On Sunday at the Monster Energy Catalan Grand Prix, a new World Championship star was born. That star is David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) after the young Spaniard claimed a phenomenal second place, in just his second Grand Prix start, from 20th on the grid.
It was some ride from Muñoz who was forced to miss the opening seven races of the season because he didn’t turn 16 until the 15th of May. Sunday of Le Mans, in other words. But Mugello saw the rider from Seville pocket a great P11 and given how competitive Moto3™ is, not many people would have foreseen a maiden podium coming for Muñoz. That’s no slight on the number 44 – a number he runs in memory of the late Hugo Millan with Mario Aji (Honda Team Asia) occupying his usual 64 plate – but instead just a sign of how difficult it can be to stand on a Moto3™ podium. Especially in your second ever race.
Muñoz’s rise to Grands Prix was an impressive one in both the now called JuniorGP™ World Championship and Red Bull MotoGP™ Rookies Cup. Seven podiums and two wins were collected on his way to the 2021 Rookies Cup runner-up spot, while in the JuniorGP™ class, he took five podiums and two victories to finish third overall behind Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team).
You can see why Muñoz is nicknamed ‘Dynamite’. Will we see more explosive performances at the upcoming German and Dutch GPs?