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MotoGP
MOTOGP: Karel Abraham - Rookie Of The Year
Cal Crutchlow may have narrowly outscored him to claim the official title, but Karel Abraham proved himself worthy of SPEED.com MotoGP Rookie of the Year honors.
While the battle for official 2011 MotoGP Rookie of the Year honors was not fought in the spotlight as it had been the year before with high-profile debutants Ben Spies, Marco Simoncelli, Alvaro Bautista, and Hector Barbera, it was even more heated on track.
The season-long joust came down to the final lap of the final race, when Cal Crutchlow survived a (literal) attack from fellow MotoGP newcomer Karel Abraham, the Briton staying upright as the Czech pilot fell to the earth after the two collided in a desperate clash for the honor.
And as such the Dorna's 'Rookie of the Year' title ended up exactly where most everyone figured it would -- to Crutchlow, who continued to do his best to fill the very large boots of Spies, the rider he ably replaced the season prior with the Yamaha World Superbike outfit, scoring three wins and six poles a year after taking the World Supersport crown, and the rider whose seat he claimed again in '11 at Tech3 Racing with Spies graduating up to the official Yamaha squad.
While perhaps not quite at Spies' level in terms of sheer talent, Crutchlow managed to add his already rock-solid CV in 2011 by narrowly defeating his rookie rival.
However, while Crutchlow's performance was pretty much as expected, Abraham's came as something of a revelation.
In six years on the undercard, the 21-year-old Czech racer had never really been much more than a mid-packer (and that might be a bit generous). While he did happen to score a couple of late season Moto2 podiums in 2010 -- including a victory in the season finale -- those results only provided a degree of late justification for his advancement into the premier class in 2011, not as the reason for it. By that point he was already MotoGP-bound despite barely eking his way into the Moto2 Championship top ten with his strong finish.
A fair amount of scoffing and eye rolling took place when Abraham's '11 plans were first announced at a time when the youngster was 0-87 in Grand Prix podium attempts.
The season-long joust came down to the final lap of the final race, when Cal Crutchlow survived a (literal) attack from fellow MotoGP newcomer Karel Abraham, the Briton staying upright as the Czech pilot fell to the earth after the two collided in a desperate clash for the honor.
And as such the Dorna's 'Rookie of the Year' title ended up exactly where most everyone figured it would -- to Crutchlow, who continued to do his best to fill the very large boots of Spies, the rider he ably replaced the season prior with the Yamaha World Superbike outfit, scoring three wins and six poles a year after taking the World Supersport crown, and the rider whose seat he claimed again in '11 at Tech3 Racing with Spies graduating up to the official Yamaha squad.
While perhaps not quite at Spies' level in terms of sheer talent, Crutchlow managed to add his already rock-solid CV in 2011 by narrowly defeating his rookie rival.
However, while Crutchlow's performance was pretty much as expected, Abraham's came as something of a revelation.
In six years on the undercard, the 21-year-old Czech racer had never really been much more than a mid-packer (and that might be a bit generous). While he did happen to score a couple of late season Moto2 podiums in 2010 -- including a victory in the season finale -- those results only provided a degree of late justification for his advancement into the premier class in 2011, not as the reason for it. By that point he was already MotoGP-bound despite barely eking his way into the Moto2 Championship top ten with his strong finish.
A fair amount of scoffing and eye rolling took place when Abraham's '11 plans were first announced at a time when the youngster was 0-87 in Grand Prix podium attempts.
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