Tom Grant - East Coast Yamaha

Tom Grant has been signed by the Gearlink Kawasaki team to ride for them at the Brands Hatch round of the British Supersport championship on the 8th August.

Grant was given the chance to test ride for the team last week at Mallory Park and they were so impressed with his effort they signed him to ride at the next round.

The 22-year-old Yorkshire rider finished eighth in the 2009 championship with the East Coast Yamaha team with a top finish of third place.

Grant is replacing the teams current rider Jamie Hamilton who has now parted company with the Kawasaki squad after a dismal season.  Hamilton, who is the reigning Metzeler National Superstock 600 champion, has only managed a top score of fourteenth place so far after a disastrous season which has seen him not only break his collarbone but also having his motor-home raided and all his equipment stolen.

The long awaited British summer turned up with a vengeance at round four of the championship at Cadwell Park, making for an even more uncomfortable ride for O’Halloran, who has never raced at the demanding circuit before.

The Triumph team fitted a new shock on Saturday evening and went back to the original settings from Friday and this produced a good race set up for morning warm up. After a couple of tough qualifying sessions Jason managed to put the 675 Triumph on the fifth row in 15th place. Gaining one position after the opening lap Jason soon settled into a good rhythm and pace and was producing some very consistent lap time.

He was soon locked in a battle with AJ Venter, Dan Cooper and Joe Dickinson for eighth place and was having to fight every lap to hold off the battling pair behind him. Swapping positions for at least 10 of the 16 lap race Jason was eager to gain a top ten finish after missing Oulton Park through injury. He finally crossed the line in a strong tenth place after passing Dan Cooper on the final lap.

O’Halloran was pleased with the reult under the difficult circumstances and said after the race:

“It’s been a very long and difficult weekend so to come out of it with a tenth place I’m pleased with. Having never ridden here before I had my work cut out with getting the bike right and still feeling quite sore in my shoulder and wrist, I was determined to finish with a decent result and move on and be fully fit for Mallory. We made a load of changes with the bike and didn’t seem to get any further forward, the team changed the shock and we started again and it felt good in the race and I felt a lot more comfortable. At least we have a good setting for when we come here in August. I’m going to be training hard over the next month and be fully prepared and fit for Mallory at the end of June.”

Next race: Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport 600cc Round 5 Mallory Park 25th – 26th – 27th June

Stuart Easton - Swan Honda 2010

The Scottish rider Stuart Easton is this year riding for the Swan Honda team in the British Superbike championship alongside team-mate James Ellison, who is currently out of the running with a broken leg.

Easton was the British Supersport Champion in 2001 while riding for the Paul Bird’s MonsterMob Ducati team before turning to the Superbike series for Kawasaki and then Honda.

The 26-year-old won his first race in the Superbike class in 2009 at the croft round and has also participated in the World Superbike series along with six World Supersport championship events.

Easton is currently running second in the championship with 75 points, just 51 points behind the series leader Tommy Hill on 126 points.

On Tuesday 18th May, Stuart and the Swan Honda Team are holding a chat evening hosted by North Yorkshire Road Racing Supporters Club so if you would like the chance to put your questions to the team and rider here’s your chance.

Stuart Easton and the Swan Honda Team

TUESDAY 18^TH MAY 2010

MOWBRAY SUITE

GOLDEN LION HOTEL

HIGH ST, NORTHALLERTON DL7 8PP

Doors open 7:30pm – Show @ 8:15pm

Entry £5 (NYRRSC Members £3)

Bar, Raffle and Race Highlights on TV

For further information contact: Mike Reed on (07979) 70233 www.nyrrsc.net

Dan Cooper - MAP Centurion Triumph Team

Last weekend saw the second round of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship take place at the Thruxton circuit in Hampshire.

It was however, a tough outing for the MAP Centurion Triumph team with the rider Dan Cooper failing to make it to the grid after developing an electrical problem on his bike while his team-mate AJ Ventor struggled to finish in fourteenth place.

