The 15th season of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup wrapped up in Aragón in sensational style with David Alonso taking the title and a KTM 125 Duke to enjoy.
15-year-old Colombian David Alonso follows some great names as he chases his dreams after winning the 2021 Red Bull Rookies Cup at Aragon last weekend.
While he was enjoying Cup success this past weekend other ex Rookies were on the podium in all Grand Prix classes.
To date 30 Alumni have stood on the podium and 21 have won Grand Prix. Almost 50% of Rookies have graduated to the World Championship. 8 have won World Championships and last year’s Cup winner Pedro Acosta heads this season’s Moto3 title chase (main image – Acosta advises Alex Millan in the Mugello pit lane). Ex Rookie Raul Fernandez is 2nd in Moto2 and Joan Mir is 3rd in MotoGP having won the title last season.
The next generation are keen to follow and the provisional entry for the 2022 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup is announced.
25 riders from 18 nations are listed. Up to and including 2021, 211 riders representing 36 have competed in the Cup. The addition of Mexico for next season takes that to 37 nations and a total of 223 riders.
Harrison Voight flew the flag for Australia in 2021 and claimed 19-points over the course of an injury-interruped season. The 15-year-old will return for another tilt in 2022 and will be joined by 16-year-old countryman Jacob Roulstone.
Current riders invited to remain in the Cup for 2022
Australian Billy van Eerde kicked off his 2020 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup campaign over the weekend with Round 1 held alongside the Grand Prix von Österreich, in Spielberg, as riders took to the track for the first time in anger.
Red Bull MotoGP Rookies back on track in Austria
Friday’s qualifying saw less than 1.5 seconds separate the top 20 riders, with van Eerde qualifying 20th, 1.289s off leading pace, with Daniel Munoz claiming top honours, ahead of Alex Escrig and Pedro Acosta.
Race 1
Saturday saw the first race of the season commence, with Pedro Acosta moving into contention from third on the grid, to fight to keep his KTM RC 250 R on track ahead of countrymen David Muñoz and Daniel Holgado, with the top 15 all in with a chance in the early stages of the race.
Red Bull MotoGP Rookies kicked off racing on Saturday
As the 17 lap race came to a close, Acosta had managed to take the lead on numerous occasions but could never get clear away, with it all coming down to the final two corners of the Red Bull Ring. Last year’s Race 1 winner Acosta knew what he had to do, managing the last lap perfectly with a ten-man lead battle becoming just three with a chance of victory.
Acosta held the tiniest advantage over Muñoz, with Holgado hoping they would make a mistake. It almost happened but at the last corner Acosta wrestled his bike off the green and stayed in front of Muñoz for the win. Daniel Holgado completed the top three, while David Alonso and David Salvador were fourth and fifth.
Pedro Acosta claimed the Race 1 win – Red Bull MotoGP Rookies
Billy van Eerde improved on his qualifying result to bring home fifteen, earning a valuable championship point, and finishing 8.844 seconds off the race winner. The race saw him battling Collin Veijer for fourteenth with just 0.08s separating them at the finish line.
Billy van Eerde had a tough race one, claiming a single championship point
Pedro Acosta
“It was an incredible race, I was so thrilled to feel how much better the bike was than in Qualifying, the guys did a brilliant job. I must say I was worried before the race when we couldn’t get the bike started, that was tense but my mechanic got it going and it was fantastic. I enjoyed the race so much, a great pleasure after the frustrations of yesterday.”
Race 2
Sunday’s Race 2 proved similar to the opening race of the season as Acosta, Munoz, Holgado and Alonso fought it out for the top positions. Billy van Eerde was well in the mix as well, this time just 1.724s off leading pace, in the secondary group just off the top five.
Pedro Acosta proved a dominant force in Austria
It was a huge lead group for much of the race, just three-seconds covering the top 16 even into the second half of the 17 laps. No one came close to breaking away, while Acosta ran in the top handful the entire time and put in the perfect last lap.
The all-Spanish podium was repeated and 16-year-old Acosta drew on his season of Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup experience to hold the narrowest advantage over five newbies finishing behind him.
Pedro Acosta couldn’t lose the pack, but still secured both wins
Alcosta took the win from David Munoz, with Holgado completing the podium, while Alonso and Daniel Munoz were fourth and fifth. Ivan Ortolo was just 0.112 ahead of Billy Van Eerde to the line, while Zonta Van Den Goorb and Matteo Bertelle were all in the battle for sixth through ninth.
Van Eerde finished seventh to claim nine championship points, for 10-total for the weekend, leaving him places 12th in the standings on equal points to Ivan Ortola. Just five-points separate fifth from 12th.
