Moto3: 2022 rookie profile – Joshua Whatley
British rider Joshua Whatley joins the Visiontrack Honda squad for 2022.
Joshua Whatley is one of two British riders to join the Moto3 World Championship this season in the newly formed Visiontrack Honda team which has been created by ex-MotoGP rider, current Endurance rider and BT Sport pundit Michael Laverty with the aim of providing British riders with a pathway from grassroots mini-bike racing all the way into the Grand Prix paddock, a pathway which hasn’t previously existed and has caused major issues for British riders who were aiming to race against the best in the world.
Joshua Whatley joins Scott Ogden in the series, the pair are the strongest lightweight class talent that Britain has to offer with the pair both gaining lots of experience on Grand Prix tracks whilst racing in the hugely competitive FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship these past two seasons.
Whatley (#70) hunting down the 2021 Red Bull Rookies champion David Alonso (#80).
Whatley’s career has consisted of racing in Britain and Spain/Europe often doubling up and competing in multiple championships at the same time, he began riding at six years old in 2012 (yes I also feel old) and very quickly established himself as a promising young talent taking home multiple British titles as he moved through the classes to before signing with Hector Faubel’s incredibly successful FAU55 racing team for 2017, he competed in the Moto4 series over in Spain.
In 2018 Joshua doubled up his duties and competed in Dorna’s new British Talent Cup series alongside the European Talent cup with Hector Faubels squad, he had a successful season in the ‘BTC’ coming home in 4th place overall with multiple podiums to his name, unfortunately he was unable to compete once more in the series for 2019 as the top four in the championship were unable to continue, being forced to progress with their careers.
Joshua leading 2022 teammate Scott Ogden (#26) behind teammate Ivan Ortola (#24).
Over in the European Talent Cup (ETC) he would have a solid rookie year against some of the fastest riders Europe has to offer and came home in P26 overall with a best result of P9 at Valencia. In 2019 he continued to balance two championships and raced in the British Moto3 Championship on a full-size Moto3 machine scrapping with Brandon Paasch for the title in just his first season in the class, he also remained within the ETC making a switch to the KRP team where he would improve his best result to P8.
The decision was made for 2020 to concentrate on solely one championship and Joshua moved up to the FIM CEV Moto3 series on a full-size Moto3 to battle against the best riders in the world including Pedro Acosta, Izan Guevara and Xavier Artigas, it would be a tricky season with the KRP team scoring points in only two of 11 races on the calendar with a best finish of P12 at Jerez, however the experience gained was worth more than what the results showed the door opened to race for the MTA squad in 2021.
Black, white and red, one of the best colour combinations.
MTA are one of the best teams on the Moto3 grid with their rookie rider Ivan Ortola battling for the title in both the FIM CEV and the Red Bull Rookies, there was no doubt that Joshua was in good hands. The season was much more successful and saw the youngster break into the top 10 on multiple occasions and solidify himself as a future world championship hope.
The experience that has been gained racing against the best riders in Europe will surely help him this year as he takes on the biggest challenge of his career yet, however at only 16-years-old he has ample time to continue to perfect his craft.
Featured images – MLav Academy (Gold & Goose) / Team MTA / CEV Repsol
