Back in front: Rossi first led across the start/finish line of a 2008
MotoGP race on lap 5 of the Qatar season opener. It was the first time Rossi had led a MotoGP race with
Bridgestone tyres. Rossi's first Bridgestone podium came at round two and first win at round four.
Slow starter: Rossi's average position at the end of lap 1 of a race was 5th. Rossi only led at the end of the first lap once (Laguna Seca) and his worst race start was at Assen, where a lap one accident left him 14th and last. On average, Rossi lost one place on the opening lap of each race.
Biggest fightback: Rossi's biggest fightback was at Phillip Island, where he qualified 12th and finished lap one in 8th position, before rising to 2nd by the finish.
When to lead: Rossi 'only' led 170 of the 465 race laps this season (37%). The latest Rossi took the race lead was lap 14 of 20 at Indianapolis.
Dry and wet: Of Rossi's nine race wins 8 were in the dry and 1 (Indianapolis) in the wet.
Streaks: Rossi longest winning streak was 5 races (Laguna Seca to Motegi) and his longest podium streak was 9 races (Sachsenring to Valencia).
Qualifying: Rossi's average qualifying position for a race was 4th. He qualified on pole just 2 times with his worst qualifying sessions at Phillip Island (12th) and Valencia (10th). On average, Rossi qualified 0.659sec behind pole.
Ready to race: Rossi's average finishing positioning in a race was 2nd, two places higher than his average starting position.
Getting stronger: Rossi scored 167 points during the first nine rounds, but 206 during the last nine.
First half vs second:
First nine rounds: 3 (wins), 7 (podiums), 1 (pole), 2 (fastest laps)
Last nine rounds: 6 (wins), 9 (podiums), 1 (pole), 3 (fastest laps).
Winning big, losing bigger: Rossi's average race-winning margin was 6.020sec, but when he lost his average margin of defeat was 11.771sec.
