Africa GP Academy

You only have to listen to the commentators at each MotoGP round to hear them talking about how many riders have come through GP feeder series to sit on the grids of the Moto3 races.

- 

Spain has very serious rider development programmes, largely helped by the fact that Dorna, the MotoGP rights holders, are Spanish and pour a lot of money into them. Similarly, Valentino Rossi is doing an awful lot of work in Italy with his VR46 Academy to stimulate Italian presence on racing grids.

It’s no secret that racing in South Africa is in a pretty parlous state at present; shrinking grids and spectator attendance don’t paint a rosy picture for the future of racing. That’s not to say that the talent isn’t out there but there is is simply no easy route into racing for those who have both the talent and the money. What series do exist, such as the NSF100 Cup or Clinton Pienaar’s Short-Circuit series are doing their best but remain very much at hobby level with no vision or affiliation beyond local tracks.

To break into international racing requires much more than mere money; today’s racers have to be conversant in many areas of ability and self-promotion off the track as much as on it.