Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127935
ROAD RACE WORLD CHAIIPIONSHIP ROAD RACE SERIES STATISTICS By Dennis Noyes Photos from the Cycle News archives' L ast year Repsol Honda's Mick Doohan humiliated the field to such an extent in the 500cc World Championships that, as was the case with Jeremy McGrath in Supercross two years ago, the only real interest in 500cc racing was how long Ooohan's winning streak would continue and how many records he would break. For the good of 500 racing, I'd like to say that, after the preseason tests, Doohan looks more vulnerable this year. But the tru th is tha t taking the 500cc ti tie. away from Mick Doohan is going to be harder than taking a wheel off a locomotive with a hammer and a monkey wrench. Doohan is starting the season in a nasty mood, which is bad news for his rivals. He thinks the new unleaded fuel has taken the tiger out of the tank and replaced it with a pussycat. He says he's not worried about John Kocinski, that his chief rivals will be his teamma tes Alex Criville and Tadayuki Okada, and that he's not obsessed with breaking Giacomo Agostini's record of 68 wins in the 500cc class (Doohan starts the season with 46), but that as long as he's motivated, he'll keep racing, and if he breaks the record, well, that will be nice. Just how good is this Australian, any-' way? To answer that, I delved deep into the stats that British statistician Dr. Martin Raines and I have gathered over the last two seasons as support for TV commentary on Speedvision's coverage of the championship. Unlike the European Grand Prix journalists and TV commentators with whom I work, I still remember what I 500cc-CLASS CAREER WINNING PERCENTAGES (1976-PRESENT) (Limited to riders with a minimum of 40 starts in the 500cc class) Rider 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 500tiUes Mick Doohan Kenny Roberts Freddie Spencer Wayne Rainey Eddie Lawson Kevin Schwantz Barry Sheene' Wayne Gardner Luca Cadalora John Kocinski Starts Wms 4 3 2 3 4 1 2 1 0 0 121 58 62 83 127 104 97 102 68 44 46 22 20 24 31 25 19 18 8 4 (Top) Mick Doohan leads the greatest riders of the modern era in career winning percentage, just edging Kenny Roberts (above and left). Roberts, however, still has the highest percentage of fastest laps per race start. Wmning Petcentage 38.0% 37.9% 32.3% 28.9% 24.4% 24.0% 19.6% 17.6% 11.8% 9.1% learned as a kid growing up back in the Midwest: You can make a case for just about anything, but you need a lot of stats to back it.up. I learned tha t lesson when I was a freshman in high school and Bill Veeck, then the owner of the Chicago White Sox, came to my hometown to give a speech at the VFW. I covered it for the school newspaper. Veeck made the statement that Luis Aparicio was the best shortstop in baseball and that he wouldn't trade ApariciO for Ernie Banks and Wrigley Field together. That was too much and I answered back that Banks had hit 44 home runs the year before and that he held tlie Major League record for grand slams and for home runs by a shortstop. The place went silent and Veeck regarded me coolly and then calmly produced a string of amazing statistics that not only proved that the light-hitting Venezuelan' with the grea t glove was more valuable to the Sox than Banks would have been, but went on to imply that Banks' propensity to hit into double plays combined with his lack of range to his left did more harm to the Cubs than the good that his line drives over the ivycovered walls did. I felt like hitting him over the head with his wooden leg, but he had me.