STATISTICS 2009 August 12th #11 Cardion ab Grand Prix Ceské`´ republiky

MotoGP facts & figures Forty years of Grand Prix racing at Brno ■■ scored his very first his year’s Czech Grand Prix will be the 40th to be held at Brno. Below is a brief his- win in GP racing at Brno in 1996 in the Ttory of Grand Prix racing at this famous venue: 125cc class, after starting from pole for the first time in his GP career. From his Only two other venues have hosted more Grand Prix events than Brno: Assen in The Netherlands, which has nine starts in the premier-class at Brno, hosted an event in each of the 61 years of the motorcycling world championship, and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium which hosted 40 Grand Prix events, the last of which was 1990. Rossi has had four wins and three second Known originally as the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix, the opening event was held at Brno in 1965 on the original place finishes. The only two occasions 13.94 km long road circuit. he failed to finish on the podium was two The circuit was shortened to 10.92 km in 1975 in an effort to improve safety. years ago when he was seventh and in The last premier-class race held on the road circuit at Brno was in 1977 and was won by Johnny Cecotto. The 2002 when he suffered rear tyre failure circuit was subsequently considered too dangerous for the large capacity machines. whilst battling for the lead with great rival The smaller capacity machines continued to compete in Grand Prix races on the Brno road circuit until 1982 . before it was removed from the Grand Prix calendar for safety reasons. The current circuit was first used for Grand Prix racing in 1987 and hosted the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix through until 1991. Brno did not appear on the calendar for 1992, but the event was revived in 1993 as the ■■ has an excellent record Grand Prix of the and has taken place every year since. in the smaller classes at Brno with a win This will be the 22nd time that the current circuit has hosted a Grand Prix event. in the 125cc class in 2004 and followed by three successive podium finishes on a 250cc machine, including victories in 2006 and 2007. He also started from pole at Brno in each of his three years riding in the 250cc class. Last year he finished tenth after having a disastrous qualifying session when he missed the driest part of the session and his best lap was outside the cut-off time but he was allowed to start at the discretion of Race Direction.

■■ dominated the race at Brno in 2007 by qualifying on pole and leading from start to finish, finally win- ning by almost eight seconds. Last year he again dominated qualifying, ending up with more than a second advantage over the rest of the field and then led in the early laps before crashing out on lap seven.

■■ has won in both of the smaller classes at Brno; in the 125cc class in 2003 and on a 250cc machine Valentino Rossi moves up start list in 2005. In his three years in the pre- t the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic, Valentino Rossi is scheduled to make his mier-class his only podium at the Czech A161st start in the premier-class. Rossi made his premier-class debut at the opening GP was in 2006 from ninth on the grid. race of 2000 at Welkom in South Africa and since then he has competed in every single In 2007 he was fourth and last year he 500cc/MotoGP race. As shown in the following table of the riders with most starts, only finished down in 15th suffering from grip four riders have made more starts in the premier-class than Valentino Rossi. problems with his tyres. Riders with most starts in the premier-class of GP racing ■■ Brno is one of ’ less Rider Starts in the MotoGP/500cc class successful circuits, being one of just four 1. 245 where he has not had a top six finish in 2. 192 his Grand Prix career; the others are Mis- 3. 181 ano, Indianapolis and Sepang. Edwards’ 4. Jnr 167 second place finish at Donington was his 5. 160 best result since he finished second at Valentino Rossi 160 the same circuit two years previously. 7. 156 8. Randy Mamola 145 9. Norick Abe 144 10. Alex Criville 139

Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines 1 STATISTICS 2009 August 12th #11 Cardion ab Grand Prix Ceské`´ republiky Brno

■■ has finished second at Brno on three occasions in the smaller Unpredictable MotoGP podium at Donington classes – on each occasion behind Jorge he variable conditions at Donington resulted in a podium which few people would Lorenzo. He finished 9th on his first ride Thave predicted before the start of the race. This podium resulted in a number of inter- at Brno on a MotoGP machine last year – esting statistics: the first rider across the line using Michelin tyres. All three riders were appearing on the podium for the first time in 2009. Prior to the British GP only five different riders had appeared on the podium in the nine MotoGP races that had been held during 2009. ■■ made his GP debut at None of the three riders on the podium had previously won a race in the MotoGP class. The last time that the the Czech GP in 1997 shortly after his 15th three podium finishers had not previously won in the class (in a non-boycotted) premier-class Grand Prix, was at birthday to become the youngest ever rider the Dutch TT in 1980 when local favourite won from Graziano Rossi and . to compete in a Grand Prix at that time. Colin Edwards was appearing on the podium for the first time since he finished third at the Dutch TT last year. Melandri is a three-time winner at Brno in was making only his second podium appearance in the MotoGP class – the other was second at the smaller classes; the 125cc race in both the Japanese GP in 2007 when riding for Kawasaki. 1998 and 1999 and the 250cc race in 2002. This was the first time that two riders from satellite teams had appeared together on a podium since the intro- Melandri did not start at Brno in 2007 due duction of the 800cc capacity limit at the start of 2007. to injuries he had received in a crash at the This was the first time since the Malaysian GP last year that two riders had appeared together on a MotoGP podium. previous event at Laguna Seca. Last year he finished 7th at the Czech GP, which was his second best result of 2008.

