Cube Racing’s Tom Toparis has emerged as one of the brightest young talents in the country, finishing second in the national Up To 300 Production championship and winning the final two rounds of the season in the process. CycleOnline.com.au caught up with the Goulburn-based teenager to speak about his career so far.

Image: Russell Colvin.

Racing the Production class…

It was really cool. It was a late decision as we didn’t really know whether to race it at the start of the year. At Wakefield I had a crash in the first race, but I wasn’t too far off the pace. As the rounds progressed, I got faster and faster. When we got to Morgan Park, I won all three, then I won again at Winton, so I was pretty much on top at the end of the year, which was important for us. It was cool to race one of the biggest classes in the whole paddock, there were a heap of racers, which was awesome and I met a heap of new people, which was awesome as well.

Starting your road racing career with Cube Racing…

It’s awesome to be with Cube Racing, Ben [Henry] is a great mate of ours now – he’s awesome, he has helped us all so much. The other boys, Callum [Spriggs], Robbie [Menzies] and even Mike [Jones] as well, they’re all awesome guys. Troy Bayliss as well, it’s pretty crazy and an awesome bloke, plus he has helped me out too. Oli [Bayliss] also jumped in as well, he’s awesome and always flat out. He is only 13 and last weekend was really good for him, he was fourth in that class which is a good effort, especially because he has only been on the bike for a month. It’s a good racing team, it’s really fun, everyone helps out in the garage and we’re all friendly with each other.

Riding the Ninja 300…

It was a good bike to learn on, but obviously they’re not really fast, which is good and bad, but it taught me a lot. This year I learnt how to race and slip-stream. It’s cool to be on it in the Production class along with the R3, which they’re all relatively the same, and also the FX series. It handles really well and is easy to set-up, it was a good bike to start with, but I rode a 600 the other day and that was pretty fast!

Image: Russell Colvin.

Racing the Supersport bike in the MotoGP supports…

Again, that was kind of a late decision. I’ve only had one track day on the 600 last Saturday and I was shocked that they were so fast. It’s crazy to ride a 600 because they’re so much faster and it’s a lot heavier, it feels like I’m riding a proper bike. It’s going to be my first race on it at the MotoGP and I’m doing it for a bit of fun and experience, but I’m just hoping to do alright for myself.

Being mentored by Troy Herfoss…

Troy’s a mad dog! He is such a good rider and he smashed them all last week to win the title again, which is cool. It’s awesome to have him as my mentor, after every race he is giving more ideas and feedback, always keeping an eye on me. It’s really cool to have the Australian champion as my mentor and I’m really grateful for that.