2. Maverick Vinales (Moto2)
Since the introduction of Moto2 in 2010, it hasn’t proved easy for riders graduating from the junior class to make their mark straight away, unless your name is Marc Marquez of course. Usually it has taken a year for rookies to adjust to four-stroke but Maverick Vinales has already made the transition within two races.
Qatar was impressive enough with the Moto3 champion finishing fourth on his debut but at the Circuit of the Americas, Maverick was too strong for the lot of them. Vinales qualified well, putting his Kalex on the second row and amid a chaotic start, the nineteen year old was able to breakaway at the front along with Xavier Simeon, Dominique Aegerter, Esteve Rabat and Mika Kallio.
The men around him had pole positions, podiums and race victories in this class but Vinales wasn’t fazed and when Simeon overshot the first corner, promoting him to second, Maverick upped his game. The Spaniard scythed past Aegerter in the middle of the esses to take the lead and to back that up, set a succession of lap records to leave his rivals powerless to stop him taking victory.
The expectations coming into 2014 were for Vinales to learn the ropes and start mixing it at the front later in the season but already, just two races in, those predictions may need revising.
(Photo Credit: MotoGP.com)
