Being a MotoGP™ rookie has never been, and never will be, easy. It’s the pinnacle of motorcycle racing and despite the riders stepping up into the premier class being amongst the very best in the world at what they do, they’re earning their stripes in a brutally tough sport. Especially nowadays, when the competition is fiercer than ever.
Three different winners and nine different podium finishers are where we currently stand in 2022. That is bonkers. After Aleix Espargaro’s (Aprilia Racing) emotional, long-awaited victory in Argentina, every manufacturer now boasts race-winning calibre. So, as you can imagine for Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Darryn Binder (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team), Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing), Raul Fernandez (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), coming into MotoGP™ this season has been a thankless task.
However, they’re not falling by the wayside. Darryn Binder’s wet weather P10 in Indonesia was nothing short of breathtaking. And on Sunday afternoon in Termas de Rio Hondo, Bezzecchi produced an equally impressive ride that saw him cross the line in P9, just over two seconds behind reigning World Champion Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™).
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A glance at Bezzecchi’s race pace tells us just how remarkable his third-ever MotoGP™ battle was. Starting from P17, the opening laps were always going to be tricky to navigate in the hustle and bustle of MotoGP™’s mid-pack. But once the Italian had found a bit of space and rhythm, his speed was pretty much on par with the leaders. In total, Bezzecchi set 13 1:39s, the best of which came on Lap 16 – a 1:39.600. That’s just 0.225s slower than Aleix Espargaro’s best effort.
To compare, Bezzecchi was able to set three more 1:39s than Quartararo ahead of him. For 11 laps, starting on Lap 7, Bezzecchi set 10 1:39s – the outlier being a 1:40.008 – and five of those were in the 1:39.6 bracket. That’s very similar pace to what Aleix Espargaro, Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing), Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) and Quartararo were running. Two of those are premier class World Champions. All eight of them are race winners in MotoGP™.
To put it simply, Bezzecchi’s Argentina display was sublime. A rookie riding out of his skin, beating the likes of VR46 Academy stablemate Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and former World Championship leader Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) fair and square. On the same or on year old equipment. And that’s just the two that finished directly behind him. Indonesian GP race winner Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) weren’t able to keep tabs on a fast forward moving Italian that started behind them on the grid.
With his tremendous P9, Bezzecchi now takes charge of the race to be 2022 Rookie of the Year at this early stage of the season. He sits one point ahead of Darryn Binder, with reigning Moto2™ World Champion Gardner the only other rookie to score points so far. But there’s a long way to go, of course, and all five rookies have proven themselves to be worthy MotoGP™ riders. In years gone by, being around one second off the pace would have easily gained you points, but not any more. Fernandez and Di Giannantonio’s time for troubling the top 10 will come no doubt, it’s when we get back to Europe – on tracks they know like the back of their hands – we’ll likely start seeing all five rookies become proper menaces for the more experienced guard.
Next up for Bezzecchi, Binder, Gardner, Fernandez and Di Giannantonio is a trip to Austin, Texas, for the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas. The Circuit of The Americas is a track that is about as technically challenging and physically demanding as they come. Once again, the rookies have their work cut out. But don’t be surprised if we see any one of them succeeding expectations.