MotoGP 2005 - Round 11

MotoGP Facts & Figures prior to Brno

There have been 17 races in the premier class at the current Sachsenring circuit. Honda riders have won on ten occasions, Yamaha on six, Suzuki just once with Kevin Schwantz in 1989.
Valentino Rossi scored his very first win in GP racing at Brno in 1996 when competing in the 125cc class, after starting from pole for the first time his career. Since then he has had three more victories at Brno, the 250cc race in 1999 and premier class wins in 2001 and 2003. Rossi's current championship lead of 120 points is the largest point lead ever after 10 races in any of the classes. Rossi now needs just two victories in the remaining seven races to guarantee his fifth premier class title, irrespective of the results achieved by other riders.
Marco Melandri made his GP debut at the Czech GP in 1997 shortly after his 15th birthday to become the youngest ever rider to compete in GP at that time. Melandri is a three time winner at Brno having taken the victory in the 125cc race in both 1998 and 1999 and the 250cc race in 2002.
In addition to winning the MotoGP race last year from pole position Sete Gibernau also finished second at Brno in 2003 just 0.042 seconds behind Rossi.
Colin Edwards has scored points in 26 of the last 27 races since the final race of the 2003 season. The only race in this period at which he did not score points was at Motegi last year.
Brno is Max Biaggi's most successful circuit being the only one at which he has achieved three premier class victories. These three victories were achieved on three different types of machines; a two-stroke Honda in 1998, a two-stroke Yamaha in 2000 and a four-stroke Yamaha in 2002. The victory in 2002 was the first GP win for the four-stroke Yamaha.
Alex Barros has finished in the top ten in the premier class of GP racing at Brno on ten occasions, including a single podium finish in 1998. Barros crashed out of the race last year after setting a new lap record while battling with the leading riders.
The only occasion that Loris Capirossi has failed to finish in the top six from his seven premier class starts at Brno was in 2003 when he retired from the race with mechanical problems while running with the leading group of riders with just two laps to go.
Shinya Nakano's sixth place finish in Germany is his best results since he finished fifth at the opening race of the year in Spain. Nakano won the 250cc GP at Brno in 2000.
Carlos Checa has finished in the top six for the last three years at the Czech GP including a best ever result at Brno of fourth place in 2003.
Troy Bayliss, who crashed last year at the Czech GP, finished in third place in 2003 just over one second behind Rossi, after he had been leading the race for the opening ten laps.
Makoto Tamada finished fourth last year at Brno after qualifying down in 17th place on the grid due to wet qualifying sessions.
Kenny Roberts third place finish in 1999 was the last time a Suzuki rider has finished on the podium at Brno.

250cc Facts & Figures prior to Brno

Aprilia have won the 250cc race at Brno eight times in the last ten years. The last of Honda's five wins at Brno was with Biaggi in 1997. Nakano's win in 2001 was the second at this circuit for Yamaha in the 250cc class.
Dani Pedrosa's victory in Germany was the 20th time he has stood on top of the podium; the same number as fellow countryman Alex Criville. Only two Spanish riders have scored more GP victories than Pedrosa in the 57 year history of World Championship motorcycle racing; Jorge Martinez with 37 and Angel Nieto with 90. Pedrosa clinched the 125cc race at Brno on the way to winning his world title in 2003.
Casey Stoner, who fell on the second lap last year at the Czech GP, did not start at Brno in 2003 due to injuries received from a crash during practice.
Last year at Brno Jorge Lorenzo won the 125cc race from Andrea Dovizioso by just 0.036 seconds after passing him at the final corner.
Sebastian Porto qualified on pole for the 250cc race last year and went on to win the contest that was affected several times by light showers. Porto will be making his 150th Grand Prix start, all but one of which have been in the 250cc class.
Randy De Puniet has finished on the podium for the last two years at Brno, including winning the race in 2003.
Alex De Angelis' second place finish in Germany is his best result of the year, after he qualified on pole for the first time in 2005.
Hiroshi Aoyama's third place finish in Germany is the first time he has finished on the podium at a European circuit.

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