The bike racing season gets into full swing this month. We have already enjoyed the opening few rounds of the MotoGP series and, with both the world and British superbike championships kicking off in the coming weeks, there’s a positive festival of bike racing to keep race fans occupied between now and October.
Of course, we’ll all be glued to see the usual suspects battling it out for the titles and we’re especially looking forward to seeing Carole Nash ambassador recommence his battle with Toprak Razgatlioglu in World Superbikes, but aside from the championship favourites there are plenty of others we’ll be keeping our eyes on as they look to make a breakthrough season. Here are the five we’re keeping the closest eye on…
Jake Dixon
At 26, Carole Nash ambassador Jake Dixon is reaching his prime.
He’s worked diligently in three full seasons in the Moto2 class, adapting to international circuits and prototype bikes after cutting his teeth on the British superbike scene, and that hard work looks to be paying off.
This season he’s bagged a ride at the new GASGAS team, and although it’s a new name in the class they’re a top outfit with great people behind it. Jake’s already scored a pole position and a career best podium finish last time out in America, and his goal will surely be to grab a coveted MotoGP slot for 2023.
Jake already had two outings in the top class last season and it is no secret that there is a desire from MotoGP bosses to get a Brit back on the grid next season. Dixon’s certainly being groomed to take on the role, and if he continues as he’s begun he may well be a full-time MotoGP star in ’23.
Raul Fernandez
He might have finished second to team-mate Remy Gardner in last year’s Moto2 title race, but 21-year-old Raul Fernandez was the name on everyone’s lips over the winter.
He won eight times in what was his rookie year in the intermediate class, prompting KTM to move both him and Gardner into their satellite MotoGP team for this season.
Things haven’t quite gone as well as hoped in the opening Grands Prix. Fernandez was vocal about his desire to stay in the middleweight class and seems unsettled at KTM. Added to a big pre-season crash, which looked to have knocked some of the wind out of his sails, he’s a bit detuned – even though all eyes remain firmly trained on him this season.
Rory Skinner
Twenty-year-old Rory Skinner proved to be a tough rival to Fernandez in the junior ranks, but while the Spaniard went on to secure a Moto3 ride and work his way through to MotoGP, the road to superstardom has been tougher for Scot Skinner.
Left without a ride on the world scene, he came home to become the first British Talent Cup champion in 2018. When that lead to nothing, he switched to British supersport – initially running his own team and then winning the 2020 title on a Yamaha.
Last year he debuted in British Superbikes for the FS3 Kawasaki team. A solid debut saw him end up as top rookie, with a couple of podium finishes to his name, and so far he’s been bang on the pace in testing.
Skinner’s made no secret of his desire to make it to the GP scene, and this could be a defining season in his career.
Iker Lecouna
You have to feel a little sorry for 22-year-old Iker Lecouna. Having made a stellar rise from a near road racing rookie in 2016 to a KTM factory MotoGP rider in 2020, the talented Spaniard found himself without a ride as the Austrian factory looked to place its prodigiously talented Moto2 stars Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner in the top class.
It was a shame for Lecouna, as he did little wrong and even managed a best of sixth place in his sophomore MotoGP season. Still GP’s loss is WorldSBK’s gain and he’s one of two new riders in the factory Honda HRC squad.
So far the Fireblade has proved difficult to tame and hasn’t quite been able to take the fight to the dominant Kawasaki and Yamahas but Lecouna has looked good in testing and we look forward to seeing if he can carry that form into the races.
Fermin Aldeguer
There are no shortage of fast Spaniards coming through the ranks in motorcycle racing and two 17-year-olds in particular are catching the eye in Moto2.
Last year’s dominant Moto3 champion, Pedro Acosta, moves up amid much fanfare and is being rightly lauded as the next big thing. He’s had a solid start to his season as he learns the more powerful Moto2 machine, leaving European Moto2 champ Fermin Aldeguer to grab some headlines of his own.
With two years’ experience riding 600s in the European series, Aldeguer has hit the ground running in his rookie world championship season – even grabbing a pole position at round three. He’s running the unfancied Boscoscuro chassis but, despite this, expect some big results in 2022.
