On Track Off Road No.183

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the year of the rookie...
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There are always reasons to look forward to a new MotoGP season but
2019 looks like being more interesting than ever.
There is plenty to pique our
interest but the thing that probably
excites me most is seeing
just how good the crop of rookies
coming into the class this
year can be. Recent years have
been pretty remarkable: 2017
had Johann Zarco, Alex Rins,
and Jonas Folger; 2015 had Maverick
Viñales and Jack Miller;
2013 had Marc Márquez, Andrea
Iannone, and Bradley Smith. But
the 2019 rookies promise to be
phenomenal.
Between them, Francesco (or
‘Pecco’) Bagnaia, Joan Mir,
Miguel Oliveira, and Fabio Quartararo
have a grand total of 34
Grand Prix victories, 81 podiums,
and two Grand Prix titles.
Of the three, only Quartararo
doesn’t have double-digit wins
in the junior classes, and all
four are extremely highly rated
among team managers and
engineers. So who are they, and
what can we expect of them?
A product of Valentino Rossi’s
VR46 Riders Academy, Pecco
Bagnaia was the most hotly pursued
of the newcomers. There
were MotoGP team managers
trying to sign him in 2017, and
when Jonas Folger withdrew for
the 2018 season, Hervé Poncharal
had brief talks with the
Italian about replacing him. But
it was Ducati who locked Bagnaia
up first, when they signed
him to a MotoGP contract for
2019 just before their 2018
launch.
Why the rush? It was clear that
the Italian was special in his
final year in Moto3. Racing a Mahindra,
he won two races and got
four more podiums, vastly outperforming
the bike’s potential.
Though he failed to get a win in
his first year in Moto2, he more
than made up for it by claiming
eight races and the title in 2018.
The 22-year-old adapted quickly
to the Pramac Ducati GP18 at
the Valencia and Jerez tests,
ending a third of a second off
the lead at Jerez, and a tenth off
his teammate Jack Miller on the
GP19. Bagnaia is the favourite
to win Rookie of the Year, and is
already in the frame for the second
factory Ducati ride if Danilo
Petrucci can’t hang on to it.
Joan Mir is Spain’s counterpoint
to Pecco Bagnaia. Mir’s
rise through the ranks has been
even more meteoric than the
Italian, coming within a whisker
of equalling Valentino Rossi’s
record for a single season in the
lowest class on his way to the
2017 Moto3 title. His lone year
in Moto2 netted him four podiums,
though more had been expected.
The disarray in the Marc
VDS team, the aftermath of the
rift between team manager and
team owner, was a constant
distraction. But speak to people
who have worked with him, and
they will remark on his intelligence,
his focus, the speed and
willingness with which he learns.
Both Honda and Suzuki vied
for his signature, but the seat
alongside Alex Rins is probably
the better option for him.