MotoGP Statistics for the Gran Premio Red Bull de la República Argentina
MotoGP returns to the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit for a second year
This year’s event at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit is the 12th 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). In the 125cc class, championship contender Ernst Degner from East Germany did not start the race, which was won by Australian Tom Phillis, resulting in Phillis taking the world title – the first for Honda in the 125cc category.
This is the second year that the Argentinean GP has taken place at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit. All of the ten previous grand prix in Argentina have taken place in Buenos Aires, the last of which was in 1999.
Last year the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit became the 26th different venue to host a MotoGP race since the category was introduced in 2002, and Argentina became the 18th different country to host a MotoGP race during this same period.
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. Three of the current full-time grand prix riders have raced in grand prix in Argentina prior to last year: Valentino Rossi, Marco Melandri and Anthony West. Rossi won the 250cc race in 1998 & was third in 1999; Melandri finished second in the 125cc race in 1998 and won in 1999; Anthony West finished 8th in the 250cc race in 1999.
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 Argentinean GP last year was the first GP event to be held in South America for ten years – since the Rio GP of 2004.
More Milestones for Marc Marquez
With his win at the Grand Prix of the Americas, Marc Marquez continues to set new milestones in his grand prix career:
- The win in Austin was his sixth MotoGP victory in the USA, continuing his sequence of winning every race that he has started in America in the MotoGP class.
- It was the third successive year that he has won at the Grand Prix of The Americas from pole position.
- This was the 20th MotoGP win for Marquez – the same number of premier-class grand prix wins as twice 500cc world champion Freddie Spencer.
- It was the 31st time that Marquez has stood on the podium in the MotoGP class, which is the same number of premier-class podium finishes that Freddie Spencer achieved during his career.
- This was the 46th career grand prix win for Marquez across all classes, making him the ninth most winning rider in grand prix history, with one more GP victory that six-times world champion Jim Redman.
- The win for Marquez in Austin was his 31st podium in MotoGP class, one more than Max Biaggi achieved during his time competing in MotoGP after it was introduced to replacing the 500cc class in 2002. Marquez is now fifth in the list of riders with most MotoGP podium finishes after Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner.
A successful day in Austin for British riders
British riders had a great day at the grand prix of Americas, winning both the Moto2 and Moto3 races, achieving a number of milestones:
- It is the first time that two British riders have won solo grand prix races on the same day since the Grand Prix of Sweden in 1977 when Barry Sheene won the 500cc race on a Suzuki and Mick Grant the 250cc race riding a Kawasaki.
- It is also the first time since 1977 that Britain has had GP winners in two different classes in a single season.
- Kent is the first rider to win a grand prix in the USA since the 1965 American Grand Prix held at Daytona, when Mike Hailwood won the 500cc race and Phil Read the 250cc race.
- Kent’s win in Austin was the first for a British rider in the Moto3 class since Kent himself won the final race of 2012 at Valencia.
- With his win in Austin, Kent heads the world championship classification – the first British rider to lead the lightweight-class standings since Bradley Smith topped the 125cc classification following his win at Mugello in 2009.
- Sam Lowes win in Austin was the first for a British rider in the Moto2 class since Scott Redding won at Silverstone in 2013.
- Lowes win was the first for Speed Up since Anthony West won at Assen last year in wet conditions, and the first dry weather win for Speed Up since Andrea Iannone took victory in the Moto2 race at Mugello in 2012.
- Lowes is only the second rider, along with Jordi Torres, to have won a Moto2 race not having previously competed in either the lightweight-class or the 250cc class of grand prix racing.
Fabio Quartararo becomes sixth youngest podium finisher of all-time
Fabio Quartararo’s second place finish at the Grand Prix of the Americas made him the sixth youngest grand prix podium finisher in the 67 year history of motorcycle grand prix racing. Below is the list of the ten youngest riders to finish on the podium in grand prix racing.
Rider | Age | Race |
1. Ivan Palazzese | 15 years 77 days | 125cc/Venezuela/1977/San Carlos |
2. Marc Marquez | 15 years 126 days | 125cc/Britain/2008/Donington |
3. Scott Redding | 15 years 170 days | 125cc/Britain/2008/Donington |
4. Jonas Folger | 15 years 277 days | 125cc/France/2009/Le Mans |
5. Marco Melandri | 15 years 283 days | 125cc/Italy/1998/Mugello |
6. Fabio Quartararo | 15 years 357 days | Moto3/Americas/2015/COTA |
7. Dani Pedrosa | 15 years 359 days | 125cc/Valencia/2001/Ricardo Tormo |
8. Romano Fenati | 16 years 84 days | Moto3/Qatar/2012/Losail |
9. Pol Espargaro | 16 years 98 days | 125cc/Portugal/2007/Estoril |
10. Ivan Goi | 16 years 121 days | 125cc/Dutch TT/1996/Assen |
Note: The Venezuelan rider Ivan Palazzese finished third in his Grand Prix debut when riding under the official age limit at that time. Palazzese went on to win two races in the 125cc class before suffering a fatal accident during the 250cc West German Grand Prix at Hockenheim in 1989.
