MOTO GP WILDCARDS
MotoGP
Wildcards
Wild card entries are a regular feature in each of the three MotoGP categories and are just another element which adds to the excitement of Grand Prix racing.
At the start of each race weekend the names of the regular, contracted riders for each team appear on the event entry list and they are sometimes accompanied by the names of wild card riders.
Often these guest riders are local to the Grand Prix and are being given a chance to build on their previous experience of their home track in a more competitive environment, to benefit from support from the home crowd and to raise their profile by competing with the international elite. Indeed, in the smaller cylinder classes in particular, the wild card system is a useful way to give local youngsters their Grand Prix debuts on tracks they are familiar with.
As far as the teams are concerned providing a rider with a wild card ride can boost a manufacturer's representation in a home or otherwise important Grand Prix, allow a team to gather more data over the course of a weekend and give them a clearer indication of a riders' ability if they are considering recruiting him on a permanent basis. Wild card riders cannot however score points for the Teams World Championship.
The rules on wild card entries are as follows:
Each Grand Prix host Federation (FMNR) may nominate three
wild card entries for the 125cc and 250cc classes in their own
Grand Prix.
The MSMA (Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers' Association) may,
at each Grand Prix event, nominate one wild card entry for the
250cc and MotoGP classes.
The FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motorcyclisme) may
nominate two wild card entries for the 125cc and 250cc classes
at each Grand Prix.
The FIM/Dorna may nominate one wild card entry for the MotoGP
class at each Grand Prix.
These entries must be approved by the Grand Prix Commission.
Wild card appearances take place throughout the MotoGP season but are particularly common at the various Grands Prix in Italy, Japan and Spain due to the influences of teams, sponsors and manufacturers and a plethora of young riding talent in each of those nations.
Japan's Grand Prix in particular has catapulted a number of wild card riders to stardom by giving them the opportunity to display their abilities on the World stage.
One of the most memorable World Championship performances in the modern era by a wild card came from the now sadly deceased Norick Abe at the 1994 Grand Prix at Suzuka. At just 19, Abe made headlines with a fearless display in which he did battle with the likes of Mick Doohan and Kevin Schwantz before falling just a few laps from the finish line.
That performance earned Abe a regular ride with Kenny Roberts' Marlboro Yamaha team and just two years later he gained his first win at Suzuka, becoming a national hero in the process as the first Japanese rider to be victorious in a World Championship race. Abe sadly died in a road accident in 2007.
The late Daijiro Kato also first made his name as a wild card. The MotoGP Legend took the world by surprise when he finished third in the 250cc class at the 1996 Grand Prix in Suzuka before winning the quarter litre category race there in 1997 and 1998, each time as a wild card entry. It was not until 2000 that he became a full-time Grand Prix rider with Honda.
Current 250cc Grand Prix rider Hiroshi Aoyama won points in four of his five races as a wild card, and in 2003 he made it on to the podium for the first time at Suzuka having taken pole position and coming home in second place. He eventually became a regular rider in 2004 after four seasons as a wild card.
It is not just in Japan that riders spring to prominence as wild cards, indeed one of the starlets of the current 125cc grid, Pol Espargaro, made history as a wild card in the Catalunya GP in 2006 when he finished 13th to become the youngest ever point scorer in a Grand Prix at the age of just 15 years and eight days. He went on to race in the last six Grands Prix of 2006 and as of 2007 he has been a full-time World Championship participant.
