Jediah Cumbermack has been granted a valuable opportunity to broaden his horizons in the sport of motorcycle racing.

The CedarBridge Academy student has been chosen among 20 riders from a list of over 2,000 applicants from North America, Canada and Mexico that applied to participate in the inaugural North America Talent Cup in the United States.

The series is a new pathway to the road to MotoGP with riders ages 13 to 16 competing on identical Aprilia RS250SP2 bikes.

Cumbermack, 15, will compete under the banner of local company 2B MotorSports.

“Jediah is one of 20 riders that made the list of over 2,000 applicants so that’s a huge deal,” Billy Dunn, the 2B MotorSports co-founder, told The Royal Gazette.“For us as 2B MotorSports we’ve now got our name into this circuit and this is something that’s not going to be just a one-time deal. It’s going to go on for ever.”

Cumbermack will only be eligible to compete during the inaugural season before he ages out at the end of the campaign.

“Because Jediah goes 16 this year he only has just this one year of eligibility with that series,” Dunn added. “So next year we will be looking for another Bermudian rider to put on it.

“There’s going to be a continued progression for Bermudian riders in a huge path into something that’s linked with a world organisation like MotoGP, which is the Formula 1 of motorcycle racing.”

The North America Talent Cup aims to provide riders with a vital link on the road to MotoGP by creating the stepping stone between the FIM MiniGP North America Series, Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and FIM Moto3 Junior World Championship.

Sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association and FIM North America, the new series will exclusively be contested on the Aprilia RS250SP2 at seven race events to be held across the United States from April to September.

The season will officially commence at the Circuit of the Americas MotoGP in Austin, Texas from April 8 to 10.

Opportunity knocks for Cumbermack as the top-two riders in each round of the series will be invited to take part in the selection event for the following season of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.

“If Jediah does well he could be picked up by a MotoGP team at the end of the season so that’s huge,” Dunn added.

Riders will also benefit from trackside coaching at each round from professional riders, as well as training in communication, fitness and nutrition.

Cumbermack made his debut riding overseas as part of 2B MotorSports’ pilot rider-development programme at training camps in North Carolina and West Virginia last November.

The teenage rider’s ultimate goal is to compete professionally.

Along with co-founder Brandon Collins, former racer Dunn formed 2B MotorSports to develop young talent on the island and prepare them for overseas competition.

The fledgeling company has joined forces with the Bermuda Motorcycle Racing Association to launch the new youth development programme and new racing classes for the 2022 season.

For further details e-mail info@2bmotorsports.com or bmra.bda@gmail.com.