A strong finish by Billy van Eerde saw him seventh in Race 2
Pedro Acosta holds the current championship lead on 50-points, from David Munoz (40), Daniel Holgado (32), David Alonso (26) and Zonta Van Den Goorb (15).
Pedro Acosta
“I said to myself as I took the lead that I had to make the perfect lap under control. But you know in this level of racing nothing is completely under control. I had to push it to the maximum, push it 100% and I did that. It is a great feeling to do the double here especially as the level of the Cup is so high this year.”
Pedro Acosta topped the podium for both races with David Munoz and Daniel Holgado claiming the minor positions – Red Bull MotoGP Rookies
Over 100 young hopefuls from 37 countries were put through the wringer this week as Red Bull Rookies Cup organisers finalised the entry list for the 2020 competition.
Billy Van Eerde was one of the 11 riders that automatically gained selection for 2020 off the back of their performances in the series this year, another 109 competitors faced off at Guadix this week for the remaining 11 slots on the grid for 2020.
Red Bull Rookies 2020
Three Aussie kids and a young New Zealander were aiming to bolster the ANZAC ranks amongst the Rookies with Angus Grenfell, Senna Agius and Cros Francis joined by young Kiwi Cormac Buchanan at the selection event.
While some of them made it through to the final day of the selections ultimately they all missed out on securing a place for 2020. That does not rule them out from applying again in future years with more experience under their belts so this doesn’t draw a line under their hope to eventually join the ranks of the Red Bull Rookies.
Red Bull Rookies 2020
11 riders ultimately made the cut with five Spaniards adding to the four of their countrymen that had already been selected. Thus Spain makes up almost half of the 22 rider entry list named so far.
Riders invited to join the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup for 2020
David Alonso (Colombia)
Izan Guevara Bonnin (Spain)
Daniel Holgado Miralles (Spain)
Rocco Landers (United States)
Luca Lunetta (Italy)
Alex Millan Gomez (Spain)
Daniel Muñoz Fernandez (Spain)
David Muñoz Rodríguez (Spain)
Scott Ogden (Great Britain)
Bartholomé Perrin (France)
Collin Veijer (Netherlands)
Successful applicants this week celebrate
2020 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup pre-qualified riders
Three pivotal days for Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup hopefuls
The Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Selection Event for the 2020 season is underway at the Guadix track in Spain with talented young riders looking to join those carrying on from this year.
Billy Van Eerde is one of the 11 riders that have automatically gained selection for 2020 off the back of their performances in the series this year. Van Eerde finished the season on a high with a win and a podium at the final round to finish sixth in 2019 and will be aiming for top spot in 2020.
Billy van Eerde
Aiming to join him in the Red Bull Rookies ranks for 2020 are over 100 young hopefuls from 37 nations that will be put through the wringer this week as they compete for only 12 slots on the grid.
Senna Agius was a winner in the Supersport 300 category at Phillip Island earlier this month – Image by Rob Mott
Three Aussie kids and a young New Zealander are aiming to bolster the ANZAC ranks amongst the Rookies with Angus Grenfell, Senna Agius and Cros Francis joined by young Kiwi Cormac Buchanan at the selection event.
Angus Grenfell was on the Oceania Junior Cup podium at Phillip Island earlier this month – Rob Mott Image
The first half of the huge Selection Event field starts on day one with seven groups riding around the Guadix track in seven groups on identical PreMoto3 250cc machines with each group of 8 riders riding for 15 minutes in front of four experienced judges.
Cros Francis testing at Winton – Image by Rob Mott
The afternoon session gives the youngsters another opportunity and, at the end of the day, the Selection Committee draws up a list of riders to be invited back for Day 3. The second day repeats the format for the second half of the riders.
The last day sees the remaining riders out to impress the judges again, with the final choice made that afternoon concerning who is invited to join the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup for 2020.
Young Kiwi Cormac Buchanan is aiming to join the Red Bull Rookies Cup
This was the route taken by World Champions including Brad Binder and Joan Mir who, along with other ex-Rookies, are heading toward achieving 100 GP victories.
South African Binder raced in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup for three years before graduating to the Moto3 World Championship which he won in 2016. Stepping up to Moto2 for two strong, GP winning seasons, he now graduates to MotoGP with Tech 3 KTM for the 2020 season alongside another ex Rookie, Miguel Oliveira.
