The principle of a wildcard is simple: It involves rewarding a driver and making him take part in a grand prix in order to replace another injured driver, or to add a machine to the grid. All the biggest ones start in the smallest categories. It is during these races that the young guns must prove their worth to the world.
En MotoGP, these are more often testers, but also guests. Each year, these drivers come one after the other, sometimes without leaving the slightest trace and never reappearing at the highest level. In this new format, we will explore all of the grids MotoGP, in search of these heroes of a day, totally forgotten.
Did you like the 2017 version?, so here we are again at work for 2018! Let's start, once again, with the usual
Michele Pirro. The Italian played four rounds of the championship, as a tester, but also as a substitute for Jorge Lorenzo. Besides, you may remember his huge fall before the first corner at Mugello. Later, he distinguished himself by finishing 4th at the Valencia Grand Prix.
Mika Kallio is also a regular. The Finn was entered for three rounds, to support his friends from home KTM. Here too, a good performance on the Jerez track, with 10th place.
Stefan bradl is not unknown to you either. Rarely, the Swiss Army knife has made freelances at HRC Honda (test), Honda LCR (replacement of Cal Crutchlow) and EG 0,0 MarcVDS (replacement of Franco Morbidelli), all in one season!
The efforts of Sylvain Guintoli will not have escaped your notice. We saw the wildcard Suzuki during three Grands Prix (Catalunya, Brno and Misano), without much success, it must be admitted.
We tackle more confidential files. First of all, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, who, as always, took the handlebars of a Yamaha YZR-M1 'Yamalube' on the occasion of his national Grand Prix. We also have dedicated a complete article to the career of this atypical pilot.
Jordi Torres he also rolled! You may have forgotten it, but the champion MotoE 2021 nevertheless competed in six Grands Prix in order to fill the void left by Tito Rabat, heavily affected. A 15th place obtained in Valencia does not make us forget its more than average achievements.
For the case by Álvaro Bautista, we are cheating a little. He was hired for the year at Angel Nieto Team, but had to put on the suit Ducati Corsica for the Australian round. The factory had decided to reward its pilot in the absence of Jorge Lorenzo.
From here on, we'll only talk to die-hard fans with sensational memory. Do you remember Mike Jones, Australian hired to replace Bautista at Phillip Island? We neither. It must be said that his 18th place does not help us. THE 2015 Australian Superbike champion unfortunately did not catch our attention.
Et Christophe Ponsson ? The Frenchie had been poached for the duration of a Grand Prix in order to replace Tito Rabat hastily. On the route of Misano, Christophe rewarded us with a 23rd place, without any experience in MotoGP, it must be said.
Loris BazOn KTM, is our last “forgotten” competitor. Kudos to you if you remembered! In fact, the latter was to replace Pol Espargaro at Silverstone but as you know, the race was canceled due to the disastrous conditions. Thus, this is the only “unranked” competitor this season.
Do not hesitate to tell us your impressions in comments ! We will see you soon for another year of forgotten pilots!
Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport