Good news for females riders in the European Union, as we hear that the FIM Women’s European Cup has been folded into the European Junior Cup, which runs alongside the World Superbike Championship.
Running alongside the EJC as its own class, young female riders won’t have to decide between the two series, as they will score points in both. This relieves young ladies from having to choose between racing with just the girls, or the boys on an equal playing field…as now they will be doing both.
That the Red Bull Rookies Cup has been a huge success goes without saying. Former rookies now fill the front of the Moto3 grid, and are starting to make an impact in Moto2. The goal of the Red Bull Rookies Cup, of bringing young riders from around the world into Grand Prix racing, has clearly been met.
So successful has it been that two years ago, the World Superbike series set up a similar project. After a modest first year, the European Junior Cup is thriving in its second year, and providing some fantastic racing for talented young riders.
At Jerez earlier this year, we had the opportunity to talk to Red Bull Rookies Cup supervisor Peter Clifford about the series he is involved in, as well has the European Junior Cup. He gave us his view of the rival series, but also on a range of other subjects.
The interview covered the difference between four-strokes and two-strokes, the range of nationalities participating in the Rookies Cup, the complementary role of the European Junior Cup, and the approach the Rookies Cup is taking towards female riders in the series. As always, Clifford provides plenty of food for thought.
Italy’s motorcycle publication of record, Motociclismo, is reporting that BMW Motorrad is developing a 450cc race bike for youth racers. Said to be a ground-up design that centers around a single-cylinder motor that will likely be prepared by Husqvarna, the BMW race bike would feature a frame built in Bologna, Italy with “racing” suspension, forged wheels, and carbon fiber bodywork.
With pricing to be in the €20,000 range, BMW hopes that its 450cc cup bike will appeal to 15 to 18-year-old riders, and is formulating a racing series that will piggyback off six select World Superbike and British Superbike rounds. As such, BMW’s proposal appears to be in direct competition with the European Junior Cup (EJC), which will use the Honda CBR500R as its spec-machine for the 2013 season.
With the debut of the 2013 Honda CBR500R street bike, Honda has somehow managed to get the 500cc parallel twin budget bike to be the weapon of choice in the European Junior Cup — displacing the KTM 690 Duke from its racing duty. A grooming series for World Superbike Racing, the EJC series is a cost-effective way to get young future stars on bikes and in front of the people that could make or break their careers.
Hoping to give the CBR500R a bit more performance cred, something the 47hp machine might need to appeal to new riders who have to adhere to the A2 License requirements, but still want a proper “sport bike” for their first ride. As such, the Honda CBR500R race bike was debuted at EICMA today, and even got a little star power from one Jonathan Rea. Photos and video after the jump.
If you wanted further proof that Honda is getting ready to debut a 500cc CBR, look no further than the fact that the 2013 European Junior Cup has been tipped to switch from the KTM 690 Duke to the Honda CBR500 when the middleweight sport bike debuts next month at EICMA.
A cheap way to get young racers honing their skills on the track, the European Junior Cup is an ideal venue for the Honda CBR500, which is expected to differentiate itself from the CBR600RR by being a less-sporty entry-level machine for newer riders.
Perhaps the only thing we don’t like about the 2012 KTM 690 Duke is the fact that the big Austrian thumper won’t be coming to the United States. Not quite sure how to exist outside of the off-road market here in North America, KTM’s street bike offerings are giving Hansel & Gretel a run for their money in the “worst sense of direction” category (we take that back, clearly Moto Guzzi is having a tougher time of it).
Despite our domestic suffering, our European brothers-in-petrol not only get to enjoy the hooligan machine that is the Duke 690 on the street, but KTM has managed to get the single-cylinder machine as the bike of choice for the European Junior Cup, a young-rider grooming series for racers 14 to 19 years of age.
The FIM and Infront Motorsports announced Wednesday the launch of its own European Junior Cup, a support series racing alongside the World Superbike series, for fourteen to seventeen year old riders. According to a press release from the FIM, “riders will compete on identical race prepared Kawasaki Ninja 250R motorcycles,” racing in the time between the two WSBK races at Assen, Monza, Aragon, Silverstone, Nurburgring, and Mangy-Cours.
Riders selected to compete will also attend a training camp before the season begins in Guadix, Spain. Riders will be eligible if they “have held a competition license for at least one year in either road racing, motocross, enduro, supermoto, trials or minimoto.”