MotoGP Rookies looks to up the ante

Since MotoGP’s main feeder series Moto2 formally adopted a teams’ championship in 2018, the winning margins for the champion outfits have been 45 points, 4 points, 113 points, and 254 points, respectively. It makes perfect sense that the two riders who were responsible for that last figure, Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez, were immediately promoted to the premier class.

Gardner, the son of 1987 500cc world champion Wayne Gardner, won the Moto2 championship in his fifth complete season in the class. Last year’s rookie rival, Fernandez, would have won it if he hadn’t crashed out of the lead at Misano with two races remaining. They won 13 of the 18 races and 10 of the 18 poles between them.

This hasn’t transferred into MotoGP yet. Despite crashing frequently, Marco Bezzecchi – last year’s third-place finisher in Moto2 behind Gardner and Fernandez – has emerged as the clear early standout in the five-rider 2022 MotoGP rookie class. Unlike Bezzecchi, neither Fernandez nor Gardner have ever made it into the top 10 or even come close. Fernandez has yet to open his account, while Gardner has only one point to his name.

When questioned about his 2022 so far by The Race after a Grand Prix of the Americas in which he finished 42 seconds behind the victor, Gardner stated, “I anticipated a little better if I’m being honest with you.” “Looking at what the other men did previously”

As Gardner points out, rookies haven’t had as much fun this season as they have in previous years. Jorge Martin, for example, needed two races to reach the podium in 2021 and six starts to win. However, the median level of the MotoGP grid – and, in particular, the equipment, thanks to Aprilia’s resurgence and Ducati’s upgrade of the specs of its now eight-bike fleet – appears to have risen, which will not benefit the newcomers.

For both Gardner and Fernandez, there are mitigating factors. Gardner injured his right wrist while training early in 2022 after suffering a rib “break” during the first off-season test.

This hasn’t transferred into MotoGP yet.