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Statistics: From Valencia to Assen

Friday, 24 April 2009 08:50 GMT

Haga's Landmarks

 

Noriyuki Haga at Valencia scored the double and also posted the two fastest laps. It's the 18th time that this has happened in Superbike history. It's also the second time that Haga is able to score such a result, the first time was on April 13th 1998 at Donington Park.

Thanks to this, the Japanese rider is the first to reach the milestone of 50 fastest race laps.

 

Fabrizio? Second!

 

For the fifth time in his career, Michel Fabrizio finished second at Valencia. In the history of the Championship he is the rider with the highest number of second places without a win, in front of Gregorio Lavilla and Simon Crafar on four. Michel after Valencia became the rider with the highest number of podium placements without a win: thirteen, Lavilla and Crafar can count respectively twelve and ten.

 

Other notes about Valencia Races

 

In race 1 Max Neukirchner became the 33rd rider in history to have scored at least ten podiums.

 

A couple of fourths for Laconi in Valencia: he hasn't been on the podium since Brands Hatch, 2005.

 

First win for Cal Crutchlow in Supersport. The win by Yamaha broke the sequence of ten straight Honda wins, that started in 2008 at the Nurburgring, the second of all time.

 

First pole for Davide Giugliano in Superstock 1000.

 

First win for Danilo Petrucci in Superstock 600. Yamaha scored their fifth straight win and equalled the all-time record set by themselves from Vallelunga 2007 to Monza 2008.

 

100 for Two

 

In Assen Karl Muggeridge and Yukio Kagayama will reach 100 race starts in the World Championship. Muggeridge at the moment has 99 starts, while Kagayama is on 98. After the Dutch weekend Max Neukirchner will also be close to this goal: with the Assen race starts he will be on 99.

 

200 for Haga?

 

In his Superbike career, Noriyuki Haga has taken the chequered flag 198 times, and with two more race finishes he will be the third rider in history to have completed 200 races. The other ones are Troy Corser (264) and Aaron Slight (209). Haga is also close to another milestone: with one podium place he will reach Troy Bayliss (94 podiums) in third place for all-time podiums.

 

Assen Personal Scoreboard

 

Max Biaggi has always scored points in his four races in Assen, climbing on the podium in race 2, 2007, while in the 500cc/MotoGP class he won in 2001 and climbed on the podium twice out of eight starts;

 

In his Superbike debut in Assen, Carlos Checa obtained two podium places in Assen, a second and a third. In his 500cc/MotoGP career he scored his best result in 1997, finishing second behind Mick Doohan in 1997;

 

Troy Corser has a difficult relationship with Assen. The Aussie has never been able to win there, finishing second three times and scoring a total of seven podium placements. In the last three seasons Troy has picked up three retirements and three points finishes. Corser started from pole three times in Assen: 1995, 1999 and 2006, and he is the rider with the highest number of poles scored here together with Pierfrancesco Chili. Out of twelve qualifying attempts, the Aussie has only been outside the top-10 in 2003 (eleventh);

 

Michel Fabrizio climbed on the podium at his first race here (2006) but he wasn't able to repeat that performance. Last year he retired twice due to pain in his arm, that was operated the following week. Michel never qualified inside the top-10, his best qualifying effort is a 12th last year;

 

Noriyuki Haga won the second race of the 2000 weekend at Assen, and has picked up a total of eight podium placements. He has a curious pattern in his last races run here: he posted only second places (three) and retirements (four);

 

Leon Haslam finished sixth in three of the four races run here in 2003 and 2004;

 

The best result for Yukio Kagayama at Assen is a fourth place scored in race 2, 2006 and repeated in race 1 last year. The Japanese counts only one retirement and seven points finishes. He always qualified inside the top-10, reaching the front row in 2006 (third);

 

Regis Laconi in his last five races run here has always seen the chequered flag, scoring points three times. The Frenchman climbed onto the podium only once out of thirteen starts: in 2004, race 1. Regis has been looking for a front row spot on the Assen grid since 2004, when he was third. Since then his best result was an eleventh last year;

 

Max Neukirchner retired only once in eight races run at Assen. In all the other races he has always finished in the top-10. His best result is a third in race 1 last year;

 

Broc Parkes was able to reach the top-10 in 2002, with a ninth and an eighth, then he went to Supersport, where he obtained as best result a fourth in 2004; last year he was fifth in a race that counted six riders in less than one second;

 

Jakub Smrz has always scored points in his four races run here. Last year in race 1 his best result was sixth;

 

Makoto Tamada at Assen was never able to score a top-10 finish in his five years in MotoGP, but he was able to do it in Superbike, scoring last year an eighth and a ninth;

 

Ruben Xaus has an excellent record at Assen: he won race 1 in 2003 and scored four more podiums out of twelve starts. For him there have also been several disappointing moments, with three retirements.

 

 

Other notes about the Assen Races

 

The only active riders to have won at Assen are Haga (race 2, 2000) and Xaus (race 1, 2003). The rider with most wins on the Dutch track is Fogarty, with 12, followed by Bayliss with 6;

 

Ducati and Honda dominate the winners board, respectively with 22 and 10 wins. For Yamaha and Kawasaki only one win, in 2000 race 2 and 2006 race 1 (the last win to date for Kawasaki), while Suzuki have never won here;

 

Yamaha came close to a win, finishing second, six times, the last one in 2008, race two. A Yamaha finished second for four straight races, from race 2, 2005 to race 1, 2007;

 

The pole positions are also a Ducati (11) and Honda (5) affair. Suzuki was able to break inside in 2006 with Troy Corser;

 

Aprilia in their four seasons from 1999 to 2002, were never able to start from the front row, but scored a couple of third places on the podium in 2001, race 2 and 2002 in race 1 with Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga.