Veni, Vidi, Vici. Or at least they came close. If there is a point between the three classes at the start of the season in Qatar, it was the rookies. The Newcomer Ball from MotoGP to Moto3 was exciting and full of surprises as it has not been for a long time, because the young recruits may lack experience, but certainly not talent.
In MotoGP, it has to be said, several heavy calibers have found their way into this year: Enea Bastianini with the crown of the Moto2 world champion on her head, runner-up Luca Marini and Jorge Martin, who just out of bad luck was unable to take the title with him last year. He made up for that with an interest in his first contact in the premier class with a pole position and a podium. Not bad considering it was only his second race.
If Saturday’s flying lap was a magical feat that few drivers had managed on the second attempt (Stoner and Marquez, to name but two), it was incredible in the race. Getting in front of an unleashed train and staying 18 laps flawlessly and maintaining a constant pace (even in Losail, where the tires have to be handled extremely carefully) is no trivial matter. But he did it and the third podium was more than deserved. We like Jorge’s demeanor, concrete and humble, like the smile that is constantly pressing on his face. Ducati gave him confidence and a cunning old fox like Romagnoli in the garage, the atmosphere and professionalism of the Pramac team do the rest.
Martin’s performance overshadowed Bastianini’s, but Enea also deserves great praise after finishing tenth and eleventh. The driver from Rimini paid the price for the less than convincing qualifying sessions (13th and then 19th) and not exactly brilliant starts – but that’s not a problem, because these are two areas in which his Ducati can help him – and yet he found his pace and drove two good races. Maybe without fireworks, but of great substance.
Moto2: Raul Fernandez, when speed is everything
We’ve talked about the quality of the rookies in MotoGP, but we can’t complain about those in Moto2 either, as the top 5 riders in the 2020 general rankings made the leap in Moto3. Most surprising in this case was the one who seemed the least solid: Raul Fernandez. Not that the Spaniard wasn’t quick in the cadet class, but he’d often given it away in the race. At the Kalex, he landed in the front row on his first attempt, but most of all he delivered two solid GPs with the reward of a podium in the second.
Not bad, but after Ogura and Vietti’s second-round performances, he’s in good company. The two also improve and this shows the fifth place of the Japanese and the seventh place of the Italian in the second attempt. The gap to the first wasn’t particularly short (we’re talking more than 16 seconds for both of them), but we’re heading in the right direction.
Moto3: Pedro Acosta, the man of miracles
We can say we left the best until the end as Pedro Acosta seems ready to go for the title in his first year in the World Cup and in fact he left Qatar before anyone else in the standings. In the first lap he showed what he can do with a second place, but his masterpiece came last Sunday. The race management wanted to teach him that he had been waiting for a towing during practice by letting him start from the pit lane, but the KTM rider responded by killing all of his competitors. A historic comeback never seen before in Moto3. A second place followed by a win in a debut season sets a precedent: in 2012 it was Romano Fenati who did it.
Speaking of Spaniards to watch out for this year, we can also add Izan Guevara from the Aspar team and, for many observers, “The One”. A seventh and a sixth place in the two races in Qatar were his calling card. Spain has shown that it has a bright future ahead of it.