Argentina MotoGP Statistics

Argentina MotoGP Statistics

Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina – Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines

Termas de Río Hondo – Grand Prix racing in Argentina

MotoGP returns to the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit for a third year, and below are a selection of facts and stats related to this event.

• This year’s event at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit is the 13th motorcycle grand prix to be held in Argentina.
• The first Argentinean GP took place in 1961 and was held in Buenos Aires; the first time that a grand prix had taken place outside of Europe. Not all of the top riders attended the event and the 52 lap, 203 km, 500cc race was won by home rider Jorge Kissling (Matchless) from fellow countryman Juan Carlos Salatino (Norton).
• This is the third year that the Argentinean GP has taken place at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit. All of the ten previous grand prix in Argentina had taken place in Buenos Aires, the last of which was in 1999.
• Three riders from Argentina have won grand prix races; Sebastian Porto (seven wins in the 250cc class), Benedicto Caldarella and Jorge Kissling who both had single victories in the 500cc class.
• The last GP win by an Argentinean rider was in the 250cc class at the Dutch TT in 2005, when Sebastian Porto won the race from Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.

• In 1962 the 250cc GP in Argentina was won by Arthur Wheeler at the age of forty six – the oldest rider to win a grand prix race and the last of Moto Guzzi’s forty five GP wins.
• In 1963 Mike Hailwood raced in Argentina for the first time on the factory MV Agusta and dominated the 500cc race by lapping all other riders and finishing six laps in front of the rider finishing in sixth place.
• The only current full-time grand prix rider who has raced in grand prix at the Buenos Aires circuit is Valentino Rossi, who won the 250cc race in 1998 & was third in 1999.
• Last year in Argentina Danny Kent won the Moto3 race, Sam Lowes was third in Moto2 and Cal Crutchlow third in MotoGP, the first time that Britain has had podium finishers in three current GP classes (or equivalent) at a GP event since the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1978.

• Johann Zarco won in Argentina last year – his first race victory in the Moto2 class.
• The six grand prix races that have taken place over the last two years at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit have resulted in six different winners: Moto3 – Fenati and Kent. Moto2 – Rabat and Zarco. MotoGP – Marquez and Rossi.
• The two MotoGP races in Argentina have resulted in six different riders finishing on the podium. 
• Valentino Rossi is the only rider to finish in the top four in both MotoGP races that have taken place at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit; fourth in 2014 along with last year’s victory.

Great opening race of the season for the World Champion

Jorge Lorenzo opened the defence of his world title in Qatar in great style, as illustrated by the following facts and stats:

• He qualified on pole, won the race and also set fastest lap; this is the seventh time in the MotoGP class that he has achieved this.
• Lorenzo became the first rider since Casey Stoner in 2009 to win the opening race of the year having won the final race of the previous season.
• Despite the changes to the electronics and tyre manufacturer Lorenzo improved on the record race time set last year by more than seven seconds.
• In Qatar Lorenzo started from pole for the 62nd time in grand prix racing across all classes, which is the greatest number of poles among current riders, one more than achieved by Valentino Rossi.
• This was is the ninth successive year that Lorenzo has had a least one win in the MotoGP class. Only four other riders have scored wins in the premier class for nine or more successive seasons: Giacomo Agostini (wins in 12 successive seasons), Valentino Rossi (11), Dani Pedrosa (10), Mick Doohan (9).

Twenty-five successive point scoring finishes for Bradley Smith

Bradley Smith’s eighth place finish in Qatar was the 25th successive race at which he has scored points. The last race at which he did not finish in the top fifteen was the British GP in 2014 when he had to call into the pits due to a faulty rear wheel. As shown in the following table this is one of the longest sequences of successive point scoring finishes in the history of the premier-class. Among current riders only Valentino Rossi has a longer sequence of successive point scoring finishes:

Longest Successive Point-scoring Finishes in the premier-class

• 37 Mick Doohan (Italy 1995 to Indonesia 1997)
• 34 Colin Edwards (Qatar 2004 to Malaysia 2006)
• 30 Wayne Gardner (West Germany 1986 to West Germany 1988)
• 28 Eddie Lawson (Italy 1983 to Yugoslavia 1985)
• Valentino Rossi (Portugal 2002 to Dutch TT 2004)
• 26 Eddie Lawson (Great Britain 1987 to Brazil 1989)
• Valentino Rossi (Catalunya 2013 to San Marino 2014)
• 25 Jorge Lorenzo (Malaysia 2009 to Catalunya 2011)
• Valentino Rossi (Germany 2010 to Aragon 2011)
• Bradley Smith (San Marino 2014 – ongoing)

Grand Prix racing numbers

• 2000 – The sixteen points scored by Marc Marquez for finishing third in Qatar took him to a career total of 2000 points across all three classes. He is just the 13th rider in the 68-year history of motorcycle grand prix racing to reach this milestone.

