MOTOGP MOTO2 WORLD
MOTOGP MOTO2 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOM LÜTHI FIGHTS HIS WAY BACK After the winter tests, Swiss racer Tom Lüthi was regarded as one of the favourites to win the Moto2 World Championship title and everything was still going to plan after he finished third at the opening World Championship race in Qatar. But after this, nothing seemed to go his way. Lüthi struggled with the set-up of his Suter MMXIV and on many tracks the German Kalex chassis was superior to the Swiss Suter. Since Lüthi was not the only Suter rider to have problems, the constructors in Turbenthal made some improvements. Eskil Suter brought in a lot of equipment for his teams to test and this soon bore fruit. Lüthi initially stayed with the original frame, however. Not until he realised that the other Suter riders were getting faster did he switch to the new frame. From the Czech GP onwards, the 125cc World Championship winner of 2005 was once again able to keep up with the leaders and won the Japanese GP in Motegi and the season final in Valencia. In the meantime it was announced that Lüthi‘s Interwetten team would be merging with the Technomag team after the 2014 season, thereby creating a Swiss super team with Tom Lüthi and Dominique Aegerter. Before the season final, the two future team partners were just seven points apart in the World Championship table. In the final showdown the two of them battled it out for fourth position in the World Championship and the honour of being the best Swiss rider, with Lüthi retaining the upper hand. © Photos: Paddock GP Racing 16
MOTOGP MOTO2 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SUPERB MAVERICK VIÑALES FINISHES THE SEASON ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Spanish ex-World Championship winner and team owner Sito Pons was in a far from enviable position at the end of last year. Although his team with Pol Espargaró won the Moto2 World Championship and Esteve “Tito“ Rabat finished third in the World Championship rankings, he was left without a rider. Espargaró moved up to the MotoGP and Rabat defected to the competition. But it didn‘t take Pons long to find a replacement – he hired Maverick Viñales and Luis Salom, the two most promising shooting stars from the Moto3 class. The selection proved to be a resounding success. Moto3 World Championship winner Viñales was the surprise of the season, winning his second Moto2 GP on the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. Though he still had a lesson or two to learn after this, he gradually improved in strength and after finishing second in Barcelona, Assen and Indianapolis he was ready for a superb winning streak to finish off the season. The 19-year-old Spaniard won three of the last five GPs and finished third in the World Championship. His meteoric rise did not go unnoticed: Suzuki is going back into the MotoGP next year and team manager Davide Brivio has recruited Viñales as one of the two factory riders. © Photos: Friedemann Kirn, Two World Media © Photos: Gold and Goose MOTO3 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP JACK MILLER BECOMES WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RUNNER-UP AFTER A HUGE BATTLE After his move to the Red Bull Ajo KTM team, Australian Jack Miller was already a big favourite in the previous season, clocking best times on his factory KTM on all tracks. Miller continued to perform superbly when the World Championship got underway, winning three out of the first five races. But then not only did the new factory Hondas gain in strength as a result of enormous development efforts carried out this year but Miller also started losing out in the hard-fought position battles of this closely contested class. He was also touched by his World Championship rival Alex Márquez – brother of MotoGP World Championship winner Marc Márquez – on the wet track in Aragón, causing him to fall. As a result he only finished runner-up despite a fantastic end to the season with wins at his home GP in Phillip Island as well as at the final in Valencia. However, the Australian is making history in another way: Next year he will be riding with LCR Honda, making him the first Moto3 racer to move straight up to the MotoGP. Not only has Danny Kent returned from Moto2 to the smallest World Championship class, the Husqvarna brand also celebrated its return to the Motorcycle World Championship this year. The 20-year-old Englishman achieved his first podium position in Brno and went on to finish eighth in the World Championship. 17
