• Valentino Rossi became only the second rider ever to win on both two-stroke and four-stroke machinery in the premier
  class of Grand Prix racing. The only other rider to achieve this is Giacomo Agostini who won on a four-stroke MV Agusta and two-stroke Yamaha.
• It was the first win by a four-stroke machine since Giacomo Agostini won the German Grand Prix in 1976 at the Nurburgring circuit riding an MV Agusta.
• It was the first four-stroke win by Honda in the premier class since the Canadian Grand Prix in 1967 when Mike Hailwood took the victory.
• It was the first podium appearance in a Grand Prix by four-stroke machines manufactured by Suzuki and Yamaha.
• The podium had one machine from each of the Championship ’s three Japanese manufacturers.
• The race saw a return to the podium for Dunlop tyres in the top class of racing, on Akira Ryo ’s Suzuki. The last podium finish by a rider using Dunlop tyres was when Tetsuya Harada finished third riding the V-twin Aprilia at the British GP at Donington in 1999.
• It was the first time that a four-stroke started from pole in the top class since the Grand Prix of Finland at Imatra in 1975 when Gianfranco Bonera rode the MV Agusta. The last time a four-stroke started from pole in any solo class was at the French 350cc Grand Prix in 1976 when Giacomo Agostini was on an MV.
• There were five different manufacturers represented in the top eight finishers; Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Proton and Aprilia.
• There were six different types of engines in the top eight finishers:V5 four-stroke,V4 four-stroke,inline-4 four-stroke, inline-4 two-stroke,3-cylinder two-stroke and 3-cylinder four-stroke.
• Akira Ryo became the first wildcard rider to finish on the podium in a MotoGP/500cc race since Noriyuki Haga finished third at the Japanese Grand Prix in 1998.

Suzuka saw the closest ever grid in top class of Grand Prix racing. With less than three seconds covering the full grid of riders for the MotoGP race at Suzuka, this was the closest ever grid in the top class in the 53-year history of World Championship Grand Prix racing. The following table shows the closest grids of all time in terms of the time covering all qualifiers:

RACE TIME COVERING ALL QUALIFIERS
1.Japan / 2002 / Suzuka 2.904 sec
2.GB / 1999 / Donington 3.572 sec
3.France / 1997 / Paul Ricard 3.614 sec
4.France / 1999 / Paul Ricard 3.638 sec
5.Germany / 1999 / Sachsenring 3.943 sec

Career winning percentage in MotoGP/500
Modern era (since 1975)

Career Podium appearance percentage in MotoGP/500
Modern era (since 1975)

Career average points per start in MotoGP/500 - adjusted to current scoring system
Modern era (since 1975)

Ed's Note:  Look at the names in those three tables.  Now imagine having them all in the one race on the new four stroke bikes, now that would be some serious racing!

• Daniel Pedrosa took the pole position for the 125cc race in Japan and became the second youngest rider ever to start a Grand Prix race from pole. The only rider to have taken a pole at a younger age is Marco Melandri. The following table shows the five youngest riders to have started a Grand Prix from pole:
  1.Marco Melandri 15 years 346 days Germany/1998/Sachsenring
  2.Daniel Pedrosa 16 years 190 days Japan/2002/Suzuka
  3.Valentino Rossi 17 years 184 days Czech/1996/Brno
  4.Loris Capirossi 18 years 3 days Australia/1991/Eastern Creek
  5.Toni Elias 18 years 104 days Britain/2001/Donington