Erik Meijer
Erik Meijer (born 5 May 2002) is a Dutch professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, currently racing for the Ducati Pramac Racing Team. Meijer won the 2019 Moto3 Championship, the 2020 Moto2 Championship, and the MotoGP World Championship in 2022 and 2023, being the youngest world champion in each of the three categories of Grand Prix motorcycle racing.
Career
Moto3 and Moto2
At the age of 16 years, 10 months and 5 days, Meijer made his Moto3 debut with a pole position in Qatar. His start of the race was poor, though, given his strategy starting on a harder rear tyre. Despite this, Meijer made a ferocious comeback in the later stages of the race, finishing second to Aron Canet. In Argentina, Meijer started from 7th and again had a poor start, but was able to maintain his position after the end of the first lap. As the other pilot's bikes started wearing down their rear tyres, Meijer swept through and took the lead at the halfway point in the race; though he was unable to build an advantage amongst the riders behind him, he was still able to take his first Moto3 victory at the age of 16 years, 10 months and 26 days. He won a wet race at Le Mans in dominant fashion, and won at Mugello by over 10 seconds. Meijer would end up winning 8 straight races, taking a commanding lead in the Moto3 Championship. At Brno, an early crash caused Meijer to fall down the order, but recovered to finish in 8th. A win followed in Austria, followed by 2nd in Silverstone, and another win in Misano. Meijer would then win in Aragon and Thailand, clinching the Moto3 Championship with four races to go. Another dominant win followed at Motegi, then a thrilling battle with Aron Canet for the win at Philip Island. A win at Malaysia and Valencia capped off a dominant season, as Meijer won the Valencia race by over 30 seconds, easily the best of the season. He finished the season having won 16 of 19 races, and having been on the podium for all but one race.
At the first race in Qatar with the Petronas Sprinta team in Moto2, Meijer shocked the grid by claiming pole, fastest lap, and the win, becoming the youngest rider in Moto2 history to win a race, at 17 years, 10 months and 3 days. Meijer would win five of the first six races in the season, setting a record for the best start in a season. While chasing a podium position in Catalunya, Meijer briefly fell off his bike at the first corner, but managed to recover his bike and finish 6th. Meijer was leading the race at Assen when he crashed out heavily into Turn 7, putting his bike into a highside and flipping it over his head. Meijer was uninjured in the crash. Meijer would end up winning the next five races in the championship as he extended his lead. Third places followed in Aragon and Thailand, but Meijer won in Japan to clinch the Moto2 Championship with three races to go. Meijer would take up wins in Malaysia, where he won from 18th on the grid in a race marked by pouring rain, and in Valencia as well, capping off his junior motorcycle career with 29 wins, already putting him 22nd on the all-time Grand Prix motorcycle wins list.
MotoGP: First season
Signing with the Pramac Ducati team in the offseason, his first race in MotoGP seemed promising as he placed fifth in qualifying; however, he slid back during the race as he raced on conservative tires, and subsequently crashed out a third of the way during the race, ending his disappointing debut. He rebounded in Argentina, qualifying well on his way to a podium finish, even challenging Valentino Rossi for second place at times. Meijer became the youngest rider to score a podium finish in the premier class by a wide margin, at 18 years and 11 months (335 days). He also became the youngest rider to score a fastest lap in the premier class as well. Meijer scored another podium at Austin after a titanic battle with Marc Marquez, Jack Miller and Cal Crutchlow amongst others, as Ducati's Petrucci and Dovizioso led an historic 1-2-3 for the Italian manufacturer. At Jerez, the first start was red-flagged in a crash involving Meijer, Marquez, Quartararo and Morbidelli, and Meijer was able to take the restart, where he finished sixth after a tough race. He struggled again in France, qualifying low due to a technical problem and finishing in 11th place. At Mugello, Meijer improved his pace and finished a lonely 4th between the podium riders and the rest of the pack.
