Red Bull Motorsports
MotoGP
Moto2 2013: Title Contenders and Fresh Talent
Redbull.com looks at the likely title challengers and the new faces in Moto2 this season...
Pol Espargaro celebrates victory at Aragon
© DPPI
If Moto2 was something of a one-man show in 2012 with Marc Márquez dominating his way to the title, then 2013 should be anything but with the Spaniard departed for MotoGP.
Redbull.com has picked out its strongest tips for the title fight this year, as the busy pre-season testing schedule fast approaches with the first outing of 2013 on February 12th in Valencia...
Pol Espargaró (pìctured above) Nationality: Spanish Age (at Round 1): 21 GP wins: 9 (4 in Moto2, 5 in 125cc) GP podiums: 34 (13 in Moto2, 21 in 125cc) Best Championship finish: 2nd (Moto2 2012) Team/machine in 2013: Tuenti HP 40/Pons Kalex
Espargaró will be the outright favourite when the Moto2 season starts in Qatar in April. He was the only rider capable of challenging Márquez for the 2012 title consistently and his displays last season marked him out as a cut above the rest of the field.
If the Spaniard can hit the ground running in Round 1 at Losail he will prove a tough man to overhaul – he clicked perfectly with the Kalex machine last year and should be the standard setter this season.
Tom Luthi looks bravest in the Le Mans rain
© DPPI
Thomas LüthiNationality: Swiss Age (at Round 1): 26 GP wins: 7 (2 in Moto2, 5 in 125cc) GP podiums: 27 (15 in Moto2, 2 in 250cc, 10 in 125cc) Best Championship finish: 125cc World Champion in 2005, 4th in Moto2 (2010 & 2012) Team/machine in 2013: Interwetten Paddock/Suter
Lüthi will be entering his fourth season in Moto2 in 2013, and the experience gained across 10 seasons of competing in the World Championship (in 125s, 250s and now Moto2) means he should not only be able to challenge Espargaró regularly, but beat him too.
A win a season for the past two years and a handful of podiums in each campaign have ensured he has always been inside the top 5 come the end of the campaign, but the former 125cc World Champion has so far lacked the regularity to be able to make it count come the end of the campaign.
He'll need to find something more in 2013 to force his title credentials, and he is more than capable of doing just that.
Julián SimónNationality: Spanish Age (at Round 1): 25 GP wins: 8 (all in 125cc) GP podiums: 25 (11 in Moto2, 14 in 125cc) Best Championship finish: 125cc World Champion in 2009, 2nd in Moto2 (2010) Team/machine in 2013: Italtrans Racing Team/Kalex
Simón was 125cc World Champion in 2009 and then had a fantastic debut in Moto2 in 2010, finishing runner-up. Since then however the road has been a rocky one for the highly likeable Spaniard.
Injury, bad luck and a number of other contributing factors have interfered with Simón's fortunes and form over the past two seasons, but in the latter half of 2012 he showed signs of his true potential and rounded off the campaign with a second place finish in Valencia. If he can gel with the Kalex from the off in 2013, he will be one of the main men.
Scott Redding in action at Valencia
© Marc VDS Racing Team
Scott ReddingNationality: British Age (at Round 1): 20 GP wins: 1 (in 125cc) GP podiums: 8 (6 in Moto2, 2 in 125cc) Best Championship finish: 5th (Moto2 2012) Team/machine in 2013: Marc VDS Racing Team/Kalex
No rider will have welcomed the new Moto2 regulations on a minimum combined weight for bike and rider more than Scott Redding. The newly imposed 215kg limit will still leave Redding at something of a disadvantage, but the British rider will finally be able to expect less of one than in previous seasons.
After two seasons on the Suter, Redding switched to Kalex in 2012 and the change proved to be a smart move. He consistently scored top-10 finishes, took four podiums and sealed fifth overall in the championship.
In 2013 he'll be expecting more, and if a first Moto2 win comes early in the campaign then there will be no reason not to eye the title as a realistic possibility.
Other riders to look out for in the Moto2 class this season will include 2010 champion Toni Elías. The Spaniard has had a tough two seasons since he claimed the inaugural Moto2 crown, but if he can get going from the off he will be a threat. Either way, this season will be an important one for his career.
Alex de Angelis is another rider with Moto2 wins under his belt over the past couple of seasons and if consistent will be another frontrunner with the ability to force his case, and one more tip for a possible surprise near the front is Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami.
2011 125cc World Champion Nico Terol, who had a tough debut season in Moto2 in 2012 but came on strong towards the end of the year, could be another rider to watch as well.
The key for all, as ever, will be consistency...
Sandro Cortese and his new Kalex Moto2 machine
© F. Glaenzel
ROOKIES
There will be a handful of new riders to Moto2 in 2013, with two of the most exciting prospects being Sandro Cortese and Danny Kent.
Cortese comes into the class as the reigning Moto3 World Champion but will face a very different challenge to that of last year. The German was one of the most experienced riders in the class in 2012, but will have a lot of learning to do. He'll be riding for a team specially put together for him, which will be of great benefit, and will be on the highly regarded Kalex machine.
Kent steps onto something of a more unknown quantity in the Tech 3 Mistral machine – a bike that struggled in 2012 – but he comes into 2013 brimming with confidence after a fantastic end to last season. Both he and Cortese will find the going tough, but the pair rose to their individual challenges in 2012 and given their abilities should be able to adapt to the demands of Moto2.
