Toparis nabs two Moto3 wildcard rides

In just his second year of road racing, 16-year-old Tom Toparis has been granted a wildcard ride in two rounds of the 2017 Moto3 World Championship, with the Aussie to line up in the Japanese and Australian Grands Prix next month.

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"Only two years ago, I visited Phillip Island for an ASBK round and one of my mates told me that I should have a go at racing,” Toparis said.

“Now I will be wildcarding in Moto3 within the World Championship! I’m really looking forward to the challenge and I’m very excited to represent Australia on the world stage.”

Toparis is currently racing a Kawasaki ZX-6R in the Supersport category in the domestic championship under the wing of Troy Bayliss and Ben Henry’s Cube Racing squad. It’s worth nothing the last Australian rider to be granted a wildcard in the world championship, albeit it in the premier class, was 2015 ASBK Superbike champ Mike Jones who was also riding for the Cube Racing outfit.

“Of course, racing in Moto3 will be unlike anything I have ever competed in before,” he admitted. “We have organised a bike for us to test and hopefully we can get several laps in before the Australian Grand Prix.”

His Moto3 appearances will be backed by Leda Nutrition’s Riki Lanyon, one of the main sponsors of the Cube Racing team.

“At the moment we are planning for Toparis to race a Kalex KTM from Kiefer Racing that previously raced in Moto3,” Lanyon revealed.

“The bike is several years old, but should be very competitive based upon its previous results at Phillip Island.”