MotoAmerica’s Talent Cup series kicked off in front of a global audience, sharing the track with the MotoGP World Championship at the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas at the Circuit of The Americas.
In each of two races, 14 of the 15 riders entered finished, with Alessandro Di Mario winning Race One in a runaway and Bodie Paige holding off Di Mario by just over a second in Race Two.
At first glance, the Talent Cup paddock looked a bit like a downsized MotoAmerica race weekend paddock. Between the Parts Unlimited tractor semi-trailer, the MotoAmerica rig and support setups from Dunlop were full-scale trailer setups from some of the bigger teams in MotoAmerica. Warhorse HSBK Ducati, fresh off the win at the Daytona 200, teamed with Moto2’s American Racing to field Di Mario in Fast by Ferracci leathers. Tytlers Cycle Racing backed Hank Vossberg. Real Steel Honda backed Ian Fraley, MP13 fielded Ella Dreher, and the new Kenny Roberts team with Kody Kopp had a pit setup that would be the envy of many teams in the Superbike World Championship support series.
And the bikes would not have looked out of place at an International-level event where smaller, sub-Moto3 Grand Prix bikes are campaigned. The Kramer APX-350 MA comes with race-ready suspension, data acquisition equipment mounting points, race handlebar switches, and a track-ready chassis.
Riders found a bike that was different than what they had been racing elsewhere in the States. Dreher, who moved to the Talent Cup series from Junior Cup, was moving from a bike that made about 45 horsepower to one that makes a claimed 55 horsepower from a KTM EXC-F 350cc single-cylinder, four-stroke engine. And the Kramer weighed at least 60 pounds less that the Junior Cup machine she raced last year.
“It’s a little faster, but the difference isn’t that big,” Dreher said. “The biggest difference is that it’s so much lighter. You go to turn it in and it’s like, holy crap!”
In addition to racing in Talent Cup, Di Mario also races an Aprilia RS660 in the MotoAmerica Twins Cup class. As such, he compares the Kramer to his Aprilia racebike that weighs nearly 100 pounds more and makes nearly twice the horsepower.
“This one, obviously, doesn’t have as much power,” Di Mario said. “But in the transitions it’s just flick-flick-flick. What it teaches you is just how fast you can go to full lean. You’re going from straight up to on its side immediately.”
The next Talent Cup round is set for the MotoAmerica season-opener at Barber Motorsports Park on April 4-6.
