STATISTICS 2007 October, 17th #17 Polini Malaysian Grand Prix Sepang

MotoGP facts & figures History of Malaysian Grand Prix th n Yamaha have been the most succes- his will be the 17 Malaysian Grand Prix. The first was held in 1991 and the event has sful manufacturer in the premier-class Ttaken place every year since between three different venues; Shah Alam, Johor and at Sepang with 3 victories. Both Sepang. and have 2 wins each and Ducati have a single victory. 1991/Shah Alam – The first Malaysian Grand Prix saw a debut win in the premier-class for riding a Yamaha. Italian riders dominated the smaller classes with winning the 250cc race and the 125s. n won the 125cc race at 1992/Shah Alam – won the 500cc race by more than ten seconds from great rival Sepang in 2004 and the 250cc race in . Alex Criville finished 3rd – his first podium in the 500cc class in only his third start. 2005, making this the only circuit where Luca Cadalora repeated his victory of the previous year in the 250cc category, while the 125cc he had two victories prior to the start of race was won by on his way to becoming the first rider to win a world title this year. riding an . 1993/Shah Alam – Wayne Rainey scored a clear start-to-finish victory in the 500cc race from n has finished on the po- and . There was controversy in the 250cc race when six riders were dium at Sepang for the last 6 years, inclu- adjudged to have jumped the start and given a one minute penalty. The final result saw the first ding 4 victories. The last time that Rossi ever all-Japanese podium in the 250cc class with scoring his only Grand Prix victory did not finish on the podium at Sepang from and . was his second ever race in the premier- 1994/Shah Alam – Mick Doohan took a comfortable victory by more than 5 seconds from John Ko- class in 2000, when he crashed out on cinski and Shinichi Itoh. scored the first of four successive victories in the 250cc class. lap four while in second place. 1995/Shah Alam – Mick Doohan took his third victory in Malaysia from fellow Australian Daryl Beattie. Garry McCoy had his first ever Grand Prix victory in the 125cc class for which he was n has had 2 victories in the awarded half points due to the race being stopped after twelve laps when it started to rain. smaller classes at Sepang; in the 125cc 1996/Shah Alam – Luca Cadalora won the opening 500cc race of the year on his debut riding a class in 2003 and in the 250cc class in Honda prepared by Erv Kanemoto, after Tady Okada had claimed on the debut of the 2004. Pedrosa finished 3rd in the MotoGP V-twin Honda 500cc two-stroke. race last year after a nasty crash during 1997/Shah Alam – This was the seventh and final visit to the Shah Alam circuit and both Mick practice left him with a number of injuries Doohan and Max Biaggi won for the fourth time in their respective classes. Valentino Rossi won the including a broken toe. 125cc race on his way to taking his first world title. 1998/Johor – The one and only visit by the Grand Prix riders to the Johor circuit resulted in another victory for Mick Doohan on his way to the last of his five world titles. 1999/Sepang – On the first outing at Sepang won on his debut on the factory Su- zuki. Loris Capirossi started the defence of his 250cc title with a narrow victory from . Current engineer won the 125cc race riding a Honda with Bridgestone tyres. 2000/Sepang – Kenny Roberts repeated his victory of the previous year on his way to taking the 500cc world title. 2001/Sepang – Valentino Rossi won the last 500cc race to be held at the Sepang circuit. took the victory in the 250cc class to clinch the world title. 2002/Sepang – Max Biaggi riding a Yamaha won the first race at Sepang of the four-stroke Moto- GP era from great rival Rossi. 2003/Sepang – Valentino Rossi riding a Honda won the MotoGP race to clinch his third premier- class title. Dani Pedrosa won the 125cc race to take his first world championship at the age of 18. 2004/Sepang – Valentino Rossi repeated the victory of the previous year but this time on a Yama- n If either Casey Stoner or Dani Pedrosa ha. clinched the world title by finishing second in the 125cc race behind Casey wins in Malaysia they will become the Stoner who scored the first ever Grand prix victory for KTM. first rider to win in all three classes at the 2005/Sepang - Loris Capirossi won the race with team-mate finishing 3rd – the first Sepang circuit. time that Ducati had two riders on a MotoGP podium. Valentino Rossi finished 2nd to clinch his fifth world title in the premier-class. Casey Stoner won the 250cc race after championship leader Dani n John Hopkins’ 6th place finish last Pedrosa had crashed on lap 2. year is his best result at Sepang. This is 2006/Sepang – Valentino Rossi took the victory after a race-long battle with Loris Capirossi. The grid positions had been decided by the times in the free-practice sessions after torrential rain had also the best result for the four-stroke Su- flooded the circuit causing the MotoGP qualifying session to be cancelled. zuki MotoGP machine in Malaysia. n went faster in the race last year than he had during quali- fying when he had been suffering from a flu virus. n Sepang is one of only two circuits in the current GP calendar that has not had a podium finish in any class of GP racing, the other being Misano.

