MotoGP’s future stars: The next talents

August 11, 2020 Jacob Ward

There are a lot of riders in the junior classes that start in the European Talent Cup and then work their way to the Moto3 Junior World Championship in search of a World Championship seat if they impress.

The level of competition is unbelievably high, with half of the field in their respective classes all arguably deserving of a good seat. Here are three stand out riders we feel deserve some recognition.

First up is Xavi Artigas. The Impala Leopard Junior Team rider is arguably the favourite for the Junior World Championship title, after impressing in his debut year in the class in 2019 to finish 3rd overall, he exploded onto the world stage with a wildcard at the final round of 2019 at Valencia, Artigas proceeded to set tongues wagging by taking an incredible podium. So far in 2020, he has taken a win and a 2nd in the opening two rounds to be joint leader of the championship with Pedro Acosta at the time of writing. With it looking extremely likely he will be in a position to graduate to the world stage with the Leopard squad soon, you can expect big things of this young man.

Next is Izan Guevara. A product of the tried-and-tested Cuna De Campiones squad, he dominated the 2019 ETC championship with ease, winning six out of the eleven races that were held to win the championship by 58 points, an incredible margin in itself without considering how he won most of those races, clearing off from the field regualarly which is no mean feat on a standard spec Moto3 machine, he missed the final round at Valencia to graduate to the Moto3 class for his debut. Although his debut was nothing to write home about, finishing just outside the top 20, Jorge Martinez ‘Aspar’ had seen enough to convince him to take on Guevara, and he has repaid the faith by finishing 8th at Estoril and 13th at Portimao so far. He will also take part in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, meaning there are many avenues to enable a graduation to the world stage once he is old enough. Once he is comfortable on the stronger Moto3 machine there is no doubt he will arrive with a massive bang, just like Artigas did.

The third and final standout is David Alonso. Hailing from Colombia, not traditionally a hotbed of bike racing talent, he is very interesting, although short in stature he is big on talent, holding a perfect record so far in the ETC for 2020. Taking a step up in quality in his second year in the class, remaining with the Aspar squad for his second year after a steady improvement in 2019, taking his first two podiums and 5th in the championship was no mean feat for one of the youngest kids in the class, being only 13 when the season closed. He has exploded in 2020 by taking every win available to him so far, and proving his race craft by winning from the front at Estoril race 1, before having to use his head in the pack in race 2, pulling the pin at the perfect time to clear off. Colombia have a massively shining star, there is no doubt about it.