Lorenzo-Elías-Espargaró back-to-back repeats history

Friday, 28 May 2010

Eight years after the last time the same three riders won back-to-back Grands Prix across the three World Championship classes, Jorge Lorenzo, Toni Elías and Pol Espargaró became the first to make it three from the same country.

Three weeks after each rider celebrated victory at Jerez, Spanish trio Jorge Lorenzo, Toni Elías and Pol Espargaró repeated their individual feats at the Le Mans circuit in France on Sunday.

Lorenzo’s 25 points allowed him to extend his narrow lead at the top of the MotoGP standings, Elías assumed the top spot in the Moto2 classification and Espargaró is just two points behind fellow Spaniard Nico Terol in the 125cc rankings. The World Championship season may have only just begun, but the achievement of the triumvirate has already gone down in history.

The successive victories at Jerez and Le Mans prompted a delve into the history books – the last time the same three riders won back-to-back races across the three categories was Arnaud Vincent, Marco Melandri and Valentino Rossi in 2002 – and the following list is a compilation of those who have also accomplished the exploit.

The following list dates as far back as 1989, when the current three-category format was introduced to the World Championship.

1990 –Spaan/Cardus/Rainey – SWE/CZE

1992 –Waldmann/Cadalora/Doohan – JAP/AUS

1994 –Raudies/Capirossi/Doohan – AUT/GER

1997 –Rossi/Harada/Doohan – FRA/NED

1998 –Manako/Rossi/Doohan – IMO/CAT

2001* –Ui/Kato/Rossi – AUS/MAL/RIO

2002 –Cecchinello/Nieto/Rossi – SPA/FRA

2002 –Poggiali/Melandri/Rossi – ITA/CAT

2002 –Vincent/Melandri/Rossi – GBR/GER

*On this occasion it was three successive wins for Rossi, Kato and Ui in their respective categories. At Mugello, within less than 14 days, the three Spanish riders could emulate this achievement, one which would be all the more admirable given that none of the three has ever won at the Italian circuit before in their current category.