Skinner is without a ride
British Talent Cup champion Rory Skinner is in a race against time to find the funding he needs to secure a toplevel ride for 2019, as he seeks a fulltime return to the Moto3 Junior World Championship. The Scot last competed in the series in 2017, consistently featuring inside the top ten before finding himself without a ride for 2018. He eventually raced in the British Talent Cup for its inaugural running, which he won. Not selected by series bosses Dorna to join the British Talent Team in the Spanish-based series (with that spot going to BTC third-place-finisher Max Cook), Skinner has been left to find his own ride, a challenge the 17-year-old admits hasn’t been easy.
He said: “It’s a little bit sad for me not to continue with the British Talent Team, but I can’t thank Dorna enough for what they did for me last year, giving me the opportunity to be in the Talent Cup. At the start of last year I didn’t have a ride, so I really appreciate them stepping up and putting an extra bike on the grid for me, but it would have been nice to continue with them a little bit longer.
“I’m still speaking to teams and the
‘I know I have the potential to be at the front’
junior world championship is the place where I want to be, but we’re still sorting out options. We’ve got a decent option there, but I need to find a big British investor or sponsor.”
But while he’s still on the hunt for backing, he’s confident that if he can find it then he’ll be able to convert it into success. Familiar with the Spanish circuits and his fellow riders, he says that seeing what his past opposition have gone on to gives him confidence. “When I raced there before, it wasn’t a factory team and it wasn’t funded like a Grand Prix team. My KRP team did a great job and we got some great results, but sometimes we went into a round a step behind the front-running teams where maybe a lot of the crew had been in Moto3 the weekend before.
“It’s just a case of trying to make it happen, because I know I have the potential to be at the front. A lot of the guys who I’ve raced against over the years and fought with or beaten are going well. Raul Fernandez is the new junior world champion but I’ve battled with him since I went to Spain and have always been right with him.”