Dorna, the Spanish company that runs the MotoGP world championships, has confirmed that the British Talent team will support two riders in 2018, although they will compete in the Junior Moto3 world championship rather than the full series.

The team was launched alongside the new British Talent Cup, a one make series that will debut in 2018 and set young British racers on the road to MotoGP.

Scottish rider John McPhee was signed up to race the team’s sole Honda this season and currently lies seventh in the championship with best finishes of second in Qatar and Argentina. Dorna has confirmed that it will continue to support the 23-year-old, placing him with the French CIP squad, for whom he will race a KTM, while the Talent Team will take a step back and compete in the junior series, which largely takes place alongside the Spanish CEV Repsol championship.

The team will feature current British Moto3 champion Tom Booth-Amos and his predecessor, Charlie Nesbitt, in a two rider team. Booth-Amos, 21, utterly dominated the 2017 series with 19 wins on his City Lifting KTM and impressed MotoGP bosses in a wildcard ride at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in August. Nesbitt, 16, won the 2016 British title in similarly dominant fashion and is one of four British riders currently racing in the Junior World Championship, which is generally accepted as the main route into the MotoGP paddock.

While the team is taking a step back in many ways for 2018, there is no indication that it will not return to the full world series when the Talent Cup starts to develop the next generation of British racers. Dorna confirmed that Booth-Amos has been signed to a two-year deal, while it is expected that the top riders from the inaugural Talent Cup will get an opportunity to showcase their abilities with the team in coming years.