The Portuguese Grand Prix in Portimão will not only kick off the 2023 MotoGP season but also that of the now 16-year-old Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.
17 different flags will adorn the front wheel fairings of the KTM RC 250 R and the leathers of the 26 teenagers pursuing their dreams of shining in front of the big names of the Grands Prix, before reaching the latter. These dreams consist of adding their name to the list of 10 world championships and 161 Grand Prix victories won by ex-Rookies.
Two days of testing on the same circuit provided excellent preparation and, with record times set not only by experienced drivers in their second or third seasons, but also by those in their first, the setting is set for another hotly contested season.
The highest number of winners in a year was recorded in 2011 and there have never been fewer than 4. If the test results are to be believed, it seems very unlikely that the record of Peter Acosta, who won 6 consecutive victories at the start of the season, is beaten. He then won the Moto3 world championship the following season, taking second place in his first Grand Prix and winning the next three. It is however Karel Hanika who has the most career victories in the Rookies Cup, 10 in 2 seasons, 2012 and 2013. Peter Acosta has 9, also in 2 years, just like Will Bendsneyder et Can Öncü.
Head-to-head
It's not just the numbers that matter, and other big rivalries between interesting characters are set to develop. Maximo Quiles, 15 years old, and his compatriot Ángel Piqueras, 16, finished 3rd and 4th in the Cup last year. With the pilots who preceded them, Jose Rueda et Collin Veijer, who are now competing in the Moto3 World Championship, they are the title favorites in their second season in the Cup. They have already achieved 3 and 2 Cup victories respectively and finished 1st and 2nd in the last race of 2022.
Rico Salmela, the 15-year-old Finn, will join them to try to win his second Cup victory. Casey O'Gorman, the 15-year-old Irishman, is still looking for his first Cup victory, but finished second in Race 1 at Portimão last season, on his Rookies Cup debut.
Coming from the antipodes
Cormac Buchanan, the 16-year-old Kiwi, has yet to reach the Rookies Cup podium, but he was right on pace in this test, having just arrived on the other side of the world where he won the New Zealand 300cc and 600cc titles three days earlier.
Some of the newcomers are likely to shake things up from Race 1, notably the 15-year-olds, the Italians Guido Pini et Edoardo 'Doddo' Boggio, the Malaysian Hakim Danish and the Spanish Alvaro Carpe et Alberto Ferrandez.
On the French-speaking side…
Amaury Mizera will defend our colors after the serious accident suffered last year. The Amiens driver will wear number 2.
Lorenz Luciano (#81) will represent Belgium again at the age of 17.
List of entrants
2 Amaury Mizera (France)
5 Leo Rammerstorfer (Austria)
8 Eddie O'Shea (Great Britain)
11 Ruché Moodley (South Africa)
12 Jacob Roulstone (Australia)
13 Hakim Danish (Malaysia)
14 Cormac Buchanan (New Zealand)
18 Ángel Piqueras (Spain)
23 Rhys Stephenson (Great Britain)
25 Alexander Enriquez (United States)
27 Rico Salmela (Finland)
28 Máximo Quiles (Spain)
47 Edoardo Boggio (Italy)
50 Carter Thompson (Australia)
54 Alberto Ferrández (Spain)
56 Kevin Farkas (Hungary)
57 Danial Shahril (Malaysia)
67 Casey O'Gorman (Ireland)
69 Marcos Ruda (Spain)
78 Jakob Rosenthaler (Austria)
81 Lorenz Luciano (Belgium)
83 Alvaro Carpe (Spain)
88 Shinya Ezawa (Japan)
93 Arbi Aditama (Indonesia)
94 Guido Pini (Italy)
95 Marco Chincolla (Argentina)
