Facts & Figures from Valencia
• Three top-10 finishes out of four races run and a third place in race 2 in 2008 are the results of Carlos Checa at his home track in the World Superbike Championship, while in the 500cc/MotoGP championship he ran nine races obtaining as best result a fourth in the 2001 and 2005 editions;
• Troy Corser, together with Noriyuki Haga, is the most successful winner at Valencia, with five wins, the first in 2000 and the last one in 2005. Corser however is not the leader for podium finishes, a record shared by Troy Bayliss and Haga with ten to Corser's eight, the last one obtained in 2008, race 1 in third. Corser is the absolute leader for poles and fastest laps, with four and seven;
• Cal Crutchlow in the Supersport championship obtained at Valencia the first of the five wins which took him to the title last year;
• Michel Fabrizio managed to climb onto the podium in Spain only at his seventh attempt, last year in race 1, when he was second behind team-mate Haga. Michel was able to repeat a podium finish in race 2 behind Haga and Spies. Last year he obtained also his best qualifying result, a fourth, his only start from the front row at the Ricardo Tormo;
• The last three races run at Valencia were won by Noriyuki Haga, who won in race 2, 2008, and in both 2009 races, scoring in the latter also two fastest laps. Five wins for the Japanese rider, who has never started from pole here, and who obtained his best qualifying result last year, a third place, at his eighth race in Valencia;
• Leon Haslam finished fifth in three of the four races he contested here;
• The best result for Vittorio Iannuzzo came in his debut year, 2006, with a sixteenth place. In 2002 Iannuzzo posted his maiden win, pole and fastest lap in the Superstock 1000 championship. He won with a six seconds advantage over Giacomo Romanelli despite falling to eleventh in the early stages. Iannuzzo was crowned Superstock 1000 champion at the end of that year;
• A win in 2008 in race 1 and two podiums in 2006 are the best results by Lorenzo Lanzi at Valencia, a track where he has always qualified in the top-10 except for his debut year, when he started thirteenth. Lanzi won the 2003 Superstock race beating Enrique Rocamora Ros and Lorenzo Alfonsi;
• Good performances but also a fair share of bad luck for Max Neukirchner, who was taken down by Carlos Checa in the first 2008 race. Last year he was able to jump into the lead at the start and at the end of the races he obtained his best results in Valencia: third in race 1 and seventh in race 2. Max started from pole in 2008;
• The best result for Andrew Pitt in Valencia came in the second 2005 race, when he was fifth. He didn't have much luck in the Supersport championship either, even in the year he became champion, 2008, when he was 19th starting from pole. His best result in the Supersport class is a second place behind Kenan Sofuoglu in 2007;
• Jonathan Rea didn't manage to end in the top-10 in his superbike debut on the Spanish track, retiring in race 1 and finishing thirteenth in race 2 last year. In 2008 he was sixth on the grid and in the Supersport race;
• Last year Luca Scassa was 18th and 24th in the Superbike races. In the Superstock 1000 championship he raced there three times with three different bikes: in 2004 he was seventh with Kawasaki, in 2005 21st with Yamaha and in 2006 fifth with MV Agusta;
• Six races and no finishes in the top-10 for Jakub Smrz, whose limit seems to be the fourteenth place. The Czech rider finished fourteenth four times out of six races run here;
• Tom Sykes in his Superbike debut in this track scored a seventh and a tenth in last year's races;
• In his Superbike career Makoto Tamada has alternated a points finish to a retirement in Valencia: he was ninth in race 1 in 2008 and fourteenth in race 1, 2009, retiring both times in the second races. He had more luck in the MotoGP championship, when he was always in the points from 2003 to 2007, obtaining a fifth as best result in 2004;
• Two wins out of fourteen starts for James Toseland on the Ricardo Tormo track: in 2004 race 1 and 2007 race 2, the years when he won the championship. He added to these two more podium finishes, in 2003 race 2 and 2004 race 2. Two front row starts: in 2003 and 2004. In his two years in the MotoGP championship he didn't manage to finish in the top-10 in this track;
• Chris Vermeulen finished second behind Troy Corser in both 2005 races, starting from the same grid spot. In the MotoGP championship he managed to finish only once in the top-10 out of four races run: a sixth place in 2007;
• Ruben Xaus won race 1 in 2007 and was second in both 2003 races behind team-mate Neil Hodgson. Last year he didn't manage to finish in the top-10, with a thirteenth and a sixteenth.
