ThundersportGB Academy rider Fraser Rogers started to show the form expected at round four of the Red Bull Rookies Cup at Assen. The youngest in the field of 27, Rogers has had difficulty in adapting to the KTM 125 machine over the earlier rounds, and as one of the brightest young stars to emerge through the Aprilia Superteen Challenge series, Fraser is tipped to follow former Superteen competitors Bradley Smith and Danny Webb to compete in the 125 world Championship in future years to come.
 
When not competing in the Rookies cup at Moto GP, Fraser is keeping his hand in on the Thundersport GB Academy 125 Magnum Motorsport Honda in the Thundersport GP3 125 class, a series for stock and kitted 125 cc GP machines.

While Fraser has struggled in the earlier rounds of the Red Bull Rookies series, the high standard of the riders he’s up against has brought him on leaps and bounds, with Rogers using the experience to top the GP3 class at the half way stage.

"I watched Fraser a lot last year when he was competing in the Aprilia Superteens, and it was clear that he had a lot of natural ability. When we sat down to consider the first recipient of the Academy scholarship, Fraser was really the only choice despite a number of very good riders competing in the series," said Academy operations manager John Davies.

"The aim of the Academy is to provide the right calibre of British rider an opportunity to place themselves in a position to move to the higher levels of the sport, without the grief usually associated with it."

Fraser and his family provide regular updates throughout the Rookies Cup weekend and give a fascinating insight of the progress of the next crop of Moto GP stars.

Ian Harris (Fraser’s step Dad) is in the thick of the action as part of the two man pit crew which looks after the 125 KTM’s and produces the reports for the Thundersport Academy team back in the UK:

"After a tricky start to the season, Fraser showed real improvement at Assen.  Free practice on Thursday went OK and he finished 26th with a 1’56.959 and he was right on the tail of Brad Binder. During the first qualifying session, Fraser moved up to 22nd after knocking three seconds off his personal best lap time but after a crash during the final qualifying session, he was pushed back to 25th overall on the grid.

"Despite an unfamiliar bad start, Fraser soon got into his rhythm in the race and was squabbling with Brad Binder just inside the top 20. As the laps ticked by, a few riders had gone AWOL, leaving the battle between himself and Brad being for 17th overall.

"On the last lap though, Fraser highsided just as he entered the back straight, launching him yet again and taking away what would have been his best finish yet. Fraser remounted and even though the gear lever and foot peg had broken off, he rode the KTM home in second gear to finish 21st."

Assen provided Fraser and the team with some new found confidence and as he edges closer and closer to a points finish, Fraser continues to impress and has a chance to redeem his performance when the Rookies visit Germany next.

In the meantime, the team travel to Norfolk next as the Thundersport GB Championships head to Snetterton on the 11th & 12th July, where Fraser looks to extend his GP3 points lead.