MotoGP Malaysia by the numbers: A look at the statistics heading into this weekend’s grand prix

BY THE NUMBERS: TWO titles are on the line as the MotoGP world championship heads to Sepang for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

TWO titles are on the line as the MotoGP world championship heads to Sepang for the third and final leg of its three-week flyaway stint in Australasia.

Here are the numbers that matter ahead of the Malaysian MotoGP.

Watch every MotoGP practice session, qualifying and the race from Sepang LIVE and ad-free in HD on SPEED this weekend. (Foxtel channel 512).

Nicky Hayden and friends. Pic: Alex Coppel.

197
Nicky Hayden will make his 197th start in the MotoGP class, breaking his tie four fourth on the all-time list with fellow American Colin Edwards. Providing he starts the race, Hayden will become the American rider with most starts in the premier-class of Grand Prix racing. Hayden made his debut with the factory Repsol Honda squad at the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

150
Dani Pedrosa is scheduled to become the tenth rider to reach the milestone of 150 starts in the premier-class of Grand Prix racing. Fresh from two straight 250cc world championships — three straight when you include his 2003 125cc world title — Pedrosa made his MotoGP debut at the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix.

Dani Pedrosa.

122
Jorge Lorenzo’s second place finish in Australia marked the 122nd time that he had stood on a GP podium across all classes: one more podium finish than Phil Read achieved across his GP career. Only four riders have stood on the podium in Grand Prix racing more often than Lorenzo: Valentino Rossi (194 podium finishes), Giacomo Agostini (159), Angel Nieto (139) and Dani Pedrosa (134).

50
Maverick Viñales’ victory at Phillip Island was the 50th win for Spanish riders in the Moto2 class.

Vinales (C) celebrates his victory at Phillip Island.

45
Following the Australian Grand Prix, Honda heads the Constructors’ Championship by 45 points from Yamaha. This means that Honda will clinch their 21st premier-class Constructors’ title in Malaysia if any Honda rider finishes in the top 11, even if a rider from closest challenger Yamaha wins the race.

41
Esteve Rabat has a 41-point lead over his closest challenger Mika Kallio and could win the title with a good result in Malaysia. Kallio must win the race or finish second to keep his title hopes alive. If Rabat finishes seventh or higher, he is world champion regardless of where his Marc VDS teammate finishes.

Mika Kallio and Esteve ‘Tito’ Rabat.

33
Hiroshi Aoyama celebrates his 33rd birthday on the day of qualifying at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

24
The first Malaysian Grand Prix was held in 1991 and it has taken place every year since. The first, held at the Shah Alam circuit, saw a debut win in the premier-class for John Kocinski The Shah Alam circuit hosted the event for a total of seven years before the Malaysian GP went to Johor for a single year in 1998. The first Malaysian GP to be held at Sepang was in 1999 and this will be the 16th time that Sepang has hosted the event.

The end of the first lap of the 1996 Malaysian 500cc GP. Pic: Mike Cooper/Allsport

20
After the Moto3 Australian Grand Prix, Alex Marquez has a 20-point lead over Jack Miller, with only other remaining title contender Alex Rins 41 points in arrears of his championship-leading team-mate. If Marquez wins in Malaysia, Miller must finish no worse than second to keep the championship fight alive heading to the final race at Valencia.

15
On the first day of practice at Sepang, it will be exactly 15 years to the day since Alex Criville finished sixth at the 1999 Rio GP to become the first Spanish rider to win the premier-class world title and the first European rider to win the title since Franco Uncini in 1982.

The year Criville took his title, Valentino Rossi was 250cc world champ, and Marc Marquez’s mentor Emilio Alzamora was 125cc champ.

15
Maverick Viñales, who is still only 19 years of age, took the 15th victory of his GP career in Australia. This is the same number of victories that Jorge Lorenzo achieved while still a teenager. Only three riders have scored more than 15 GP wins before reaching the age of 20: Marc Marquez (26 wins while still a teenager), Dani Pedrosa (21) and Valentino Rossi (17).

12
The number of pole positions taken by Marc Marquez in season 2014, equalling the record for the most pole positions taken by a rider in a single season, shared by Mick Doohan (1997) and Casey Stoner (2011). Although pole position data is only available from 1971, Marquez will take the record outright if he can top qualifying again before the season is out, as none of the seasons prior to 1971 had as many as 13 races in a season.

Mick Doohan in 1997. Pic: Mike Cooper /Allsport

5
Jack Miller’s win at Phillip Island was his fifth win in the Moto3 class. This becomes the most GP wins by any Australian rider in the lightweight-class (Moto3/125cc) of Grand Prix racing, surpassing the four wins achieved by Tom Phillis in 1961 — the year he won the title.

4
Valentino Rossi’s win in Australia was the fourth successive victory in MotoGP for Yamaha. This is the first time since 2009 that Yamaha has taken four successive GP wins, with Jorge Lorenzo and Rossi having celebrated two apiece. The last time Yamaha took five successive MotoGP wins was in 2008, all with Rossi.

In this pic Lorenzo is sitting in a chair, following another in a string of heavy, ankle-jarring practice crashes.

3
At the Australian Grand Prix, three Yamaha riders finished on the MotoGP podium for the first time since the French GP at Le Mans in 2008, when Valentino Rossi won from Jorge Lorenzo and Colin Edwards.

2
2014 is the first year that two British riders (Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith) have finished on the podium in the premier-class in a single season since 1989, when Niall Mackenzie and Simon Buckmaster both had 500cc GP podiums. Buckmaster’s podium was at Misano — a race that was boycotted by the top riders due to safety issues.

0.069
The margin of victory in last year’s Moto3 race in Malaysia was just 0.069 of a second, Luis Salom edging out Alex Rins for the win.

What 0.044s looks like to a photo finish camera.

0.044
The amount of seconds that covered the top four finishers in last weekend’s Moto3 race at Phillip Island, a new record. The Australian Moto3 Grand Prix also set records for the smallest margin separating the top five (0.134s) and top six (0.242s) finishers.

0
No Honda rider finished in the top five places at the Australian GP — the first time this had occurred since the Australian Grand Prix in 2010. The best-placed Honda that day belonged to Marco Simoncelli in sixth place.

Official statistics supplied by MotoGP

To be fair, Phillip Island 2010 was a tough day for anyone not named Casey Stoner.

Originally published as MotoGP Malaysia by the numbers: A look at the statistics heading into this weekend’s grand prix