Three Aussies in 2021 Asia Talent Cup
The Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup has adjusted its calendar and entry list for the 2021 season, which is due to get underway at Qatar in March.
The initial field of 20 riders on the provisional entry list released in December has expanded by one, but all three Australians have retained their places.
Of the Aussies, two are new additions. Tom Drane, aged 14, and Marianos Nikolis, aged 13, are graduates of last year’s bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup - Nikolis as champion and Drane as runner-up. Both riders raced in the 2019 bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup, where Nikolis finished in fifth and Drane third, and also have successful histories in dirt track competition prior to road racing.
The third Aussie on the 2021 grid, 13-year-old Carter Thompson, was the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup Champion in 2019 and was set to ride in last year’s Asia Talent Cup (ATC), but that championship was cancelled after one round due to COVID-19.
With his overseas ride gone, Thompson secured a last-minute entry in the 2020 R3 Cup and duly won that championship when domestic road racing restarted late last year.
COVID permitting, Thompson aims to combine both the ATC and domestic competition this year, specifically the YMI Supersport 300 Championship and a tilt at a second R3 Cup.
All three riders will be following in the wheeltracks of riders like Harrison Voight and Billy van Eerde, who made their mark in the ATC before progressing to other international championships.
While the 2021 ATC grid is made up entirely of teenagers from India, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Qatar, the three Aussies are amongst the youngest entries.
Because COVID-19 ended last year’s ATC shortly after it began, most of the 2021 field are the same as 2020, with Nikolis and Drane amongst five new additions.
Following changes to the MotoGP calendar for 2021, the six-round, twelve-race ATC calendar has also been adjusted. Rounds 1 and 2, held in conjunction with the season-opening MotoGP round at Losail on 26-28 March, are unchanged. Coinciding with MotoGP’s rescheduled second round, Losail will also host ATC Rounds 3 and 4 on 2-4 April, replacing Sepang in late August, but that circuit and date remains as a reserve, subject to COVID-19 developments.
Three of the next four ATC rounds will also be held concurrently with MotoGP weekends, at Motegi (1-3 October), Buriram (8-10 October) and Sepang (29-31 October). The final round will be held in conjunction with the provisional World Superbike round at the new Mandalika “street circuit” in Indonesia.
The full ATC field will tune up for the 2021 series at the Official Test at Losail on 19-20 March.
2021 Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup provisional calendar* (25 January, 2021)
Event Date Location Circuit
Test 19-20 Mar Qatar Losail
Rd 1 & 2 26-28 Mar Qatar Losail
Rd 3 & 4 02-04 Apr Qatar Losail**
Rd 5 & 6 01-03 Oct Japan Motegi
Rd 7 & 8 08-10 Oct Thailand Buriram
Rd 9 & 10 29-31 Oct Malaysia Sepang
Rd 11 & 12 12-14 Nov Indonesia Mandalika†
*subject to COVID-19 developments
**new addition to calendar
†subject to homologation