2020 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup qualified riders
1. Phillip Tonn (GER) 2. Alex Escrig (SPA) 3. Matteo Bertelle (ITA) 4. Billy van Eerde (AUS) 5. Mario Aji (IDN) 6. Pedro Acosta (SPA) 7. David Salvador (SPA) 8. Gabin Planques (FRA) 9. Zonta van den Goorbergh (NED) 10. Artem Maraev (RUS) 11. Marcos Uriarte (SPA)
Selection Event Entry List
Angus Grenfell (Australia) Senna Agius (Australia) Cros Francis (Australia) Cormac Buchanan (New Zealand) Tomás Acevedo (Argentina) Fermín Aldeguer Mengual (Spain) Boudin Alexis (France) Oscar Almonacil (Spain) David Alonso (Colombia) Raquel Ananda Nogueira Vaz (Brazil) Facundo Andrés Llambias Rosas (Uruguay) Felipe Arredondo (Colombia) Julen Ávila Cortes (Spain) Levi Badie (Belgium) Cristian Basso (Italy) Pedro Enrique Benito Fraga (Spain) Dean Berta Viñales (Spain) Dinis Borges (Portugal) Franco Reub Bourne (Great Britain) Michal Búlik (Slovakia) Unai Calatayud Pascual (Spain) Maxime Cappelle (France) Ido Chen (Israel) Torin Collins (Canada) Davide Conte (Italy) Rafael Damásio (Portugal) Adon Davie (Great Britain) Bryan-Kim Dupasquier (Switzerland) Fazlı Ercelik (Turkey) Jorke Erwig (Germany) Vincent Falcone (France) Mattia Falzone (Italy) Filippo Farioli (Italy) Adrian Fernandez Gonzalez (Spain) Tetsuya Fujita (Japan) Leungo Gaorekwe (South Africa) Drew Gates (South Africa) George Gerakianakis (Greece) Clément Giabbani (France) Sergio Gómez-Caro López-Hermoso (Spain) Soma Görbe (Hungary) Luca Göttlicher (Germany) Izan Guevara Bonnin (Spain) Aryan Gurav (India) Jack Hart (Great Britain) Daniel Holgado Miralles (Spain) Jacopo Adriano Hosciuc (Romania) Muhammad Izam Ikmal (Malaysia) Gábor Bence Kecskés (Hungary) Toby Khamsouk (United States) Lenni Klemetti (Finland) Andreas Kofler (Austria) Maksym Kovalov (Ukraine) Aditi Krishnan (India) Raphael Kuberesky Ramos (Brazil) Rocco Landers (United States) Caique Lanna de Menezes (Brazil) Lennox Lehmann (Germany) Alfonso Gustavo Linares Ochoa (Venezuela) Linus Lundin (Denmark) Luca Lunetta (Italy) Jamie Lyons (Ireland) Ross Maguire (Great Britain) Humberto Cezar Maier Neto (Brazil) Kiko Maria (Portugal) Juan Andres Marin Arango (Colombia) Valentina Martinez Trujillo (Colombia) Gabriele Mastroluca (Italy) Mario Mayor Francés (Spain) Mateo Jesús Mayorga Salazar (Argentina) Ido Menaged (Israel) Alex Millan Gomez (Spain) Facundo Martin Mora Allis (Argentina) Guillermo Marcel Moreno Crail (Mexico) Alessandro Morosi (Italy) Max Muckle (Germany) Daniel Muñoz Fernandez (Spain) David Muñoz Rodríguez (Spain) Scott Ogden (Great Britain) Barnabas Olah (Hungary) Unai Orradre Abad (Spain) Ivan Ortolá Díez (Spain) Milan Pawelec (Poland) Victor Pérez de León Fermann (Mexico) Ioannis-Konstantinos Peristeras (Greece) Bartholomé Perrin (France) João Pedro Pires Campos Arratia (Brazil) Mattia Rato (Italy) David Real Perez (Spain) Maxim Repák (Slovakia) Oriol Rodriguez Vives (Spain) Nick Roelfsema (Netherlands) Marcos Rol Alvarez (Spain) Elie Rousselot (France) Marcos Ruda (Spain) Galip Satici (Turkey) Errol Sullivan (United States) Angelo Tagliarini (Switzerland) Jesús Torres Cabrera (Spain) Maxwell Toth (United States) Blai Trias Molas (Spain) Enzo Valentim Garcia (Brazil) Ilya Vasilevsky (Russia) Collin Veijer (Netherlands) Bastiaan Visser (Netherlands) Ondrej Vostatek (Czech Republic) Noel Willemsen (Germany) Chris Wright (South Africa) Štěpán Zuda (Czech Republic)
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