#4 Sullivan
Mounsey
United Kingdom
·
Red Bull Rookies Cup
Date of birth | 5 June 2007 |
|---|---|
Place of birth | London, England |
Age | 18 |
Nationality | United Kingdom |
Career start | 2016 |
Disciplines | Rookies Cup |
01
About Me
"My very first ride on a bike was on my dad's scooter, we rode round the carport area, it was such great fun. After a few min of literally going round in circles my dad had had enough and wanted to stop but I kept saying “again!”, it had dad and grandad in stitches. I was 2¾. Just after my 3rd birthday, I found dad’s bikes in the garage. Mum and dad found me after a little while but I already knew I just had to have a go on them. I started riding about on the front of my dad’s dirt bike shortly after that. He used to go green laning and I used to hold onto the handlebars. In the end, he got some BMX stunt pegs with grip tape for me to put my feet on and I used to do the throttle as well but I couldn’t reach the brakes."
"When I was about 6 or 7 we went to Buckmore Park and they had a really good training program for kids. You had to work up from electric karts on a tiny circuit, almost like a circle and gradually drive faster and faster karts on bigger and bigger tracks. They gave me homework and I had to learn all the flags. It was definitely the most boring part of it all (don’t tell my parents). In the end I was driving Bambino karts in time trials which was the best of all because they were the fastest.Around that time I was invited for a tryout with a SuperOne team, they offered me a drive for 2015 and wanted me to train with them for the rest of the year. Dad’s side of the story is that I didn’t want to do it, but I don’t remember that!"
"After that Mum & Dad gradually stopped taking me karting to see if I noticed, I didn’t know it was a test. We kept going green laning but I was getting bigger and in the end Dad said I’d have to go on the back which I didn’t like the idea of so I asked for a dirt bike. Dad’s response to this was to take me to a mini moto training academy but I thought I was going to learn to ride a dirt bike so to begin with I wasn’t very happy. In the UK that same year Jon Thornes MBE from Cool Milk had decided to invest in the British FAB Racing Championship because he wanted to contribute to grassroots development in the sport in the hope of paving the way for British MotoGP Champion to emerge. That is what got me into racing because the training academy put my name forward for a place in the new Junior British Superbike Team for 2017."
March 2010, Sully the scooterist
© Sullivan Mounsey
June 2010, Desmo Sully
© Sullivan Mounsey
August 2010, Sully out green-laning with dad and his mates, Jima & Jim
© Sullivan Mounsey
September 2010, I used to love being out on the trails and being so high up
© Sullivan Mounsey
"I was offered a place in the Tyco BMW team provided I proved myself in the last half of the 2016 season. We had to start racing in June if I wanted a chance and my first race was on a training academy hire bike on my 9th Birthday at Whilton Mill which is now my local track. It was great to meet all the Cool FAB Racing people and it was a fun place to be, I might have been a bit apprehensive, but it was exciting too. It was Max Cook’s dad who helped us out and got our bike running as best it could. We even had a motorcycle insurance firm film us and we stayed at the circuit in a tent. After the last 4 rounds of the 2016 championship, I got from being lapped to getting my first 2 podiums and I earned my place in the Tyco BMW Junior Team. My first full season of racing didn’t quite go to plan. Most of the Brits from the junior paddock go on the Benidorm Minibike Trip which is great preseason practice."
"Except when I was there, I was clipped by another rider and had a really big highside fracturing my wrist & elbow which was really annoying because I was a second faster than the other riders in my class. I ended up missing almost 2 rounds of the championship that year after breaking my thumb at my first round back too. It was a tough year 2017 but I finished off with 5 wins, more podiums, had lots of fun and made more friends. In 2018 I progressed onto the faster minimotos and spent a year battling and having fun racing in two classes. I had a few injuries but raced the whole season and finished 3rd and 5th in the championships. I learned how important it is to always try my best right from the beginning of the season. I tried really hard on the AC bike but took it a bit easier on the faster LC."
"Halfway through the season I realised I could do better on the LC because I was beating all my competitors from the slower class on the faster bikes but by then the points gap had built up to the other kids in front. I believe I could have performed better had I pushed from the start of the season. 2019 was a very difficult year as we moved to Metrakits, I enjoyed racing them, but we just couldn’t get them competitive which was frustrating. We tried the 50 & the 70 classes but we weren’t able to get them to go as well as the older bikes, it was hard to endure. To break the disappointment we tried a wildcard on an 85 in Spain and whilst that was a great experience on a number of levels, we experienced some bad luck there as well."
