Thomas ‘Tom’ Richard Michael Toparis is a motorcycle rider who was awarded a Tier 3 Scholarship within the 2021 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program.
Tom was born in Goulburn, rural NSW, in 2000 and is the current Australian Supersport Champion. He began riding dirt bikes around the family farm as a 3-year-old and soon became addicted to the adrenaline rush of motorbikes.
At age nine Tom began competing, and in 2016 he switched from dirt bikes to road racing and won races almost immediately. In 2019, he won the Australian Supersport Championship aged just 19, amassing a record 401 of a possible 407 points in the season, and was named RK Chains Australian Rider of the Year. That same year, he enjoyed a successful season in the German IDM Championship and came second as a wildcard entrant in the BSB Supersport Championships in Assen.
Following many successful wildcard results around the globe in Moto 3, World Supersport and BSB events, Tom was selected to represent Australia at the World Supersport Championships before the event was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Tom rides with the Dutch-based Benro Racing Team and is excited about riding in the World Supersport Championships when it resumes after the pandemic. Meanwhile, he is honing his skills in the British Supersport Championships in order to be ready to face the world’s best. He also hopes to return to Australia regularly and take part in the Australian Championships in the future in the colours of the Goulburn Motorcycle Club.
“It is such an honour to be a recipient of a Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship for 2021. SAHOF recognises Australia’s sporting elites and it is humbling to be acknowledged by the organisation. On a practical level, any type of motor racing is an expensive sport, and the scholarship funding will certainly assist me in pursing my goal of representing Australia successfully at the highest level. I am very grateful for the support of SAHOF and proud to be given this opportunity.” – Tom Toparis on being selected as a 2021 Tier 3 Scholarship Holder.
Awards, Honours & Achievements
- 2017: Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island – Moto3 Wildcard
- 2017: Japanese MotoGP, Motegi – Debuted in Moto3 class
- 2018: Australia Supersport Championship – 2nd
- 2018: World Supersport, Phillip Island, Australian wildcard entrant – finished 15th
- 2018: World Supersport 300, Czech Republic and Misano Italy – competitor
- 2019: Australian Supersport Champion
- 2019: RK Chains Samurai Award recipient, for best young Australian talent
- 2019: IDM German Championship – one race win and five podiums
- 2019: World Supersport Championship, Phillip Island – 11th Aussie Wildcard
- 2019: Wildcard entrant in the BSB Supersport championship at Assen – 2nd
- 2021: Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship Holder – Tier 3
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