Jorge Martín leads clean sweep of World Championships for ex-Rookies
Seeing Jorge Martín win the 2024 MotoGP World Championship was a special pleasure for everyone involved in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. The 26-year-old Spaniard has always acknowledged the vital role the Cup played in his road to World Championship success.
(During the post-race press conference following the 2024 MotoGP Finale at Catalunya, Martin said) “Without the Red Bull Rookies Cup, I wouldn’t be here. This, I can assure you. Because we were a normal family, not that we were poor, but normal. So when I went to the Rookies Cup (Selection) the first time, I was quite young, I never tried a 125, but I was fast. They told me, ‘you are young, come one year after.’
“I came (back) and I was the fastest. So thanks to that advice I was improving and when they took me it was so emotional because if they didn’t pick me at that time I think I would have left the motorbikes.
“I’m so so happy, I remember at that time Raul Jara was a coach, I’m so proud of them, they gave me the opportunity. I was three years in the Rookies Cup and finally I won it so it was a really important moment in my career.”
Working hard all the way
Martín finished 12th in his first Rookies Cup season. In 2013 he stepped up, won 2 races and was 2nd in the points table. 2014 was his year and he dominated, taking 6 wins on his way to lifting the Cup.
He moved up to the Moto3 World Championship the following year but was on less than wonderful machinery. Success has never been instant for him but he made full use of a better opportunity in 2017 and the hard work paid off with his first GP win and 4th in the title chase.
In 2018 he was unstoppable, 7 wins took him to the Moto3 World Championship.
Two years in the Moto2 class produced 2 more GP wins but not a championship.
Taking on the big guns
Moving up to the MotoGP class in 2021 he recovered from a nasty injury to score a win in that debut season. 2022 wasn’t an easy year either but in 2023 he came very close to winning the MotoGP World Championship, missing out at the final round while giving it everything.
This year he has put it all together, matching incredible pace with title-winning consistency.
Ten years in the three World Championship classes have netted him the Moto3 and MotoGP world titles, 18 GP victories and a total of 60 podiums.
Martín is just one of three World Champions…. or four
Martín is the most successful ex Rookie but incredibly his total of 18 GP wins was matched this year by David Alonso on his way to taking the Moto3 World Championship. The 18-year-old Colombian won the Cup in his second season, 2021. He won 4 Moto3 GPs in 2023 and a record 14 this season, the last 7 in a row.
The Moto2 World Championship was also won by an ex Rookie, 23-year-old Japanese Ai Ogura. He contest the Rookies Cup in 2016 and 2017, winning two races in his second year and finishing 5th in the points despite missing 4 races.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, the 28-year-old Turk made it four world titles by winning the Superbike World Championship for the second time. He was a Rookie in 2013 and 2014 and won the Superbike World Championship for the first time in 2021. This year he was dominant, winning 13 races in a row.