"The start of the Dorna Talent Programme in the UK, the British Talent Cup, began in 2018 and we made it to both selection events held at Silverstone on the infield Stowe Circuit. Even though I wasn’t old enough to participate it was interesting to see how it worked and support my teammates. It was really cool. I was looking forward to my turn which would have been in 2019 ready for the 2020 season, but it changed that year and they didn’t run it like that anymore. All the better for seeing how it did work previously, as it turned out a lot like the Red Bull Rookie Selection process, so it prepared me a little bit. In 2020 I stepped up to the British Talent Cup along with everyone else old enough from FAB. I came to realise I’d started racing late, almost everyone that I was now racing against had been at least a couple of classes ahead of me in FAB, whereas I had just completed one rather challenging season on a 50cc."
"It was a steep learning curve, but I was proud of my accomplishments with two top 10s by the end of the season and I won the Enerydots Award for the Most Up and Coming / Receptive Rider. Into my second season of Moto3 and with some preseason testing I felt confident to continue my progress. At Silverstone I was just over 0.6 off and 5th fastest. By the time we got to Donington, now 14, I learnt how to take a tow and stayed and battled in the front pack, it was awesome. I even got the fastest lap. Towards the end of that season my family moved out of London to Silverstone so I could accept the offer to study at the Silverstone UTC, which meant I could study High Performance Engineering and BTEC Sport as part of my GCSEs. We visited it in 2017 having seen it when we went to the first BTC selection. I was determined to go after the wildcard at Catalunya because the top team in the RFME was run by the Monlau Repsol [now Monlau Motul] Technical College and when we’d got home Dad and Grandma booked onto an official open day and that was the step that lead to me going."
"I figured the more I learn about personal performance and machine performance the better I can be. Best of all I got my first BTC podium 9 days after starting at the UTC and it was at Silverstone National, so a great year for progression. 2022 was a massively challenging yet pivotal year for me. We had difficulties getting the season off to a start and had to change teams last minute which meant I missed all preseason practice and the first 2 rounds. It was a shame, I had high hopes for a good championship challenge in ‘22, but that’s how it goes sometimes. I kept busy training on the Moto4 until it sorted itself out (Dad & his mate Jima built the Moto4 for me out of a 25year old Conti 80 and a new CRF150R engine, it was a great practice bike for the kart tracks)."
"My first race was Round 3 at Donington and I qualified 6th and got two 5ths in the end but I also lead the race at times so it was a great relief to be back on the bike and able to start where I finished off the previous season. Up to Scotland and the pace was there, getting my first front row start, but not until I’d begun a whole new learning process. This was the beginning of my next chapter, instead of it being a journey of discovery I was now in the hands of a veteran. A 2nd place was a good start for me and the team but getting backed up on braking I lost the front and took out another rider whilst also fracturing my thumb which was annoying, a shame and to top it all I got sanctioned. However, I was pleased with my new team, pleased with my pace but back to recovery mode."
"At Brands we had a very unlucky situation when the chain jumped off whilst running in 5th on the first lap up from 10th. I was collected by the pack in a Red-flag incident. It was big but Shark, Alpinestar Techair, Frank Thomas & the MSV Medical Team saved me to fight another day, which turned out to be the very next day. On the Sunday I started from 27th and finished 11th still rather battered and bruised but I gave my all. By the time I got to 11th, the next pack was 10 seconds ahead. Brands Race 2 was all about endurance. It was a good day. Overall the season was a good save and showed promise for 2023. It still felt a bit like 2017 with much promise in prospect but scuppered before we even started, although for different reasons. It just taught me even more to take every opportunity now. Right now when it presents itself. Come 2023 we invested in the preseason and took my Moto3 out to Spain having learnt the trick of keeping the van and the bike at Alicante airport then flying home to save on the costs. It meant we got a fair few days out on tracks and some miles under my belt."
