The Moto3 World Championship race at the TT Circuit in Assen was a very special one for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup as Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna) won his first GP. It was the 150th success of former rookies.
The Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup is a real guarantee of success. The junior series offers young talents the unique opportunity to make it into the MotoGP paddock. The best young drivers get into the cup through a selection process – if they beat the other drivers, there is often nothing standing in the way of entry into the motorcycle world championship.
The advantage of the rookies? They could already get to know Moto3 bikes and GP tracks before they come to the World Championships. The preparation for the big picture is already well developed.
Ayumu Sasaki won the Red Bull Rookies Cup in 2016 and has been an integral part of the Moto3 World Championship since 2017. In Assen, the 22-year-old achieved his first GP victory. It was the 150th win by a former Rookies Cup driver over the years.
Johann Zarco recorded his first win by a rookie when he won the 2011 Japanese GP in the 125cc class. The Frenchman, who now rides in the Pramac team in the MotoGP class, was the inaugural Rookies Cup champion in 2007. Enea Bastianini ensured the 50th success of the ex-rookies in Motegi in 2015, the current KTM MotoGP factory rider Brad Binder achieved triumph number 150 in Sepang 2019.
Sasaki is the 26th GP winner to come from the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. Binder is the most successful with 17 World Cup victories, closely followed by Zarco and Oliveira with 16 wins each. The former rookies have already won nine world titles. Izan Guevara (GASGAS) could win his tenth Moto3 title in 2022. In 2015, the ex-rookies even claimed 24 victories in one year, if you look at all three GP classes.
Status after 8 of 14 races:
1. Wheel 139 Points. 2. Veijer 129. 3. Quiles 85. 4. Lunetta 77. 5. Piqueras 76. 6. O`Gorman 74. 7. Farioli 71. 8. Salmela 69. 9. Buasri 65. 10. Voight 61. 11. Luciano 41. 12. O ́Shea 38. 13. Shahril 319. 14. Ruda 31. 15. Planques 28. 16. Rosenthaler 25. 17. Aditama 22. 18. Buchanan 14. 19. Moodley 14. 20. Mihaila Roulstone 9. 22. Venturini 4. 23. Heinrich 3. 24. Mizera 2. 25. Görbe