Red Bull Rookies Cup: From the fast open curves and long main straight at Mugello we switch to the knot of corners that is the Sachsenring. Dramatic changes of elevation and no rest for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies.
The KTMs did not race in Germany the last two years, so none of the Rookies have ridden them at the Sachsenring. The weekend starts all even with a slight advantage to those who do know the track like Northern Talent Cup winner Jurrien van Crugten, the 16-year-old Dutchman who has not had much luck so far in his first Cup season.
Points to be won
Favourites though, are still the usual heroes. Points leader Hakim Danish, the Malaysian who turns 18 at the end of the month, slightly extended his Cup lead at Mugello. He now has an advantage of 32 points over Brian Uriarte, the 16-year-old Spaniard.
By far the biggest points haul went to double winner Veda Pratama and the Indonesian 16-year-old is in 3rd place, 56 points off the lead. There are still 150 points to be won in the remaining 6 races of the season.
New winners
So far this year, there have been 5 different winners; the record is 8 in 2011 when Arthur Sissis took 4 victories. The Australian is due to be a spectator at the Sachsenring.
Spanish 17-year-olds Beñat Fernandez and David González have both already won races in their first Cup seasons and stand 4th and 5th in the points table. Marco Morelli has just turned 18 and needs his 1st victory of the year to lift him from 6th in the points table. The Argentine won two races last year, and this is his final season.
A long wait for Austria
Leo Rammerstorfer is also in his final year and looking for his first victory. The 20-year-old Austrian has taken a huge step forward this season, led in Mugello and finished 4th in Race 1. The only Austrian to win a Rookies Cup race so far was Lukas Trautmann, who won a single race in 2011 and 2 in 2012.
If we are to add to the list of 23 nations who have won Rookies Cup races, we can look to Yaroslav Karpushin as the 15-year-old from Kyrgyzstan was very much in the hunt in Italy and finished 6th in Race 2. Or perhaps Luca Agostinelli from Vietnam, who was 7th in Race 1 in Mugello.
The next heroes
Ex-Rookies Manuel González and José Rueda lead the Moto2 and Moto3 World Championships heading to the Sachsenring and for those who want to chase that dream, online applications are now open for the 2026 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.
If you want to see all the drama and excitement that makes Rookies Cup so special, the Born Racers series is now available on YouTube.
Broadcast
This weekend’s Rookies Cup races can be seen live on www.redbull.tv and on TV stations around the world.
Race 1 is at 16:15 CEST on Saturday and Race 2 is on Sunday at 15:30, the show starts 10 minutes before the race.
For more info checkout our dedicated Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup News page Rookies Cup News
Or visit the official Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup website rookiescup.redbull.com/