Meijer was back on the podium in Catalunya, finishing 3rd in an impressive performance while chasing down Dovizioso and Marquez who were at the front. At his home race in Assen, Meijer qualified 5th in the dry, but managed to take advantage of the rainy conditions, breezing past the riders ahead of him in the first few laps, then dominating his way to victory on home soil, becoming the first Dutch rider to win in the premier class, and also becoming the youngest rider to do so, at 19 years and 54 days, beating Marc Marquez's record by just over a year. Meijer then won another wet race at the Sachsenring, finishing ahead of Marquez and Dovizioso. At yet another rainy race in Brno, Meijer took advantage of the conditions to power ahead of Rins and Rossi, but had to give way to Dovizioso on his way to second place, where commentators suspected team orders were at play. At Austria, Meijer qualified second, missing out on pole by two thousandths of a second, and got a great start leading the race, but made an error into turn 4 ceding the lead to Dovizioso, though he did recover to run second at the time. However, as his tires faded, and as the Repsol Honda of Jorge Lorenzo powered through, Meijer fell down to third place, only to be passed by Danilo Petrucci for third on the final lap, angering Meijer on the cooldown lap. At Silverstone, Meijer nabbed his second career pole position, and dominated the race en route to his third career victory in MotoGP.
Following this, he was promoted to the factory Ducati team, partnering up with championship contender Dovizioso. In his first race for the factory team at San Marino, Meijer claimed pole position, but had a poor start to the race, falling behind Marquez, Rins, and Dovizioso at the first few laps. Meijer remained behind Dovizioso as he tried to overtake Marquez, but after a few laps, Meijer grew impatient and overtook Dovizioso to try to challenge Marquez himself. Initially, it seemed to backfire, as Dovizioso fell back behind 4th place, and even though Meijer passed Rins quickly, it allowed Marquez to build up a gap ahead of Meijer. However, Meijer closed the gap and overtook Marquez on the outside of Turn 8, and retook the lead while Dovizioso made his way back up, eventually passing Marquez himself. However, a lap after passing Marquez, Dovizioso made an unforced error into Turn 8, causing him to drop back down the order to 7th, giving Meijer free reign to take his first victory with the factory team, becoming the first rider to win with two different teams in the same Premier class season. The next race in Aragon was almost just as good, with Meijer getting a good start off the line from 3rd on the grid, before letting Dovizioso through as he took the lead, while Meijer finished second while keeping pace at the same time, as Marquez finished fifth in the race to put Meijer second in the Riders' Championship.
In Thailand, Meijer dominated the race from pole, giving Ducati a 1-2-3 ahead of Petrucci and Dovizioso. At Japan, Meijer had a poor qualifying, but had a good start and rode that momentum to place second, behind only Dovizioso, who managed to snag the lead on a double overtake on Turn 11 on Jack Miller and Alex Rins, as Marquez finished outside the points and was eliminated from title contention with three races to go, and Meijer remained 37 points behind Dovizioso. At Australia, Meijer started well and eventually took the lead from Dovizioso and Alex Rins, but after Rins dove on the inside of Turn 6 while trying to pass Meijer, forcing the two wide and dropping them back, Meijer took offense to that move and fiercely fought back on the track, but then got involved with a few incidents of his own with Rins. Dovizioso eventually won the race, as the stewards punished Rins for the initial move on Turn 6 but punished Meijer for incidents on the final lap and on the cooldown lap, which the stewards saw as "especially egregious." Meijer finished 5th, with Dovizioso's win giving him enough of a gap to win the title with two races remaining. Meijer won in dominating fashion in Malaysia. He rode a tough race to finish second behind Petrucci at Valencia after a tough battle with Maverick Vinales and Alex Rins.
First two titles in MotoGP
Meijer started off the season in dominant fashion, winning easily in Qatar. At Argentina, Meijer was involved in a first lap collision with Takaaki Nakagami, but managed to recover with blistering pace to finish third. Meijer won the next race at the Circuit of the Americas. Meijer placed second at Jerez, having troubles with his rear tire preventing him from chasing down Alex Rins for the lead. He recovered with a race victory in Le Mans, putting him well ahead of Jack Miller and Andrea Dovizioso, his closest competitors for the title. Meijer won again at Mugello, and placed second in a close battle between winner Petrucci, himself, Marquez and Dovizioso. Meijer placed second at Catalunya to Danilo Petrucci, then on the race at Assen after a close battle with Marc Marquez at the start of the race. At Sachsenring, Meijer placed second to Dovizioso in another close battle.
