The Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup has already been won. Bo Bendsneyder clinched the title at Misano but the final event of the season in Aragon will be the most competitive of all.
The 16-year-old Dutchman is on the top of his form and has already stated that he wants wins 9 and 10. So for the opposition that makes these two races the hardest of the season.
Going for the record
How do you get the better of the most successful Rookie ever? No one has ever taken 8 of the first 11 races in a season. No one has ever won 8 in one year. Karel Hanika won 3 in his first year and 7 in year two. Bo has a win from last season so needs the two victories in Aragon to better Karel’s career score of 10.
There have only been three winners this year with Fabio Di Giannantonio taking two and Ayumu Sasaki scoring a single victory so far. It will be very hard for the 16-year-old Italian or the 14-year-old Japanese to increase their tally.
On form
With third place in Brno and second Misano, Raúl Fernández is very much a man with his eye on the prize especially at a home race for the 14-year-old Spaniard. He, like Sasaki and Di Giannantonio, can also qualify on the front row, giving themselves a fighting chance from the start.
The man who needs to regain his form is Oscar Gutierrez. The 16-year-old Spaniard was in the hunt for the rostrum places all the way through the season until disappointing weekends in Silverstone and Misano. Home where they speak his language he should snap back into it. His first win awaits.
Table places
Second in the points is still open though Di Giannantonio has 27 over Gutierrez with Sasaki a further 4 behind and 6 in front of Enzo Boulom. The 18-year-old Frenchman has done a great job all year, claimed a superb second at Silverstone and could still win one. He is the only rider to have scored points in all races, a rare achievement.
Hardly any less reliable is Marc Garcia, he finished every race last year and but for two falls in Silverstone has been just as solid this year as well as a good deal quicker. He has two thirds and second to his name and now that the 15-year-old Spaniard is qualifying well should be in the hunt for his first win and perhaps a step up from sixth in the points table.
Top ten
Australian 17-year-old Olly Simpson, 15-year-old Japanese Kaito Toba and Aleix Viu, the 14-year-old Spaniard, sit behind Fernández who is seventh in the points table and round out the top ten. Don’t bet heavily against any of them claiming their first win this coming weekend.
Broadcast
This weekend’s Rookies Cup races can be seen live on www.redbull.tv and on TV stations around the world with Race 1 on Saturday at 16.30 CET and Race 2 on Sunday at 15.30 CET, the broadcasts begin 10 minutes before race start.