After 3 days of brilliant Aragon sunshine 11 riders were selected from over 100 competitors for the 2012 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. Every year the competition gets more intense and after the 2 initial test days 55 riders were invited to attend the final day on Wednesday. The format from the 1st 2 days was repeated and groups of 7 or 8 riders each had a 15 minute session in the morning and another in the afternoon to show their abilities to the judging panel. After the panel had deliberated the invitation list was read out to the tense and expectant assembly. Invited from Aragon Nicolò Castellini (ITA) Simon Danilo (FRA) Karel Hanika (CZE) María Herrera (ESP) Livio Loi (BEL) Stefano Manzi (ITA) Jorge Martín (ESP) Diego Perez (ESP) Bradley Ray (GBR) Filippo Scalbi (ITA) Jordan Weaving (RSA) 2012 Provisional Entry List Willi Albert (GER) Florian Alt (GER) Hafiq Azmi (MAS) Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA) Nicolò Castellini (ITA) Simon Danilo (FRA) Scott Deroue (NED) Aaron Espana (ESP) Josep Garcia (ESP) Karel Hanika (CZE) María Herrera (ESP) Livio Loi (BEL) Ivo Lopes (POR) Stefano Manzi (ITA) Jorge Martín (ESP) Philipp Oettl (GER) Diego Perez (ESP) Bradley Ray (GBR) Joe Roberts (USA) Kyle Ryde (GBR) Filippo Scalbi (ITA) Alan Techer (FRA) Lukas Trautmann (AUT) Yui Watanabe (JPN) Jordan Weaving (RSA)
So the tryouts were on the Aragon kart track? Some folks were expecting it to be on the GP track and got caught out. That's worth noting for future tryouts. Red Bull Aragon Highlight Video
I agree the bikes seem well suited for that track. We ride RS chassis on kart tracks, but with smaller engines, and have been debating whether it would make any sense to ride a full 125 there. Looks like it might be worthwhile.
My point is a raceready RS might be a handful on a kart track with its high strung motor and tall internal gearing. The metrakit on the other hand basically has an MX motor in it. A closer comparison might be the MetraKit to the Aprilia RS125. JMO