Highly-rated teenager Kayden Minear is currently in the United States training during the extended break in the 2023 Penrite ProMX Championship, based in South Carolina and working with KTM Orange Brigade amateur team manager Daniel Blair.

After winning the national MX3 title last year, 16-year-old Minear stepped directly into KTM Australia’s factory team this season as a rookie in MX2, standing on the podium in round three at Wodonga in rain-soaked conditions.

However, despite suggestion that the emerging Western Australian talent is being considered for KTM USA’s amateur system as soon as next year, Minear has indicated that he plans to remain in the Australian championship for at least one more season in 2024. In that case, it would appear that his current trip is primarily to take advantage of the training environment at the NXT LVL 101/LVL Up 101 facility that Blair is also involved in.

“We’ve been speaking to [KTM Group Australia motorsport manager] Kyle [Blunden] about what we want to do in the break between Toowoomba and QMP,” Minear told MotoOnline. “I told him I wanted to start on some supercross while still training motocross and I think in the background he’d been chatting to Daniel Blair.

“So, this all came together really quickly. Like, in the span of a week, we had our flights booked and we were over here. We’re in South Carolina staying in an RV at the NXT LVL 101 facility and it’s got a sick motocross track and supercross track here, so we’ll stay here for a month and head home just before QMP. I want to stay in Australia next year and race, but hopefully, the year after we’ll be over here.”

With just two rounds remaining in the Australian ProMX championship, Minear currently sits sixth in the MX2 standings as the series heads to Queensland Moto Park for the penultimate round on 13 August, before Coolum’s finals will take place the following weekend. The Fox Australian Supercross Championship will drop the gates on 7 October in Adelaide.