– Jorge Lorenzo has scored five wins in the Czech Republic: 2004 in 125cc; 2006 and 2007 in 250cc; and 2010 and 2015 in MotoGP, and a total of nine podiums. Jorge joins Rossi and Pedrosa as the only three riders who have won in Brno in all three categories.
– Lorenzo also has five pole positions at Brno: 2005, 2006 and 2007 in 250cc; 2012 and 2015 in MotoGP, and has been on the front row of the grid nine times.
– Lorenzo has led the race from the start four times this season. He is the rider who has led most often after the lights go out for the race start.
– In the last six GPs, Lorenzo has been the rider who has gained the most positions in the early stages of each race. In Jerez he picked up three places, five in France, one in Italy, eight in Holland and two in Germany. Only in Catalonia, where he started from pole position, did he lose two places. In last year’s GP Lorenzo started sixth on the grid and reached second on the first lap.
– Ducati holds the top speed record at Brno of 316.4 km/h, set in 2015.
– Ducati has two victories in the Czech Republic and both were achieved consecutively, with Capirossi in 2006 and Stoner in 2007.
– Troy Bayliss finished third in the 2003 race, which was the first season for Ducati in MotoGP. Since then, the Italian brand has collected podiums at the Czech track, through Capirossi, Stoner, Elias and the aforementioned Bayliss.
– Dovizioso has finished second four times in the Czech GP, all of them divided between the 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP classes.
Curiosities
– The Brno track was inaugurated in 1987 and with the exception of 1992, has always held a World Championship event. Along with Jerez and Assen the Czech circuit has hosted the most GPs and these three are the only remaining venues on the calendar to host a race uninterruptedly since 1993.
– It is the only circuit that has not undergone any variation in its layout in its 31 years of existence.
– The largest elevation change on the track is 74 metres, starting from the high point at the entrance to turn 3, to the lowest point between turns 10 and 11.
– Riders go from 315 km/h to 125 km/h at the end of the finish line, braking for a distance of 333 metres over 6.4 seconds, making it one of the longest braking areas of the entire Championship. But the most difficult braking happens in turn 10, which is downhill and requires the riders to use a force of 6.2 kg on the brake lever, creating a deceleration of 1.5 G.
– In the 31-year history of the Brno track, the 2016 race was the first to be held in wet conditions. Last year in 2017, the race was declared wet and riders had to change bikes under the flag-to-flag rule.
– Brno has a total of 400,000 inhabitants, making it the second most important city in the country after the capital, Prague.
