The 2015 Moto3™ World Championship begins with the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar this weekend.
The Moto3™ class has always been a platform for the best young riders in the world to showcase their talent, and for 2015 this is no different with only four riders competing in the Championship over the age of 21.
Frenchman Fabio Quartararo will be the youngest rider to ever to compete in a full season in Moto3™, at just 15 years and 343 days, with the organisers having changed the rules this year to allow someone under the age of 16 to take part in a race. Quartararo was the CEV Repsol Moto3™ Champion from 2014, and has already impressed a number of people with his pace during preseason, having joined the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Team for 2015.
There are a number of new faces that will line up on the grid in 2015, including last years Red Bull Rookies Cup Champion Jorge Martin, who will be joined by Juanfran Guevara and Francesco Bagnaia on the on the Mapfre Mahindra Team.
Quartararo is joined in the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Team by the man who finished runner-up to him last year, Jorge Navarro, while Gabriel Rodrigo will be the first ever Argentinian to compete in Moto3™, for the RBA Racing Team.
Maria Herrera will be the second female to compete full-time in the Moto3™ class alongside Ana Carrasco, as she becomes teammates with Isaac Viñales in the Husqvarna Factory Laglisse Racing Team. Efren Vazquez, who took two race wins last year on his way to 4th in the championship, lines up alongside British rider Danny Kent for the Leopard Racing Team, with Scottish rider John McPhee also returning to the the grid with the Saxoprint-RTG Team.
Karel Hanika, Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira make up an extremely competitive Factory Red Bull KTM Ajo team, while the rider who finished the championship in 5th last year, Romano Fenati, is joined by compatriot Andrea Migno in the Sky Racing Team VR46.
A total of 14 nationalities will be represented on the grid when the lights go out in Qatar, and with less than 0.6s separating the first six across the line last year, it once again promises to be an exciting start to the 2015 Moto3™ World Championship.
Teams have an extra day of practice at the Losail International Circuit to prepare for the season opener, with things kicking off on Thursday in Qatar ahead of qualifying on Saturday and the Moto3™ race scheduled to take place at 6pm local time in Qatar on Sunday.
