Tom Edwards makes Asia Talent Cup
An intensive selection event in Sepang to determine the list of participants for the third edition of the Asia Talent Cup concluded yesterday and Newcastle’s Tom Edwards successfully made the cut for 2016.
The Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup 2016 will feature 13 new riders from countries such as India, Indonesia, Japan and Malaysia.
As the first rays of sun broke through the sky at the Sepang International Karting Circuit, young prospects from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Australia, Qatar, China and the Philippines took to the circuit full of enthusiasm. But all were well aware that their sporting future could take a dramatic turn depending on how the day went.
The technical team prepared the Honda underbone scooters that the riders would use to show off their skills to a group of experts, led by Director of the Cup Alberto Puig. At 7:45 in the morning, all riders attended a brief with Puig himself who explained how the day would develop and gave all present some basic tips for the day ahead.
Divided into groups of 10 riders, the action got underway at 8am with a run of 12 laps where riders were not only tasked with setting the best time possible but also showing off their skills in handling the bikes.
After two rounds of screening, only 45 candidates passed to the second round of testing.
Session after session the riders were refined until ultimately a final round of 15 candidates was held of which the following 13 have been selected:
- Tom Edwards Australia
- Ahamed Kadai Yaseen India
- Irfan Aradiansyah Indonesia
- Dwiki Hardhiana Suparta Indonesia
- Faldhan Novayaser Mardani Indonesia
- Alif Akbar Utama Indonesia
- Basyiruddin Samhan Mashuri Indonesia
- Riku Sugawara Japan
- Yuki Kunii Japan
- Shogo Kawasaki Japan
- Muhammad Izam Ikmal Malaysia
- Muhammad Khairul Ikhwan Bin Ajis Malaysia
- Amirul Hakim Bin Mohd Rizal Malaysia
An extra five riders have also been chosen as reserve riders for the 2016 edition of the cup. Should any of the usual riders be unable to attend and compete, these riders will step up to full their place.
The final list of participants in the 2016 Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup will soon be announced, in which these 13 riders will join those from the 2015 edition to be invited for another year in the Cup.
Alberto Puig, Director of the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup: “It was quite long because we started very early. Normally this type of test and selection is not easy because the level between the top guys is similar, and a big group of guys have not so much experience, you see it immediately but for the rest are difficult to evaluate it.
“Point one is that we are lucky because there were no injuries, this is our main priority, and we are happy for this. Second it was a good day, no rain and that permits us to do the full program. At the end it was like always difficult, as we already said, but we managed to get a group of riders that will join next year. We are happy, we have some nationalities that could be in the lap times, this is important, and this gives us a better package for next year. From now on we will have to try to work with this kids during the winter and see how they join together with the guys that are already in the Cup.
“The selection in very difficult, of course we make mistakes, but we try to be as accurate as possible, we have all the Dorna Data System that helps us a lot, and with this data and looking on track, with all this info we try to be as accurate and fair as possible.”
