MotoGP — Jorge Martin, best rookie of the season?

Since the advent of MotoGP in 2002 (category which replaced the 500 cm3), many rookies distinguished themselves with pole positions, podiums, victories and even the title. This year, there are four of them taking their first steps in the premier category: Enea Bastianini, 2 Moto2020 world champion, Jorge Martin, 3 Moto2018 world champion, Luca Marini, runner-up to Bastianini last year, and Lorenzo Savadori. 

A first since 2013 

Martin was always in his element in qualifying. To this day, he is still the driver with the most pole positions in Moto3, with 20 in total. At the Doha GP - his second event in the premier category - the Madrilenian won his very first pole, becoming the first rookie to accomplish such a feat in such a short time since a certain Marc Marquez who did the same at the GP of the Americas 2013 (also his second GP).

If Marquez transformed the test into a victory (then the title at the end of the year), Martin had to be content with the third step on the podium. But this performance still opened the doors to the very exclusive club of beginners who managed to climb into the top three in two MotoGP races (or less) with Marquez (third in his first race in 2013), Jorge Lorenzo (second in his first race in 2008) or even Dani Pedrosa (second in his first race in 2006). 

Not quite on equal terms

This is all the more rare for a beginner riding a Ducati since only Troy Bayliss in 2003 and Ruben Xaus in 2004 managed to appear on the podium as a novice in the category under the colors of the Bologna firm. . 

Note, however, that unlike his counterparts Bastianini or Marini who operate a Ducati GP19, a model from two years ago, Martin has a GP21 just like his teammate Johann Zarco or the two officials Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia. 

Victim of a heavy fall in Portimão, the Spaniard's rise nevertheless came to a grinding halt. Away from the circuits as far as Catalonia, he has since achieved a 12th place as his best result and he currently occupies second position in the rookie standings, three points behind Bastianini. 

But next month, the MotoGP paddock finds itself at Red Bull Ring, home ground of the Ducati who have won five of the six races contested on this track. Last year during the Austrian GP, ​​Martin also took his first victory in Moto2. The following meeting on the same circuit, he crossed the finish line in the lead before having to give up a position for having exceeded the limits of the track on the last lap.