Official statistics compiled by Dr. Martin Raines

 STATISTICS 2007 October, 17th #17 Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix Sepang n Loris Capirossi has had considera- 9th win of year for Casey Stoner ble success at Sepang, having won the asey Stoner’s win at Phillip Island was the 9th time this year that he has stood on 250cc race on the first visit to the circuit the top step of the podium. This ranks him alongside some of the all-time greats of in 1999, finishing 2nd in the 500cc race C Grand Prix racing in the following list of riders who have had most wins in a single season in 2001 after qualifying on pole, winning in the premier-class. The other three riders who appear on this list are all multi-world in 2005 after again having qualified on champions; Mick Doohan, and Valentino Rossi. pole and finishing 2nd last year after a race long battle with Rossi. Capirossi has Number of wins in the premier-class in a single season taken 93 points over the last 6 races and 12 Mick Doohan – 1997 has only been outscored over this period 11 Giacomo Agostini - 1972 by team-mate Stoner. Valentino Rossi – 2001, 2002 and 2005 10 Giacomo Agostini – 1968, 1969 and 1970 n has had a tough time 9 Mick Doohan – 1994 on his previous four visits to Sepang with Valentino Rossi – 2003 and 2004 the best result of 10th in both 2005 and Casey Stoner - 2007 2006. n has finished 4th on each of his 4 previous visits to the Sepang cir- Casey Stoner moves above cuit. aving now had 9 MotoGP victories from his 32 starts Casey Stoner has achieved a Hwin rate that places him 6th in the following list of riders from the “modern era” of n has twice finished 3rd at Grand Prix racing (since 1975), above four times world champion Eddie Lawson. A victory Sepang; in 2005 and 2002 when he also in Malaysia would move him up another place in this list above three times champion qualified on pole position on only his Wayne Rainey. second outing on the four-stroke Honda This list is still headed by Valentino Rossi, although this season his career win-rate has MotoGP machine. Barros will celebrate fallen below 50%. his 37th birthday the day before practice starts for the Malaysian GP. Career Winning Percentage in MotoGP/500cc class Rider Starts Wins Winning % 1. Valentino Rossi 130 62 47.7 2. Mick Doohan 137 54 39.4 3. Kenny Roberts (Snr) 58 22 37.9 4. 62 20 32.3 5. Wayne Rainey 83 24 28.9 6. Casey Stoner 32 9 28.1 7. Eddie Lawson 127 31 24.4 8. Kevin Schwantz 104 25 24.0 9. 98 19 19.4 10. 102 18 17.6 n Toni Elias had 3 podium finishes at Sepang when riding in the 250cc class, including a win in 2003 after qualifying on pole position and also setting a new lap record. n won the 250cc GP at Sepang in 2000 on his way to finishing 2nd in the championship. Nakano’s 8th place finish in Malaysia in 2004 is the best result by a Kawasaki rider at the Sepang circuit.

