Twenty princes and one king

In five or ten years’ time to be a MotoGP monarch and wear the crown of the world’s best motorcycle rider: this is what every rider in the MotoGP Rookies Cup dreams of. At the opening race in Jerez a real king gave the 20 participating talents his best wishes for their goal.

“This is kind of how I imagine a perfect weekend to be,” smirked Luis Salom on Sunday evening. His two-day rap sheet: To start with, the 16-year-old Spaniard, like all Red Bull rookies and mechanics, received a personal hand-shake from ‘his’ King Juan Carlos, in the box. He then went on to win both contests of his home GP in Jerez. And, lastly, Luis was handed the winner’s trophy by no less than the winner of the MotoGP race, also his biggest idol: Dani Pedrosa, World Champion in the 125 and 250cc class and current World Champion MotoGP runner-up.

Motocross filler by Salom

“I already suspected beforehand that I’d have good chances, because the test runs went so well,” said Salom. “It only really got hairy on Sunday, one-and-a-half laps before the end, when I spun off the track into the grass while taking a curve. But I kept my nerve and was able to save the victory at the finish line.” His purser, likewise 16, American JD Beach, commented: “Coming around the corner, I only saw a cloud of dust. But Luis didn’t lose enough time for me to catch up to him. That’s why I decided to concentrate on securing second place.”

Congratulating stars

Thus the personnel line-up on the podium at Sunday’s 15-lap race was the same as the day before: After Luis Salmon, JD Beach celebrated second place; third on both days was the 14-year-old Scotsman Deane Brown. And a surprise at the award ceremony awaited the second place winner: Beach received his award from Mika Kallio, Jerez winner in the 250cc class.