After the success of the Asia Talent Cup and its positive influence on all the countries of this continent, the organizer of the Grands Prix decided to set up its equivalent within the FIM CEV Repsol Spanish Championship. Baptized European Talent Cup, this formula for promoting young European drivers could have its equivalent in the United Kingdom from 2018.
Seen from the outside, British motorcycle sport is doing magnificently well, with MotoGP Cal Crutchlow, Bradley Smith, Sam Lowes et Scott Redding, which is as many English people for example as Italians. But if we look beyond this smokescreen, alone Danny Kent represents the United Kingdom in Moto2. John McPhee is also alone in Moto3, and even then only because Dorna finances his team aptly named British Talent Team and of which he is the only driver.
To ensure the future, Dorna asked former GP 500 driver Alberto Puig, already responsible for the Asia Talent Cup, to set up his equivalent in England. Its program is in two stages: “ We will probably try to do a selection program this year, and the aim will be to try to create a sort of British Talent Cup next year » Puig told motogp.com.
For the English journalist Neil Morrison, “ Dorna's reasoning on this question also stems from the television coverage. The broadcaster BT Sport, still negotiating a deal to broadcast the series beyond 2018, is paying a lot for the TV rights and having a UK presence in all three classes is vital. »
The reward for the winner will be a season on this year's hosting team John McPhee : " If we want to develop motorcycle racing in England, continues Puig, we need to create a formula where kids can come and run, like we did in Asia and Spain. But they also need to have some sort of target, a team within which they can compete at a high level. This is why a team is starting this year, in order to be a reference for these children, with John McPhee. From then on, we will see how things go. Normally, when we start a project, we don't know where we'll end up – but we know where to start. If we can replicate the success of the Asia Talent Cup we will be happy, but at the moment it is difficult to say. »
The main driving force across the Channel for this new formula is the former Grand Prix winner Jeremy McWilliams. According to Puig, “ Our idea is to have someone take care of the drivers and we thought of Jeremy McWilliams. He can help us a lot to develop not only this team, but also future races and the search for children in England. The racing tradition is there, you just have to find it. If a country has been strong for something in the past, it's hard to believe it's over. What makes this sport important is the race itself. The greatest thing that motorcycle racing has is the thrill, the excitement and the brutality of the sport – and that's what we need to remember. »
This British Talent Cup should take place (it's a guess) during the Championship weekends British Superbike, because we don't see any other series capable of hosting it with dignity. This would be a blink of an eye from history, as Dorna held the commercial and television rights to BSB from 2004 to 2007, after purchasing them from its predecessor organizer, MCRCB, and before reselling them to their current owner MotorSport Vision, Jonathan Palmer's company which already owned at the time half of the circuits where the BSB races took place.
In France, this type of formula is not on the agenda because the excellent Grand Prix objective by Thierry Capela. Maxime Pontreau gives all the details in this very good article by Moto-Revue.
All photos illustrating this article concern theAsia Talent Cup 2016 and are copyright © Dorna Sports SL
