MotoAmerica Talent Cup is the American Road to MotoGP

You see the comment all the time on motorcycle racing Facebook Groups and message boards: “Why are there no Americans in the MotoGP class?”

It’s a question that certainly has merit, considering that Americans used to dominate the premier 500cc Grand Prix class (the precursor to MotoGP before it changed over in 2002) back in “Golden Years” of the late ‘70s to the early ‘90s. There were still three Americans in MotoGP up to 2009 with John Hopkins, Colin Edwards, and Nicky Hayden. But since Hayden left the MotoGP series in 2015, the premier class has been bereft of an American rider.

When Wayne Rainey and the Krave Group LLC purchased the rights to the AMA Roadracing Championship from the Daytona Motorsports Group in 2014, there was one metric that grabbed Rainey’s attention right away. “I didn’t know when we first took over that the numbers had dropped that much as far as young riders coming through,” recalls Rainey. “That’s the thing that shocked me and I was not prepared for.”

The long-term health of a racing series depends on younger participants entering the fray, and Rainey immediately realized that action needed to be taken.

“Since we started MotoAmerica 10 years ago, our goal has been to find a pathway for young Americans to pursue a chance at the World Championship,” says Chuck Aksland, COO of MotoAmerica, and a former AMA racer himself.

MotoAmerica initially looked at the idea of obtaining Moto3 bikes, but the costs proved to be insurmountable (each Moto3 bike back then cost around $60,000–$80,000). KTM approached MotoAmerica with the idea of using the KTM RC390 Cup bike, which led to the RC390 Cup spec class for two years. While the grids were big and the competition was good, there was no path laid out beyond the end of the series.

“Dorna didn’t recognize a production bike as a platform for their Road to MotoGP program,” explains Aksland, part of which means that the top finishers in the RC390 Cup weren’t automatically eligible for tryouts for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in Europe.

MotoAmerica then opened up the RC390 class to other brands while searching for a bike that would meet Dorna’s Road to MotoGP specs. “Honda has their Talent Cup bikes in every Road to MotoGP series around the world,” notes Aksland, referring to the Honda NSF250R. “We tried both with Dorna and through American Honda to implement a Honda 250 program, but we just never really got anywhere.”

That focus on the NSF250R resulted in a lot of time lost. “We were working with Dorna for over five years trying to put a program together with the Hondas,” Rainey recalls, “but they couldn’t support that here in the States. So we tried to go through the Japanese side, and they said ‘no, it has to be done through American Honda.’” KTM was close to putting a bike together last year that approximated the Moto3-style machine it used for the Northern European Talent Cup, but those plans fell through.

Meanwhile, Krämer Motorcycles in Germany, a manufacturer of high-performance track-only machines using KTM engines, was looking at developing a 450cc bike. Unfortunately the 450 engine turned out to have vibration issues, so the R&D team tried the 350cc engine from the KTM 350 EXC-F off-road bike.

“The 350 engine revs out more, its power characteristics are better suited to roadracing,” reveals Jensen Beeler, CEO of Krämer Motorcycles USA, “and there wasn’t much difference in lap times.” The 350 engine puts out about 55 hp, according to Krämer. Cycle World has dynoed KTM 350 EXC-F off-roaders at 38 rear-wheel horsepower on its in-house Dynojet dyno.

Rainey and Aksland got in touch with Beeler after learning about Krämer through KTM’s MotoGP team, and once they told Beeler about their specific requirements in the bike, he suggested the 350 prototype they had been working on.

“It’s got good electronics on it, the same electronics as our Next Gen Supersport class run,” Aksland enthuses, “it’s got adjustability on the chassis, it’s lightweight, the motor’s got performance. It’s a proper racebike.”

There were some minor changes mostly centered on keeping the cost down, and Dorna was happy, accepting MotoAmerica’s 2025 Talent Cup into the Road to MotoGP program. “Carmelo and Carlos Ezpeleta [CEO and Chief Sporting Officer of Dorna, respectively], they’re 100 percent behind this program,” Rainey reveals. “They like the platform and how it’s going to work.”

Now the top five finishers in the Talent Cup series will automatically qualify for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup series tryouts.

The price for the Krämer APX-350 MA is $22,495. There has been plenty of internet chatter complaining that the APX-350 MA is too expensive compared to the bikes currently competing in the MotoAmerica Junior Cup, but an internet search shows build lists for the Kawasaki Ninja 400 with a minimum $16,000 outlay.

