MotoGP Assen Race Day Guide – Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines
MotoGP
• Aleix Espargaro starts from pole for the first time in his grand prix career on his 150th grand prix appearance.
• Espargaro’s pole on the Forward Yamaha ends a run of eight successive poles for Honda.
• The last time that pole in the MotoGP class was taken by a constructor other than Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki or Ducati was at Philip Island in 2002 when Jeremy McWilliams was on pole on a Proton KR.
• Marc Marquez is in second place on the grid, which is his 20th successive front row start. Marquez could become the first rider since Giacomo Agostini in 1971 to win the first eight premier-class races of the year.
• In third place on the grid is Dani Pedrosa – his fifth front row start of the year. Pedrosa took his first ever GP win in the 125cc class at Assen back in 2002, but has not won at the Dutch TT since.
• Heading the second row is Andrea Iannone, the top placed Ducati rider on the grid. Iannone is a past winner at the Dutch TT, having won the Moto2 race at Assen in 2010.
• In fifth place on the grid is Cal Crutchlow, which is his best qualifying performance so far in 2014. Crutchlow finished third last year at Assen after starting from pole position.
• Bradley Smith takes the final place on the second row, which is his best grid position since he was third fastest qualifier at the opening race of the year in Qatar.
• Heading the third row is Andrea Dovizioso, making it three Ducati riders in the top seven places on the grid.
• In eighth place on the grid is Stefan Bradl at a circuit where he has never finished in the top five in any class of GP racing.
• Jorge Lorenzo is in ninth place on the grid, which is his worst qualifying since he was in 12th place on the grid at the Dutch TT last year.
• Alvaro Bautista starts from 10th place on the grid; the sixth time this year he has qualified on the fourth row.
• In 11th place on the grid is Pol Espargaro, who won the Moto2 race at Assen last year.
• The MotoGP winner from Assen last year, Valentino Rossi, in down in 12th place on the grid, which is his worst qualifying result since the Spanish GP at Jerez in 2012.
• Karel Abraham is in 13th place on the grid – his best qualifying since the final race of 2012 at Valencia
Moto2
• Tito Rabat starts from pole for the sixth time this year. This is the eighth pole of his Moto2 career and from his previous seven pole position starts he has taken six wins and a second place.
• Rabat has won the last two Moto2 races from pole; if he wins the race at Assen he will become the first rider ever to win three successive Moto2 races from pole position.
• Dominique Aegerter starts from second place on the grid, which is his best ever qualifying result in GP racing in what is his 128th grand prix start.
• Sam Lowes has qualified on the front row for the second time in his debut season in the Moto2 class. Lowes won the World Supersport race at Assen last year.
• Mika Kallio, who heads the second row of the grid, won the 125cc race at the Dutch TT back in 2006.
• Takaaki Nakagami is in fifth place on the grid, his best qualifying result since the opening race of the year in Qatar.
• Simone Corsi takes the final place on the second row, which equals his best qualifying of 2014 at Le Mans.
Moto3
• Jack Miller starts from pole for the fourth time in 2014. Miller will be aiming to become just the second Australian to win four races in the lightweight class in a single season, equalling Tom Phillis from 1961 when he won the world title.
• Alex Marquez is in second place on the grid and following his victory in Catalunya could take back-to-back GP wins for the first time.
• Third place qualifier is Niklas Ajo, the first front row start in his GP career. Ajo is the first Finnish rider to qualify on the front row in the Moto3/125cc class since Mika Kallio was in
second place on the grid in Japan in 2006 riding a KTM.
• Heading the second row of the grid is Alexis Masbou, who had his best race result at the Dutch TT in his first full season on GP racing back in 2005, when he finished 5th in the 125cc race.
• In fifth place on the grid is Niccolo Antonelli; he has not scored points since he finished 9th at the opening race of the year, having crashed in all subsequent races.
• Taking the final place on the second row is Alex Rins, who finished third last year at the Dutch TT.
