What do they have in common Johann zarco,
Jorge Martín, Enea Bastianini et
Peter Acosta ? They all went through the Red Bull Rookies Cup, the famous promotion formula reserved for young talents. Here, everyone has the same bike and the same chances. It is therefore one of the most fertile academies. Since 2007, this championship has seen the emergence of many big names. However, at a very young age, it is sometimes difficult to confirm such high expectations. Together, let's look back at the forgotten people who passed through the ranks of this school of performance. It is not a question of denigrating them, quite the contrary; This saga aims to shed light on them, but also to illustrate the difficulty of the global level. Let's keep in mind that the names mentioned above are exceptions, and that the majority of promising adolescents encounter difficulties sometimes extra-sporting.
This episode follows yesterday's, which you can find by clicking on this highlighted sentence.
I) Scott Deroue
Too bad the Dutchman couldn't convert the try. From a young age, Scott was passionate about two-wheelers and showed himself nationally in the smallest categories. Like many other promising talents, he was entered in the 2011 edition of the Red Bull Rookies Cup, and it didn't take long for him to reach the podium, at just 15 years old.
During the 2012 season, the world discovered him at Estoril, when he won the two rounds organized on the Portuguese track.
From then on in the race for the title, he fought but could not defeat Florian Alt, whom we mentioned in the previous episode. Reigning vice-champion, he struggled to adapt to the new Moto3 four-strokes, but still won a race at Silverstone. Logically, a place is offered to him in the world, alongsideAna Carrasco at RW Racing.
It's a rout. Scott scored no points, with only 17th place as his best result. At 19, he is already forced to reorient himself. He fell to the British Moto3 championship, which he dominated, before entering Supersport 300 for 2017, a newly introduced category. He was then the first winner in the history of the discipline, and regularly finished on the podium, unfortunately without ever winning overall. After four years spent on a
Kawasaki 300cc, he announces his retirement at the start of 2021, but nevertheless enters the German championship. A career not up to his talent, but still impressive.
II) Karel Hanika
Hanika, this time in CEV in Valencia, in 2017. Photo: Sandrasaez
Since the beginning of this series of articles, we have studied promising drivers, sometimes winners of the promotion cup. But the two profiles that follow were of “world champion” caliber before missing the mark. First of all, Karel Hanika. The Czech caused a sensation from his first laps during the 2021 edition.
Blessed with lightning speed, he amassed three victories, four podiums and eight poles. He finished in third place, behind Alt and Deroue. Logically favorite the following year, he did not disappoint, and had a fantastic campaign with seven successes and three podiums in fourteen outings. Better still, he started from first position six times. When he announced his signing with the prestigious Aki Ajo structure for 2013, Karel left his mark on the series. Even today, he holds the greatest number of poles, in total (10) as in a season (6), but also the most victories (10), all in just two years.
Highly anticipated in the world, it does not meet expectations. Although equipped with an official machine, he falls very often and is no longer even that fast. After two years without podiums, pole, or best laps in a race, Ajo parted ways. He begins the year 2016 with Mahindra, but it is replaced by Danny Webb mid-season. Terrible. A few wildcards later, including one in Moto2 during the 2017 financial year, and the dream of one day finishing as world champion was over.
Of course, Hanika has not disappeared ; so much talent cannot be lost in such a short time. He brings happiness to YART extension in endurance, and fans of the discipline were able to see his rare speed. Moreover, he now holds the lap record at the 24 Heures Motos, but believes that it is possible to go even faster... See you in April to see him at work.
III) Bo Bendsneyder
To close this saga, who better than the man with the most victories in a season. Born in 1999 in the Netherlands, Bo Bendsneyder arrived at the academy in 2014. Heroically, he won his first race in front of his home crowd, at Assen. Then 9th in the ranking, no one could have predicted the explosion that would follow. He begins the 2015 campaign with five victories in the first five races, before suffering a retirement during the second round at Sachsenring. He recovered in Brno, with a second place and another victory. Then, followed with two other successes at Silverstone and Misano. Reduced for the last two rounds, Bo has already done the hard part. With eight victories in only twelve races contested, he established a new record which still stands at the time of writing.
Ni Fabio DiGiannantonio, Ayumu Sasaki, Raul Fernandez ou Kaito Toba were unable to slow down the Batavian missile. There is no shortage of offers for 2016, and of course, Aki Ajo has priority. The adaptation is less difficult than for Karel Hanika. He got on the box twice as a rookie. As incredible as it may seem, these are, at present, his only two world podiums.
Even in CEV, Bo was scary. Here at Le Mans in 2015, with Pawi and Canet. Photo: Box Repsol
After a difficult 2017 season, Tech3 recovered it in Moto2 but without success, with only two points scored, and an injury at the end of the year caused by the explosion of his engine in Japan. Now at NTS, the glory days of the Rookies Cup are behind him. He struggles a lot, and experiences big slumps: Ps the best to regain confidence. After eating his black bread for two years, he signed with
Pertamina Mandalika SAG, and manages to regain performance. In 2021 and 2022, he progresses, moving from 16th to 13th place overall. Still within the same formation for 2023, we strongly hope that he succeeds in his bet; Bo has all the talent to chat with the best in the intermediate category. Let us pray that he will stay there for many more years, and that he will prove to young people that with a strong mind, a difficult start to a career does not determine a lifetime..
Did you have these three drivers in mind? Tell us what you think in the comments!
Cover photo: Chris Page
