22 riders selected for inaugural Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup

MANILA, Philippines - The selection process to decide the grid of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup debut season took place recently at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, with 22 riders chosen to compete on the Honda NSR250R bikes in 2014.

Over two days, a total of 108 riders from nine different countries including China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the Philippines took to the Sepang kart circuit on 125cc Honda Future ‘underbone’ bikes, watched closely by talent scout Alberto Puig, Andrew Hepher from Shell, Honda Racing Corporation’s Livio Suppo and Carmelo Ezpeleta, the CEO of MotoGP rights holders Dorna Sports. 

After a final ‘shootout’ on the afternoon of October 16 with the best riders of both days’ activities, Alberto Puig gathered the 42 riders and announced the 22 successful candidates, plus three reserve riders, from seven countries:

CHINA (1)

- Yuanhang Chen (17 yrs.)

INDONESIA (3)

- Wilman Hammar (16 yrs.)

- Andi Muhammad Fadly (13 yrs.)

- Basyiruddin Samhan Mashuri

                (15 yrs.)

JAPAN (7)

- Tsubasa Yoshida (13 yrs.)

- Kaito Sekino (15 yrs.)

- Yuta Date (14 yrs.)

- Ryo Mizuno (15 yrs.)

- Tsurugi Kitami (17 yrs.)

- Ayumu Sasaki (13 yrs.)

- Kaito Toba (13 yrs.)

THAILAND (3)

- Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (17 yrs.)

- Somkiat Chantra (14 yrs.)

- Muklada Sarapuech (19 yrs.)

MALAYSIA (6)

- Nazirul Izzat Bin Muhammad

                Bahauddin (13 yrs.)

- Muhammad Shafiq Bin Rasol (16 yrs.)

- Muhamad Adam Bin Mohd Norrodin

                (15 yrs.)

- Muhammad Helmi Bin Azman

                (13 yrs.)

- Fakhrusy Syakirin Bin Rostam

                (17 yrs.)

- Mohammad Shafiq Ezzariq (13 yrs.)

PHILIPPINES (1)

- Ralph Kenneth Torres (14 yrs.)

SINGAPORE (1)

- Azhar Bin Mohd Noor (16 yrs.)

RESERVES (3)

- INDONESIA: Muhammad

                Taufiq Hidayat (16 yrs.)

- JAPAN: Shota Nakayama (17 yrs.)

- MALAYSIA: Muhammad Ibrahim

                Bin Mohd Norrodin (13 yrs.)

The Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup is a pan-Asia motorcycle talent search program. Riders between 13 and 20 years of age will compete for 22 places in a six-round pan-Asia championship. They will use Honda NSR250R Moto3 race bikes, powered by Shell V-Power racing fuel and lubricated by Shell Advance Ultra motorcycle oil.

The Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup is organized by Dorna Sports SrL. Dorna is the exclusive holder of all commercial and TV rights of the MotoGP World Championship since 1992. The company also participates in the management, marketing and distribution of other motorsport properties, namely the Spanish Road Racing Championship (CEV) and Superbike World Championship. Partners include Honda Racing Corporation, Sepang International Circuit, Red Bull, Air Asia, Bridgestone, Alpinestars and X-Lite

Shell Advance motorcycle oil is specially formulated to help bikes stay in peak condition by increasing oil reliability, smoothing gear change and reducing engine vibration to allow bikers to enjoy every ride

Shell’s Technical Partnership with the Ducati MotoGP Team has been instrumental in the development of Shell Advance, the only motorcycle oil recommended by Ducati. Shell has been one of the world leaders in motor oil research for nearly 100 years, always at the sharp end of motorsport. Current key motorsport partnerships with Ferrari in Formula One and Penske in NASCAR and IndyCar help to shape the future of motor vehicle lubricants and fuels .