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 CHAMPIONSHIP ROAD RACE SERIES STATISTICS .'-1, •. '. he best measure of effectiveness for a GP rider is probably measured in Average Points per Start. Doohan set a new record for most points in a single season last year when he scored 340 points and won 12 of 15 races. In spite of going scoreless when he crashed while leading the final GP of the season, Ooohan starts this season provisionally in front of Wayne Rainey by just .01 of a point in the list of top GP scorers in the 500cc class. Only three modern riders have managed better than a 17-points-per-start average: Doohan, Rainey and Roberts. "Steady Eddie" Lawson would probably have been in this select company had he not spent his final two seasons riding the less-competitive Cagiva. T s o, what does it all mean? Just that the 50th anniversary year of the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grands Prix, as the series is cumbersomely titled, begins with one man holding a huge advantage in all the vital departments and starting his 10th season on the same team, still riding the bike that he has developed and refined since 1989. On paper Doohan looks unbeatable and he certainly hasn't looked any less unbeatable in off-season testing, although Kocinski was quicker than Doohan at Eastern Creek, a track Doohan hates anyway. Since we introduced this discussion of stats and their relevance by talking about baseball, perhaps the best reaction to all these dire numbers foretelling another Doohan runaway might be found in the title of the appendix to Jim Bouton's "Ball Four": "Tell Your Statistics to Shut Up." And the best preseason quote from a 500cc challenger has to be from one of the most underrated riders out there, Spain's hard-as-nails Carlos Checa. Checa, teammate to Kocinski on the MoviStar Honda Pons squad, told me in Jerez during the IRTA tests, "I was so focused on beating Doohan last year (Above) Luca Cadalora stands ninth on the all-time win list. (Top right) Rainey, Roberts and John Kocinski. Kocinski shares all the lists with the greats, and among active riders is second only to Doohan in winning percentage. (Right) Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto only had 34 starts in the 500cc class. But even if you credit him with the minimum 40, he'd still be sixth on the pole-position list. that I literally didn't even see the other riders on the track sometimes. I ran into (Norifumi) Abe once because I had my eyes on Doohan's rear wheel and didn't even see the Yamaha. I feel that we young riders have got to beat Doohan or he'll just keep winning and winning. I think there are too many riders in 500 who are happy to finish second and who are just waiting for Doohan to retire. If you think of Doohan like a god who can't be beaten, you might as well buy a ticket and go sit in the grandstands and cheer." fN 500cc·CLASS AVERAGE POINTS PER START (1976 TO PRESENT) (All points adjusted to current scoring system') Starts 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Mick Doohan Wayne Rainey Kenny Roberts Eddie Lawson Wayne Gardner Kevin Schwantz Freddie Spencer John Kocinski Alex Criville Luca Cadalora Ave. PtsJstart Points 121 83 58 127 102 104 62 44 78 68 Rider 2106 1443 995 2018 1449 1419 791 547 934 800 17.40 17.39 17.16 15.89 14.21 13.64 12.76 12.43 11.97 11.43 (Nobuatsu Aokl. who has made only 15 starts In the 500cc class, currently is averaging 11.93 pOints per start.) '1st. 25 pts.. 2nd. 20 pts.. 3rd. 16 pts.. 4th. 13 pts.. 5th. 11 pts.. 6th. 10 pts.. etc. down to 1 point for 15th. VITAL 500cc-CLASS STATS FOR OTHER FACTORY RIDERS , Rider (Age) CountIy 3 7 10 11 12 14 15 21 17 55 N.Aoki Romboni Roberts Jr. Crafer Bayle Borja Gibernau Goorbergh Fujiwara Laconi (26) (29) (24) (28) (29) (28) (25) (27) (23) 500cc WINNING PERCENTAGEIPODIUM PERCENTAGE AMONG CURRENT RIDERS , 1 19 4 2 8 5 9 Rider Country Doohan Kocinski Criville Okada Checa Abe Barros Aus USA Spain Japan Spain Japan Brazil Bike Honda Honda Honda Honda Honda Yamaha Honda 121 44 78 30 34 46 101 46 4 6 1 1 1 1 50 8 6 4 0 0 0 41 4 8 3 3 1 3 83 18 30 11 6 6 8 38.0 9.1 7.7 3.3 2.9 2.2 0.9 68.6 40.9 38.4 36.6 17.6 13.0 7.9 Seven of the 24 riders entered in the 1998 500cc World ChampionshIp have scored wins In this class prior to the start of the season. Doohan. with 46 wins. has scored over three times more 500cc WinS than the combined total of the rest of the field. Fastest Besl-ev« BesHver SllIls YfIlS Poles ~ PodIll1S flllish Quailyilg Suzuki MuZ Modenas Yamaha Yamaha Honda ROC Honda Suzuki Yamaha 15 21 28 5 29 41 15 15 1 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 1 3 0 4 0 9 0 4 0 7 0 6 11 0 OONF 5 0 3 2 3 17 1 10 5 4 4 8 NEW 500cc RIDERS WITH NO 500cc EXPERIENCE Fastest Winning PoditIn Starts WIllS Poles lips Podiums % % (22) Japan Italy USA NZ France Spain Spain NL Japan France Bike (Record shown from other GP classes) # Rider (Age) Country Bike GP Class Starts Wins Poles Laps Podiums GP Debut 6 Biaggi (26) 18 McCoy (25) 22 Gimbert (20) 23 Wait (21) 18 Waldmann (31) 88 Smart Italy Honda 250 Aus Honda 125 FranceHonda 250 USA Honda 500 Ger Modenas 250 125 80 (23) UK Honda 250 87 59 2 0 56 55 12 3 29 2 0 0 12 6 0 0 33 1 0 0 5 2 0 0 28 0 0 0 9 6 0 0 53 '91,250 7 '92, 125 0 '96,250 0 NeverracedGP 30 '94,250 15 '89,125 0 '87,80 0 '95,250