The pair worked hard throughout the weekend to find a suitable set up at the ultra fast and super bumpy Thruxton circuit. Working around problems and altering set up the two Supersport riders still encountered issues. Dan Cooper was unfortunate in the second qualifying and suffered a clutch problem which forced him to miss the entire session and putting him in a low 18^th place on the grid. Whilst AJ Venter was finding it hard to get to grips with the track and had some problems with the suspension and shock set up, this eventually put him in 16^th place on the grid.

Cooper managed to make the sighting lap but then suffered with a starter motor failure on the grid before the start of the warm up lap, which forced him out of the race before it even started. AJ got a reasonable start but only managed to gain one position at the end of the opening lap and despite his efforts to make progress through the field could only manage to get 14^th at the end of the race.

Cooper commented;

“I’m totally gutted about this weekend it just didn’t seem to want to work in my favour. It seems to be a track that I’ve never gelled with and for some reason that bad luck continued this weekend. I went out of pit lane fine for the sighting lap and then when it came to the warm up lap it wouldn’t go, just gutted. I hope things will be back to normal at Oulton and that I can get some good points there.”

AJ said;

“It’s not been a great weekend for me, I could not get the suspension right in any session and I just felt like I was riding on a pogo stick. We tried so much to try and work round it and make it better but nothing seemed to click and gel and I just can’t wait to get away from here and to Oulton in a few weeks. It’s definitely been a tough one for the team and we all just need to put this one behind us and move forwards with the rest of the season.”

Dan Cooper and AJ Venter had a solid start to their Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport campaign at Brands Hatch. By the time the race was red flagged, Cooper had just latched onto the back of the front runners, but due to the early stoppage he gained sixth place and Venter in 10th.

After a torrid weekend with weather conditions at Brands Hatch the two MAP Centurion Triumph riders struggled for good dry track time. Both riders are still working on finding a good set up on the Triumph’s which suit their particular riding style and with the appalling weather on Friday and Saturday, time out on the track was limited. Cooper was 12th in first qualifying and Venter 16th, with only Venter improving by one position during second qualifying after the heavens opened once again.

Venter got a blinding start and was 10th after the first lap with Cooper struggling to get off the line and was 11th after lap one. Cooper was soon making massive progress and working his way through the field and putting in some very positive lap times and was soon catching the leaders, making a pass on Paul Young on lap 19 for 6th before the race was cut short on lap 21.

Venter was sitting in a strong position after his fantastic start and was eager to push harder for a final top ten placing. A near out the seat moment at Druids forced him to loose a few places but he soon got his head down and was making good progress when the race was stopped.

Dan Cooper commented “I got a really bad start and knowing there are very few passing places around here I was going to have my work cut out. I pushed hard all the way and was catching the leaders when they red flagged the race. We have however made massive progress with the Triumph’s this weekend and what direction we need to go in. I’m feeling really happy and know this is going to be a good season. The team are great and really pleased with how things have come together, I’d like to thank all my sponsors and also the MAP Centurion Triumph team and my mechanics for all the hard work.”

AJ Venter was content with his result saying “I got a great start but had a big moment early on in the race which lost me a few places and left me with some work to do. I know what we need to do and we learnt more this weekend than we did in the test sessions and even in morning warm up we were still making small changes which made the bike feel much better. It’s all a learning process but it’s definitely all good! I’d like to thank MAP group and my team for all their help and can’t wait for Thruxton.”

2010 Calendar

Round 2
Thruxton
16th – 17th – 18th April

Round 3
Oulton Park
1st – 2nd – 3rd May

Round 4
Cadwell Park
21st – 22nd – 23rd May

Round 5
Mallory Park
25th – 26th – 27th June

Round 6
Knockhill
2nd – 3rd – 4th July

Round 7
Snetterton
16th – 17th – 18th July

Round 8
Brands Hatch GP
6th – 7th – 8th August

Round 9
Cadwell Park
28th – 29th – 30th August

Round 10
Croft
10th – 11th – 12th September

Round 11
Silverstone
24th – 25th – 26th September

Round 12
Oulton Park
8th – 9th – 10th October

Peter Ward - BSB Championship - Cadwell Park 2009

It has now been confirmed that the Astro Racing Team will be on the grid of the British Superbike Championship for 2010 in the Evo series with Peter Ward as their rider.

