Drive M7 Sic Team Pick Young Japanese Rider To Replace Kornfeil

SEPANG (Selangor, Malaysia), Oct 28 (Bernama) -- Young Japanese rider Ayumu Sasaki has been picked by the Drive M7 SIC Racing Team to compete in the World Racing Championship (MotoGP) next season. Sepang International Circuit (SIC) chief executive officer Razlan Razali said the 'rookie' 16-year-old rider was selected to replace Jakub Kornfeil, who will feature for The Peugeot Saxoprint next year. Sasaki, who has won the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup this year and the Asia Talent Cup in 2015, will join national rider Adam Norrodin in Moto3 category. "He is a very talented rider, he has a one-year contract (one plus one) with the team. I am sure he will be a competitive teammate to Adam. "They are good friends off the track and adversaries when racing on the track. If possible, we would like to have two local riders, however there are currently no junior riders with potential," he said at the SIC Welcome Centre here, Thursday. Razlan said the Drive M7 SIC Racing team chose the best riders from Asia Talent Cup race, and the riders must have experience riding Moto3 machines. The Asia Talent Cup is a development programme between Dorna, the MotoGP rights holder, who works with Honda to select riders aged 12 to 20 in Asia, including Australia. Meanwhile, Razlan said 114 riders had enrolled under the programme at the Sepang International Circuit on Wednesday. "We are always looking for young riders with potentials in the Asian Talent Cup development programme. In the selection session held yesterday, we expect five local riders to be selected. "Our plan is we want these riders to race in the FIM Repsol CEV in Spain in 2018, and then the target in 2019 is to have two competitive riders for MotoGP racing in the Moto3 category," he said. Speaking at the press conference, Sasaki said he was happy to be part of the team and was determined to finish in the top 10 in every race next year. "I would like to thank Honda and DORNA as well as SIC for giving me the opportunity to race in Moto3. In the first season it may be a bit difficult for me, but I will try to win the races. "I will do my best even though this is a high-level and challenging tournament," he said. Sasaki said his dream was to follow in the footsteps of his father, Shinya Sasaki, a former professional racer who competed in the Moto3 category (RS125) of the World Championship in 1993. --BERNAMA