 STATISTICS 2007 October, 17th #17 Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix Sepang n Sepang is one of only two circuits at Valentino Rossi set for a century of podium finishes which Carlos Checa has had 3 podium alentino Rossi’s third place in was the 99th occasion on which he has stood finishes, the other being his home circuit on the podium in the premier-class. With his next top three finish he will become the of Catalunya. V first rider to reach the milestone of 100 podium finishes in the premier-class, as shown in the following table. With back-to-back podiums at the last two races Loris Capirossi has now moved into 12th in this table, one place above Barry Sheene. 250cc facts & figures Riders with greatest number of podium finishes in the MotoGP/500cc class n The only scenario that would result in not winning the title in Rider Total podium finishes wins Second place finishes third place finishes Malaysia would be if Andrea Dovizioso 1 Valentino Rossi 99 62 25 12 won the race and Lorenzo finished lower 2 Mick Doohan 95 54 31 10 than 11th. 3 Giacomo Agostini 88 68 20 0 4 Eddie Lawson 78 31 31 16 5 Wayne Rainey 64 24 22 18 n Lorenzo won the 250cc race in Ma- 6 Max Biaggi 58 13 26 19 laysia last year on his first appearance 7 54 13 22 19 at Sepang on a 250cc machine having 8 Wayne Gardner 52 18 20 14 missed the GP in 2005 after being sus- 9 Kevin Schwantz 51 25 13 13 pended for his part in a collision with Alex Alex Criville 51 15 16 20 de Angelis on the final lap at the previous 11 48 37 9 2 race in Japan. 12 Loris Capirossi 41 9 14 18 13 Barry Sheene 40 19 10 11 n The last time that Andrea Dovizioso 14 Kenny Roberts Snr. 39 22 12 5 crashed out of a Grand Prix was in Ma- 15 34 11 13 10 laysia in 2005. Dovizioso has finished in 16 32 22 5 5 Alex Barros 32 7 11 14 the top ten in 34 of the 35 races since the 18 Freddie Spencer 31 20 9 2 crash in Malaysia; the only occasion he 19 30 9 14 7 failed to finish a race during this period 20 Luca Cadalora 24 8 9 7 was at Misano earlier this year when he 24 3 9 12 retired with a mechanical problem. 24 22 2 0 Carlos Checa 24 2 14 8

Jorge Lorenzo matches Biaggi, Rossi and Melandri orge Lorenzo’s victory at Phillip Island was the 9th victory of the year, which is one Jmore win than he achieved on his way to taking the 2006 250cc world title. This is the same number of wins achieved by Biaggi, Rossi and Melandri in their most succes- sful seasons in the 250cc class. Only Daijiro Kato, Mike Hailwood and have scored more wins in the 250cc class in a single campaign. The following list shows all the riders who have achieved eight or more victories in the 250cc class in a single season. Lorenzo joins Anton Mang and Max Biaggi as the only riders who appear in this list twice. n Alex de Angelis has finished on the With two more races remaining in 2007 Lorenzo has the opportunity to go to equal-top of podium for the last two years at Sepang. this list. After finishing in the top four at the first Number of wins in the 250cc class in a single season ten races of this year De Angelis has not 11 Daijiro Kato (Honda) - 2001 had a top four finish in the last 5 races. 10 Mike Hailwood (Honda) – 1966 Anton Mang (Kawasaki) – 1981 n ’s only finish from his 9 Max Biaggi (Aprilia) – 1996 three visits to Sepang was 5th in 2005 Valentino Rossi (Aprilia) – 1999 Marco Melandri (Aprilia) – 2002 after qualifying on pole. Jorge Lorenzo (Aprilia) - 2007 8 Anton Mang (Honda) – 1987 Luca Cadalora (Honda) – 1991 Max Biaggi (Aprilia) - 1995 Dani Pedrosa (Aprilia) – 2005 Jorge Lorenzo (Aprilia) – 2006