Taking a step-up from the Superstock 1000 championship, the team will be participating in their first full season with in the British Superbike class to be supported by Scott Smart.

Peter Ward, know as ‘Pesky’, competed in a number of rides during the 2007 and 2008 seasons in British Superbikes having mainly participated in the Supersport and Superstock series and so will not be totally new to the class despite having stated that he will now have to train harder to achieve his aims.

Ryuichi Kiyonari - HM Plant Honda 2007

Ryuichi Kiyonari is making his return to the British Superbike Championship after signing for the HM Plant Honda team to ride alongside Josh Brookes, riding in his second year in 2010.

The two riders will be aboard the CBR1000RR Fireblade while Steve Plater will ride for the team in the British Superstock Championship.

Plater will be joined by John McGuinness for the TT and NW200 competitions following Plater’s season as the TT Senior winner for 2009.

Kiyonari said;

“I’m looking forward to being back in BSB and working with the team again.  I had a happy time with them when I was here before and so I am really exciting to be back.

I don’t know what to expect as BSB is never easy but I will be giving everything to win races.”

The general manager of Honda Motorcycles Steve Martindale said;

“I’m pleased to confirm Honda’s commitment to the British Superbike Championship for 2010 and also the team’s continued relationship with HM Plant,” said Steve Martindale.  The British Superbike Championship is very strong and the high standard of rider talent and racing can be seen at every round.”

Kasey Wyatt

The Repli-Cast UK team have announced their riders for the 2010 season which will be riding in three different classes of the championship.

Kasey Wyatt is remaining with the 125cc Relentless British Superbike for his second season and is expected to be with the front runners in what is expected to be his hottest year so far.

Robbie Stewart will be moving into the National Superstock 600 series aboard Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja, backed by Buildbase while newcomer Sam Hornsey will be filling Robbie’s seat on the Relentless British 125cc machine.

Robbie is now back to full-fitness after breaking his back in a freak accident at the Croft circuit in September when he low-sided off his bike and was thrown into the tyre wall head first.

Sam is 15-years-old and finished as runner-up in the 2008 125GP3 Championship and is expected to be the perfect replacement for Stewart.

Josh Corner is joining the teams junior academy squad for the 2010 season and will competing in the Thundersport Super Team Challenge.  The 12-year-old began his racing career in the Mini Moto series before moving up to the Aprilia 125 challenge last season.

Sam Lowes - Oulton Park 2009

The new British Supersport team GNS Racing, have announced that the rider who will be racing alongside Paul Jordan in the 2010 championship will be the current Supersport Cup Champion Sam Lowes.

Lowes, who will aiming to take the championship title said;

“I’m delighted to be joining GNS Racing and can’t wait to get testing as after a successful first season on a 600, I feel ready for the challenge.  It helps to get plans sorted early and we can now concentrate on the season ahead. I’m also looking forward to working with Paul this year and to help him adapt to the four-stroke bike from the 125 as I had to do.”

Paul Jordan - KRP Racing 125cc 2009

A new team is joining the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport championship for the 2010 season in the name of GNS Racing, with a two-rider line-up aboard the 2009-specification Honda CBR600RR.

The Southampton-based team is owned by the former co-owner of Centurian Racing, Gary Stubbington, and one rider has already been signed-up for 2010, Paul Jordan.

Gary Stubbington said in a report;

“We are very excited about our new venture and are delighted to have signed such a quality rider as Paul initially. We are talking to other riders and hope to announce who our second rider is soon so we can finalise our plans. We know the bikes and riders will be competitive from the start so we have very high expectations for the season ahead.”