Not enough racers signed up by the January 31, 2023 deadline.

What a difference a month can make. At the beginning of February, 2023, we told you that the North America Talent Cup’s provisional 2023 calendar had just been released. The seven-race season was to have started off at Circuit of the Americas during MotoGP weekend in April, with participants rocketing around tracks on a pack of Aprilia RS250 SP2s.  

Fast-forward to March 1, 2023, and the news looks much less promising, particularly if you looked forward to seeing the North American racing talent of tomorrow get some valuable racing experience so it could compete in international racing in the future. According to Roadracing World, the 2023 North America Talent Cup has been canceled. 

The reason: A lack of 2023 season entries. The North America Talent Cup was run by Rise Moto, which was co-founded by former TT racer Brandon Cretu. In a post on the WERA Motorcycle Road Racing BBS, Cretu broke the bad news to the public for the first time. 

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He wrote, “I can confirm that the North America Talent Cup has been cancelled for 2023 due to lack of entries. The series received a lot of direct support from the FIM. Without enough entries that support was not justified anymore so I could no longer afford to run the series on my own with the limited sponsorship I had available.” 

“One of our kids went to Red Bull Rookies Cup and we most certainly would have had another this year. Our champion from last year has also had some great opportunities come his way. Sucks that it’s come to this for everyone involved but I unfortunately lost the battle on every front behind the scenes to gain support and it became no longer viable,” he continued. 

“I’m proud of what we accomplished last year with the resources we had and I think the racing was absolutely amazing at each round,” Cretu concluded. 

As of March 3, 2023, a formal announcement has not yet been posted on the NATC website or on its social media. The BBS post was made on February 28, 2023. Since the NATC is a Road to MotoGP series, it’s particularly disappointing for motorcycle racing fans who want to see more American racers be competitive at the highest levels. 

Source: WERA BBS, Roadracing World, North America Talent Cup