For racers, it’s something of a given that if you want to climb the international racing ladder you need to live in Europe. Whether racing bikes or cars is your passion, it’s true for multiple disciplines. Smaller series exist all over the world, but aren’t generally conducive to going pro. If you want a career at the top levels of motorsport, Europe is the place—and if you don’t already live there, you’ll have to take a leap of faith and move. 

How do you build the confidence to make that leap, though? That’s a problem the FIM and Dorna are trying to address by introducing the FIM MiniGP World Series. Remember when MotoAmerica announced its new Mini Cup series at the beginning of 2020? The FIM MiniGP World Series attempts to standardize a plethora of Mini Cup series around the world, so everyone’s racing on the same machinery and by the same rules.  

The FIM MiniGP World Series will use Ohvale GP-0 160 bikes, raced by riders between 10 and 14 years of age, with a standard tire allocation supplied to each event by Pirelli. A minimum of 15 permanent riders must race in each competition.  

To qualify as a series for 2021, the first event in the series must take place no later than the start of July, and the final event of the season should be scheduled no later than October 17. All races will take place on karting circuits with agreed-upon minimum standards and lengths set by the FIM or other national federation ahead of time. 

At the end of each season, the best young racers in the world at that time will be invited to compete against one another in a World Final during the week leading up to the MotoGP final for that year. Qualifying Mini Cups may be national, regional or even continental, and top riders in each season (depending on age and geography) will have access to selection for the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup, Honda British Talent Cup, Northern Talent Cup, or European Talent Cup.  

"The FIM MiniGP World Series is the first step for all the young kids on their path to achieve their dream and reach the FIM MotoGP World Championship This is the starting point that was missing in the ‘Road to MotoGP’ that will allow every talented rider to step on the ‘podium’, with an extremely low budget,” FIM president Jorge Viegas said in a statement. 

“Also, this FIM/Dorna initiative puts the National Federations at the forefront of the system, because it is up to them to fully organize the national series and to hand-pick the best from each country, that will be present in the World Final in Valencia. Dorna and the FIM have been working on this project for a few years now; it is now becoming a reality and I would like to thank our Promoter and give an additional incentive to all our affiliated federations,” he concluded. 

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