At Brno, Meijer had a poor qualifying placing 12th, but drove a steady race as other riders ahead of him fell consistently at Turn 12, giving Meijer the opportunity to take victory. Meijer finished second in Austria after going off the track briefly chasing down Dovizioso, but won in Silverstone leading from pole. In Misano, Meijer qualified in fifth and had a poor start, but made his way up the grid and eventually got into third where Marquez and Rins were battling, and took advantage of Rins' mistake to get near to Marquez, and had an intense battle with Marquez, eventually taking the lead and victory. At Aragon, Meijer was battling for the lead with Marquez but inadvertently ran wide, bringing Marquez with him - Meijer eventually finished fifth, the first time all season he finished off the podium. He rebounded with second place in Thailand, finishing closely behind Takaaki Nakagami who won the race. He dominated the next race at Motegi, clinching the world championship, at the age of 20 years, 5 months and 19 days (172 days), becoming the youngest MotoGP world champion in the process. He finished off the season with two third places in Australia and Malaysia, before a dominant win at a rainy Valencia to cap off the season.
His next season in 2023 started off in dominant fashion, winning convincingly in Qatar, and winning his first race in Argentina. In Austin, he didn't qualify on pole and hung behind the two Petronas Yamahas, who eventually tagged each other and crashed out of contention for the win, as Meijer was able to pass Marquez for the win. In Jerez, a crash in qualifying relegated Meijer to the back of the grid, but a fast start brought him up to 12th by the end of the first lap. Meijer would eventually carve through the field to win yet again, becoming the first rider to win a race from 23rd on the grid.
Meijer continued his winning ways, sealing wins in France, Mugello, and Catalunya from pole position. At his home race in Assen, Meijer won in dominant fashion, extending his streak to eight straight to start the season, and nine straight dating back to his win in the previous season's finale in Valencia. He made it ten wins in a row in MotoGP with a victory at Sachsenring, starting from 12th but making a stellar start to put himself 5th by the first corner. He eventually passed leader Marc Marquez at the last corner midway through the race, en route to victory. He won at Brno, extending his streak to 11 straight wins, surpassing the streaks set by Mick Doohan and Marc Marquez, only trailing Giacomo Agostini who had a streak extending over two and a half years in the premier class. Meijer won his twelfth straight win in MotoGP with a win in Austria, but his streak ended there, as he finished second to Dovizioso in Britain. He retired from the race in San Marino after highsiding his bike on the first lap, damaging it beyond repair. He won again in Aragon, starting his winning streak anew. Meijer clinched the riders' championship in Thailand with a win there, and followed that up with wins in Japan, Australia, and Malaysia, bringing his total to 16 wins in the season, setting another record. The final race in Valencia was won by the retiring Dovizioso, in which Meijer appeared to cede the lead to his retiring teammate so that he could win on his final race. This also ensured that Ducati would sweep the entire calendar year in victories - with Jack Miller winning the race in San Marino to complete the sweep.
Regulation Changes
With the start of the 2024 season, Meijer had to deal with not only newer regulations making the bikes more difficult to ride, but also had a new weekend format with the new Sprint races being held at each race, giving more opportunity to score points. At the first race in Qatar, Meijer had a poor qualifying and only managed to be in 13th - he managed to recover to 6th in the Sprint and 4th in the race. Meijer bounced back with a dominant win in Portimao, taking pole and wins in both the Sprint and the main race. Following a poor qualifying in Austin, Meijer responded with third place in the sprint and a last lap pass in the stadium section over Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia. Meijer dominated the weekend in Jerez with wins in both the Sprint and race, while in France, a poor start left Meijer without a points finish in the Sprint, though he did rebound with a podium in the main race. In Catalunya, Meijer was taken out of the race on the first lap by incidental contact from Fabio Di Giannantonio, eliminating his lead in the riders' championship. After a tough weekend in Mugello, Meijer got back on the podium in Kazakhstan, and dominated the weekends in Netherlands and Germany. Meijer retired from the sprint due to a technical problem with his bike, but rebounded to win the main race after an intense battle with Bagnaia. He struggled in Austria and finished off the podium.