"By the time we got to the official pre-season test at Cartegena with the team we were dialled in and ready for 2023 although a little finessing from Gardner was soon to be recognised and acknowledged. He is saying like – 'so Sully, what worries you about running the same line more than once in a session? You’re turning my data traces into a spirograph, the computer doesn’t have enough colours to handle it. Do you think a metre to play with is OK or can you manage 50cm? Can you see we are now in the accuracy game? At Silverstone which was the official test and first round in one, I was quick. I thought wow I can do this but I still had lessons to learn. I was fastest but ran off the track early doors and lost the advantage, then got involved in someone else’s crash. As above, the learning process continued, in public. Not the plan but Ian was keen to know what I was doing on the outside of the corner to begin with."
"By Race 2 I was pacing myself but then missed the last lap board which was annoying as I was swapping positions with ease. My Dad got my pit board painted dayglow yellow after that! At round two I qualified in P2 but unlike Silverstone I was not the fastest, but I still got my first win which was just the best feeling ever, plus it taught me that you don’t always need to be the fastest to win. That was a key moment. I got overzealous in Race 2 and rather than settle for 2nd when another rider got me on the last corner I got a bit keen on the gas going for the cutback and highsided out of it. Another lesson in patience, keep an eye on the long game. 2nd would’ve worked but it’s so hard to think and calculate and race at the same time when all you want to do is win again. We had a solid finish in Scotland, a bit of a difficult Snetterton but came back strong and I won at tracks I’d struggled at before or not seen due to previous season's complications, so the momentum picked up. I had a great win at MotoGP Silverstone, winning with a 23sec gap even after saving a highside that ran me off the track and cost a fair few seconds."
"I got a pole at Oulton despite not being there since 2021 and that translated into a win and a 2nd , so more solid results and the only one to keep the title chase alive. Only the one pole, but I like the racing. The clutch disintegrated during Race1, had to completely flush the engine out before the Race 2. We had an outside chance at the championship at the last round but it didn’t play in our favour as I was taken out fairly early into race 1 which also meant I was down in 9th for race two and it was pouring with rain. Visibility was challenging and by the time I’d got through the pack and started pushing on the rider in the lead had got away so I finished the race in P2 which was also my Championship finishing position. Not quite where we wanted to be but I love my racing & all the people I work with and support me where brilliant."
"That’s it for now but more to come! I’m looking forward to 2024, it’s going to be tough but I’m up for it. Check out my blogs for more about my time at Red Bull MotoGP Rookie selection events, supporting the Junior Racing championships and other things I get up to, thanks for looking."
02
Season 2023
Sullivan Mounsey Selection 2023
© Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool
October 2023, my season started & ended caught up in someone else’s crash!
© Sullivan Mounsey
March 2023
© Sullivan Mounsey
April 2023, unfortunate for the other rider
© Sullivan Mounsey
03
2024 Season
The 2024 season marked Sullivan Mounsey's debut in the highly competitive Rookies Cup , where he finished 25th overall in the championship standings. His best result in the Cup was a 12th place finish secured in the opening race at Jerez. Mounsey also gained valuable international experience by making two wildcard appearances in the World Supersport 300 class, where he scored points, achieving a best result of 14th place in Race 2 at the Aragón round.
Sullivan Mounsey - Helmet Design 2024
© sakart design
Sullivan Mounsey - Studio Portrait Jerez - 2024
© Markus Berger / Red Bull Content Pool
Sullivan Mounsey - Studio Portrait Jerez 2024
© Markus Berger / Red Bull Content Pool
Dad, me & Mum back of the garages, Jerez Test 2024 - Sullivan Mounsey
© Sullivan Mounsey
04
2025 Season
Mounsey significantly improved his points haul in his second season of the Rookies Cup, finishing 16th overall in the championship standings. His season was marked by consistency, achieving his best race finish of 9th place on three separate occasions (Le Mans, Mugello, and Sachsenring). Mounsey also competed full-time in the FIM JuniorGP World Championship with the Aspar Junior Team, using a CFMoto.
Sullivan Mounsey crashing at Sachsenring 2025 - Race 1
© Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool
Gabriel Tesini followed Mitani and Mounsey in Aragon 2025 - Race 2
© Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool
Mononyana followed by van Crugten, Mounsey, Singhapong in Aragon 2025 - QP
© Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool
Mounsey fighting with Phommara for positions in Spielberg 2025 - Race 2
© Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool