Ready for the Japanese GP? Same here. So here we go with some stats:
- Motegi was first added to the calendar in 1999 and has hosted a GP event every year since. 2017 is the 19th occasion that a Grand Prix event has been held at the Motegi circuit.
- Since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP™ formula in 2002, Honda have had seven MotoGP™ victories at the Motegi circuit including for the last two years; in 2015 with Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa and last year with teammate Marc Marquez.
- Yamaha have won the MotoGP™ race at Motegi on four occasions, the last of which was in 2014 with Jorge Lorenzo. Both Yamaha factory riders crashed out of the Japanese Grand Prix last year, which was the first time that the factory Yamaha team failed to score any points in a MotoGP™ race since the Australian GP in 2011 when both riders (then Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies) failed to start the race due to injury.
- Ducati have had four MotoGP™ wins at the Motegi circuit, the last of which was with Casey Stoner in 2010. Andrea Dovizioso’s second place finish last year was the first podium for Ducati in Japan since Stoner’s win in 2010.
- Suzuki and Kenny Roberts Jnr won the first premier class Grand Prix (then the 500cc class) held at Motegi in 1999 and repeated the win in 2000. Since the introduction of MotoGP™ as the premier class of Grand Prix racing in 2002, Maverick Viñales’ third place finish last year is the only podium for Suzuki at Motegi.
- Suzuki teammates Maverick Viñales and Aleix Espargaro finished third and fourth in Japan last year – the first time since the San Marino GP at Misano in 2007 that Suzuki had two riders finish in the top four places in a MotoGP™ race.
- Dani Pedrosa is the rider with most GP wins at the Motegi circuit with five (3 x MotoGP™, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 125cc). Five other riders have had three GP victories at Motegi: Loris Capirossi (3 x MotoGP™), Toni Elias (2 x 250cc, 1 x Moto2™), Mika Kallio (2 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc), Jorge Lorenzo (3 x MotoGP™) and Marc Marquez (1 x 125cc, 1 x Moto2™, 1 x MotoGP™).
- Home riders have taken eight GP victories at the Motegi circuit: Masao Azuma – 125cc/1999, Shinya Nakano – 250cc/1999, Daijiro Kato – 250cc/2000, Youichi Ui – 125cc/2001, Tetsuya Harada – 250cc/2001, Makoto Tamada – MotoGP™/2004 & Hiroshi Aoyama – 250cc in both 2005 and 2006.
- The last Japanese rider to finish on the podium at Motegi, in any of the three classes, is Hiroshi Aoyama who was second in the 250cc race in 2009.