HULLAVINGTON speedster Fraser Rogers is celebrating a watershed moment in his racing career after signing a deal to take on the world in the FIM Supersport World Championship.

The 18-year-old, who won the Aprilia Superteens Championship and the Thundersport GB GP3 Championship as a youngster, was a replacement rider for the Com Plus SMS team in the final round of last year’s championship in Jerez, Spain, last October.

But Rogers is now gearing up for a globe-trotting 2014 as he races a full campaign for Czech outfit Com Plus, with the first round taking place in Phillip Island, Australia, on February 23.

“Everything has really kicked off for me in the last six months and this is going to be a massive step up for me,” he said.

“Last year, I wasn’t really racing as much as I wanted to be but I’ve got myself a new agent and he’s helped sort everything out with this deal. I’m a bit too big for Moto3 now and I’m ready to step up to the 600 (cc) bikes.

“I did Jerez as a replacement rider and we had some problems but I was only two-and-a-half seconds a lap off the champion when I had to retire. There were obviously a lot more spectators there than what I’m used to and I was nervous but I don’t think I did too badly.

“I’ve already been over to the team owner’s house in Brno for a few chats – I think that the foreign teams have a bit of an edge over the British and the champions are usually Italian or Spanish.

“Everyone racing is 18 or 19, or in their early 20s, and there aren’t that many British riders too.”

The Supersport Championship is a support series to the World Superbike Championship and Rogers sees it as the perfect place to put himself in the shop window in years to come.

He added: “You might get spotted by doing well in the Supersport and I’m really excited about it.

“I’ve never been to Australia before and it all really hasn’t sunk in yet.”

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