SUNDAY 15TH OCTOBER - GRAND PRIX GUIDE
15 October 2006 - Moto GP

bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal

• For the first time this year two Yamaha riders have qualified together on the front row of the grid.

• For only the second time this year riders using Michelin tyres have taken all three slots on the front row – the previous occasion being in Germany.

• Valentino Rossi, who has had four victories at Estoril, starts from pole for the fourth time in 2006.

• This is the first time that Rossi has qualified on pole at Estoril.

• From the thirteen previous occasions he has qualified on pole riding a Yamaha, Rossi has gone on to win the race eleven times.

• Colin Edwards has qualified in second place for the third time in his career - his best ever grid result.

• Nicky Hayden is starting from the front row for the fifth time in 2006.

• Hayden’s current championship lead is the narrowest it has been since Catalunya.

• If Dani Pedrosa finishes higher than ninth he will achieve the highest ever points total by a rookie, taking the record from Valentino Rossi, who scored 209 points in 2000.

• Casey Stoner, who won the 250cc race last year in Portugal, will be starting from his best grid position since he qualified on pole at the second race of the year in Qatar.

• John Hopkins has scored points at the last twelve races and is the first Suzuki rider to amass more than 100 points in a season since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP machines.

• Shinya Nakano’s eighth place finish last year is the best ever result for a Kawasaki rider at Estoril.

• After finishing fourth at the last two races, Sete Gibernau is aiming to finish on the podium for the first time since he finished second in Germany last year.

• Carlos Checa, who celebrates his 34th birthday today, has finished in the top five on four occasions at Estoril.

• Loris Capirossi’s third place finish in 2003 is the best ever result for a Ducati rider at the circuit.

• Roberto Locatelli starts from pole for the first time in the 250cc class in what will be his 84th start.

• The last time Locatelli started from pole was in the 125cc class at Phillip Island in 2004.

• Hiroshi Aoyama, who will be aiming for back-to-back victories for the first time in his career, has finished on the podium four times in the last six races.

• Marco Simoncelli starts from the front row for the first time since moving to the class at the start of the year.

• Jorge Lorenzo will be going for his ninth victory of 2006, which would be a new record for a Spanish rider in the class.

• Hector Barbera, who won the 125cc race at Estoril in 2004, has not managed a podium finish since he won the fourth race of the year in China.

• Alex de Angelis has finished on the podium eight times in the last nine races.

• Roberto Locatelli and Andrea Dovizioso are the only two riders in the 250cc class to have scored at all fourteen races of 2006.

• Andrea Dovizioso scored his first podium in the class last year at Estoril, in what was only his second ride on the bike.

• Alvaro Bautista starts from pole for the seventh time in 2006.

• If Bautista finishes in the top three it will be his fourteenth podium of the year, a new record for the class. A victory will give him a new record for most points scored in a season in the class, taking the record from Valentino Rossi.

• Hector Faubel has equalled his best ever qualifying result from Turkey last year. Faubel’s second place finish here last year was his first ever podium.

• Lukas Pesek starts from the front row for the ninth time in 2006.

• Julian Simon is the best KTM qualifier for the first time since the opening race at Jerez.

• Mika Kallio, who had his first ever victory at Estoril last year, will be starting from his lowest grid position since the final race of 2004 in Valencia.

• Mike di Meglio has qualified inside the top ten for the first time this year.

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