BTC: McWilliams excited to be involved in youth development

Former Grand Prix race winner Jeremy McWilliams says he’s excited to be involved in the new British Talent Cup series, as he’s given a chance to mentor the next generation of young talent from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland as the series’ talent scout.

Speaking at the launch of the project in London on Tuesday, McWilliams says that MotoGP organisers Dorna have given some riders an incredible chance to move eventually to the premiere class.

“Firstly, I think it’s an incredible cooperation between British and World championships, between MSVR and Dorna. When it’s launched, it’ll be run at British tracks and from there on riders will have the opportunity to move upwards. We know there’s a wealth of talent, and once we find those riders and put them on the bikes – and give them the opportunities to move up – the potential is vast.

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However, while McWilliams is already involved in developing young riders through his role in the KTM RC390 Cup, he admits that he’ll be keeping an open mind at August’s selection event for the series.

“It’s hard to say what to expect because I’ve seen riders come from motocross level and be able to match riders already winning at national level. We’ve got to have a very open mind and look at everything from supermoto to motocross to the other one-make championships that we already have. Once we’ve got those riders into a selection process, though, I think it’ll become obvious who to take forward.”

“You can see how it’s worked out in the past though – there are riders from the Asia Talent Cup coming to the fore now in world championships who we’d never have seen otherwise. It’s an incredible opportunity for British riders, and it gives them an opportunity and something to look forward to. It’s an incredible ongoing project.”

Applications for the series open on the 5^th of May until the end of July, with the series open to riders born between 2001 and 2005.

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