Andrea Dovizioso is set to become the third member of the 300 club on Sunday, joining Valentino Rossi and Loris Capirossi in clocking up 300 GP starts.
He still has a little catching up to do, however, with Rossi moving on towards a record 400, if he starts every race this year. Capirossi, the first to reach the 300 milestone, retired at the end of 2011 with 328.
But Dovi does have a personal record. Since his debut in the 125 class in the Italian GP in 2001, he has not missed a single race. Always free from injury, there has never been any World Champion in modern times as reliable.
In his 19 seasons, Dovi took the 125 title in 2004, and has four times been title runner up. With 22 wins and 95 podiums, he has only finished out of the points four times, with only 36 non-finishes. That’s an 88-percent finishing record, and a 98.6-percent points record in those finishes.
Rossi is the most seasoned of all riders, preparing to line up for his 389th start on Sunday; Jorge Lorenzo is next on 288. After that, Alex Barros retired in xxxx after 276 starts; while Giacomo Agostini clocked up 223 and Angel Nieto 186.
Of the active riders, Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone are the most experienced, making their 236th and 234th starts on Sunday; in Moto2 it’s Thomas Luthi (273) and Simone Corsi (268), and Jakub Kornfeil is easily the most seasoned Moto3 rider, getting ready for start number 169.
by Michael Scott
Photos GNG
Dovizioso, Italian MotoGP 2019