Interview with CFMOTO Talent Trophy Riders QI Yuhan & WU Shangjing

In 2023, CFMOTO launched CFMOTO Talent Trophy, which is a talent scouting program aiming at finding Chinese motorcycle road racing talent that can one day join Dorna’s Road to MotoGP series and eventually stand on the grid of the MotoGP World Championship. In October 2023, the first edition of CFMOTO Talent Trophy saw five young riders joining CFMOTO’s talent program. They were subsequently sent to Spain for a short period of training. From July 11 through July 13, the second edition of CFMOTO Talent Trophy took place as part of CFMOTO Day 2024. Ten young riders between the age of 10 and 16 participated in the three days selection. Five of them are the ones already in the program, five new riders joined the selection to fight for additional seats in the program.

Among the five new riders, there are two young girls – 11-year-old Candy QI Yuhan (戚钰涵) from Shandong Province, and 10-year-old WU Shangjing (吴尚静) from Guangxi Province. We had a quick chat with them after the race. Today we bring you the stories of the two young talent.

Candy QI Yuhan – I’m Here to Learn as Much as Possible

All photos © CFMOTO Racing & Candy QI family

Among the young riders, Candy has relatively less experience racing. She has been around toy bikes since a young age, but only started learning to race at 8 years old. “When I was very little, I had some tiny motorcycle toys around the house. I was riding on it just for fun. I always thought the bikes and cars are super cool. I just love bikes when I see them, I don’t know why. When I was six, my dad got me a real bike. I was riding on tracks on my own. I didn’t know any techniques, but it was fun. Then when I turned eight, I went to see a KXD Academy race. I really loved it! Afterwards I asked my dad to sign me up for KXD Academy. I want to race as well!”

After Candy got on a pocket bike, there was no stopping her. Not even injuries can stop her from going fast. “When I injured my collarbone, my parents said maybe we stop here, or just don’t push that much. I wouldn’t agree. I want to be fast and I want to win.”

As Candy’s racing dream got more real, her parents moved her from the Academy to a 1-on-1 coach – YUAN Jibo who races in CRRC. At the same time, her dad who has no motorsport background, started learning about fixing bike. “I was with KXD Academy for two months. Then I started training with my dad. After a few months, he found me a coach for 1-on-1 training. My coach has a team. When they work on my bike, my dad also observes and learns how to do it. He knows about mechanics, and now after learning from the pros he can work on the bike as well. My parents put in a lot of effort to support my racing dream.”

In the two years of her training, Candy has only participated in three events, counting this time’s CFMOTO Talent Trophy. With her limited experience, she has come a long way. “My first race was a KXD Academy MiniGP race in 2022 in Hebei Province. I’ve been riding for four months at the time. I was really nervous as it was my first race. But I still came back 2^nd. My biggest takeaway from that event was that you need to stay calm in the race, otherwise you’ll mess up your racing line. In the summer break of 2023, I went to my second race. It was in Henan Province. I had a technical problem, my bike would go to third gear, so I could only race in second gear the whole race. I came back fourth, missing out on the podium.”

With only two events under her belt, with very promising results though, when Candy’s coach told her about CFMOTO Talent Trophy, she decided to give it a shot. “What my coach and I agreed on is that we are not here for the podiums, we are here to learn as much as possible.”

And what a great learning opportunity did Candy get in the three-day event. She got to follow the four CFMOTO Aspar riders on track and take advice from David Alonso, one of her racing idols. “They pointed out that we break first then go into the corner, as two separate steps. They showed us how to do it more smoothly, how to speed up faster when exiting the corner. Also I raced with riders who went to CFMOTO’s training camp in Spain. They are faster than me. Comparing to them, I can push more when exiting the corner.”

Qualifying and Race 1 of CFMOTO Talent Trophy were both conducted in wet conditions, which is new for Candy. She crashed out in the qualifying but managed to race from last to fifth in Race 1, proving that she learned fast in the complicated situation. Although when we talked to her dad, he said he was gripping on the bars behind the tyre wall so hard, that he felt he would break the iron fence.

Now that Candy is back home enjoying her summer break as a primary student, training never stops. “During school year, I go to the karting track to train for three hours every day after school. Now is the summer break, I can go in the morning and train longer. I do physical training at home to build up my strengths. I do planks or train on a yoga ball.”

When talking about her future, Candy says she wants to improve and be faster. “This year, I want to work on my lines, my movement, my riding position and so on. I want to improve to the limit of what I can do now, and be faster.”

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WU Shangjing – Young Veteran Chasing Her Motorsport Dream

All photos © CFMOTO Racing & WU Shangjing family

WU “Jingjing” Shangjing’s father is a motorcycle rider himself. To see whether his little girl would be interested in motorcycling at all, he took little Jingjing to try out minibikes at the age of three and a half. For Jingjing, it was love at first sight. “I remember it to be exhilarating, and I wanted to learn how to ride properly right away.” Even though she was little and it being seven years ago, Jingjing still remembers her feeling riding a minibike for the first time. From there, her career began.

Shortly after her first outing on a minibike, she participated in her first race. Initially riding with her dad as her coach, last year, Jingjing started riding with former CSBK rider XIAO Jin (肖进). This also means Jingjing needed to move from Guangxi Province to Jingzhou, Hubei Province with her dad and grandma. “My dad knew my coach from his own riding time. We moved to Jingzhou last year. I fitted into my new school easily.”

With her new coach, Jingjing also gained more opportunities to race at a higher level. She participated in two rounds of the SIC Ohvale Junior Championship in 2023. She races in seven or eight events a year, so have been a racing veteran at a very young age. “My best race was last year at Sanshui Karting Track. I started on pole. I’ve never got pole position before.” 

Jingjing’s dad has always had the plan to send her to Europe for training. Now CFMOTO Talent Trophy potentially could provide the opportunity, so they are here to fight for a seat. “My dad heard about this opportunity from a friend. We dicussed with my coach and here we are.”

During the school year, Jingjing would go train with her coach during the weekend. On week days, she does various physical training. “I do push-ups, sit-ups, gripping, squat, yoga ball, etc. The length of training would vary as I do different combinations.” 

Now during the summer break, after CFMOTO Talent Trophy, Jingjing and her dad has arrived at Guangdong Conghua International Circuit for training and racing until the new school year starts.

 

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