• 56. 236 seconds – Marco Melandri, who finished in 20th place in Argentina last year, finished just 56.236 seconds behind race winner Valentino Rossi. This was the first time in the 67 years of motorcycle grand prix racing, in a race that has gone full distance, that the first 20 riders across the line in a premier-class GP have finished within one minute.
• 40 – The third place finish by Marc Marquez in Qatar was his 40th podium in the MotoGP class – the same number of premier-class podiums that double 500cc World Champion Barry Sheene achieved during his career.
• 30 – Andrea Dovozioso’s second place finish in Qatar was his 30th podium in the MotoGP class – the same number of premier-class podium finishes as Sete Gibernau. One more top three finish for Dovizioso will take him level with Freddie Spencer in terms of premier-class podiums.

• 29 – Julian Simon celebrates his 29th birthday on race day in Argentina.
• 17.608 seconds – In the Moto3 race in Qatar, Malaysian rookie Khairul Idham Pawi finished in 22nd position but crossed the line just 17.608 seconds behind race winner Niccolo Antonelli. This is the smallest ever margin covering the first twenty two riders across the line in a full length grand prix, taking the record from the Moto3 race at the Dutch TT in 2012 when the rider finishing in 22nd place crossed the line 21.581 seconds behind the race winner.
• 6 – Maverick Viñales finished sixth at the Qatar Grand Prix – the best result at the Losail circuit for Suzuki since John Hopkins was fourth in 2007.

• 5 – The Termas de Rio circuit is one of just five venues on this year’s schedule where Jorge Lorenzo has not had a win in the MotoGP class, along with Austin, Sachsenring, Sepang and the new Red Bull Ring in Austria.
• 3 – At the Qatar Grand Prix, Italy had a rider finish on the podium in all three classes for the first time since the San Marino Grand Prix in 2012.

Moto2 stats and facts

• Tom Luthi’s race win in Qatar was the first time in his GP career that he has won the opening race of the year. This also places him at the head of the world championship standings – the first time he has led the Moto2 championship classification since after the Catalunya Grand Prix in 2012.
• Johann Zarco qualified in second place on the grid in Argentina in 2014; he ended the first lap in ninth and then slipped back further through the field to finish in 18th place. Last year he qualified on pole in Argentina and went on to win for the first time in the Moto2 class to lead the championship standings for the first time in his grand prix career.
• Alex Rins finished 5th in the Moto3 race in Argentina two years ago and last year he finished second in only his third start in the Moto2 class.
• Sam Lowes started the 2014 race in Argentina down in 22nd place on the grid; he worked his way through the field to finish the race in eighth place. Last year Lowes finished 3rd at the Argentina Grand Prix.
• Xavier Simeon finished second in Argentina in 2014, which was his best ever grand prix result before at that time. Last year he finished 22nd in Argentina after crashing and re-starting.
• Two years ago in Argentina Danny Kent crashed at the end of the Moto3 race, but as he was still in contact with his bike as he crossed the line he was still credited with ninth place. Danny Kent won the Moto3 race in Argentina last year to become the first British rider to take back-to-back grand prix wins in the lightweight-class since Barry Sheene in 1971.

• Luis Salom’s second place finish in Qatar was his third podium finish in the Moto2 class; the other two podiums were second in Italy in 2014 and third in Argentina two years ago in only his third start in the Moto2 class.
• Simone Corsi’s third place finish in Qatar on his debut for the Speed Up Team was his first podium finish since he was 3rd in Germany in 2014.
• Hafizh Syahrin’s fourth place finish in Qatar is the best ever dry weather result in the intermediate-class of grand prix racing by a Malaysian rider.

Moto3 stats and facts

• Following Niccolo Antonelli’s victory in Qatar he leads the World Championship standings for the first time. Prior to his win at the Czech Grand Prix last year Antonelli had made 61 grand prix starts without standing on the podium; in the last nine races he has had five podium finishes including three wins.

• Brad Binder finished fifth in the Moto3 race in Argentina in 2015 – the highest placed rider in that race who is still competing in the Moto3 class.
• Francesco Bagnaia’s third place finish in Qatar was his first podium for both himself and Mahindra since he was third in the French Grand Prix last year.
• Romano Fenati won the Moto3 race in Argentina in 2014, his first GP win since 2012. Last year Fenati qualified in eighth place on the grid but was demoted to the back of the grid due to an accumulation of penalty points. He worked his way through the field to finish in eighth place.
• Livio Loi finished fourth two years ago in Argentina, which was his best grand prix result at that time.