Races By Year
Red Bull Rookies Cup
Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | WDC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | JER 1 |
MUG 1 |
NED 1 |
SAC 10 |
AUT 1 |
MIS 1 |
ARA 1 |
1st | 156 |
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Season | Class | Motorcycle | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | Poles | FLaps | Pts | Plcd |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Moto3 | KTM RC250GP | Sama Qatar Ángel Nieto Team | 19 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 448 | 1st |
2020 | Moto2 | Kalex Moto2 | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 19 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 387 | 1st |
2021 | MotoGP | Ducati Desmosedici GP20 | Pramac Ducati | 12 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 184 | 2nd |
Ducati Desmosedici GP21 | Lenovo Ducati | 7 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 146 | |||
2022 | MotoGP | Ducati Desmosedici GP22 | Lenovo Ducati | 19 | 10 | 18 | 7 | 14 | 409 | 1st |
2023 | MotoGP | Ducati Desmosedici GP23 | Lenovo Ducati | 19 | 16 | 18 | 11 | 16 | 440 | 1st |
2024 | MotoGP | Ducati Desmosedici GP24 | Lenovo Ducati | TBD | ||||||
Total, All Classes | 95 | 61 | 82 | 50 | 75 | 2014 | 4 |
By Year
Year | Class | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | WDC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Moto3 | KTM | QAT 2 |
ARG 1 |
AME 1 |
ESP 1 |
FRA 1 |
ITA 1 |
CAT 1 |
NED 1 |
GER 1 |
CZE 8 |
AUT 1 |
GBR 2 |
SMR 1 |
ARA 1 |
THA 1 |
JPN 1 |
AUS 1 |
MAL 1 |
VAL 1 |
1st | 448 | ||
2020 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 1 |
ARG 1 |
AME 1 |
ESP 6 |
FRA 1 |
ITA 1 |
CAT 6 |
NED Ret |
GER 1 |
CZE 1 |
AUT 1 |
GBR 1 |
SMR 1 |
ARA 3 |
THA 3 |
JPN 1 |
AUS 6 |
MAL 1 |
VAL 1 |
1st | 387 | ||
2021 | MotoGP | Ducati | QAT Ret |
ARG 3 |
AME 3 |
ESP 6 |
FRA 11 |
ITA 4 |
CAT 3 |
NED 1 |
GER 1 |
CZE 2 |
AUT 4 |
GBR 1 |
2nd | 330 | |||||||||
SMR 1 |
ARA 2 |
THA 1 |
JPN 2 |
AUS 5 |
MAL 1 |
VAL 2 |
|||||||||||||||||||
2022 | MotoGP | Ducati | QAT 1 |
ARG 3 |
AME 1 |
ESP 2 |
FRA 1 |
ITA 1 |
CAT 2 |
NED 1 |
GER 2 |
CZE 1 |
AUT 2 |
GBR 1 |
SMR 1 |
ARA 5 |
THA 2 |
JPN 1 |
AUS 3 |
MAL 3 |
VAL 1 |
1st | 409 | ||
2023 | MotoGP | Ducati | QAT 1 |
ARG 1 |
AME 1 |
ESP 1 |
FRA 1 |
ITA 1 |
CAT 1 |
NED 1 |
GER 1 |
CZE 1 |
AUT 1 |
GBR 2 |
SMR Ret |
ARA 1 |
THA 1 |
JPN 1 |
AUS 1 |
MAL 1 |
VAL 2 |
1st | 440 | ||
2024 | MotoGP | Ducati | QAT 6 4 |
POR 1 1 |
AME 3 1 |
ESP 1 1 |
FRA 11 2 |
CAT 3 Ret |
ITA 6 6 |
KAZ 4 2 |
NED 1 1 |
GER 1 1 |
GBR Ret 1 |
AUT 4 7 |
ARA | SMR | IND | INA | JPN | AUS | THA | MAL | VAL | 2nd | 304 |