MotoGP: All the stats ahead of this weekend’s Austin round in Texas

– This is the fifth successive year that a MotoGP event has been held at the Austin circuit and below are a selection of facts and stats related to this event:

– In total, there have been 29 previous Grand Prix events hosted in the USA: Daytona – 2, Laguna Seca – 15, Indianapolis – 8 and Austin – 4.

– Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has won on each of the eight occasions that he has raced in the MotoGP class in America; four times at Austin, three times at Indianapolis and once at Laguna Seca in 2013.  Only once in these eight appearances in MotoGP in America has Marquez not been on pole – at Laguna Seca in 2013 when he qualified in second place on the grid behind Stefan Bradl.

– The only riders currently competing in the MotoGP class who have won in the class at any of the American circuits are: Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team).

– The Ducati Team have had one rider finish on the podium in Austin for the last three years: Andrea Dovizioso was third in 2014 and second in 2015; Andrea Iannone was third last year.

– Jorge Lorenzo’s second place finish last year is the best result for Yamaha at the Austin circuit so far.

– Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) finished fourth at Austin last year, one place ahead of then teammate Aleix Espargaro. This was the first time since the San Marino GP in 2007 that Suzuki had two riders finish in the top five places.

– All twelve podium finishers in the four previous MotoGP races held at Austin have been riders from either Spain or Italy.

– The winners of the last three Moto2 races in Austin are now competing in the MotoGP class: Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Sam Lowes (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP). The only other rider to win a Moto2 race in Austin is Nico Terol, at the first visit to the circuit in 2013.

– The three riders who finished on the podium in the Moto2 race last year in Austin (Rins, Lowes and Zarco) have all moved up to race in the MotoGP class in 2017.

It’s not just the riders’ records at the Circuit of the Americas that’s of interest as we head into round three – the season has also provided some interesting stats so far. So here we go…

– The third place finish for Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) in Argentina means he has now finished on the podium at least once for six successive seasons in the MotoGP class. Only four other British riders have had premier-class podium finishes in six or more successive seasons: Mike Hailwood, Barry Sheene, Geoff Duke and Peter Williams.

– The same rider has won both of the opening two races of the year in all three classes. The last time that this happened was in 1992, when the three riders were: 125cc- Ralph Waldmann, 250cc – Luca Cadalora, 500cc – Mick Doohan.

– In Argentina, Yamaha had four riders finish in the top six places for the first time since the final race of 2015 in Valencia.

– Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) hasn’t stood on the top step of the podium since he clinched the 2016 MotoGP world title at the Japanese Grand Prix last year. During this five race period he has picked up just 38 world championship points.

– Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Racing) is one of just nine riders who has scored points in both of the two opening races of the year. His score of 17 points puts him into fourth place in the world championship classification and the highest placed of the Independent Team riders.

– Neither of the Honda factory riders have finished on the podium at the first two races of the year. The last time that the Repsol Honda Team did not have a top three finish in either of the first two races of the year was in 2000.

– Johann Zarco’s (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) fifth place finish in Argentina is the best result for a French rider in a fully dry MotoGP race since Randy de Puniet finished fourth in Catalunya in 2010.

– Zarco was the first rookie across the line in Argentina, one place ahead of teammate and fellow rookie Jonas Folger. The last time that two rookie riders in the MotoGP class finished together in the top six was at the German Grand Prix in 2013, won by Marc Marquez with Bradley Smith in sixth.

– Jonas Folger heads the rookie standings after the first two races with 16 points, which is the highest score after the first two races of the year by a rookie since Marc Marquez in 2013.

– In Argentina Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) once again finished on the podium after starting from a low grid position. This was the 35th time he has finished on the podium in the premier-class after not starting from one of the top six places on the grid.

– The age difference between Movistar Yamaha MotoGP teammates Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi is 15 years 330 days. This is the largest age difference between the top two finishers in a premier-class grand prix race since twenty-six-year-old Giacomo Agostini won the 1969 German Grand Prix from forty-six-year-old German rider Karl Hoppe at Hockenheim.

– The fastest lap of the MotoGP race in Argentina was set by Maverick Viñales with a time of 1 minute 39.694 seconds. During the course of the race another sixteen riders set lap times within one second of this fastest lap time; the first time in a MotoGP race that seventeen riders have posted lap times within one second of the fastest lap of the race.