Carter Thompson claims a victory at Red Bull Rookies season opener

2025 Red Bull Rookies Cup
Round One – Jerez

Race One

Brian Uriarte won the first race of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup season with an inspired last-corner move after 14 laps of Jerez. The 16-year-old Spaniard went around the outside of Malaysia’s Hakim Danish, who had kicked up the dirt on the exit of the penultimate turn, to take the victory by a nose, the official gap at the flag less than four-hundredths of a second.

Danish still took second, comfortably ahead of Indonesian Veda Pratama, who had been part of an intense three-way battle for the lead until running wide with a lap to go.

A superb first lap, from 15th to third, set up Veda Pratama and pitched him into a fantastic race-long battle for the win, but the 16-year-old had to settle for third after that late mistake.

The sole Australian representative in the field, 17-year-old Carter Thompson, won an eight-rider battle for fourth, taking the chequered flag six-seconds behind the winner.

Carter Thompson – P4

“It wasn’t too bad. I tried to stay with Veda at the start and try and catch up to the front two because they had a decent gap on the first lap. But I made a small mistake and nearly crashed, so lost Veda. I pushed myself but couldn’t close, we have to think about the bike, it’s good but maybe we can make a small step.”

Race One Results

Race Two

Hakim Danish took the advantage over Brian Uriarte when the second race got underway on Sunday morning in Spain. Carter Thompson was eighth early on the opening lap but was soon up to fifth before the end of lap one.

Thompson was up to fourth on the following lap before getting mugged by Veda Pratama who pushed the Australian back to fifth once again. Pratama then continued his charge forward, up to third, chasing Danish, who had managed to stretch away from the leading group a little – and second placed Uriarte.

Thompson was back up to fourth with nine laps to go, while Pratama had moved into the lead ahead of Danish and Uriarte. Two laps later Thompson moved into the podium positions, third place behind Danish and Pratama. Pratama then went down after touching with Thompson.

With five laps to run Thompson hit the front only to then be hit by a long-lap penalty as penance for his clash with Pratama.

Just when it looked as though his chance at glory was gone, Thompson completed the long lap penalty with three laps remaining, rejoined the race in ninth, set a new fastest lap of the race to chase down the leading group, and then forged his way back to the front for the victory!

Hakim Danish takes the round victory with 40 points ahead of Carter Thompson on 38 points, and Brian Uriarte completed the round podium with 25 points.

Carter Thompson

“The weekend got off to great start for me. I felt comfortable on the bike straight away, topping FP1. In FP2, I was feeling good again and finished P5. Qualifying didn’t quite go to plan. I had a small crash, but did manage to get it back to pits. I lost a lot of time but we managed to get the bike back out, salvaging P9 on the grid.

“Race 1 on Saturday afternoon was a solid one. I was pretty happy with how I rode, even though I would have loved to be on the podium. I had a big moment during the race which let the top 3 get away, and after that, I couldn’t bridge the gap. I crossed the line in P4.

“Heading into Race 2 on Sunday morning, I knew I needed to stay with the front group. The race had a bit of everything – it was a real fight from start to finish. Even after serving a long lap penalty with a few laps to go, I pushed hard and managed to bring it home for the win. I’m so happy to get my first Rookies victory!

“It was a weekend of firsts for me- first time Mum has seen me race in Rookies, first time with my new mechanic Pablo, first time I have topped a Rookies session, first time leading a lap in the race, and best of all, first time on the podium – and to stand on the top step and hear my National Anthem made it even more special.

“Now I’ve got a week off before we head to the French GP in LeMans. Looking forward to it!”

Race Two Results

Red Bull Rookies Cup Points