■■ Randy de Puniet won the 250cc race at Brno back in 2003. In 2007 he finished eighth in the MotoGP race at Brno – the first of the Kawasaki riders to cross the line. Last year he crashed on lap six and then remounted to finish 16th and last, just 2 seconds behind Pedrosa.

■■ finished in fifth at Brno in 2007, after getting boxed in at the start and finishing the first lap down in tenth. Last year he was sixth at Brno after running as high as second on laps seven and eight.

■■ Loris Capirossi will be making his 19th appearance at a Grand Prix eve nt at Brno across the three classes. Capirossi has finished in the top six ten times from his eleven races in the premier-class at Brno, which includes a victory in 2006 and three other podium finishes.

■■ has had a single podium finish at Brno when competing in the small- er GP classes – third in the 125cc race in 2003. He finished in 8th place last year on his first ride at Brno on a MotoGP machine after starting in 5th place on the grid – his best ever qualifying result in the big class. De Angelis’ fourth place finish at Donington equals his best ever result since moving up to the MotoGP class.

■■ ’s sixth place finish at Donington is the best result in the premier- class by a British rider at the British Grand Prix since the introduction of the 4-stroke MotoGP class in 2002. Toseland was 13th last year on his first race at Brno on a Mo- toGP machine after Race Direction had giv- en him permission to ride in spite of being outside the cut-off qualifying time.

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■■ ’s third place in 2007 Andrea Dovizioso’s breakthrough victory was his first podium finish at the Brno ndrea Dovizioso’s first MotoGP victory at Donington followed a disappointing run of circuit. Last year he missed the event results where he did not score points at the three previous events. Below are a num- having cracked his right heel practising A ber of milestones achieved by Dovizioso in taking his first MotoGP victory: on a Supermoto machine. Andrea Dovizioso took his first win since moving up to MotoGP to become the fourth youngest Italian rider to ■■ Toni Elias qualified in 13th place at win in the premier-class after Valentino Rossi, and Marco Melandri. Brno last year and then went on to fin- He becomes the fifth Italian rider to have won in the premier-class, 250cc and 125cc classes of Grand Prix ish second, which was his best result of racing, joining Valentino Rossi, , Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi. the year. Elias won the 125cc GP at Brno He is only the second rider to win on a Honda since the introduction of the 800cc capacity limit in MotoGP – the back in 2001 but before last year had other being Dani Pedrosa. He is just the second rider to have won in all three classes at the Donington circuit having taken victory in the never previously finished in the top ten at 125cc class in 2004 and in the 250cc class in 2007. The only other rider to have won in all three classes at the circuit on a MotoGP machine. Donington is Valentino Rossi.

■■ has been on the podium three times at Brno riding in the smaller classes.

■■ Niccolo Canepa’s eighth place finish at Donington is his best result so far in his debut season in GP racing.

■■ Gabor Talmacsi has qualified on pole for the 125cc race at Brno for the last two years and has gone on to finish fourth on each occasion.

250cc facts & figures ■■ have won the 250cc race at Brno seven times in the last eight years. The only other manufacturer to win in this period was Honda with Dani Pedrosa in 2005.

■■ Just 1.229 seconds covered the first five riders (Debon, Bautista, Simoncelli, Barbera and Kallio) across the line in the passes 1000 points milestone 250cc race last year at Brno - the closest iroshi Aoyama continues to lead the chase for the 250cc world championship title af- race in the 250cc class since the Dutch Hter his victory at Donington. Aoyama made his Grand Prix debut as a wild-card rider TT in 1999. at Motegi back in 2000. He became a full-time Grand Prix rider in 2004 and since then has competed exclusively in the 250cc category and has finished no lower than 7th in the final championship standings. With his win at Donington he becomes just the 5th rider to ■■ Hiroshi Aoyama has had just one po- dium finish from his five starts at Brno, pass the milestone of 1000 career points in the 250cc class. The following table shows which was third place in 2006 riding a the riders who have scored most points during their career competing in the 250cc class. KTM machine. With his win at Donington, (Note: modern-day competitors are at an advantage due to the current point scoring sys- Aoyama becomes the first Japanese rider tem allocating more points to the leading riders and there being more Grand Prix events to take three or more wins in a season each year). since 2001, when both and did so in the 250cc class Career points – 250cc class and Youichi Ui in the 125cc class. Rider Total points 1. Tetsuya Harada 1357 2. Max Biaggi 1268 2. 1166 4. Sebastian Porto 1052 5. Hiroshi Aoyama 1010 6. 986 7. 976 8. 973 9. Luca Cadalora 972 10. Loris Capirossi 968

