Loris Capirossi set to pass 3000 point milestone
Following his 7th place finish at Misano, Loris Capirossi has now scored a total of 2986points in all classes during his Grand Prix career. If he finishes on the podium at Indianapolishe will become just the second rider to pass the milestone of 3000 career pointsin GP racing.
The following list shows the 10 riders who have scored most points in the 60-year historyof GP racing across all solo classes. (Note: modern-day competitors are at an advantagedue to the current point scoring system allocating more points to the leading riders andthere being more Grand Prix events each year).
Dunlop scheduled for 200th consecutive win in the 250cc class
Alvaro Bautista's win at Misano was the 199th consecutive win in the 250cc class forriders using Dunlop tyres, a sequence that started when Max Biaggi won the JapaneseGP in 1996 riding an Aprilia. The last non-Dunlop win in the 250cc class was at theIndonesian Grand Prix of 1996 at Sentul, a race won by Tetsuya Harada riding a Yamahawith Michelin. Due to their exclusive use by the current leading riders in the 250cc class,the Indianapolis race is set to become the 200th consecutive win in the category byDunlop riders. 33 different riders and 5 different constructors have contributed to the 199consecutive wins already achieved as listed below:
Aprilia close in on 250th Grand Prix victory
The victory by Alvaro Bautista in the 250cc race at Misano was the 249th GrandPrix victory for the Aprilia factory. As shown in the following table, only three othermanufacturers have scored more GP victories in the 60 year history of the championship;Honda, Yamaha and MV-Agusta. Aprilia's first victory was with Loris Reggiani in the250cc race at the San Marino GP held at Misano in 1987. The first victory in the 125ccclass came several years later at the Czech GP in 1991 with Alessandro Gramigni.
Grand Prix racing numbers
120 - At the Indianapolis Grand Prix, Shinya Nakano will be making his 120th successivestart in the premier-class of Grand Prix racing, one more than the total achieved by hiscountryman Norick Abe. Only 3 riders have had longer sequences of successive starts inthe premier-class: Alex Barros with 158, Valentino Rossi with 145 following the San MarinoGrand Prix, and Max Biaggi who started at 127 successive premier-class races.
39 years - Race day at Indianapolis will be the 39th anniversary to the day of KelCarruthers' victory in the 250cc race at the Yugoslavian Grand Prix in 1969 at Opatijariding a Benelli. This win sealed the world title for Carruthers and was the last ever racewin in the 250cc class by a four-stroke machine and the last ever title in the class by afour-stroke.
39 years - On the same day that Carruthers took the last ever 250cc four-strokevictory another milestone was also set in the 500cc class with Britain's Godfrey Nashtaking the race win on a single-cylinder Norton. This is the last ever Grand Prix win by thehistoric manufacturer and the last win in the 500cc class by a single-cylinder machine.
4 - Indianapolis is one of just four circuits on this year's calendar where Ducati have nothad a MotoGP win. The others are Le Mans, Estoril and Mugello.