Jediah Cumbermack has passed a pilot rider-development programme with flying colours.

The promising motorcycle racer was chosen as the first to participate in the 2B MotorSports initiative that enabled him to broaden his horizons at training camps in North Carolina and West Virginia last month.

“I had a lot of fun and it was a good experience,” Cumbermack told The Royal Gazette. “I learnt a lot to be a smarter, better rider and push harder.

“I had hoped to gain more experience; find my lines on the track and be a faster rider overall, and I think I definitely achieved that.”

Making his debut riding overseas, the 15-year-old CedarBridge Academy student began the three-day training exercise in the novice division at the NCCAR track in Garysburg, North Carolina.

It proved to be a smooth transition for Cumbermack who was promoted to the intermediate division after it was soon discovered he was more advanced.

“I was a bit nervous the first time I went out because the bike was way bigger than my one at home,” he added “My bike at home is a 125cc and that one was a 300cc, so it is way faster.

“I was a little nervous but I got over my fear when I got on the track, which is a bigger track than what we have in Bermuda. The fairways out there are way longer but I made a pretty smooth transition to it.”

Cumbermack’s experience did not go without incident as he crashed during the final day of the training camp at the Summit Point Raceway in Charles Town, West Virginia.

“I crashed my bike and my chain came off, so I couldn’t ride no more,” he said. “I was going into turn five and I think I missed the breaking point.

“I tried to slow down but my front tyre gave out and I went into the grass and mashed up the bike. I didn’t hurt myself but I was pretty upset.”

Cumbermack’s ultimate goal is to compete professionally.

“I hope to become a professional racer because I feel like I can achieve that,” he said.

2B MotorSports is owned by co-founders Billy Dunn and Brandon Collins who formed the company to develop young talent on the island and prepare them for overseas competition.

“We formulated this company to bridge the gap between racing in Bermuda and transitioning young riders into the more Elite 300SSP Race Series in the US [CCS/WERA and MotoAmerica Junior Cup],” Dunn explained.

“We have developed a new 300SSP [Super Sport] race series in Bermuda to groom young riders. 2B Motorsports is building race prepped Kawasaki Ninja 400cc motorcycles for this new class that are on par with the US and Europe's 300SSP race specification.”

The age bracket for the 300SSP class is 14 to 28 while the bikes are built for intense racing that focus on rider ability rather than the amount of money one can afford on equipment.

There are presently four bikes, all built to the same stock class specification, in production with the aim to have at least ten built for the start of the new season next year.

“We would love to have 15 to 20 bikes on the grid,” Dunn said.

The experienced rider is thrilled with the successful launch of the rider development programme which Cumbermack was recently involved in.

“We have also created a rider-development programme in which Jediah was our first pilot test run,” Dunn added. “We organised his trip, set him up on a 300cc Yamaha R3 race bike and transported him to two tracks.

“We introduced him to our favourite track day organisation Motorcycle Xcitement owned by Roger Lyle, who we have known for five years now.

“His company provide track day events at numerous race tracks on the East Coast, which provide rider coaching for all levels and a race school for riders who want to get their race license.

“2B MotorSports has secured a partnership for free track day deals with Motorcycle Xcitement for all young riders who come through our development programme.”

•For more details email info@2bmotorsports.com