American Ashton Yates is on the provisional entry list for the 2017 FIM Supersport 300 World Championship as riding a Yamaha YZF-R3 for Team Toth, but the 17-year-old rider from Georgia may or may not actually take to the grid when the nine-round series opens March 31 at Motorland Aragon.
“I don’t really know what to say,” said Aaron Yates, Ashton’s father and a former AMA Superbike and World Superbike racer. “It’s pretty awesome to be on the [provisional entry] list. That definitely shows that the team wants him there. They gave us a proposal a couple of weeks ago, but we made it clear that we couldn’t afford what the team was initially asking.”
Yates, age 17, had a breakout year in 2016. He won three races, finished on the podium six other times and placed third in the MotoAmerica KTM RC Cup Series, which earned him a trip to the 2016 KTM RC Cup World Final at Assen. Riding at the unfamiliar Dutch track on unfamiliar tires, Yates finished eighth and just 1.1 seconds behind the leader in Race One, and he led several laps in Race Two, before crashing while battling at the front. Then Yates placed a close second in the inaugural Yamaha bLU cRU YZF-R3 Cup race at Barber Motorsports Park in October.
All of this points to Yates being well qualified for a run at the inaugural FIM Supersport 300 World Championship, but the new class appears to be made up of riders who provide their own sponsorship to pay for their racing.
“Ultimately, that’s where I feel Ashton should go race, and with it being the first year makes it an even better opportunity,” continued Aaron Yates. “We’re hoping to be part of it. I guess there was some deadline with the entries and all of that, so they went ahead and stuck Ashton on there. So at this point I don’t know how official it is, but he’s on the list. I just need to find some friends with a bunch of money. [The team owner Imre Toth] said he’s trying to come up with some help. We’ve got some help from Geoff Maloney at GPtech, but trying to make it happen is going to be tough financially.”
FIM Supersport300 World Championship
2017 Provisional permanent Entry List, 22 December
(Competition Number, Rider Name, Nationality, Motorcycle, Team)
62, Jarred Schultz, RSA, Kawasaki Ninja 300, BWG Racing_Grimaldi
8, Kim Aloisi, ITA, Kawasaki Ninja 300, DS Junior Team
20, Dorren Loureiro, RSA, Kawasaki Ninja 300, DS Junior Team
2, Ana Carrasco, ESP, Kawasaki Ninja 300, ETG Racing
6, Robert Schotman, NED, Yamaha YZF-R3, GRT Racing Team
TBA, Yamaha YZF-R3, GRT Racing Team
33, Daniel Valle, ESP, Yamaha YZF-R3, Halcourier Racing
TBA, Yamaha YZF-R3, Halcourier Racing
26, Luke Hopkins, GBR, Kawasaki Ninja 300, Hopkins Racing
80, Armando Pontone, ITA, Yamaha YZF-R3, IODARacing Project
121, Kimi Patova, FIN, Yamaha YZF-R3, Kallio Race System
130, Renzo Ferreira, BRA, Yamaha YZF-R3, Kallio Race System
54, Harun Cabuk, TUR, Kawasaki Ninja 300, Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
5, Scott Deroue, NED, Kawasaki Ninja 300, MTM HS Kawasaki
TBA, Kawasaki Ninja 300, MTM HS Kawasaki
9, Ruben Doorakkers, NED, Yamaha YZF-R3, MVR Racing
27, Filippo Rovelli, ITA, Kawasaki Ninja 300, ParkinGO DS Junior Team
12, Ali Adriansyah Rusmiputro, INA, Yamaha YZF-R3, Pertamina Racing Team
17, Gabriel Noderer, GER, Honda CBR500R, Scuderia Maranga Racing
35, Alessandro Triglia, ITA, Honda CBR500R, Scuderia Maranga Racing
15, Alfonso Coppola, ITA, Yamaha YZF-R3, SK Racing
84, Michael Carbonera, ITA, Yamaha YZF-R3, SK Racing
95, Giuseppe De Gruttola, ITA, Yamaha YZF-R3, SK Racing
21, Avalon Biddle, NZL, Kawasaki Ninja 300, Sourz Foods-Benjan Racing
22, Mykyta Kalinin, UKR, Yamaha YZF-R3, Team MotoxRacing
18, Alex Murley, GBR, Yamaha YZF-R3, Team Toth
120, Ashton Yates, USA, Yamaha YZF-R3, Team Toth
87, Angelo Licciardi, BEL, Yamaha YZF-R3, Team Trasimeno
28, Paolo Giacomini, ITA, Yamaha YZF-R3, Terra e Moto
88, Mika Perez, ESP, Honda CBR500R, WILSport Racedays Honda
7, Nicola Settimo, ITA, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2R Road Racing
13, Jacopo Facco, ITA, Yamaha YZF-R3, 2R Road Racing
23, Manuel Bastianelli, ITA, Kawasaki Ninja 300, 3570 Team Italia
99, Paolo Grassia, ITA, Kawasaki Ninja 300, 3570 Team Italia
11, Nicolas Cupaioli, ITA, Yamaha YZF-R3, 3ENNE#Racing