Marc Marquez made an immediate impact on MotoGP by winning the title as a rookie in 2013. Since then, no Rookie of the Year has finished higher than fifth place.
Among newcomers since Marquez, Fabio Quartararo stands out the most. He picked up seven podiums for Yamaha satellite team SRT in 2019. Pedro Acosta, Johann Zarco and Pol Espargaro (all sixth) also impressed early in their top-class careers.
Fermin Aldeguer was compared to Marquez during his debut season, but despite winning his first race in Indonesia, he struggled for consistency and finished eighth overall.
Lorenzo points to testing limitations in MotoGP
Lorenzo spoke to GPOne about how much wider the gap is between Moto2 and MotoGP these days. Ai Ogura, who was the 2024 world champion, started well with Trackhouse but quickly fell behind Raul Fernandez, while Somkiat Chantra never quite looked ready for the top level.
He described today’s bikes as ‘spaceships’ and pointed out that there isn’t enough time for young riders to adjust. After the post-season test in Valencia, there’s more than a two-month break before the Sepang shakedown, with a testing ban covering most of January.
While there are two official three-day tests in Malaysia and Thailand, cost-cutting has left riders with much less track time compared to previous years.
“Today it’s even more difficult for that to happen,” Lorenzo said of Marquez’s 2013 title win. “Moto2 doesn’t have electronics, and MotoGP feels like a spaceship; there’s too much difference.”
“You have to get used to something very different from what you’re used to, and you have to do it with very little testing. You have Valencia for a day, maybe three days in total, then you’re off for two months.”
“You don’t have time to get used to it. Rookies have a few more tests.”
Lorenzo: ‘Pedro Acosta with the Ducati would be very dangerous for Marc Marquez’
Although he stopped short of saying Acosta could have taken the title on a Ducati, Lorenzo believes the Spaniard may have picked up race wins had he been on top equipment last season.
Max Biaggi famously won twice and finished runner-up to Mick Doohan in his debut 500cc season in 1998.
“One guy who could have done what [Max] Biaggi did is Pedro Acosta, in his rookie year, if he’d had a Ducati,” said Lorenzo. “He definitely would have done better than he did with the KTM.
“Pedro Acosta with the Ducati would be very dangerous for Marquez. Marquez is very strong, certainly even more complete than Pedro.
“But Pedro is young, he hasn’t had any major injuries. He’s whole, very strong. He’s an animal. He works like an animal, from six in the morning to 10 at night.”
Lorenzo named Marquez and Acosta as his ideal pairing when asked to pick two riders from the current grid.
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