Red Bull Rookies Cup
Born Racers offers a behind-the-scenes look at the 2023 Red Bull MotoGP™ Rookies Cup, where young talents chase their dreams. Follow their journey with insights from legends like Marc Márquez.
Born Racers, the six-part documentary series following the 2023 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup tells the stories of young hopefuls on their way towards World Championship motorcycle racing.
The MotoGP™ feeder series has been running since 2007 and is now the proven path for the sport's top stars across the three world championship classes - Moto3™, Moto2™ and MotoGP™.
Throughout Born Racers, along with the ups and downs of our contenders, we also meet those who rode those same waves long ago, including Marc Márquez, one of the greatest ever in the sport. Fellow MotoGP™ competitors, and ex-Rookies, Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta give us context to what our protagonists experience.
But where would current greats like Márquez, Binder and Acosta be without development programs like the Red Bull Rookies Cup and support at pre-World Championship level? Here, we look at their journeys, as well as what lies ahead for our Born Racers in 2024 and beyond.
The benchmark – Marc Márquez
The once-pocket rocket burst onto the scene in 2008, having risen through the ranks in his native Spain. In just his sixth race, aged 15 years old, he became the youngest rider in history to take a podium at world level. He raced for the Red Bull KTM Motorsport team for his second year in 2009, bagging two more podiums, before taking the 125cc title (now Moto3™) in 2010. The rest of his career, as they say, is history.
The Red Bull Rookies Cup started after the #93's time in junior categories, but his stance on the series is clear: "Many riders have talent, but without the work, with that talent you won't get to the World Championship. For me, Red Bull Rookies Cup is the best school before MotoGP™."
A sport like motorcycle racing isn’t cheap and it’s only become more expensive since the global financial crash of 2008. Riders like Márquez come along once in a generation and he was fortunate enough to have the backing from those who believed in his talent to take him to World Championship.
He showcased his talent in the right series, in front of the right people, at the right time in the global economy. Since then, those scenarios are harder to come by. That's where the Red Bull Rookies Cup comes in. It helps to keep talented young riders from slipping through the cracks, requiring them only to front the costs of getting to the events.
The success stories – Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta
Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta are two of those riders whose careers were made by the Rookies Cup.
Binder turned up to the selection event, held each year with 100 invitees competing for spots on the 26-rider grid, at the end of 2008. He was one of the chosen riders for the 2009 season and it was a lifeline for a rider who'd won everything there was to win at home in South Africa and was looking for a cost-effective way to compete in Europe.
He stayed for the maximum three years riders are allowed in Rookies and three seasons at the world level circuits, showcasing himself seven weekends a year in front of the Grand Prix teams was exactly what a 'slow-burner' talent like Binder needed. "I think the turning point for us is when we went into the Rookies Cup," he says as he reflects on his career. "I've got better as I've got older. As a kid, especially at the beginning of Rookies, I wasn't very good."
Securing multiple podiums and a victory was enough to help him move up to the Moto3™ championship in 2012. His skills developed and, thanks to being on the KTM factory’s radar from his time in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, he was placed into the presitigious Red Bull KTM Ajo team in 2015. He claimed the Moto3™ World Championship title a year later.
Pedro Acosta’s dad was a fisherman, while his mum worked in his school's kitchen, and the Spanish star is very open about the fact he would not be racing were it not for the Red Bull Rookies Cup: "I didn't have enough money to ride in other championships. It was necessary to go into a series like this: easier for the guys, super cheap and also the same bikes and opportunities for everyone.”
Acosta completed only two seasons in Rookies, such was his talent. It was almost a single year. He narrowly missed out on the series' victory in 2019, but demolished the competition the next year, winning the opening six races.
I didn't have enough money to ride in other championships. It was necessary to go into a series like this
Fans of MotoGP™ will be well aware of Acosta's rapid ascension through the World Championship levels, winning his second-ever race in Moto3™ and taking the 2020 championship overall in his rookie season. He then wrapped up the Moto2™ title two years later and this season he became a MotoGP™ podium finisher in only his second weekend.
The graduates – Angel Piqueras and Eddie O'Shea
That brings us to the current crop of World Championship newbies.
Born Racers is a record of the domination delivered by Angel Piqueras during the 2023 season, as well as showing the process of a rider being signed by a Moto3™ team.
There was a lot of hype about the most successful Rookie ever moving up into the World Championship and Piqueras reinforced that excitement by clinching his first Moto3™ podium in just his third outing, along with multiple top 10s. He’s well on course to take the coveted ‘Rookie of the Year’ title in the class.
Eddie O'Shea went through the lowest lows that racing can offer in the docu-series, but the upside by the end of his Rookies chapter was that he was finally fit and ready to race to the best of his ability again.
He's since remained in the JuniorGP World Championship category that runs in Spain and Portugal - the same championship that Marc Márquez won in the late 2000s. Strong finishes and regular fighting at the front of the pack has led to a Moto3™ promotion for '8-ball Eddie' once he turns the minimum required age of 18 in September. He’ll debut in Lombok, Indonesia, and will be on the grid throughout 2025 as well. Racing on a paradise island with white beaches and turquoise waters? What a place to enter the world stage.
The next generation - Rico, Max, Ruché, Cormac and Alex
But what of our remaining cast?
Max Quiles is no longer the pocket rocket he was in the documentary. In fact, he’s now the tallest rider in Red Bull Rookies Cup. He remains a championship contender however, with two wins so far this season. Should he finish in the top three, he would be eligible to move up to Moto3™ for 2025, but whether he's shown enough of the right attitude this year, along with his results, will be the key variables in that decision.
Rico Salmela and Ruché Moodley continue to fight for Rookies Cup glory in their third years as well. Salmela has grown both in stature and racecraft. Where aggression was lacking on track last year, he's rectified so far to take three podiums and a further three top-five finishes in 2024. He's also taken a win in the JuniorGP class during his debut season there, too. His path to the World Championship looks more of a matter of when, not if.
Moodley is still searching for that elusive first Red Bull Rookies Cup race win, but has etched closer and closer. He’s a regular in the top five despite luck not being on his side, with three non-scores largely out of his control. He's chomping at the bit for that number-one spot before closing out his tenure.
Cormac Buchanan continues to fly the flag for New Zealand in Europe, racing against in JuniorGP. While his Rookies stint was unfruitful in terms of trophies, he's now a two-time podium finisher and he's gone all-in for a seat in the World Championship in 2025.
Alex Enriquez’s path led him back home to the United States for 2024, competing full-time in the MotoAmerica Supersport class and battling for his first title. He'll be looking to move up to the Superbike class in years to come and fight with other former Rookies such as Jake Gagne and Sean Dylan Kelly – the benchmarks on the national scene.