12 year old Dublin rider Shane Mooney has been selected to
compete in the British Talent Cup next month in Silverstone.
The British Talent Cup is seen as an important stepping
stone from National Short Circuit Racing to MotoGP class and participation is
by invite only. The selection process begins on August 21st with a
track day on the Dorna supplied CBR250r machines around the Silverstone
circuit. The results will be made known at the last British Talent Cup race of
the year in Valencia. British Talent Cup races are ran on the same weekend as
some Eurpoean MotoGP and World Superbike Rounds such is the importance of the series.
Shane is currently competing in Irish Short Circuit racing
on a Production Aprilia RS125cc two-stroke machine. With the results so far
this year in the Dunlop Tyres Young Guns championship Shane has finished in the
points in almost every round and sits in 8th place in the leader
board, despite missing the first two race meetings in Kirkistown and
Bishopscourt. His most recent meeting in Bishopscourt netted him 39 points in
total, finishing the four races in 5th, 6th and 7th
over the weekend while taking valuable seconds off his lap times in the
process.
Even with the positive progression of racing on Irish
circuits, Shane will be in talented company of older riders with experience of
the Silverstone track so, nothing is guaranteed. There will be many mentors
available on the day to help the riders, some such as Jeremy McWilliams lent a
hand to last year’s Irish entries.
Previous Irish invitees to the British Talent Cup include
Donegal’s Rhys Irwin, who was successful in selection. He currently races in
the UK on the Motorcycling Ireland Honda NSF250 Moto3 bike.
Best of luck Shane, we’ll be keeping an eye out on August 21st!
Words Andy Quinn
Images courtesy of Stephen Higgins – SHIG Photography
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