Marc Marquez rewrites the record books

After just two races in the MotoGP class, Marc Marquez has already set a number of new records for the class and marked some new milestones. Here’s a run through the key stats courtesy of MotoGP’s data-miner extraordinaire, Dr Martin Raines:

• His win at the Grand Prix of Americas at the age of just 20 years 63 days makes him the youngest ever rider to win a premier-class grand prix, taking the record from Freddie Spencer who was 20 years 196 days when he won the Belgium 500cc GP at Spa-Francorchamps in 1982.
• Qualifying on pole position in Austin at the age of 20 years and 62 days made Marquez the youngest ever rider to qualify on pole in the premier-class, again taking the record from Spencer who was 20 years and 153 days when he qualified on pole for the first time in the 500cc class at Jarama in 1982.
• The victory in Austin also makes Marquez the youngest-ever rider in the 65-year history of World Championship Grand Prix racing to have won in three different classes, taking the record from his team-mate Dani Pedrosa who achieved this at the age of 20 years 227 days when he won in China in 2006.
• Marquez is the first rider to have won in either their first or second start in the premier-class for 15 years, since Max Biaggi won on his 500cc debut at Suzuka in 1998.
• He is the first rider since Jorge Lorenzo in 2008 to finish on the podium in his first two races in the premier-class.
• After podium finishes at the first two races, Marquez has joint-leadership of the championship classification with Jorge Lorenzo and is the youngest rider ever to lead the premier-class. He takes the record from Lorenzo who headed the championship standings after winning at Estoril in 2008 at the age of 20 years 345 days.
• The win in Austin also gave Marquez the record of being the youngest-ever rider to take back-to-back podium finishes in the premier-class, taking the record from Randy Mamola who finished on the podium in Spain and then France in 1980 at the age of 20 years 197 days.
• At the first race of the year, Marquez set a new record for youngest rider ever to take the fastest lap of the race in the premier-class at the age of 20 years 49 days. The previous record holder was Freddie Spencer who was 20 years 161 days old when he had his first race fastest lap in the 500cc class at Misano in 1982.

Following on from what he has done in the first two races, there are a number of other records he could achieve at Jerez, including:

• Youngest rider to win back-to-back races in the premier class: the current record holder is Freddie Spencer when he won the opening two races of the 1983 season, in South Africa and then France at the age of 21 years 104 days.
• Youngest rider to take back-to-back pole positions: the current record holder is Dani Pedrosa who in 2006 qualified on pole in China and then in France at the age of 20 years 233 days.
• Youngest rider to finish on the podium at three successive premier-class races: the current record holder is Jorge Lorenzo who achieved this with podiums in his first three MotoGP races in 2008 culminating in a win at Estoril at the age of 20 years 345 days.

Source: Dr Martin Raines, motogp.com