Maxtra 125 team begins rider search

The new Maxtra 125 GP team, spearheaded by British racing legend John Surtees, kicked off its recruitment drive in Misano last weekend.

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Team boss and former factory Suzuki chief Garry Taylor spent a day in Misano talking to numerous potential targets about a ride with the new Chinese-backed project, which will debut with a two-rider effort in next year’s world 125 championship.

Taylor was in San Marino in between a two-day test session for the Maxtra bike at the Adria circuit, where Michael Wilcox continued development of the new bike, which uses a chassis built by Harris Performance and an engine designed by former Aprilia tuning wizard Jan Witeveen.

Taylor refused to discuss details of negotiations but he said: “I had the chance to talk riders’ representatives. There was a lot of interest in the project. Ideally we want one experienced rider who can continue to develop the bike and then we can go for a young rider with a big potential.”

Taylor said he hadn’t ruled out swooping for a British rider for the Maxtra’s debut season, but he added: “It would be really nice to find a young British rider because there are some extremely good ones out there at the moment, but sadly they already have seats to sit on next year.”