Moto2

Countdown To Qatar: 2013 Moto2 Season Preview

4 Mins read

MotoGP will welcome its most exciting crop of rookies for many a season in Qatar this weekend but don’t be fooled into thinking Moto2 is devoid of world class riders. With an eclectic mix of riders young and old, the intermediate class could well be described as the past, present and future of Grand Prix racing all in one field.

Certainly in Moto2’s past is its reigning champion Marc Marquez who has made his long-awaited step up into the premier class along with Andrea Iannone and Bradley Smith, two others that would have been considered part of the elite in last year’s line-up. Of the 2013 runners and riders, all of the pressure will surely fall on the 21 year old shoulders of Pol Espargaro.

The younger brother of Aspar MotoGP rider Aleix was a constant thorn in the side of Marquez last year, taking the title race down to the penultimate round in Australia and on his day, was capable of leaving everybody, including Marc, trailing in his wake. His victory by a Moto2 record margin at Phillip Island showed exactly what he’s capable of.

As a result of the winter’s big story, Pol is the only member of last season’s dominant quartet that will line up on Sunday. With the much-publicised departure from the class of Marquez and Iannone, Thomas Luthi will have been expected to carry the greatest threat to Espargaro’s chances of taking the title but the Swiss rider was the unfortunate victim of a horrible accident in testing at Valencia. On the final day of the opening pre-season test, Ratthapark Wilairot lost control of his Gresini Suter which slammed into Luthi who was riding just ahead. The impact caused a broken right arm and collarbone and the Interwetten rider is unlikely to be seen until round three at Jerez, allowing Espargaro a two-race head start in the title race. In the meantime, Luthi’s place will be taken by former 125cc race winner Sergio Gadea.

There are plenty of other riders lining up to take on the championship favourite with Britain’s Scott Redding sure to near the front of the queue. A key rule change since the end of last season may have a significant impact on his chances with Dorna now introducing a minimum combined weight limit for bike and rider. In the past, the taller Redding would have been disadvantaged in a straight line compared to the slighter riders but the playing field has now been levelled in that respect. In a class which already has a control engine and control tyre, that can be no bad thing.

Redding and Mika Kallio form an unchanged line-up at Marc VDS while Tuenti HP 40 retain their three-pronged Spanish attack with Esteve Rabat and Axel Pons joining Espargaro and the former will have 2013 earmarked as a breakthrough year. Both teams will be running the class-leading Kalex motorcycle and will be joined by the Italtrans squad who will run Takaaki Nakagami and 2009 125cc champion Julian Simon, one of six Grand Prix world champions in this year’s field.

Toni Elias is the only one to have tasted success in this class having won the inaugural Moto2 title back in 2010 while Simon and Luthi will be joined on the grid by fellow 125cc champions Mike Di Meglio who has found another new home at JIR and Nicolas Terol who has shown signs in testing that his second Moto2 season will be much more productive than his first.

The most exciting addition to the class must be that of reigning Moto3 champion Sandro Cortese who moves up with his own Kalex-backed Dynavolt Intact GP team. The German’s career took a while to get going but his move to the factory KTM squad last year gave him the platform to fight at the front. In such a chaotic class, Cortese showed the consistency required to put a title-winning campaign together and was head and shoulders above the competition by season’s end. A move up to Moto2 is the next natural step in his career and Sandro should be regularly contending for points when the season starts.

The rivalry between Cortese and his Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Danny Kent was one of the stories of 2012 with little love lost between the two and they have a change to pick up where they left off with Kent signing for Tech 3. The Briton ended his Moto3 career with victory in the season finale at Valencia, pipping Cortese in the process, and should be one of the main challengers to the German for rookie of the year. Louis Rossi may have other ideas on the second Tech 3 Mistral 610 but the young Frenchman has trailed his teammate in testing so far.

Tech 3 go into 2013 with a young but exciting rider line-up (Photo Credit: Tech3)

Tech 3 go into 2013 with a young but exciting rider line-up (Photo Credit: Tech3)

 

Britain will have three riders to watch out for this season as Kyle Smith makes his Grand Prix debut with Blusens Avintia, partnering Toni Elias. The Yorkshireman hasn’t taken the familiar route into Moto2 having spent the last three years in the Spanish Stock Extreme championship where he was a regular frontrunner. After finishing as runner-up to former Moto2 rider Carmelo Morales last year, Smith has earned his place in the GP paddock and it will now be up to him to maintain it. It is hoped that Gino Rea will join his compatriots on the grid at some point but after a ride with ESGP fell through, he will be relying on wildcard entries.

Moto2 has earned a reputation as one of the closest and most entertaining championships anywhere on two wheels and this year promises to be no different. This class is one of the final steps on the road to MotoGP stardom and with 32 riders on the grid chasing that dream, the action looks set to be as fierce as ever.

2013 Moto2 World Championship: Teams And Riders
Tuenti HP 40 – Pons Kalex
40  Pol Espargaro 49  Axel Pons
80  Esteve Rabat
Interwetten-Paddock – Suter
12  Thomas Luthi
Marc VDS Racing Team – Kalex
36  Mika Kallio 45  Scott Redding
Technomag carXpert – Suter
4  Randy Krummenacher 77  Dominique Aegerter
Came IodaRacing Project – Suter
5  Johann Zarco
NGM Mobile Forward Racing – Speed Up
3  Simone Corsi 15  Alex De Angelis
54  Mattia Pasini 88  Ricard Cardus
Italtrans Racing Team – Kalex
30  Takaaki Nakagami 60  Julian Simon
QMMF Racing Team – Speed Up
95  Anthony West 97  Rafid Topan Sucipto
Blusens Avintia – Kalex
9  Kyle Smith 24  Toni Elias
Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 – Suter
18  Nicolas Terol 81  Jordi Torres
Maptaq SAG Zelos Team – Kalex
19  Xavier Simeon 23  Marcel Schrotter
JIR Moto2 – Motobi
63  Mike Di Meglio
Federal Oil Gresini Moto2/Thai Honda Gresini Moto2 – Suter
7  Doni Tata Pradita 14  Ratthapark Wilairot
Idemitsu Honda Team Asia – Moriwaki
72  Yuki Takahashi
Arguiñano & Gines Racing – Speed Up
17  Alberto Moncayo 44  Steven Odendaal
Dynavolt Intact GP – Kalex
11  Sandro Cortese
Tech 3 Racing – Tech 3
52  Danny Kent 96  Louis Rossi

 

Avatar photo
5101 posts

About author
MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3 and WorldSBK writer for The Checkered Flag. Contact: [email protected]
Articles
Related posts
Moto2Moto3MotoEMotoGP

MotoGP: Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta updates on 2020

3 Mins read
Dorna CEO updates on 2020: we’re trying to maintain the races, which is the most important thing.
Moto2Moto3MotoEMotoGP

MotoGP: German, Dutch and Finnish Grand Prix cancelled

1 Mins read
The German, Dutch and Finnish Grand Prix are cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Moto2

Sam Lowes - Every day I feel stronger

2 Mins read
Marc VDS rider Sam Lowes gives the lowdown on his current day-to-day life as he recovers from his shoulder injury under lockdown from Coronavirus.