In and Out | The MotoGP wildcard riders that excelled... and those that flopped

11/05/2024 09:09 AM

MotoGP, the land where motorcycling dreams are made... and broken.

Andrea Iannone's recent MotoGP appearance, after five years away from the Championship, got us thinking about wildcard/replacement rides from the past.

Appearing in the Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing World Championship is usually reserved for the best of the best. However, sometimes certain riders appear in the class that you quickly realise are not cut out for the ruthless world of MotoGP.

But sometimes certain riders come along and set the world alight with an awe-inspiring ride that stays in your mind forever...

One-off jaw-dropping rides:

Troy Bayliss

2006 - Valencian Grand Prix (1st Place)

We may have slightly cheated with this one as Troy Bayliss raced in MotoGP from 2003 until the middle of the 2005 season. But we cannot overlook the Australian's 2006 Valencian Grand Prix appearance.

After winning the 2006 World Superbike Championship, Bayliss replaced Sete Gibernau in the Ducati Marlboro Team for the 2006 MotoGP season finale. Bayliss showed impressive pace from the word go as he featured inside the top ten in both Friday Practice sessions, before qualifying on the front row on Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday emotional scenes broke out in Valencia as Nicky Hayden won the MotoGP World Championship, after Valentino Rossi crashed in the early stages. However, our main focus from this race was the Australian breaking away at the front, before taking the chequered flag and winning the Grand Prix, in his last MotoGP race. Bayliss had a 1.319-second lead over the rider in second place, Loris Capirossi.

Olivier Jacque

2005 - Chinese Grand Prix (2nd Place)

Olivier Jacque was not a normal replacement rider as he was a former 250cc World Champion in 2000. The French rider also competed in the premier class from 2001 to 2003. The 2005 season started and the former Champion was without a ride for the second year in a row.

But in the third Grand Prix of the season, Jacque raced for the Kawasaki Racing Team as he replaced the injured Alex Hofmann. Throughout Friday in the Chinese Grand Prix, Jacque was outside the top ten in the dry conditions.

On Saturday the Frenchman qualified in 15th in the dry and looked like he could fight for points on Sunday. But then it rained at the Shanghai Circuit and after two laps Jacque was in ninth place. Things got even more amazing as on lap 15 Jacque passed Sete Gibernau and took second place.

Jacque began hunting down the race leader, Valentino Rossi, and he was closing in fast. But with only seven laps remaining the Kawasaki rider could not catch the Yamaha. Jacque crossed the line in an incredible second place claiming his first, and last, MotoGP podium.

Katsuyuki Nakasuga

2012 - Valencian Grand Prix (2nd Place)

The Japanese rider, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, appeared in MotoGP nine times, seven in Japan and twice in Valencia. Despite scoring points in all of his appearances, the most notable ride that Nakasuga had in MotoGP was the 2012 Valencian Grand Prix.

Nakasuga replaced the injured Yamaha Factory Racing rider, Ben Spies, for the season's final round. Across the weekend the Japanese rider showed average race pace in the wet and qualified 16th.

However, the wet conditions on Sunday seemingly aided Nakasuga. There were only 14 finishers in the Valencian Grand Prix, with only seven riders on the lead lap at the chequered flag. But Nakasuga stayed on and finished the Valencian Grand Prix in second place.

Noriyuki Haga

1998 - Japanese Grand Prix (3rd Place)

In the 1998 Japanese Grand Prix, Yamaha Racing entered World Superbike rookie, Noriyuki Haga, into his home race. Before his Grand Prix appearance, Haga had raced in World Superbikes 12 times across five years. This was also Haga's first-ever Grand Prix appearance before he returned in 2001 for a full season.

'Nitro Nori' finished his first Grand Prix race in third place, 5.502 seconds behind the race winner, Max Biaggi. Haga was the top Yamaha rider at the 1998 Japanese Grand Prix, with the next Yamaha a further 5.377 seconds behind him.

Those that flopped...

Christophe Ponsson

2018 - San Marino Grand Prix (Last Place, One Lap down)

This is arguably the most protested against MotoGP replacement as Christophe Ponsson appeared at the 2018 San Marino Grand Prix. The French rider made the big step from World Superstock 1000 to MotoGP for the weekend with the Reale Avintia Racing Team.

The Frenchman ended his first day as a MotoGP rider in last place, 5.956 seconds slower than the lead riders. On Friday evening MotoGP riders began protesting Ponsson's appearance in San Marino. However, he was allowed to continue.

After qualifying in 26th, 3.100 seconds slower than 25th place, Ponsson was allowed to race. He then finished the MotoGP race in last, one lap down compared to the rest of the field. Avintia proceeded to drop Ponsson before the next Grand Prix.

Ben Bostrom

2011 - American Grand Prix (Retired)

The name Ben Bostrom will take many people back to World Superbikes in the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, many forget the American rider made one appearance in MotoGP with LCR Honda in 2011 at the American Grand Prix.

The majority of the American's MotoGP weekend involved circulating Laguna Seca four seconds slower than the fastest riders in Practice and Qualifying. Bostrom qualified last in 18th place but was 1.135 seconds slower than his teammate, Toni Elias.

In the race, Bostrom only completed eight laps around Laguna Seca. The American had made several mistakes and ran off the track multiple times. Eventually, Bostrom retired from the MotoGP race before competing in the MotoAmerica Superbike race later that day.

Xavi Fores

2016 - San Marino Grand Prix (Retired)

Xavi Fores will most likely be remembered for his time in World Superbikes and British Superbikes. However, the Spaniard participated in a MotoGP race in 2016, but as you may have guessed it did not go as well as expected.

After finishing seventh and fourth in Laguna Seca in the World Superbike paddock, Fores linked up with Avintia Racing for the 2016 San Marino Grand Prix. At the end of his first day on a Ducati MotoGP machine, the Spaniard was last on the timesheets and 3.277 seconds off the pace.

Fores went on to qualify in last place, 3.293 seconds slower than Jorge Lorenzo's pole position time. The race went exactly as you would have expected for Fores. He circulated in 19th place after inheriting a position after Tito Rabat crashed in front of him.

Fores completed 15 laps of the 25-lap race before pulling into the pits due to difficulties with arm pump. After his one-off appearance in MotoGP, he has not been invited back to the Championship.

Takumi Takahashi

2023 - San Marino Grand Prix (Did Not Qualify)

Takumi Takahashi made two MotoGP appearances across nine years. His first appearance saw him finish 12th in the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix, but his 2023 San Marino Grand Prix appearance was memorable for all the wrong reasons.

The Japanese rider returned to the MotoGP paddock with LCR Honda to replace the injured Alex Rins. At the end of his first day on the Honda RC213V Takahashi was at the bottom of the time sheets, 5.040 seconds slower than the fastest rider.

After setting such an uncompetitive lap time on Friday, Takahashi did not compete in the San Marino Grand Prix. The Japanese rider did not participate in Qualifying, the Sprint Race or the Grand Prix, instead he was sent home and replaced by Stefan Bradl.

The post In and Out | The MotoGP wildcard riders that excelled... and those that flopped appeared first on BikeSport News.