Just three days left to wait until the on-track action starts at the Australian round of the MotoGP, we look back at the three steps of the Australian GP’s podium.
The top step
Interestingly, there were only nine different winners from five nationalities during the event’s 20 years when it was held at Phillip Island. But there were five different winners from three nationalities during the short six-year hiatus the event had at Sydney’s Eastern Creek.
Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi are equal on the amount of times they’ve stood on the top step (six), but Stoner has six consecutive wins between 2007 and 2012, while Rossi has five consecutive wins between 2001 and 2005 with his sixth coming in the 2014 event. Doohan has the second highest amount of top-step visits with three (1992, 1995 & 1998) followed by Wayne Gardner who has stood on the top step twice (1989 & 1990).
While Australia has had only three different riders on the top step of the Aussie Grand Prix, America has celebrated five different riders with Wayne Rainey (1991), Kevin Schwantz (1993), John Kocinski (1994), Kenny Roberts Jnr (2000) and Nicky Hayden (2006).
The second step
Sixteen different riders from seven different nationalities have stood on the second step of the Australian Grand Prix’s podium during its 26-year history. Only two Australian have graced the second step, Mick Doohan did it twice (1990 & 1991) and Daryl Beattie (1995).
The Italian flag has been raised the most (10 times) behind the second step of the podium with Luca Cadalora (1994), Max Biaggi (1999 & 2001), Valentino Rossi (2000, 2006, 2008 & 2009), Loris Capirossi (2003 & 2007) and Marco Simoncelli (2011).
Valentino Rossi has stood on the second step the premier class podium most often, finishing second four times (2000, 2006, 2008 & 2009). Jorge Lorenzo (2010, 2012 & 2014) is equal with American Wayne Rainey (1989, 1992 & 1993) on three second-place finishes, while Loris Capirossi (2003 & 2007), Max Biaggi (1999 & 2001) and Doohan are the only other riders with more than one second-place finish at the Australian Grand Prix.
The third step
Nineteen riders from six nationalities have claimed the last step of the podium in the Australian Grand Prix between 1989 and 2014. No one has done it more times than Loris Capirossi (2001, 2004 & 2006) and Valentino Rossi (2007, 2010 & 2013) who each have three third-place finishes a piece. And other than Alex Criville (1995 & 1998) and Carlos Checa (1996 & 2005) no other rider has finished third more than once in the Australian Grand Prix.
Daryl Beattie (1992) and Mick Doohan (1994) both had third-place finishes at the Eastern Creek event, but never has an Australian stood on the third step of the podium at the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island. It’s the Italian flag which has been raised the most times behind the podium’;s third step, with Max Biaggi (2000), Capirossi, Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso (2011).