Doha MotoGP, the stats: Yamaha the most successful in Qatar

Doha MotoGP, the stats: Yamaha the most successful in Qatar

Facts and stats re the round that has served as the season opener since 2007 (with the exception of last year)

31.03.2021 ( Aggiornata il 31.03.2021 19:18 )

This year the Qatar GP becomes a double header, and so before round two gets underway, we take a look at the stats relating to this round. Since 2007, the Losail track has hosted the season opener each year, with the exception of last season, which was impossible due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Numbers


Yamaha has been the most successful in Qatar, with nine MotoGP wins scored by three different riders: Valentino Rossi (2005, 2006, 2010, 2015), Jorge Lorenzo (2012, 2013, 2016) and Maverick Viñales (2017, 2021).

Ducati has scored five wins with two riders, namely Casey Stoner (2007, 2008, 2009) and Andrea Dovizioso (2018, 2019). Losail is one of the best tracks for Ducati, along with Sepang, Austria and Motegi.

Honda has celebrated three wins here, the last dating back to 2014, when Marc Marquez won from pole position. Last weekend, Pol Espargaró was the strongest Honda rider, finishing eighth. This marks the manufacturer’s worst ever result at Losail.

The Qatar MotoGP race has only even been won four times by a rider who did not qualify on the front row: Valentino Rossi (2006, 2015), Casey Stoner (2008) and Andrea Dovizioso (2018).

Only Yamaha, Ducati and Honda riders have won, reached the podium and scored pole at the Qatari track.

Suzuki, Aprilia and KTM


Suzuki’s strongest Qatar result in MotoGP is the fourth place scored by John Hopkins in 2007, by Alex Rins in 2019 and by Joan Mir last weekend.

Aleix Espargaró’s sixth-place finish here in 2017 matched Aprilia’s previous best result, achieved by Colin Edwards at Suzuka in 2003. Espargaró scored the same result at Aragon in 2017 and 2018, as did Andrea Iannone in Australia in 2019. Espargaró’s seventh-place finish in last weekend’s race, 5.934 seconds from the winner, represents the smallest gap to the front for an Aprilia since 2002.

Not a great start for KTM, its best rider Miguel Oliveira closing in thirteenth place. Up until now, the Austrian manufacturer’s best result was the twelfth place finish Pol Espargaró scored in 2019.

Interesting rider facts


With last weekend's victory, Maverick Viñales has won his first race since last year’s Emilia-Romagna round. This is his ninth win in all, and Losail is the first track at which he’s won more than once since coming to the reigning class.

This is also Viñales’s eighth win with the Yamaha, which means he ties with Max Biaggi for sixth place on the list of most successful Yamaha riders, behind Kenny Roberts with 22 wins.

Viñales has become the twelfth rider to win at least once across ten (or more) GP seasons, together with Valentino Rossi (20 seasons), Angel Nieto (16), Dani Pedrosa (16), Jorge Lorenzo (14), Max Biaggi (13), Giacomo Agostini (12), Loris Capirossi (12), Phil Read (12), Anton Mang (10), Luca Cadalora (10) and Marc Marquez (10).

At the Doha GP, Valentino Rossi will be aiming for his 200th GP podium.

Translated by Heather Watson

MotoGP, Doha: Ducati and Suzuki, a two-pronged attack on Viñales

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