The Junior Talent Team returns to take on the FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship in 2022, marking the team’s ninth season of competition as a key cog in the Road to MotoGP™. Promoting and running talents from different backgrounds and paths on the Road to MotoGP™, the Junior Talent Team unifies different team names under the same umbrella – uniting the efforts of Dorna talent promotion programs with those of the sponsors and partners who provide important backing to young riders, teams and projects.
A four-rider line-up continues with the team for 2024, with Thai rider Jakkreephat Phuettisan and Japanese youngster Amon Odaki joining the roster. Malaysia’s Danial Shahril and Indonesian rider Arbi Aditama continue their journey with the Junior Talent Team. All showed promise and pace in the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup, with podiums and wins between them, earning a place in the JTT.
Former JTT rider Eddie O’Shea, meanwhile, moves to the new, standalone British Talent Team, a collaboration between Dorna Sports and Michael Laverty, where he will be joined by 2023 R&G British Talent Cup Champion Evan Belford.
For more than two decades, Dorna Sports has invested in opening the doors to motorcycle racing, creating the Road to MotoGP™. Comprising initiatives all over the world providing millions of young riders the opportunity to excel, the Road to MotoGP™ is unrivalled in motorsport – opening doors, increasing access and racing towards global equality.
The FIM JuniorGP™ World Championship is a melting pot of talent and competition, and the biggest path on the Road to MotoGP™. The Dorna-backed Junior Talent Team, first created in 2015 as the Asia Talent Team, provides riders with the ideal environment to keep improving their skills and honing their racecraft. The high level of competition in FIM JuniorGP™ ensures every rider gets the opportunity to learn, progress and take their skills to the next level.
Many riders who have been part of Dorna’s team have already made the move into the MotoGP™ World Championship paddock, with Indonesian rider Mario Aji and former BTC Champion Scott Ogden two of the most recent. They follow in the footsteps of the likes of the first ever Grand Prix winner from Thailand, Somkiat Chantra, fellow Moto2™ frontrunner Ai Ogura and multiple Grand Prix winners Ayumu Sasaki and Deniz Öncü.
