MotoGP Red Bull Rookies Cup officials have released the list of riders invited to participate in this coming week’s tryouts for the 2027 program, in alphabetical order based on last name. The list includes 10 Americans, four nominated from the 2026 MotoAmerica Talent Cup class, and another six who participated in other series recognized by Rookies Cup officials.
American Mahdi Salem Abuawad is identified on the list as representing Palestine but was born, lives, and started racing in the USA, and goes by Mahdi Salem.
Derek Sanchez and Mikey Lou Sanchez are not related.
The Americans making the list include:
Mahdi Salem
Nathan Bettencourt
Julian Correa
Nathan Gouker
Mac Robert MacClugage
Kensei Matsudaira
Joshua Raymond
Derek Sanchez
Mikey Lou Sanchez
Ulises Weyrauch
The Canadians making the list include:
Eric Sergi
Lachlan Alexander
How it works:
According to Toni Sharpless, who runs youth racing programs in Canada and who is attending the try outs, “The Selection Event for the 2027 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup season takes place this coming Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Guadix, in southern Spain. 127 riders from 45 nations have been invited to try out for six available openings in the 21st Rookies Cup season. Already, 46 different nations have been represented by 277 riders in the first two decades of the Cup.
“Roughly half the riders will be on track on Day 1, the other half on Day 2. Then the 4-person Selection Committee will draw up a list of riders invited to ride again on Day 3. From those, a short list will be invited to join the Cup for 2027.”
Once they make the cut and are selected, riders generally participate in the program for three years. An example would be American Sean Dylan Kelly, who raced in Red Bull Rookies Cup for three years, signed to race in MotoAmerica with Team Hammer starting in 2019; won the 2021 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship; went back overseas for almost two years in Moto2; returned to the U.S. and raced in MotoAmerica Superbike in 2024, 2025 and 2026; and is continuing in MotoAmerica Superbike in 2027. Another example would be American Kristian Daniel, Jr. who finished his third year in Rookies Cup in 2026 and has been signed to race in the Moto3 World Championship with the Red Bull Tech3 team.
Overall List
(Americans and Canadians are listed in italics)
Mahdi Salem Abuawad (Palestine) (American-born Palestinian-American)
Lachlan Alexander (Canada) (Canadian)
Poojita Anil Kumar (India)
Alessio Arnold (Switzerland)
Marc-Antoine Audard (France)
Rehbar Baktoo (India)
Jakub Belak (Poland)
Enzo Bellon (France)
Nathan Bettencourt (USA) (American)
Laila Bielecka (Poland)
Aymon Bocanegra Boone (Brazil)
Evan Boxenberger (France)
Brayden Burke (Sweden)
Jack Burrows (United Kingdom)
Chenuka Caldera (Sri Lanka)
Oliver Cantos Llorca (Spain)
Cristóbal Carreño (Chile)
Leonardo Casadei (Italy)
Viktor Čech (Czech Republic)
Omri Chen (Israel)
Oleksii Chepurny (Ukraine)
Daniel Climent Cantos (Spain)
Nathaniel Cohen (Kenya)
Julian Correa (USA) (American)
Victor Cubeles (Spain)
Karolina Danak (Poland)
Harrison Day (United Kingdom)
Quinn de Joode (Netherlands)
Luuk de Vries (Netherlands)
Alex Debon Estornell (Spain)
Vincenzo Di Veroli (Italy)
Andoni Dominguez Martinez (Nicaragua)
Ishak Demir Dönmez (Turkey)
Johann Dubois (France)
Jack Dunabie (United Kingdom)
Roman Durdis (Czech Republic)
Johann Emmanuel (India)
Swan Emprin (France)
Alberto Enriquez (Ecuador)
Tomas Escobar (Colombia)
Bautista Farias (Argentina)
Sebastian Jozef Ferrucci (Poland)
Lorenzo Fino (Italy)
Teerin Fleming (Thailand)
Ryan Frost (United Kingdom)
Ignacio Galán Bermejo (Spain)
Andres Garcia Gonzalez (Spain)
Jonathan Garness-Kuzel (Czech Republic)
Murilo Gomes Silva (Brazil)
David Gomez Forner (Spain)
Diego Andrés González Menegollo (Venezuela)
Santiago Gossa (Argentina)
Smilla Göttlich (Germany)
Nathan Gouker (USA) (American)
Frederico Guimarães (Portugal)
Marco Holt (United Kingdom)
Pin-Hung Huang (Taiwan)
Milan Hunneman (Netherlands)
Shingo Iidaka (Japan)
Qabil Irfan (Malaysia)
Julia Jantarska (Poland)
Tiago João (Portugal)
Seong Hyeon Kim (Republic of Korea)
Tobias Kitzbichler (Austria)
Mick Koomen (Netherlands)
Tian Krsevan (Slovenia)
Paul Linsbichler (Austria)
Alex Longarela Montes (Spain)
Jhon Alexander Lopez Castañeda (Colombia)
Alvaro Lucas Esteve (Spain)
Tamas Lukacs (Hungary)
Nolann Macary (France)
Mac Robert MacClugage (USA) (American)
Leonardo Marques Barbim (Brazil)
Pedro Matos (Portugal)
Kensei Matsudaira (USA) (American)
Tobias Mayer (Ireland)
Henry McCartney (United Kingdom)
Xarly Mendez de Oleo (Dominican Republic)
Elisabetta Monti (Italy)
Antoine Nativi (France)
Kolamba Patabandige Hesali Nehansa Peiris (Sri Lanka)
Esteban Neil (France)
Nikola Nikolaev (Bulgaria)
Eneko Osorio Marchan (Spain)
Domi Pekkanen (Finland)
David Peris Bartual (Spain)
Nejc Petric (Slovenia)
Gabriel Pio (France)
Judd Plaisted (Australia)
Jimmy Primaut (France)
Lorenzo Pritelli (Italy)
Joshua Raymond (USA) (American)
Alex Remesal Lomas (Spain)
Jose Reyes (Spain)
Luca Rizzi (Italy)
Izan Rodriguez Alvarez (Spain)
Iker Rodriguez Romero (Spain)
Tom Rolin (Belgium)
Nicolas Romeral Grotkopp (Denmark)
Levi Russo (Australia)
Eric Ruz (Spain)
Mário Salles Neto (Brazil)
Derek Sanchez (USA) (American)
Mikey Lou Sanchez (USA) (American)
David Sanchez Ruiz (Spain)
Remy Sanjuan (France)
Edoardo Savino (Italy)
Eric Sergi (Canada) (Canadian)
Rakshith Srihari Dave (India)
Franciszek Stoklosa (Poland)
Filip Surowiak (United Kingdom)
Riichi Takahira (Japan)
Mathias Tamburini (Italy)
Juan Pablo Telo Santaella (Venezuela)
Anina Urlass (Germany)
Jason Van Breda (South Africa)
Ryan van Nieuwkerk (South Africa)
Santiago Vega Izquierdo (Mexico)
Simone Vianello (Italy)
Daniel von Zeschau Tomelin (Brazil)
Adam Vyskocil (Czech Republic)
Thias Wenzel (Germany)
Ulises Weyrauch (USA) (American)
Kacper Wojcik (Poland)
Enzo Zaragoza Benedi (Spain)
Wen-Ze Zhong (Hong Kong, China)