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■■ Alvaro Bautista won the 125cc race at Grand Prix racing numbers Brno three years ago on his way to taking the world title. Last year he just missed 2013 – Dani Pedrosa’s ninth place finish at Donington took his career points total out on the win on the sprint to the line to 2013 making him the Spanish rider who has taken most points in his GP career, just a after qualifying down in 10th on the grid. single point more than Alex Criville.

■■ made his Grand 159 – Valentino Rossi and Giacomo Agostini are the two riders with most podium Prix debut in the 125cc class at the finishes across all classes of Grand Prix racing each having stood on the podium on 159 Czech Grand Prix as a fifteen year old in occasions. 2002. Simoncelli qualified on pole last year at Brno and finished third – his first 149 – Loris Capirossi’s 11th at Donington was the 149th time he has finished in a po- podium in the 250cc class at the circuit. int scoring position in the premier-class. Only two riders have had more points premier- Simoncelli’s fourth place finish at Doning- class points scoring finishes – Carlos Checa with 150 and Alex Barros with 195. ton was the first time sine he was 6th at Misano last year that he has finished in 99 – Loris Capirossi’s third place finish last year at Brno was the 99th time he has a point scoring position and not stood on stood on the podium in Grand Prix racing. He is still waiting to become just the seventh the podium. rider to score 100 Grand Prix podium finishes.

■■ Brno is one of just three current circuits 57 years – Race day at Brno will be the 57th anniversary of the 1952 Ulster Grand that he has raced previously where Hec- Prix when Ken Kavanagh won the 350cc race to become the first Australian to win a tor Barbera has not had a podium finish in Grand Prix. either of the smaller GP classes; the oth- ers are Le Mans and Phillip Island. He has 28 – Even though Yamaha’s two factory riders crashed at Donington, Colin Edwards finished fourth at the Czech GP on three extended the streak of MotoGP podiums with at least one Yamaha rider. Yamaha have occasions, in 2002 in the 125cc class and had at least one rider finish on the podium at the last twenty-eight races starting at the for the last two years on a 250cc machine. first race of last year at . This is the longest sequence of successive podium finis- hes for Yamaha since they had at least one rider finish on the podium at 40 successive ■■ Alex Debon’s victory at Brno last year races through the 1989/90/91 seasons. was his second victory of 2008 and is the last time that he has stood on the top step 28 years – On race day at the Czech GP it will be exactly 28 years since the last of the podium. premier-class victory by a British rider which was at the Swedish Grand Prix in 1981 at Anderstorp. ■■ Hector Faubel won the 125cc race two years ago at the Czech GP – one of his five 24 – Mattia Pasini celebrates his 24th birthday on the day before practice starts for GP victories in 2007. the Czech Grand Prix.

■■ The Czech GP was one of four races 16 – The youngest full-time rider in the 125cc class, Jonas Folger, celebrates his 16th that Thomas Luthi won on his way to the birthday on the day before practice starts for the Czech GP. 125cc world title in 2005. 15.004 seconds – Valentino Rossi’s winning margin at the Czech Grand Prix 125cc facts & figures last year is the biggest ever in the four-stroke MotoGP era in a dry race. ■■ Championship leader Julian Simon’s 11 – Colin Edwards’ second place finish at Donington was the 11th time that he has best result at Brno is 8th in 2007 when stood on the podium since making his Grand Prix debut at the Japanese GP in 2003. he was racing a Honda in the 250cc class. This gives him the distinction of having more podium finishes in the premier-class than any other rider that has not stood on the top step of the podium. ■■ Last year at Brno, be- came the first German rider to win at Brno 11 - Aprilia have won the last eleven races in the 125cc class – their longest ever since his father Helmut won the 250cc sequence of successive wins. race in 1991. 2 – Honda won two of the three races at the British Grand Prix. The last time that Hon- ■■ After winning the race in 2008 and fin- da had won two Grand Prix races on the same day was at the Portuguese GP in 2006, ishing third this year at Donington, Scott when Toni Elias won the MotoGP race and Andrea Dovizioso in the 250cc class. Redding has the distinction of being the only British rider to finish on the podium twice across all solo Grand Prix classes in the 23 years the event was held at the circuit.

■■ The Brno lap record was set by in 2003 and is the longest standing current lap record in Grand Prix racing.

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