Rory Skinner seals full-time ride in Moto2 for 2023
Skinner, currently eighth in the British Superbike championship after missing recent rounds due to injury, was given a Moto2 debut with the American team at Silverstone and Austria.
The Scotsman, who finished 21st in both events, will now get two full seasons on the team’s Kalex chassis after being picked to replace the departing Cameron Beaubier, alongside Sean Dylan Kelly.
Skinner, 21, has been a race winner in Red Bull Rookies before clinching the British Talent Cup in 2018, being crowned British Supersport champion in 2020 and taking seven podiums in BSB.
“I’m delighted to be joining American Racing for the next two seasons,” Skinner said. “Racing in the Grand Prix paddock is every rider's dream, and opportunities like these don’t come along often, especially for British riders.
“American Racing feels like the perfect team to make my full-time Moto2 debut with. Eitan [Butbul] and John [Hopkins] have worked with me for the past two seasons and right from the beginning, they knew where I wanted to be and have been true to their promise in supporting me in my ambitions.
“We’ve done two wildcards earlier this year, which confirmed that this is where I want to be, even though I am under no illusions as to just how competitive Moto2 is.
“I will be doing everything I can to repay the faith they’ve shown in me, and I also want to thank all the people who have supported me in the past four seasons in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship paddock.
“From my dad running me on a private Kawasaki in British Supersport to Robin and Doug for giving me the chance at Appleyard Macadam Racing, and of course my current FS-3 Racing team, I am very lucky to have worked with some amazing people who have helped me develop as both a person and a rider in what is a high-level championship.”
‘Springboard to MotoGP’
Former MotoGP rider Hopkins, now the American team Racing Director, said: “We’re really excited to be bringing Rory on board. He is an exceptional talent which we’ve known from the beginning of working with him.
“It’s very difficult these days to get people to see the talent of riders outside of the Grand Prix paddock, which is the main reason for the wildcards he did with the team earlier this year. He showed how exceptional he is with his speed having never been on the Moto2 bike before.
“It’s a strange set of circumstances of how it’s happened in that we were always wanting to get him a Moto2 ride somewhere in the series but with Cam making the choice to leave the championship, it’s opened up a spot here.
“So we’re really excited to bring him on board, we know it’ll be a difficult start but we’re all up for the challenge. Rory’s mental approach is what proves to me that he will be competitive and with that, we’ll be ensuring that he has every tool to be able to carry that through.
Most importantly I want to state how that when Eitan, Avner and I started this project - the team, academy and our management business - our whole goal was to bring riders up that we’ve managed and played a role in their career and used the team basically as the perfect platform to springboard them up into MotoGP.
“Now that we have two riders who we personally manage and have done so for a few years riding for the team next year in Sean and Rory, perfectly shows that we put our words into action.
“These are riders that otherwise would likely not have had opportunities in Moto2, given the current circumstances within the sport and rider market.
“We’re really proud of having built this system and we’re looking forward to continue showing that you can bring riders from other championships onto the world stage, make them competitive and help them reach their dreams - not only on the team’s side but the management side, too.”
