MotoGP Facts & Figures prior to Qatar

• Qatar and Laguna Seca are the only current circuits (other than Turkey that is being used for the first time) at which Valentino Rossi has not won a Grand Prix in any class. If Rossi does not win in Qatar it will be the first time since he joined Yamaha at the start of last year that he will have gone three races without victory.
• Both Max Biaggi and Valentino Rossi were penalised last year at Qatar for cleaning their grid slots. Six seconds was added to their qualifying times which resulted in both riders starting from the back row of the grid.
• If Loris Capirossi wins in Qatar he will become the first rider other than Rossi to win three successive premier class races wince Alex Criville in 1999 and the first since Agostini in 1972 to score three successive race victories on a non Japanese machine.
• Colin Edwards has scored points at all seventeen races since Qatar last year. Edwards' second place finish last year at Qatar was one of only two podium finishes he had in 2004.
• Sete Gibernau's victory last year in Qatar was the last time that he took the top step on the podium.
• Last year at Qatar Carlos Checa had his first pole since the Portuguese GP in 2002. Checa's third place in Malaysia was his first podium finish since the French GP last year. If Checa finishes in the top three in Qatar it will be his first back to back podium appearances since 2002.
• Ruben Xaus was third last year at Qatar, his only podium finish so far in Grand Prix racing.

Record breaking Rossi sets milestone after milestone

• Rossi is only the third rider to have taken five or more premier class world championships, the other being Mick Doohan with five titles and Giacomo Agostini with eight.
• Rossi now has won a total of seven world titles (including one in the 125cc class and one in the 250cc class) equalling the number held by Phil Read and John Surtees.  Only four riders have won more titles in the 57 year history of GP racing; Agostini (15), Angel Nieto (13), Mike Hailwood (9) and Carlo Ubbiali (9).
• Earlier this year at the Dutch TT Rossi became the first Yamaha rider to ever win five successive premier class races.
• Rossi's victory at the Dutch TT made him the only rider to have five or more successive victories in the premier class riding machines from two different manufacturers.
• Rossi has started from pole on 30 occasions in the premier class. Mick Doohan, with 58, is the only rider of the modern era (since 1974) to have started from pole more often.
• Rossi has an incredible win rate after qualifying in pole position, having won 25 times from his 30 pole positions.
• This year Rossi became the first Yamaha rider ever to win five of the first six races of the year in the premier class.
• Rossi's most successful circuit since moving to the premier class is Donington, where he has won on five occasions.
• In all classes Rossi has scored seven victories at two circuits; Donington and Catalunya.
• Rossi has won nine races this season equalling the record he set last year for the most victories in a season recorded by a Yamaha rider in the premier class.
• Rossi's 357 points total he achieved in the 2003 season is the highest ever tally in any class in a single season.
• Rossi's total of 304 points in 2004 is the highest total ever achieved by a Yamaha rider in a single season.
• Rossi has not missed a GP since making his debut in Malaysia in 1996, having now completed 153 successive events.
• Rossi had the honour of taking the 500th GP victory for Honda when he won the 500cc race at Suzuka in 2001.
• Rossi won the 580th and final race in the 500cc class at Rio in 2001. The 500cc was introduced at the start of the World Championship series in 1949 and was replaced by the MotoGP formula for 2002. Rossi won the very first MotoGP race at Suzuka in 2002.
• Rossi is one of only two riders to win premier class world titles riding both two and four-stroke machinery, the other being fellow Italian Giacomo Agostini.
• Rossi set a new record successive podium finishes when he won in South Africa in 2004, this being the 23rd successive race he had finished in the top three since the Portuguese GP in 2002. He took the record from Agostini who had scored 22 consecutive podium finishes during the 1967/68/69 seasons.
• Rossi's win at the opening race of 2004 made him the first rider in the history of GP racing to take back to back victories in the premier class riding machines from two different manufacturers.
• Rossi is one of only two riders to win the opening race of the season for five consecutive years, the other rider being Agostini.
• When Rossi won the 500cc Championship in 2001 he became only the third rider to win world titles in three different classes. The other riders to achieve this are Phil Read (125/250/500) and Mike Hailwood (250/350/500).
• In 2004 Rossi became only the second rider to win back to back titles in the premier class on machines from two different manufacturers. The other rider to achieve this was Eddie Lawson who won on a Yamaha in 1988 and a Honda in 1989.
• Rossi became the youngest ever rider to win the 250cc World Championship when he took the title in 1999 riding an Aprilia.
• Rossi is the only rider to score more than ten wins in the premier class over a season on two occasions (2001 and 2002).
• Rossi finished on the podium at all 16 GP races in 2003, a record number of podiums for a single season.
• Rossi's first GP win in the 250cc class was at Assen in 1998, the same circuit at which his father Graziano had won the second of his three 250cc victories in 1979 riding a Morbidelli.
• Rossi is third in the all time winners list in the premier class with 51 victories. Agostini leads the table with 68 wins and Mick Doohan is also ahead of Rossi with 54 wins against his name.
• Rossi is also third in the list of GP victories across all solo classes with 77, behind Agostini with 122 wins and Angel Nieto with 90.

Capirossi also set some new records at Sepang

• Capirossi scored consecutive victories for the first time in premier class
• The first back to back victories for both Ducati and also for Bridgestone tyres
• These were the first consecutive victories in the premier class for a non Japanese manufacturer since Phil Read won in Finland and Czechoslovakia in 1974 riding an MV Agusta.
• With Checa finishing in third place, Ducati had two riders on the podium in the premier class for the first time
• This was the first time that a non Japanese manufacturer had two riders on a premier class podium since the Argentinean GP in 1994 when Doug Chandler finished second and John Kocinski third while riding for Cagiva
• At the Malaysian GP there was no Honda rider on the podium for the first time in the premier class since the German GP in 2001 when all three podium finishers (Biaggi, Checa, Nakano) were riding Yamaha machines.