Australia's Shannon Johnson is sourcing the budget to make his Moto2 World Championship debut.

Australian Superbike regular Shannon Johnson is in contention for a position on the Moto2 World Championship grid for the Sepang and Phillip Island rounds, in the final stages of sourcing funding for the project this week.

The former Australian Supersport Champion is in line to join Scott Redding and Hector Faubel on the Marc VDS Racing team in the Malaysian and Australian Grands Prix, however budget restrictions are proving an uphill battle for the Victorian as the deadline approaches.

“I have the opportunity to ride Sepang and Phillip Island on the Moto2 bike, but obviously we need the funding and support to make it happen,” Johnson told MotoOnline this afternoon.

“The KTM Superbike Team has elected not to contest the local races at the Island, so that has opened up the door for me to persure this invitation that I have from the team.

“As is always the case, the most difficult part is funding the number of control items that make up the Moto2 category such as the engine, the tyres and the electronics, which all have to be purchased from Dorna. Naturally I have to come up with the funding for those things.”

Johnson is eager to make a grand prix appearance at the Phillip Island round in October, confident that he could score a top result against the Moto2 regulars with the Marc VDS team utilising a Suter chassis.

“I’m more than confident that I could do a really good job, especially around Phillip Island,” he continued. “It would be nice to do the Sepang round as a test in the lead-up to Phillip Island, but if fund don’t commit then I’m definitely pushing at the very least to compete at our home GP.”

While the budget is yet to be met, Johnson is not yet giving up hope in a bid to join countryman Anthony West on the Moto2 grid come the Phillip Island round.

“I’ve had a lot of great companies step in to support me, but we are still short on funds and are also quite short on time for the deadlines that have been set in place,” he concluded. “Any extra support we can gather from this point would be greatly appreciated.”

One thing Johnson does have up his sleeve in a bid to attract sponsorship is additional exposure that has been organised during the ONE HD television coverage, as well as a host of feature stories confirmed with leading magazine Australian Motorcycle News (AMCN) if the Moto2 deal goes ahead.

If you’re interested in getting behind Johnson and helping boost another Aussie onto the international stage, contact us via this link and we’ll forward on the information.