The 20th season of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup tips into its second half after Saturday’s race at the Dutch TT. Assen is always special and has very often played a crucial role in deciding the Cup winner.
Beñat Fernandez has been leading the Cup since he won Race 1 in Jerez. He has remained super fast, cool, consistent and very much the man in charge. He still is, and yet Mugello demonstrated that even such strength can be challenged.
By winning both races in Italy, Ryota Ogiwara, the 17-year-old Japanese, jumped from 4th, 31 points behind the leader, to 2nd, just 14 adrift. It is not that Fernandez had a disaster at Mugello, far from it, the Spanish 18-year-old scored an excellent 2nd and 4th. But the double win gave Ogiwara a lot of points.
Expert advice
And that brings us to Assen. The Netherlands has seen more Rookies Cup double victories than any other country. There have been 8 doubles at Assen out of a possible 12. Six times, the Dutch double winner has gone on to take the Cup.
So who better to provide the insight on what it takes to take the Dutch Double than Can Öncü, for the incredible Turk did it twice. Back-to-back doubles in 2017 and 2018. The only double-double in Rookies Cup history.
“At Assen, you have to try and get the perfect balance everywhere, that is with you and the bike. You need to be very good at the hard braking, but not brake too hard, if you mess up going into one corner, that will affect the whole sector because the corners run together.”
“You can’t just set up the bike to be good on the brakes because there are many important fast corners as well. You need very clean lines, you need to be very smooth.”
“Assen is a great challenge. If you can put it all together at Assen, you can do it anywhere because it is a real test, lots of demanding corners, long corners, double corners,” concluded Can Öncü, who won the Cup in 2018 and became the youngest ever Grand Prix winner riding as a wild card in Valencia at the end of that season.
Wide open
Modern Classic Motorcycle News - Kindle Edition
Scoring a double gives the rider 50 points. Such a result would put any of the top ten in this year’s Cup right into contention for the overall win, with 6 races still to be contested after we leave the Netherlands.
David González, the 18-year-old Spaniard, might have won 3 or 4 races this season but for errors, not all of his own making. He has a single victory from Race 2 in Le Mans and lies 11th in the Cup points, but that could change if he finds the missing consistency in the Netherlands.
The home fans will be cheering for Jurrien van Crugten, propelling the 17-year-old to better things.
**************************************
Support Modern Classic Motorcycle News and become a YouTube Member for just £5 per month. Members help keep the channel independent and receive extra value, including digital issues of M.C.M. News Magazine join here:
Out Now on Kindle
Watch, like and subscribe to our Youtube channel
Get These Awesome Perks With Our YouTube Membership!: Join Our YouTube Membership and Save – Get two digital issues of Modern Classic Motorcycle News per month for price of one join here:
👍 Like | 💬 Comment | 🔔 Subscribe for more modern classic motorcycle content
Win with BOTB.com
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/
* Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission (at no cost to you) if you click on the link and make a purchase. Any money made goes straight back into the website and magazine. Your support is appreciated!
