Celebrating the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup

motogp.com takes a look at some of the incredible talents to have emerged from the Cup

Ten years ago, the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup fired up for the first time. Since then, the Cup has only continued to grow in competition and prestige, creating some riders of incredible calibre in the MotoGP™ paddock today.

The man of the moment is Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) as the two-time Moto2™ Champion and premier class rookie sensation makes waves in MotoGP™, and Zarco has the distinction of having taken the honours in the first ever Rookies Cup, in 2007. When he took his first Moto2™ title, he became the first former Rookies Cup winner to have graduated from the class and gone on to take a World Championship crown.

There are other former Rookies who have also gone on to take World Championships. 2015 Moto3™ World Champion Danny Kent was a Red Bull Rookie and runner up in the Cup in 2010, and his successor to the lightweight class crown, reigning Moto3™ World Champion Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo), is another who came through the ranks as a Rookie.

Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) – currently second in the Moto3™ World Championship standings – won the 2014 Cup from the man who now leads him in Moto3™, Joan Mir (Leopard Racing), with a whole host of other now-famous names from the lower categories having the Red Bull Rookies on their CV. 2011 Cup winner Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Racing Team), Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3), 2015 Cup winner Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Enea Bastianini (Estrella Galicia 0,0)…

The reigning Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Champion is Ayumu Sasaki, also the 2015 Asia Talent Cup winner – and now already a points scorer in the Moto3™ World Championship after riding the Road to MotoGP™.

Now, the 2017 Cup is about to fire up in Jerez – and applications are now open for 2018, with the promise of the young riders in the Rookies more than proven as another season gets into gear.