Yesterday, in the article about Somkiat Chantra, I mentioned Tom Lüthi's famous 2018 season, which ended with... zero points. And, honestly, I felt a little guilty, because, yes, it wasn't crazy, but we mustn't forget that the Swiss driver was an iconic driver in the championship in the 2000s and 2010s. So, today I want to pay tribute to him.
Born in the canton of Bern in 1986, little Thomas instantly developed a passion for pocket bikes. Make no mistake; despite the lack of an FIA/FIM circuit in the country, Switzerland remains a major motorsports nation. The Swiss is turning into a winning machine on small motorcyclesIn 2002, Tom performed admirably in the German and European championships. He was thus invited to participate in a few wild-card races in 125cc.
MotoGP 13. 1V1. Mugello. Kalex VS Suter. I take Tom Lüthi every day, twice on Sunday.
The Elit Grand Prix team has set its sights on the rising star. You know the team better as Paddock Grand Prix (which also raced under the names Emmi Caffe Latte and Interwetten), the team that hosted the Swiss for 13 consecutive years. The sauce didn't take immediately, but in 2005, a click changed young Tom's life.. Equipped with a less powerful Honda RS125R, he began to fight for victory every weekend. He emerged victorious from a legendary confrontation with Mika Kallio and took the 125cc world title.
History is in the making. Unfortunately, the lack of any strong offerings in Moto2 forced him to make a rare decision in the history of modern Grand Prix racing: to put his 125cc title back on the line. This time, he was unable to compete with Álvaro Bautista and even fell to eighth place in the championship. A move up to 250cc was still planned, still at Paddock GP. Lüthi is capable of great performances, but he lacks consistency; a trait that will haunt him into 2021.
In 2010, Moto2 was introduced, replacing the 250cc. The standardized Honda 600cc engines allowed competitors to compete on equal terms. The first season in the category's history was interesting, as it featured a host of chassis. Making the right choice is crucialPaddock opted for the Moriwaki, which proved to be a good choice. The Japanese team would go on to win the title at the end of the year thanks to the efforts of former Grand Prix winner Toni Elías. Lüthi finished the year in fourth place, but still without a victory in the intermediate category..
Fever dream.
The move to Suter turned out to be an even better decision. The 2011 to 2017 seasons were strikingly similar. Lüthi was able to win races like at Le Mans, his favorite circuit, but also to fall to the bottom of the standings two weeks later. Thus, he was always among the favorites, but he never managed to really trouble the world champion. “This year is the right one” is a refrain often heard about the Swiss pilot. In the end, this title never came.. Double vice-world champion 2016-2017, he cannot play with Johann zarco or Franco Morbidelli. Disillusionment upon disillusionment. Slowly but surely, Tom entered his 17th season in 2018, a year like no other.
At 31, his dream finally came true. He was hired in MotoGP for a year with the EG 0,0 Marc VDS team. After so many years on the same engines, we could have expected a difficult acclimatization. But not this difficult. The 2018 financial year is a real nightmare, we talked about it. 0 pawns scored, last place in the rankingMeanwhile, his teammate Franco Morbidelli had a decent performance in 15th place, along with the rookie of the year trophy.
The cold shower forced Lüthi to drop back to Moto2 – to Dynavolt Intact GP – for 2019. Bis Repetita. Surprisingly, he had his best season of his career, but was unable to compete with Álex Márquez and Brad Binder. Thomas had resolved his consistency issues, but didn't win enough races to be a contender for the title. It was only in 2020 that Lüthi marked time. And; honestly, he did not recover after this 2020 exercise. He continued in 2021, this time within the Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team, but withdrew after a dismal 22nd place in the general classification.
I'm curious to know what you learned from Tom Lüthi's career. Tell me in the comments!
It didn't work out, but oh well. He's now a rider coach for IntactGP, leading the Moto2 and Moto3 classes.