Grand Prix racing numbers
199 – Andrea Dovizioso’s second place at the Grand Prix of the Americas was the 199th time he has finished in a point scoring position across all classes. His next top fifteen finish will make him only the fifth rider in the sixty seven year history of motorcycle grand prix racing to reach the milestone of 200 points scoring finishes, along with Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi, Alex Barros and Dani Pedrosa.
100 – Sam Lowes victory at the Grand Prix of the Americas was the 100th win in the intermediate-class (Moto2/250cc) of grand prix racing by British riders. 88 – The win by Marc Marquez in Austin was the 88th victory in the MotoGP class by Spanish riders since MotoGP became the premier-class of grand prix racing in 2002. This is exactly the same number of wins than Italian riders have achieved in the MotoGP class over the same period.
56.57 Seconds – Michael Laverty, who finished in 18th place in Argentina last year, finished just 56.57 seconds behind race winner Marc Marquez. This was just the second time in the 66 years of motorcycle grand prix racing that the first 18 riders across the line in a premier-class GP have finished within one minute.
16 – Fabio Quartararo will celebrate his 16th birthday on the day following the grand prix in Argentina.
8.532 Seconds – Danny Kent’s winning margin in Austin was the greatest winning margin in a dry Moto3 race class since the class was introduced in 2012.
6 – Hafizh Syahrin’s sixth place finish at the Grand Prix of the Americas is the best-ever dry weather result by a Malaysian rider in the intermediate-class of grand prix racing.
5 – The race victories of the first six races of the year have been shared across five different nationalities: Great Britain – 2, Spain – 1, France – 1, Italy – 1, Germany – 1.
2 – With Aleix Espargaro finishing eighth in Austin, one place ahead of his team-mate Maverick Viñales, it was the first time that Suzuki have had two riders in the top nine in a MotoGP race since Catalunya in 2010 when Alvaro Bautista was fifth and Loris Capirossi seventh.
Moto2 stats and facts
In Austin Alex Rins finished on the podium in only his second race in the Moto2 class, taking him to the head of the championship table. Rins is the first rookie to top the Moto2 championship standings since Marc Marquez had a one point advantage over Stefan Bradl following the Japanese GP in 2011. Rins finished 5th in the Moto3 race last year in Argentina.
Austin Moto2 race winner Sam Lowes started last years race in Argentina down in 22nd place on the grid. He worked his way through the field to finish the race in eighth place.
Johann Zarco qualified in second place on the grid last year in Argentina; he ended the first lap in ninth and then slipped back further through the filed to finish in 18th place.
Tito Rabat qualified on pole last year in Argentina and led for every lap of the race; one of seven victories he achieved in 2014 on his way to winning the world title. Xavier Simeon finished second last year in Argentina, which was his best ever grand prix result before the start of this season.
Luis Salom finished third last year in Argentina – one of just two podium finishes that he achieved in his rookie season in the Moto2 class. Salom also did the fastest lap of the Moto2 race last year in Argentina – his only fastest lap of the year.
Alex Marquez finished second in the Moto3 race last year in Argentina after qualifying down in 11th place on the grid and finishing the first lap down in 14th.
Moto3 stats and facts
Romano Fenati won the Moto3 race in Argentina last year, his first GP win since 2012. This was one of two wins that Fenati achieved in 2014; he also won at Jerez one week later.
Fenati received a penalty point for his passing manoeuvres on the final lap of the Moto3 race in Argentina last year, when he made contact with the second and third place finishers Alex Marquez and Jack Miller.
Livio Loi finished fourth last year in Argentina, just 0.624 seconds behind the winner Fenati. This is Loi’s best ever grand prix result.
Last year in Argentina Danny Kent crashed at the end of the race, but as he was still in contact with his bike as he crossed the line he was still credited with ninth place. Following his win in Austin, Kent will be aiming to become the first British rider to take back-to-back grand prix wins in the lightweight-class since Barry Sheene in 1971.
Miguel Oliveira did not get off the line last year in Argentina, after suffering clutch problems as he lined-up on the starting grid.
Last year at the Argentine GP Jakub Kornfeil qualified in fourth place on the grid, equalling his best ever qualifying result. He crashed at the first corner of the race, re-started at the back of the field and finished 20th.
