After reconquering the top spot in the Riders (with Andrea Dovizioso) and Constructors rankings in the GP of the Americas, the Mission Winnow Ducati team is ready to resume action at Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) for the fourth round of the season, scheduled for May 3-5. Let’s discover 10 key statistics about the Spanish round:
– In May 2018, the Jerez circuit was re-named after Ángel Nieto to honor the Spanish rider and 13-time world champion, who passed away the summer before.
– On Sunday, Jerez will host a MotoGP race for the 32nd time. The track is third in the all-time list for number of GPs hosted behind Assen, which is the only track that has been on the calendar since the beginning of the championship in 1949, and Spa-Francorchamps, which hosted 40 races.
– Ducati seized a win in MotoGP at Jerez in 2006 with Loris Capirossi, and collected for more podiums on the same track – curiously, all third place finishes: with Bayliss in 2003, Stoner in 2009, Hayden in 2011 and Lorenzo in 2017.
– Ducati took its maiden MotoGP pole position at Jerez in 2003 with Loris Capirossi, in what was also only the third ever outing of the Italian motorcycle in the Championship.
– Should he finish the race in the top three positions, Andrea Dovizioso would collect his 94th podium in MotoGP, tying Mick Doohan in fourth place for most podium finishes in the premier class.
– Andrea Dovizioso will ride his 200th MotoGP race on Sunday.
– Aside from Andrea Dovizioso, only Marc Márquez and Valentino Rossi collected more than one podium in the first three races of the season.
– Andrea Dovizioso’s best results at Jerez are two third-place finishes achieved in 2006 and 2007 in the 250cc class. Dovizioso’s best result in MotoGP at Jerez to date is a fifth place scored in 2014.
– Danilo Petrucci enjoyed his best race result at Jerez last year, when he was fourth on the Desmosedici GP of the Pramac Racing Team.
– During last year’s winter tests at Jerez, Danilo Petrucci posted the best ever lap by Ducati on this track with a 1:37.968.
