But that’s not the only interesting stat we can pull from the list of opening round winners below.
| Year | Rider | Brand | ||
| 1974 | Pierre Karsmakers | Yamaha | ||
| 1975 | Jim Ellis | Can-Am | ||
| 1976 | Tony DiStefano | Suzuki | ||
| 1977 | Bob Hannah | Yamaha | ||
| 1978 | Jim Ellis | Honda | ||
| 1979 | Jim Weinert | Kawasaki | ||
| 1980 | Mike Bell | Yamaha | ||
| 1981 | Kent Howerton | Suzuki | ||
| 1982 | Donnie Hansen | Honda | ||
| 1983 | David Bailey | Honda | ||
| 1984 | Johhny O'Mara | Honda | ||
| 1985 | Johnny O'Mara | Honda | ||
| 1986 | David Bailey | Honda | ||
| 1987 | Jeff Ward | Kawasaki | ||
| 1988 | Jeff Ward | Kawasaki | ||
| 1989 | Rick Johnson | Honda | ||
| 1990 | Damon Bradshaw | Yamaha | ||
| 1991 | Jeff Stanton | Honda | ||
| 1992 | Mike LaRocco | Kawasaki | ||
| 1993 | Mike LaRocco | Kawasaki | ||
| 1994 | Jeremy McGrath | Honda | ||
| 1995 | Jeremy McGrath | Honda | ||
| 1996 | Jeremy McGrath | Honda | ||
| 1997 | Greg Albertyn | Suzuki | ||
| 1998 | Sebastien Tortelli | Kawasaki | ||
| 1999 | Ezra Lusk | Honda | ||
| 2000 | Jeremy McGrath | Yamaha | ||
| 2001 | Jeremy McGrath | Yamaha | ||
| 2002 | David Vuillemin | Yamaha | ||
| 2003 | Chad Reed | Yamaha | ||
| 2004 | Chad Reed | Yamaha | ||
| 2005 | Kevin Windham | Honda | ||
| 2006 | James Stewart | Kawasaki | ||
| 2007 | James Stewart | Kawasaki | ||
| 2008 | Chad Reed | Yamaha | ||
| 2009 | Josh Grant | Yamaha | ||
| 2010 | James Stewart | Yamaha | ||
| 2011 | Ryan Villopoto | Kawasaki | ||
| 2012 | Ryan Villopoto | Kawasaki |
With five wins at the opener, Jeremy McGrath has won the first round more times than anyone else.
Interestingly enough, McGrath started his run of three-straight season-openers in 1994. Heading into that race, Mike LaRocco had won the previous two season openers (1992 and 1993). In that 1994 race, LaRocco finished a close second to McGrath.
RV looks to join McGrath as the only riders to win three-straight season openers.
Simon Cudby photo
A surprising and conspicuous absence on this list is Ricky Carmichael, who was never able to take home a win at the season opener.
Honda is the first manufacturer to win three straight, as Johnny O’Mara won the opener in 1984 to follow up Donnie Hansen and David Bailey. O’Mara would win again the following year, followed by Bailey in 1986 to give Honda five consecutive years of opening round victories.
The only other manufacturer to win five opening races in a row is Yamaha. They did it in 2000 through 2004 with McGrath, David Vuillemin and Chad Reed.
If Ryan Villopoto wins this Saturday night, he’ll hand Kawasaki their first opening round three-peat as well.
Take a look at the list above. What other interesting notes and stats do you see? (And don't steal “How often does the opening round winner go on to take the title?” You know we're going to be crunching the data on that next week!)
