When the sun sets … | MotoGP ™

So what about newbies facing the scary prospect of their first MotoGP race ™. History textbooks are not on the side of Remy Gardner, Raul Fernandez, Darin Binder, Fabio di Gianantoni and Marco Bezzeki. The last rookie to win his debut championship in the premier class was Max Biagi in 1998, riding a Honda in Suzuka. The Italian is just one of five riders who have achieved such a feat. The very first premier world championship race at the 1949 TT was won by Harold Daniel on the Isle of Man. A year later Jeff Duke won the TT in his debut 500cc World Cup. Circumstances helped the two debutant winners get their only Grand Prix victory. Jorge Kiesling won in 1961 in Argentina and Edmund Chihak at the Nurburgring in Germany in 1974 when leading riders boycotted the race for safety reasons. Finnish rider Jarna Saarinen won the first two rounds by riding a new two-stroke 500cc Yamaha in 1973 before losing his life in that tragic 250cc Grand Prix in Monza. Only Duke has won the premier title, although Saarinen would surely have won the world title probably for years to come.