Source: ATC.

The selection process for the 2015 Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup began in earnest at the Sepang International Karting Circuit on Monday.

Day one saw a bright and clear dawn greet the 71 riders who made the shortlist for the first selection day as registration got underway, with the sun rising at 6:00am.

With riders from Japan, Indonesia, India, China, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore this year being joined by young men and women from Australia and New Zealand the pressure was on to perform in front of the watchful eye of ATC director Alberto Puig.

The riders split into six groups and were each given three sessions on track where they could try to find the limit of the race-prepared Honda Future 125 machines around the tight and twisty track.

For some the bike was a familiar mount, but for others it proved to be a totally new challenge, one that got harder as a brief shower halted proceedings.

In typical Malaysian style it was soon to pass and track action got back underway as the initial group was whittled down to 40 for the final run of the day.

As the wind began to blast the track the chosen riders had one last chance to try and impress the judges and the assembled crowd, which included MotoGP rider Hiroshi Aoyama and some of this year’s Asia Talent Cup riders.

And impress they did, with 33 of them having been asked back to take part in Tuesday’s second selection day where they were joined by a group of Malaysian riders who are also hoping to make the grade for selection into the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup for 2015.

With the dawn came the hopeful Malaysian riders, taking their first steps on the path to a possible ride in the 2015 competition.

A group of 26 of the brightest local stars, including the younger brother of Moto3 rider Zulfhami Khairuddin, registered for their chance to take to the Sepang International Karting Track on the specially prepared Honda Underbone machines.

With perfectly clear skies above, the youngsters divided into two groups and began their acclimatisation to the track and machines, with a few small crashes in the early laps it was soon clear that the standards were high.

They needed to be fast as at 11:00am the Malaysian group was whittled down by half as the best riders from day one joined the fray for their second chance to impress Puig.

On day one a group of hopeful riders from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and New Zealand had taken part and the best from that group made it through to the second day.

On day two the best Malaysian riders showed their skills in the morning and then further sessions took place with only selected riders participating.

The second Tuesday group was whittled down to a final selection of just 30 from the original group that began the day. Then it was really crunch time, with just two more 10 minute sessions on the track to hone their lines the riders had to give it their all and some gave a bit too much with more spills as bikes and riders hit the deck.

But the times kept coming down and the riders kept improving, which in turn meant that the final deliberation would be a fraught affair.

With the final runs of the day done the heavens opened as Puig deliberated long and hard over his decision of which riders to take forward to the next stage of the 2015 Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup.

A nervous silence gripped the crowd of expectant riders as the final word came after almost two hours of talks that nine riders would join the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup in 2015, including the first rider from Australia.

Tears of heartache were mingled with tears of joy as the two very intense days of testing came to an end and the journey into 2015 began.

Selected riders to join the 2015 Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup:
Day 1 13 GERY SALIM INA 17 M
Day 1 14 ANDI FARID IZDIHAR INA 17 M
Day 1 35 MCKINLEY KYLE PAZ PHI 13 M
Day 1 43 LACHLAN CRAIG TAYLOR AUS 13 M
Day 1 62 MASAKI KAZUKI JPN 14 M
Day 1 68 AI OGURA JPN 13 M
Day 1 75 RYUSEI YAMANAKA JPN 12 M
Day 1 84 SITTIPON SRIMOONTREE THA 14 M
Day 2 117 AZROY HAKEEM BIN ANUAR MAL 14 M

Reserve riders for the 2015 Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup:
Day 1 8 BANGGA DEWANTARA SUNARYA INA 16 M
Day 1 25 PENGYUAN CHEN CHN 17 M
Day 1 33 JAMES ALDRIN MENDEZ PHI 20 M
Day 1 59 TOM STEWART WILLIAM EDWARDS AUS 13 M
Day 1 65 KITE FUSE JPN 15 M
Day 1 73 KATSUTO SANO JPN 16 M
Day 1 78 REI TOSHIMA JPN 15 M