Tom Toparis to World Supersport with Benro Yamaha
Goulburn teenager Tom Toparis has confirmed that he will contest almost the entire 2020 World Supersport Championship with Benro Yamaha.
Budget constraints for the team dictate that the 19-year-old Australian Supersport Champion will only race at the European rounds, thus Aussie fans will miss the chance to see him in the World Supersport ranks at the Phillip Island season opener.
Toparis will, however, race a locally built YZF-R6 in the Australian Supersport support races at Phillip Island before heading to Europe where he will contest 10 of the 13 round of the World Supersport Championship. The ten European rounds are referred to as the European Supersport Cup.
The Benro Racing Team was started in 2016 and Tom Toparis took the team’s maiden win and scored five podium finishes in the IDM Supersport Championship during 2019. Last year Tom flew back and forth to Europe where it did not clash with his Australian Supersport duties but in 2020 his and the team’s primary focus turns to World Supersport.
Tom Toparis
“I’m so happy to finally announce that I’ll be with the Benro Racing Team again, but this time on the world stage. I’m so grateful and lucky to get this opportunity. I know what to expect after a number of wildcards, so hopefully I can start out with solid results and build as the season progresses. With the Benro team and our experience last year racing IDM, I’m feeling confident we can learn all the new tracks quickly. I’m looking forward to an exciting step up to the World Supersport class in 2020.”
Team manager Sraar van Rens
“I’m glad we can finally announce that Tom Toparis will stay with Benro Racing in 2020. We have been speaking with Tom for a long time about this step, he is definitely ready for it and so we are proud that we can confirm our cooperation for 2020. Last year Tom did an excellent job and I think that we as Benro Racing have shown that we’re ready for the next step as well. With our experience over the last few years, we enter the WorldSBK paddock with a lot of confidence and I hope we prove it with some surprising results in the coming season!”