 STATISTICS 2007 October, 17th #17 Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix Sepang n Alvaro Bautista did the clean sweep Close racing in the 125cc class in the 125cc race at Sepang last year he tremendous battle throughout the 125cc race at Phillip Island resulted in the top – setting a new lap record on the way to nine riders crossing the line less than one and half seconds behind winner Lukas winning the race after qualifying on pole T Pesek. Only twice previously, in the 652 Grand Prix races in the 125cc class, have the position. top nine riders across the line been covered by a smaller margin. The following list shows the closest ten 125cc GP races of all-time with respect to the time covering the top nine n Hector Barbera crashed on the second riders (only races that have covered full race distance are included). The Chinese Grand lap last year in Malaysia after starting Prix from earlier this year also appears in this list – another race won by Pesek. from pole position. This was the last time that Barbera has been on pole. Closest 125cc races – time covering first nine finishers (showing race winner) n Mika Kallio had three 2nd place finis- Race Time covering first nine riders hes at Sepang during his time racing in 1. Catalunya/1998/Catalunya (Tomomi Manako) 1.062 sec the 125cc class. 2. Italy/1999/Mugello () 1.260 sec 3. Australia/2007/Phillip Island (Lukas Pesek) 1.457 sec n Thomas Luthi won the 125cc race at 4. Sweden/1990/Anderstorp (Hans Spaan) 1.937 sec Sepang in 2005 on his way to taking the 5. Valencia/2001/Valencia () 2.005 sec 6. Italy/2002/Mugello (Manuel Poggiali) 2.209 sec world title. 7. Rio/1999/Jacarepagua (Noboru Ueda) 2.280 sec 8. China/2007/Shanghai (Lukas Pesek) 2.717 sec 125cc facts & figures 9. Czech/1997/ (Noboru Ueda) 3.442 sec 10. Italy/1996/Mugello (Peter Ottl) 3.600 sec n Honda and Aprilia have each had 3 vic- tories in the 125cc class at Sepang, with and KTM both taking a single win. n None of the riders currently competing in the 125cc class have previously won MotoGP racing numbers in Malayisa. 2884 – Loris Capirossi’s total haul of Grand prix points following his second place fi- n Gabor Talmacsi could win the world nish in Australia. Only two riders have scored more points in Grand Prix racing – Valentino title in Malaysia if he wins the race and Rossi with 3336 and Max Biaggi with 2892. If Capirossi finishes 7th or better in Malaysia, Hector Faubel fails to finish in the top he will move above Biaggi and become the second highest point scorer of all-time. fifteen. Talmacsi’s 8th place finish in Aus- tralia was his lowest point scoring ride of 2007. n Hector Faubel has finished on the po- dium 8 times in the last 10 races having failed to finish in the other two races in this period. Faubel finished on the- po dium last year in Malaysia and was 4th in 2005. 99 – The MotoGP race in Malaysia will be the 99th since the four-stroke formula was n ’s pole in Australia was introduced for the 2002 season. his 9th of the year which equals the re- cord for the most poles in a single season 44 – Lukas Pesek’s victory in Australia was the 44th win for Derbi in the 125cc class, in the 125cc class previously achieved by the same number of victories as Garelli. Only Honda, Aprilia and Yamaha have had more Roberto Locatelli in 2000. in the 125cc class. n Following his victory in Australia, Lukas 23-Aprilia – Have had 23 Grand Prix victories so far in 2007 (11 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc) Pesek could become the first Derbi rider with four races still to contend. This equals the number of victories they had in 2003 whi- to score back-to-back victories since ch is the greatest number of wins achieved by Aprilia during a single season. took 4 successive wins in 2001. 19.634 seconds – Jorge Lorenzo’s winning margin at the was the biggest margin of victory in the 250cc class in a dry race since Manuel Poggiali won the 2003 Italian GP by 22.445 seconds from Fonsi Nieto.

17 – If Casey Stoner finishes in the top fifteen in Malaysia he will equal the record for the most point scoring finishes in a single season set by Colin Edwards in 2005.

9 – All of Jorge Lorenzo’s 9 wins this year have come from pole position. This equals the record number of wins from pole in the 250cc class achieved by Anton Mang in 1981.