Pure speculation talking out of my ass here but didn’t seem they tried too hard to make the rookies cup a priority. Just my opinion so flame away but after he had a bit of a late start which appeared to be from not doing their homework correctly, he didn’t do to well and they kind of waffled around not having their ducks in a row getting proper testing done. Outsider looking in they didn’t want to go back and get beat up on again.
Rocco was asked about Rookies and he said "probably not" Yes, I kinda thought he was just trying to keep it all on the downlow because it was just a test but who knows! I think itd be dope to see a Landers/ Paasch team. Would be shitty for Silva but cest la vie
Well our Great White Hope was not invited back for next years RBRC and there are no Americans competing for 2021. This is from RBRC Instagram, the post is quite massive and I cant get a proper screenshot so I copy and pasted the good bits: Following our final Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Races of 2020 we are ready to announce the provisional entry list for the 2021 Rookies Cup. We have been unable to run the normal Selection Event this year but it is already being scheduled in the 2021 calendar along with a full 15th Rookies Cup season. This year the Online Selection Process gave us an impressive list of talent to consider and the Selection Committee reviewed all factors in coming up with a short list of riders to be invited to the 2021 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. There are also 3 riders promoted by Dorna from the British, Asia, Northern and European Talent Cups included in the list. List of invited riders for 2021: Harrison Voight Freddie Heinrich Jakob Rosenthaler Soma Görbe Eddie O’Shea Cormac Buchanan Filippo Farioli Demis Mihaila Diogo Moreira Riders invited to return from this year's Cup Tatchakorn Buasri Daniel Muñoz Sho Nishimura Scott Ogden Alex Millan Iván Ortolá Matteo Bertelle Mario Aji Bartholomé Perrin Gabin Planque Noah Dettwiler Luca Lunetta David Muñoz David Alonso Marcos Uriarte Collin Veijer Daniel Holgado A total of 26 riders from 16 nations. Congrats to all of you
To go back to the point that someone else made previously regarding whether the rookies cup benefits American riders... I'm not sure how much I think it is really worth it. I suspect the Americans that have gone overseas to partake in that series ended up being more successful simply because they were good racers and that they likely would have been successful even if they hadn't gone to that series. Garrett is a perfect example. Arguably the American making the big splash on the world stage right now and he never went to RBRC that I'm aware of. The reason you see the riders who went to RBRC generally perform better long term is they were simply faster riders to begin with.
Mostly it's because while there are rare kids his age who are mature enough, the vast majority are not. This also helps keeps kids progressing not just going to the biggest displacement they can and going nowhere. There is also no need for Rocco or anyone like him to ride a 1k, it would prove nothing one way or another, anyone with half a clue can see his abilities on the other machines.
I don't know of anyone who has gotten noticeably better because they ran the red bull stuff. I have seen riders lose steam because that is all they could afford to do which meant less track time to keep honing their skills. Some of those you're all talking about as successes could have been faster sooner from what I've seen. However it does have an advantage in determining the desire of the rider and family and helps riders get used to travel and being in Europe in a more controlled environment than just going with a team or a single country series.
I think the Bull cup is good to get names of young riders off the normal euro radar a chance to get their name out. They are still going to need to pony up the big bucks if they want to race in Europe but, if europe is where you want to be it might help you get there faster (even if you are indebted to Red Bull for an extended period of time after). I could add a rant about my total hatred of young 'mericans packing up and heading off to the UK or Europe to spend the family fortune but that's for another time and thread.
The rookies cup has probably finished as many careers as it has helped. More than one American kid has done a season and then disappeared. Persistence, to the point of obsession, in the face of overwhelming odds is what it really takes. Occasionally, all the sacrifices pay off.
I'm still not buying the "Rocco couldn't find a covid test" excuse. Had they got their plane tickets, hotels etc etc they would have found a way. IMO of course
As you well know there are so many other factors at play as well. Some came through at the wrong time to have a good ride available when they were done, if they had the money to get a ride if not, how good were the people around them after, etc. or the personal stuff to go along with it as well. Their drive, personal issues, novel concept but actually interested in something outside of racing- I’ll never get that one Your points about travel are spot on as well. Even CB was referencing that and that was a while back. It’s one less unfamiliar thing if you get back over there. Either way let’s hope in 2020 we have a kid or 3 over there and keep moving onwards and upwards.
That was my thinking as well. My take on it was after the first set of issues, his showings being less than stellar (I don’t know what the factors were for that and won’t speculate just stating the facts on that) I doubt they wanted to fork over the money for travel and miss out on other stuff to ride around at the back. I’m sure it was an eye opener for Rocco as he’s been in the front for a good bit. Only issue was he is a fish swimming racing against the best in a pond to racing against the best in an ocean. Also know he had a massive growth spurt so that doesn’t help racing a bunch of kids that make horse jockeys look big.
But ensuring you, with the help of others at a young age, are focusing on the right things with the best tools available to you at the time—- even though they may not be better tools than some of the competition.
So... is the RBRC worth it? Yes, it’s RedBull exposure and it gets a lot of exposure as well as goes along with their core beliefs of athlete development. I’m sure it’s said in previous pages somewhere about why doesn’t RedBull put all that money into x team or y team... they have enough teams, athletes, etc. Although it strikes me as odd RedBull sponsoring a series for kids, it’s what they believe in and it gets kids drinking koolaid at a younger age. And one of the coolest moments was when we were pitted next to the tent at Mid O years back and all those things firing up at once. Quite an emotional moment with all that 2 stroke in the air.
Exposure is great, if your at the front. But to me, surrounding yourself with higher levels of competition will make you better. RBRC is the place to do that. I think that is the biggest benefit, if you can stay in for a whole season. The growth spurt Rocco went through is real. I noticed that when watching the first couple of races this year. He would get out of draft and make no progress. Big body. I think its the right move going to bigger CC as he is going to be a big kid.
It's a big task expecting kids who grew up on racing production bikes to go to RBRC and compete against kids who have been on a moto3 type bike for a couple of years. British Talent Cup, Asia Talent Cup, European Talent Cup all on NSF250s. Do we need a Moto America moto 3 type class in the US?
^^ of course we do - but it will never happen because our series and culture can't support it *see USGPRU*
Rocco showed up at Road America one a bit chubby. He definitely leaned out as the season went on. He's going to be a normal sized human.