![]() ![]() The BTC aims to bridge the gap between Britain's well developed domestic racing scene for juniors and the very highest echelons of racing. In its first couple of years, the BTC followed a similar "X-Factor" system for admission that's used elsewhere in the world, which here in Britain was a selection event held at Silverstone before the British GP.Īccording to Stuart, what Britain has been lacking until now has been a structured was for rider to graduate from the domestic youth championships to MotoGP, and the BTC will now fill that role in its new expanded format. ![]() Stuart explained: "In the UK we have perhaps the most mature and well established national championship anywhere in the world, but what we don’t have is perhaps the discipline, structure and direct connection to get into world championship level."īTC is designed to rectify the existing situation that isn't seen as ideal for young British riders hoping to make it to the elite level. What's been happening until now is that young riders have felt it necessary to give up on the domestic scene entirely and go straight to Spain at school age to get the best chance of progressing. "That's recognised as being quite disruptive to the kids' academic lives, it means massive upheaval for a family and significant expenditure," Stuart admits. Stuart is convinced that the way the BTC is structured from this year going forward is a big step forward, and the way Dorna will now be concentrating its efforts on what it does best will be a huge boost to the whole event and for British motorcycle racing in general. "The involvement of Dorna as the global MotoGP organiser will now be for them to use all their expertise in their talent promotions departments, which have done a fabulous job around the world of finding new riders and bringing them through their various championship structures into the world championship. It allows them not to have now, as they did in the two previous years, the responsibility and huge financial and organisational burden of running the whole championship."įor the first two years of the BTC, Dorna was completely responsible for providing all the bikes, all the mechanics and the infrastructure, which Stuart says was "a massive, massive undertaking." From now onwards, the BTC becomes a regular championship where the riders and teams are self-funding, and this is perhaps where the decision for all the bikes to be identical becomes most crucial. The bikes being used in the BTC are the same model already used in the European Talent Cup and the Asia Cup the Honda NSF250R. The engine is a 249cc liquid-cooled 4-stroke DOHC single-cylinder unit that develops a maximum 34.5 kW at 13,000 rpm and a maximum 28 Nm of torque at 10,500 rpm. ![]() The bike features an aluminium twin-tube frame, inverted telescopic front suspension, Pro-link swinger rear suspension and a six-speed constant mesh transmission. Obviously, there's room for the teams to make essential but limited adjustments to the Honda bikes to suit their riders, especially as there can be significant size differences with the 12 to 17-year-old age range. ![]()
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