VALENCIA RACE NOTES
• Aprilia won three times here: in 2000 race 1 and a double in 2001 with Troy corser, who scored pole in both races;
• BMW have yet to finish in the top-10 after the thirteenth and fifteenth places obtained last year;
• Ducati have won twelve of the twenty races run in Valencia. In the last eight editions they missed the win only in 2007 race 2 (winner James Toseland, Honda) and in 2008 race 2 (Haga, Yamaha);
• Only one win for Honda in Valencia, with Toseland in 2007, race 2. In the last two years the Japanese manufacturer obtained only one podium placement, with Carlos Checa, third in race 2, 2008;
• Kawasaki have never won in Valencia and have obtained only two podium placements: a third with Gregorio Lavilla in 2001, race 2, and a third with Chris Walker in 2005, race 2;
• The only wins by Suzuki came in the year Troy Corser was last crowned champion: 2005, when the Aussie dominated both races;
• Yamaha won here only in the hands of Noriyuki Haga: in 2000 race 2 and eight years later in race 2. In the first win the winning bike was the YZF-R7, in the second the YZF-R1. Last year the only pole in Valencia, thanks to Ben Spies;
• In the last three editions there have been three different manufacturers on pole: Ducati in 2007, Suzuki in 2008 and Yamaha last year;
• In the last two editions the polesitter never won the race and in both cases he slid off in race 1.
MILESTONES IN SPAIN
• 1991: 25th fastest lap for Ducati, recorded by Doug Polen (Jarama);
• 1992: (in Albacete) first win for Aaron Slight. First and only fastest lap and podium place for Daniel Amatriain; 25th podium for Fabrizio Pirovano;
• 1993: (in Albacete) 100th presence in race for Fred Merkel. First pole position for Aaron Slight;
• 1995: 100th fastest lap for Ducati by Pierfrancesco Chili (Albacete);
• 1996: 10th win for Troy Corser (Albacete);
• 1998: first pole for Noriyuki Haga (Albacete), the tenth for Yamaha;
• 1999: (Albacete) 100th race start for Pierfrancesco Chili and Andreas Meklau;
• 2000: 25th pole for Troy Corser;
• 2001: 10th podium for Troy Bayliss;
• 2002: 10th win and 25th podium for Troy Bayliss; 150th presence in race for Colin Edwards;
• 2003: first front row presence for James Toseland;
• 2004: first fastest lap for Garry McCoy, first podium for Steve Martin;
• 2005: 100th race start for Chris Walker;
• 2006: 25th win and 50th podium place for Troy Bayliss. 100th podium place for Troy Corser;
• 2007: tenth win for Ruben Xaus, 150th race start for James Toseland;
• 2008: first pole for Max Neukirchner, the first for a German rider, first fastest lap for Carlos Checa;
• 2009: 50th fastest race lap for Noriyuki Haga, the first rider to reach this goal. Tenth podium for Max Neukirchner.
SUPERSPORT FLASH DATA
Only Sebastien Charpentier has been able to win more than one Supersport race at Valencia (2005 and 2006); in 2009 Yamaha won with Cal Crutchlow ending a streak of four consecutive Honda wins.
SUPERSTOCK 1000 FLASH DATA
Daniel Oliver is the only Spanish rider able to win a Superstock 1000 Valencia on his home track (in 2000).
SUPERSTOCK 600 FLASH DATA
In the last three editions Yamaha has scored pole, the win and fastest lap.
IT HAPPENED IN PORTIMAO
• Maiden career pole for Cal Crutchlow, the 52nd rider in history to start from the front spot. Crutchlow is the twelfth youngest at 24 years, 4 months and 27 days. The record was set in Phillip Island, 1994, by Anthony Gobert (19 years, 7 months and 25 days). The last pole by Yamaha was recorded on this same track last year by Ben Spies;
• Two races into the season and Carlos Checa has already collected more front row starts than the entire 2009 season, when he started from the front only at Miller. The Spaniard also recorded his first fastest lap since the 2008 Magny Cours race;
• First career double for Max Biaggi. A double win by Aprilia has been missing since the 2001 Valencia races (Troy Corser). With his two podium placements, Biaggi took his career tally to 35, reaching Ruben Xaus. The Italian also passed the goal of 1000 points accumulated (1023);
• Leon Haslam scored his tenth career podium, the 36th rider in history to reach this goal;
• Cal Crutchlow posted his second podium after one year and a half, when he was second in the second Donington race;
