishes. Last year he fin- ished less than a second off the podium in fifth place, equaling his best result of 2009.
• Mika Kallio had three podium finishes at Brno during his period competing in the smaller Grand Prix classes. Last year at the Czech GP he had his first ride on the factory Ducati as replacement for Casey Stoner and was lying eighth with two laps remaining when he fell after a collision with Melandri.
• Aleix Espargaro did not compete in the Grand Prix at Brno last year as he was with- out a ride. His best result at the circuit is 10th in the 250cc class in 2008.
• Alvaro Bautista won the 125cc race at Brno in 2006 on his way to taking the world title. He has finished on the podium at the Czech GP for the last two years in the 250cc class.
• Alex de Angelis has had a single podium finish at Brno when competing in the smaller GP classes – third in the 125cc race in 2003. He finished in 8th place in 2008 on his first ride at Brno on a MotoGP machine after starting in 5th place on the grid – his best qualifying result of the year. Last year he finished 8th in the MotoGP race at Brno had problems during the race when a butterfly became trapped in his helmet.

Moto2 Rider Facts:

• Toni Elias won the 125cc GP at Brno back in 2001 and had a couple of podium finishes at the Czech GP in his time competing in the 250cc class. He was 2nd in the MotoGP race at Brno in 2008 after qualifying in 13th place on the grid. Last year he finished third at the Czech GP – his only podium of 2009.
• The Czech GP was one of four races that Thomas Luthi won on his way to the125cc world title in 2005. Luthi crashed out of the 250cc race at Brno in both of the last two years.
• Andrea Iannone finished third last year in the 125cc race at the Czech Grand Prix, after starting from pole position. Prior to the recent German Grand Prix, this was the only one of Iannone’s seven podium finishes where he had not won the race.
• Julian Simon’s second place finish last year in the 125cc race was his first podium finish from seven starts at Brno in the 125cc and 250cc classes.
• Stefan Bradl won the 125cc race at the Czech Grand Prix in 2008 – this was his first ever GP victory.
• Hector Faubel won the 125cc race three years ago at the Czech GP – one of his five GP victories in 2007.
• Roberto Rolfo’s third place finish in the Moto2 race at the German Grand Prix was his first podium in GP racing since he won the 250cc race at Jerez in 2004. Fonsi Nieto’s fourth place finish in Ger- many was his best GP result since he was third at the very same race in Spain.

125cc Rider Facts:

• Marc Marquez finished 8th last year at Brno after qualifying down in 20th place on the grid.
• Pol Espargaro has raced four times previously at the Czech GP, with last year’s 5th place finish being the best result that he has achieved at the Brno circuit.
• Nico Terol’s win at Brno last year was his first dry weather Grand Prix victory.
• Bradley Smith has finished in the top eight at the last fifteen races, a sequence that started with a fourth place finish at the Czech Grand Prix last year.
• Tomoyoshi Koyama’s second place finish at the German Grand Prix was his first podium since he was second in Malaysia in 2007.
• Sturla Fagerhaug’s ninth-place finish in Germany is the best Grand Prix result by a rider from Norway since Kjell Solberg finished 8th in the 350cc race in Yugoslavia in 1976. It is also the first time that a rider from Norway has scored world championship points in the 125cc class.

MotoGP: By the Numbers

• 100 – Marc Marquez’s victory at the German Grand Prix was the 100th Grand Prix win for Derbi. Derbi are just the 6th manufacturer in the 62-year history of Grand Prix racing to reach the milestone of 100 GP victories.
• 58 – Jorge Lorenzo’s victory at Laguna Seca was the 58th victory for Yamaha since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP class at the start of 2002. Yamaha now have one more GP win than great rivals Honda during the 4-stroke MotoGP era.
• 49 – Following Jorge Lorenzo’s win in the USA, Spain have had 49 victories in the premier-class of Grand Prix racing. One more win will make Spain only the 5th nation to reach the milestone of 50 GP wins in the premier-class. The other nations to pass this milestone are Italy, USA, Great Britain and Australia.
• 39 – Qualifying day at the Czech Grand Prix will be the 39th anniversary of Jack Fin- dlay winning the 500cc race at the Ulster Grand Prix in 1971 at the Dundrod circuit riding a Suzuki. This was the first ever 500cc win by a two-stroke motorcycle.
• 10 – Casey Stoner has gone ten successive races without a victory, representing his longest barren spell since joining the Ducati factory team.
• 7 – Derbi riders have won the last seven races in the 125cc class – the longest ever sequence of successive Grand Prix wins for Derbi.
• 7 years – Lucio Cecchinello’s 125cc lap record, set in 2003 at Brno, still stands. This is the longest standing lap record across all three classes on the current Grand Prix calendar.
• 4 – Since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP class in 2002, Yamaha have been the most successful manufacturer at the Brno circuit with four wins, followed by Honda and Ducati each with two victories. Sete Gibernau’s victory in 2004 was the last time that a Honda rider won the MotoGP race at Brno.
• 2 – With the crash of Dani Pedrosa and the non-finish for Hector Barbera at Laguna Seca, there are now just two riders who have scored points at every MotoGP race in 2010: Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso.