Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar racing numbers

986 – Casey Stoner has accumulated 986 points during his career in the MotoGP class. If he finishes either first or second in Qatar he will become the 17th rider to pass the milestone of 1000 points in the premier class of Grand Prix racing.

199 – Valentino Rossi has scored points in 199 GP races across all three classes. A top fifteen finish for Rossi in Qatar will make him just the third rider to reach the milestone of 200 point scoring finishes in Grand Prix racing. The only other riders to have achieved this are Loris Capirossi and Alex Barros.

136 – Qatar will be the 136th MotoGP race since the advent of the four-stroke formula at the start of 2002. Of the riders who competed in the opening MotoGP race of 2002 in Japan only Valentino Rossi and Loris Capirossi are still competing in Grand Prix racing.

99 – Nicky Hayden has finished in a point scoring position on 99 occasions. A top fifteen finish in Qatar will make him the 15th rider to reach the milestone of 100 point scoring finishes in the premier class of Grand Prix racing.

10 – The first day of practice in Qatar will be the tenth anniversary of the 2000 Japanese GP at Suzuka when Norick Abe won the 500cc race, Daijiro Kato the 250cc race and Youichi Ui the 125cc race. This is the only occasion that Japanese riders have won all three classes at a GP event.

7 – This will be the seventh occasion that a Grand Prix event has been held at the Losail circuit and the third under floodlights. Ducati are the most successful manufacturer with three MotoGP victories at Qatar followed by Yamaha with two and Honda, who have a single MotoGP victory at the Losail circuit back in 2004 with Sete Gibernau.

5 – Ducati riders have won the opening race of the year for the last 4 years – Loris Capirossi at Jerez in 2006 and Casey Stoner in Qatar for the last three years. If a Ducati rider wins again this year they will become only the second manufacturer to win the opening race of the year in five or more successive seasons. The only other manufacturer to have achieved this is MV Agusta.

4 – If Casey Stoner wins in Qatar this year he will become only the fourth rider ever to win the opening premier class race of the year in four or more successive years; the other riders to have done this are Giacomo Agostini, Barry Sheene and Valentino Rossi.

3 – The 2010 season will be the fourth year of the 800cc capacity limit in MotoGP. With Chris Vermeulen having left Grand Prix racing, there are only three riders that will start in Qatar who have competed in all 53 races since the regulation was introduced at the start of the 2007 season: Colin Edwards, Randy de Puniet and Valentino Rossi.