A brief history of the Chinese Grand Prix

MotoGp.com (28/4/2008) reports.

This weekend´s Pramac Grand Prix of China will be the fourth occasion that a MotoGP race has been held in Shanghai.

This weekend´s Pramac Grand Prix of China will be the fourth occasion that a MotoGP race has been held in Shanghai. Here is a brief reminder of what has occurred on the previous three visits to China:

2005 – Valentino Rossi won the first ever MotoGP race in China, which was held in heavy rain. A surprising second place went to Olivier Jacque, riding as a replacement for Alex Hofmann who had suffered a fractured wrist at a promotional event in Portugal. Jacque had started the race down in 15th place on the grid and had steadily worked his way through the field to finish just 1.7 seconds behind Rossi, to give Kawasaki their best ever MotoGP result. Marco Melandri rounded off the podium a massive 15 seconds behind Jacque.

Future MotoGP World Champion and Shanghai racewinner Casey Stoner was triumphant in the 250cc race, after becoming the first Australian rider to start from pole in the 250cc class since Greg Hansford in 1979. Stoner was under threat from Andrea Dovizioso right up until the flag with just a couple of tenths separating them at the end. Mattia Pasini scored his first ever Grand Prix victory in the 125cc class after qualifying in 15th place on the grid.

2006 – Dani Pedrosa took his first MotoGP victory on only his fourth start in the premier class. This gave the Spaniard the record of the youngest ever rider to win Grand Prix races in three different classes, taking the record from Mike Hailwood who had held it since 1961. In the qualifying session Makoto Tamada is measured at a speed of 343.7 km/h – the highest speed ever recorded in MotoGP.

After a race long battle with Andrea Dovizioso, Hector Barbera took his only 250cc GP win to date, after qualifying on pole for the first time in the class. Mika Kallio finally took the victory in the 125cc showdown, after six riders had been in the leading pack throughout the race with less than 2 seconds covering them at the flag.

2007 – Casey Stoner gave Ducati and Bridgestone their first victory at the Shanghai circuit. Second was poleman Valentino Rossi from John Hopkins, who finished on the podium for the first time in his 82nd GP start.

Current MotoGP series leader Jorge Lorenzo dominated the 250cc class with the `holy trinity´ of pole, race win and new lap record. In the smallest capacity race Lukas Pesek became the first ever Czech rider to win a 125cc Grand Prix, ending a run of national and personal misfortune in the class.