Dorna Sports has issued a statement announcing the creation of two new promotional championships for promising youngsters: the Latin America Talent Cup and the FIM MiniGP Latin America Series . These two cups will take place in Latin America, and will be part of the program known as Road to MotoGP .
The creation of both competitions seeks to give greater support to young Latin American riders , and promote their arrival in MotoGP. And it is that there are few names that have reached the Motorcycle World Championship in recent years.
Latin America Talent Cup
The first of them will be held under the name Latin America Talent Cup , with a grid of 25 drivers between 14 and 21 years of age. It is a homologous event to the already existing British Talent Cup, Asia Talent Cup, European Talent Cup and Northern Talent Cup, and one step below the JuniorGP and the RedBull Rookies Cup.
It will be the first promotion championship hosted under the umbrella of the Motorcycle World Championship to be held in Central and South America. The cup is focused on young promises from a list of 20 countries : Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil , Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina.
The inaugural event will take place at the end of the 2023 season , when they will share the track with WorldSBK at the San Juan Villicum track in Argentina, and the rest of the campaign will take place in 2024.
The calendar will feature 12 races , which will take place at circuits such as the Codegua (Chile), Termas de Rio Hondo (Argentina), Goiania (Brazil) or Curvelo (Brazil).
The top three finishers in the championship will enter the Red Bull Rookies Cup selection , with whoever wins the title promoted to SSP300 at the CIV .
FIM MiniGP Latin America Series
This cup is intended for those pilots between 10 and 14 years old , and they will compete on the back of an Ohvale GP-0 160 .
Its first campaign is expected to take place in 2023, with a calendar of five races in three countries (Argentina, Brazil and Chile).
Likewise, in 2025 a new displacement will be added to the championship, with 190cc motorcycles.
Asia Talent Cup Event
After the withdrawal of the legendary Alex Barros (Brazil) and Sebas Porto (Argentina), not many names have managed to carve out a niche for themselves in any of the three world championship categories. The most recent cases are that of Yonny Hernández (with five seasons in MotoGP), Gabri Rodrigo (raised in Spain, despite competing under Argentine nationality), Eric Granado or Diogo Moreira (both from Brazil). In WorldSBK stands out Leandro ‘Tati’ Mercado (Argentina), who will sponsor the two new cups.
But not only is there a lack of pilots of Latin nationality, but there is also a lack of events . In recent decades we have seen the disappearance of several events in South America, and currently only the Argentine Grand Prix remains (although there are rumors that Brazil may return to the calendar).
“Being able to see these projects become a reality for Latin America fills us with pride and satisfaction, and we are sure that they will be beneficial for riders throughout the region”, declares Pedro Venturo, President of the FIM in Latin America.
“Accessibility breeds equality and we are looking forward to the Latin America Talent Cup and the FIM MiniGP Latin America Series adding such a valuable step on our global ladder,” added Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna.
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