Source: Red Bull.

Wet qualifying at Mugello for Saturday’s single race in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup at the Italian GP left a lot of riders dirty and dejected after a number of falls, but Jorge Martín made no mistake on his way to pole position.

The 16-year-old Spaniard lies joint second in the points table and overcame Brad Ray, the 17-year-old Briton, who had headed the table early on then slid off, unhurt, late in the session.

It was the performance of 16-year-old Australian Olly Simpson that will make local fans take note though, rounding out the front row for the weekend’s races.

“I think it’s my dirt track background,” Simpson said. “I’ve never had a problem in the wet, it doesn’t matter to me, wet or dry.”

As the Rookies Cup has not been to Mugello for the past two years few Rookies have any experience at the GP venue.

“I liked it right from the start,” he added. “I won’t say it’s my favourite, that’s still Phillip Island, but this is really great, I like the sweeping corners, the undulations, fantastic.”

This weekend’s Rookies Cup race can be seen live on www.redbull.tv at 4:30pm CET on Saturday. The show starts 10 minutes before the race.