"The Road to MotoAmerica" Youth Program to launch in 2020
MotoAmerica announced in a press release that they were adding a youth program for the 2020 season. The MotoAmerica Mini Cup will be taking place "on karting tracks in conjunction with three MotoAmerica events: Road America (May 29-31), The Ridge Motorsports Park (June 26-28) and Pittsburgh International Race Complex (August 7-8)." The press release did not go into further detail as to what kart tracks the rest of the series would be run on, how many total events, or the entry process. The series, however it shapes up, is for kids from 6-14 years old and will feature four classes: 110cc (four speed); 160cc; 190cc (racers aged up to 14 years), and for some reason the "kids series" will have a 190 Adult class for racers that are too old for the 14 year cutoff. So despite what the press release says the series is really open for kids 6 - adult, with appropriate age group champions to presumably be named. My money is on Josh Herrin for the grown up class, BTW.
If you attended any of the IMS events this year you would have seen Ohvale GP-0's in MotoAmerica livery, so no surprise that this machine will be at the center of things.
“We saw the Ohvales race for the first time at PittRace in 2019 and we came away impressed,” said MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey. “The bike is basically a miniature GP racer and serves as an ideal platform to get kids and their families on track and racing. We saw the need to provide an avenue for kids who are too young to race in our Liqui Moly Junior Cup to get started and work on their skills before moving up to bigger bikes. We’re excited about this and can’t wait for it to get rolling at Road America at the end of May.”
Lance Bryson, Senior Sponsorship Manager, added: “This is an exciting time for road racing in the U.S. There have been few paths to lead American youth riders to start training for a full-time U.S. or international road racing career. MotoAmerica will now promote a youth feeder system to ensure that more young racers can follow in the footsteps of the Kenny Roberts, the Wayne Raineys and the Cameron Beaubiers of the world.”
“We’ve been hard at work to help bring a solid platform into the U.S. market for youth, and their parents, to get involved in road racing with an affordable and easy to understand platform,” said Brandon Cretu of Rise Moto, the Ohvale GP-O distributor for the U.S. “The Ohvale GP-0 provides tiered engine options to progress with young racers skills and help them rise through the ranks until they’re ready for big bikes on big tracks. It also provides an exciting and affordable way for older riders and professional athletes to gain access to invaluable training time and inexpensive track time and racing. It is an exciting time for our sport and Ohvale is happy to be working with MotoAmerica.”
MotoAmerica has had a minibike demonstration area at their events since the beginning, so this is the next logical and welcome addition to the series.
For more information on Ohvale motorcycles, visit https://www.risemoto.com/