If Valentino Rossi finishes in the top three in China he will be the first Yamaha rider in the premier-class since Wayne Rainey in 1993 to have scored podium finishes at the first three races of the year. Sixth place on the grid is his lowest qualifying result since the Qatar GP last year. Rossi is more than one second slower than the pole position rider for the first time since the British GP in 2001 – a race he went on to win.

Sete Gibernau starts from pole position for the eighth time in his Grand Prix career and for the first time since the Australian GP last year.

Marco Melandri starts from second place on the grid, his best ever qualifying result in the premier-class. Melandri has scored more points in the first two races of this year than he did in the final ten races of 2004.

Loris Capirossi starts from the front row of the grid for the first time since the Australian GP last year.

John Hopkins starts from fourth place on the grid, his best qualifying result since he was second on the grid at Motegi last year.

Nicky Hayden will be aiming to get on the podium for the first time since the German GP last year.

For the first time since the Rio GP last year there are no Yamaha riders qualified in the top five places on the grid.

Toni Elias has qualified just a quarter of a second behind Valentino Rossi in only his third ride in the premier-class.

The 2000 World Champion, Kenny Roberts, will be making his 150th Grand Prix start, 18 of which were in the 250cc class.

Shinya Nakano is making his 100th Grand Prix start, which include 34 races in the 250cc class.

Alex Barros will be aiming to take back-to-back wins for the first time in his Grand Prix career and in doing so would become the oldest rider to score back-to-back wins in the class since Phil Read in 1974.

Max Biaggi, who has qualified down in 14th place on the grid, is starting his 200th Grand Prix race.

After winning his first race in the 250cc class in Portugal, Casey Stoner starts from pole for the first time in the class. Stoner becomes the third youngest rider ever to start from pole in 250 after Marco Melandri and Dani Pedrosa. This is also the first pole in the 250cc class for an Australian rider since Greg Hansford at the French GP in 1979 riding a Kawasaki.

Since crashing out of the Spanish GP last year, in what was only his second race on a 250cc machine, Dani Pedrosa has had 16 consecutive top four finishes.

Andrea Dovizioso starts from a best ever third place on the grid, in only his third start in the 250cc class.

US basketball legend Michael Jordan is here in Valencia to catch a glimpse of MotoGP. The former Chicago Bulls star sponsors a US Superbike team. The circuit ran out of VIP suites and had to hastily convert a pit garage into luxury accommodation for the superstar.

New Yamaha recruit Colin Edwards took to the water courtesy of the BMW Oracle Racing Crew before this race. The Texan was aboard a 40-foot racing yacht with Makoto Tamada, Loris Capirossi and Alex Hofmann sailing out of the Real Club Nautico in Valencia. “You don’t realise how much action goes into sailing until you get on the boat,” he said.

Valencia will hold the last ever BMW Boxer Cup round this weekend. The series has been going since 1999 and riders of the calibre of Randy Mamola, Luca Cadalora, Kevin Schwantz and Jorge Martinez have participated in the long-running MotoGP support race.

The MotoGP prize-giving ceremony will be held on Sunday at the spectacular Ciutat de les Arts I les Ciencies at the massively impressive dockside development in downtown Valencia. The area is expected to be mobbed by legions of Spanish fans.

Long time Suzuki team manager Garry Taylor was presented with a bronze replica of a motorcycle at a farewell dinner for the retiring boss on Friday night. Rider Kenny Roberts remarked that the piece actually looked more like a Honda than a Suzuki.

A Dorna team beat all-comers to emerge football champions of Valencia on Friday night. They trounced a BBC team 11-1 and also put away Italian TV team RTI 3-0 to clinch the series.