“During our research when we talked to people who have participated in the Junior Cup with a top-running Yamaha R3 and Kawasaki Ninja 400, the price is about the same at the end of the day,” Aksland notes. “To be a contender for the championship, the Ninja was over $20K built out.” The Ninja 400 (now discontinued) and Yamaha YZF-R3 were originally built as budget-conscious commuter bikes, and as such require a lot of work to be race-ready.

By contrast, the Krämer is a “turnkey” racebike. There are no expensive aftermarket parts that need to be purchased, and there is no prep necessary other than fuel, fluids, and setting up the suspension.

Because it was designed for the racetrack/competition, the Krämer’s construction is robust (yet lightweight, curb weight is only 242 pounds). While even a light crash can often severely damage many expensive parts on a Ninja 400, the APX-350 MA overall is resistant to major crash damage. For example, the Krämer’s singular seat/tailsection/fuel tank component is made from cross-linked polyethylene that is rotomolded into shape; it is very strong structurally, yet has enough flex to absorb an impact. Beeler states that they have yet to see a failure, even in a crash. Krämer will be supporting the series with a truck/trailer full of parts at every Talent Cup race, with personnel available for technical advice.

There’s no doubt that racing a purpose-built track motorcycle like the Krämer will better prepare a young rider for their next step up in competition, whether in Europe for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and Moto3, or simply moving up to a class like the Twins Cup in MotoAmerica.

The chassis and tire loads on a Moto3 or Moto2 bike are light-years ahead of a production bike like the Ninja 400. “If you learn the characteristics of a proper Grand Prix bike and their stiff chassis, and how the tires work, and how the geometry works, getting the most out of a proper racebike, it’s going to better enhance your skills on any bike,” Aksland says. Rainey adds that, “You’ll have a much better feel about what the tires are telling you because the chassis is stiffer and you can put some real pressure on the suspension.”

The Road to MotoGP approval will surely help more young American riders get their foot in the door in Europe. Previously it was a pretty tough move for an American to try and get somewhere racing overseas.

“Some parents spend a lot of money to go over and race British Talent Cup, or go run around Spain for a couple of years and then hope to get a Talent Cup opportunity or picked up on a team with a national Moto3 championship, and work their way up,” Aksland describes.

With the MotoAmerica Talent Cup, the top five riders at the end of the year get an automatic invite to the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup tryouts. “Now we have a clear path, and if the rider’s got the ability and the talent and drive,” Aksland says, “he’s got a much better trajectory, a chance to be successful in a shorter amount of time.”

A lot of the internet chatter regarding the lack of Americans in MotoGP centers on accusations of bias by Dorna and the teams. Rainey knows that the American market is extremely important to Dorna and the teams. “[Dorna] sees what’s been going on in Europe with the last couple of Americans, and they believe how important it is to support what we’re doing over here,” Rainey relates. “Last December, [Ducati CEO] Claudio Domenicali brought me into one of his Zoom board meetings. Jason Chinnock was there, the Ducati North America CEO, and Claudio said, ‘Wayne, we need to find an American so that we can put him on our Ducati. This is what I really want to see happen.’ I’m also working with Lin Jarvis, the former Yamaha MotoGP boss, and Justin Marsh from Trackhouse (Racing).”

When Liberty Media acquired the rights to MotoGP earlier this year (it also owns the rights to Formula 1), many overlooked the fact that it is an American company. “I had a meeting with Greg Maffei, the CEO [of Liberty Media], and the first question he asked was, ‘Wayne…when are we going to have an American on the grid?’” Rainey recalls. “I told him what we were working on. It’s very important to them that they get the US market up to speed on MotoGP,” and an American rider in the class makes marketing so much easier.

Many people in the US already see the potential in the MotoAmerica Talent Cup, and are taking matters into their own hands. Rainey noted that Kenny Roberts Sr. will be a Talent Cup team owner in 2025 and has signed Kody Kopp, the winningest AFT Singles rider in history.

And there are rumors that American Honda is going to back one of the Krämer bikes, ostensibly to find the next Nicky Hayden, who was the perfect ambassador for the company.

“There’s a big push to ‘let’s get an American on the grid,’ and as far as being in the championship now, there could not be better timing because everybody’s focused on ‘Where is he? Who’s it gonna be?’” Rainey says. “I think it’s our best shot that we’ve ever produced. We have the opportunity now, we just need more kids to see that opportunity.”