Premiere: Xabi Zurutuza enters the Moto3 / Moto3 World Championship

Finally. The 18th birthday is already an amazing milestone for every teenager. For professional motorcycle pilots, the official working life begins when they come of age. With the start of the 2023 racing season, a minimum age came into effect for all classes of the MotoGP World Championship. The only exception: If a driver wins the Red Bull Rookies Cup at the age of 17, he can also race in the Motorcycle World Championship before his 18th birthday.

Xabi Zurutuza, born April 7, 2006, has competed in the Junior Moto3 World Championship for the past two years and has qualified for the main stage of the World Championship with two race wins in a very high-level series. The Finn acquired a great talent at the end of the summer of 2023 and signed a contract to match. Since then, the name Xabi Zurutuza has not been popular. Although the Spaniard was cleared to take part in two of last season’s tests – 21st on the combined time tables at Jerez, the youngster has yet to feature – but according to the current MotoGP rulebook, Zurutuza was absent. the first time exchanging blows in Qatar a few weeks later. The young man from the north of Spain was again able to experience the second run as a spectator.

As a substitute driver and teammate of José Antonio Rueda, Vicente Perez was allowed to drive the Red Bull Moto3-KTM. Perez performed bravely and scored points in 14th place at the Portuguese GP.

The grown-up Zurutuza originally started out in junior supermotos, winning his first junior title at the age of 11 and has remained loyal to the tarmac for a long time. Even when he got his first road racing experience in the original Spanish Moto3 class in 2020, the guy with a Basque name, previously difficult for Central Europeans, won the Spanish Supermoto championship.

After focusing on the Junior World Championship, the #85 found success in the second year and Aki Ajo, known for his talent, led the 17-year-old from the MTA team to the Red Bull Moto3 format despite the age regulations.

After waiting for almost seven months, Xabi Zurutuza receives his birthday present at the spectacular race in Austin – his first World Championship at the US Grand Prix.