Jason Dupasquier: The first GP champion of the ADAC Northern Europe Cup in profile

• Roller-coaster of a season ends with first road racing title
• Dupasquier motorbike family celebrate more success
• The Dupasquiers' world revolves around motorcycles, from Moto3 and Supermoto to motocross

Assen: For Jason Dupasquier (15, SUI), three wins and four podium finishes were the key to winning the title in the GP class in the first season of the ADAC Northern Europe Cup. Despite experiencing many ups and downs this year, the Swiss rider put in a stunning display at the finale on his KTM, took two wins at the British Superbike Championship in Assen, Netherlands and won the title race by 24 points from Ernst Dubbink (27, NED).

“I had a good race on Saturday, but my grid position was not so great on Sunday and my start was really bad,” he told us after the final race. "I had no grip at the back wheel, and couldn't do much about it. Then Ernst came past me and I hit back. We had a good scrap. I won in the end, which is great.”

Dupasquier kicked off his season with two third places at Silverstone before taking second place on the ADAC NEC's first visit to Assen. A DNF at the Lausitzring was followed by his first win under the banner of the MotoGP at the Sachsenring. After breaking his collarbone, the Swiss rider was unable to line up at Oschersleben but made up the points with second place at Hockenheim and a double victory in the finale.

“This has been a good season, only at the Lausitzring did things not go too well for me. My first Moto3 season was really great. I'm really happy,” said Dupasquier after the second race in the Netherlands. “My best races this season have all been at Assen. The very first race here was terrific, because I really like this track. I told my dad the first time that I came here that this is my favourite track.”

Like father, like son

Dupasquier was six when he sat on a bike for the first time. “That was a 50cc motocross bike,” he recalls. The 14-year-old got his talent for riding from his father, Philippe Dupasquier, who is one of Switzerland's most successful off-road riders with many titles in Supermoto and in motocross to his name. Dupasquier senior has also successfully competed in the Motocross World Championship.

Jason Dupasquier began following in his father’s footsteps in 2008 when he entered the Swiss Supermoto Championship. “I won the titles in the 65cc and 85cc at my first attempt,” he said. After switching to road racing, Dupasquier Junior now seems to have found his way. “I really feel at home road racing. I contested my first road race in 2015 in the ADAC Junior Cup powered by KTM. I finished fifth overall and achieved my first podium in the finale at Hockenheim.”

To make this year's move from the ADAC Junior Cup powered by KTM to the ADAC NEC easier, Dupasquier trained a lot before the season. “We went to Spain and France in the winter and covered as many kilometres as possible before the season began,” he said. “I love this bike, because it's much quicker. You can take the corners faster, which I love. It wasn't easy to start with, but after one season, I can say that I really feel at ease on the bike. Pre-season testing helped me enormously.”

Ambitious aims

When Dupasquier is not on his bike, he's usually at school. But school is relatively unimportant, because his number one pastime is sport. “I do a lot of sport in my spare time. I play hockey and squash and ride around on my scooter. I ride the bike as much as I can and often train Supermoto and still go motocross riding a fair bit.”

But the races of the top aces have the power to drag Dupasquier away from his bike. “I don't have anyone in particular that I idolise,” he told us. “But I really like Tom Lüthi. He's a good rider and a friend.” Lüthi has already won a world title. Dupasquier also hopes one day to compete in the top league with the best riders in the world and said: “My dream is to race in MotoGP at some point.”

The KTM Swiss junior team rider is constantly pushing towards achieving that goal. Dupasquier added: “I've now been invited for the first time to a talent-spotting shoot-out for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and really hope that I can ride in the series next season. If I don't make it, then we'll have to come up with something else. My aim, however, is to compete there next year.”