Spain is the world power of motorcycling and its hegemony is not in question, given the dominance it exercises in the categories of entry to MotoGP
Last weekend, Izan Guevara was crowned Moto3 World Champion in Australia with two Grand Prix to spare. Spanish motorcycling stays true to its date with success, celebrating at least one title in one of the three categories that make up the world championship for fourteen consecutive years. This winning momentum began just two decades ago, with the emergence of a whole golden generation born of Dani Pedrosa’s first 125cc title. Since that 2003, Spain has 31 world titles and only left its record empty in 2008.
These championships are the reflection of a sports model that triumphs from the ground up. During the last two decades, public and private facilities and circuits have been built in our country, and all those promotional competitions that feed the quarry have been promoted, supported by various sectors through sponsorship or patronage. No one doubts that Spain is the cradle of speed on two wheels and a mandatory crossroads for every athlete. It is difficult to find a rider on any of the World Cup grids who has not competed in our country. Without going further, the two contending for the MotoGP title in 2022, Frenchman Fabio Quartararo and Italian Pecco Bagnaia, have grown up in the Spanish championships.
What is a source of pride and celebration here is viewed with suspicion beyond our borders. Currently, a third of the riders in the three categories are Spanish, which is not in line with a championship that wants to be more global and that increasingly organizes Grand Prix outside the Old Continent. The dam found by the championship leading company, Dorna (based in Madrid), is intended to export this successful model to other latitudes. For example, supra-regional promotional cups have been created all over the world that are looking for talent in countries with less motorcycle tradition or fewer resources. But it will be years before it bears fruit, if it ever does.
Spain is currently the world power in motorcycling and has strengthened its hegemony by dominating the Moto3 category, the gateway to the championship. The last three champions are Albert Arenas, Pedro Acosta and Izan Guevara; and in 2017 and 2018 Joan Mir and Jorge Martín won respectively. It is not hard to imagine that all these young national talents will lead the way in the sport for years to come. Without going further, Arenas, Acosta and Guevara will coincide next season in the Moto2 intermediate category, while Mir and Martín have already established themselves in the elite of MotoGP, along with the Márquez, de Espargaró, Viñales, Rins and his company . Sport is almost always cyclical and before this explosion, Spain had its own desert journey in the 1990s. But what the statistics say is that national motorcycling still has years to go at the top.
Guevara’s title at the Phillip Island circuit was the prologue to a weekend of fruitful harvest for the Spaniards. It was won in all three categories, something that hadn’t happened this year, and took six of the nine podiums at stake. The queen class lived up to its name and gave fans the best race of the year, with a hard-fought victory for Álex Rins and second place for the reborn Marc Márquez. But beyond the victories, Pecco Bagnaia was the one who won the most at the Australian Grand Prix, confirming his comeback and taking the lead in MotoGP for the first time.
This historic ‘sorpasso’ is no less creditable because it is expected. Just eight races ago, Fabio Quartararo led Pecco Bagnaia by 91 points. Since then, the numbers speak for themselves: the Italian has added four wins and three podiums, for a single drawer of the Frenchman, who, on the other hand, collects four zeros in his locker. The collapse of the reigning champions is colossal and with two Grand Prix to go, Bagnaia has 14 loan points and could be champions next weekend if he wins in Malaysia and Quartararo is not on the podium. Aleix Espargaró has also run out of steam in recent races, 27 points ahead and looking to make it to the last grand prix of the year alive and take the risk with home advantage in Valencia.
Source: La Verdad
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