Honda motorcycles are behind no less than five teams in this season’s British Superbike Championship with Australian Glen Richards of Team WFR Honda leading the way for Honda riders after four rounds.

Based in Yorkshire, the WFR Honda team race on CBR1000RR Fireblades.  The team are new this season to the BSB Evo Championship and have got off to a flying start.  Graeme Gowland, who made his Superbike debut in 2009, is the other WFR Honda team rider while Alex Lowes left the team in May after failing to agree on a new contract.

WFR Honda were formed from the Embassy Racing squad who were so successful in previous Supersport and Superstock 1000 Championships. While riding for the Embassy Racing Team Glen Richards won back to back championships in 2007 and 2008 and now, along with his new WFR Honda Team is keen to impress in the British Superbike championship.

But Honda does not only excel in superbike racing.  Along with its full range of motor cars it is also known for other vehicles from lawn mowers to quad bikes; and they are not just used for racing!

Philippa is a farmer in Oxfordshire and uses her Honda ATV to tend to a herd alpacas! A far cry from racing around a track but it is the first of four new film shorts to be shown as part of the ongoing Honda television sponsorship of Channel 4 documentaries during 2011.

The new mini-documentaries each focus on a real-life Honda owner who put their Honda vehicle to more obscure uses.

Each of the short films is like a mini-documentary created by Hollie Newton at Wieden + Kennedy (W+K) and includes a unique website link relating to its story allowing viewers to see extra content online.

Honda will also be using social media with Facebook and Twitter campaigns to accompany the TV sponsorship deal linking to an online hub at www.honda.co.uk/stories where the videos will be available in full along with articles and other interesting stories. There is also a competition in the ‘Take Part’ section of the website, where Honda owners can upload their own stories and photographs, explaining the unusual ways in which they use their own Honda products.

W+K, the company behind the films, will select their favourite story and make it into the final mini-documentary to be shown later in the year as part of the Channel 4 campaign.

Honda will continue to use the strap line ‘Documentaries on 4, sponsored by Honda’ throughout 2011 for these new films, which were first aired last week during the Cutting Edge documentary, ‘Bums, Boobs and Botox’.

Sponsored Post

As well as testing the British Supersport 600cc machines, Gary Johnson has also been putting the Fireblade through its paces for his assault on the International Road Race calendar in 2011.

Testing took place over three days at Cartegena but was restricted to just one day at Guadix, where bad weather forced the team to abandon their second day at the circuit and head back to base.

Gary Johnson said, “All in all I’m really pleased with the test and how productive it was for us all. I was riding the 600 and the Superbike and getting both bikes set up to a comfy base setting, which we’ll be working on in more tests before the season starts. I know now where we need to go with the bikes and confident the team will get them to that position where everything will be perfect come the start of the season.

“We concentrated mainly on the 600 as this is the bike I will be running in the British Supersport Championship, from the off the bike felt great. We changed a number of things on the Honda with springs, suspension and tyres to see which worked best for me. We have definitely got something to work from now and going in the right direction.

“I did a few runs out on the Superbike, the Fireblade is an awesome bike and the power is immense on it. My times improved every time we made small changes which is great news and I feel confident about everything now.

“I was happy at the end of Cartagena and was looking forward to getting myself out at Guadix. My crew chief James made a few changes after I’d done a few initial laps and these automatically took my times down on the 600, it’s all a learning curve for all of us and testing is all about finding the right set up.

“I jumped back on the Fireblade and was testing a new Pirelli tyre which I’ll be using on the roads but this forced us to make some changes with the bike. I was able to stay with the Suzuki riders of Kirkham and Hopkins so it gave me a lot of confidence. The second planned day at Guadix, the heavens opened and track activity was called off for the day so homeward bound we headed. I’m really happy with the progress we made and I know where we have to go but I’m very excited about it all. I can’t wait for the season to start now and get things going again.”

The young Irish rider Lee Johnston bonded with the new Honda immediately and ending testing feeling positive with his performance, saying;

“Testing was mega at Cartagena, the weather was kind to us and stayed dry for the three days, even though it was a little on the windy side. We spent the majority of the first day just making me comfortable on the CBR 600 as this was the first time I’d even sat on the bike. It felt good instantly so I knew we wouldn’t need to change much on it. We knew the bikes were good as Sam won the Championship on it in 2010 so we didn’t want to change much to start with.

“The second day proved to be challenging as there were a number of crashes which kept putting halt to proceedings and the third day we spent working on the forks and my times were coming down each time I went out on track which has given me my confidence back after a couple of dodgy years.

“We then headed to Guadix where I managed to complete 70 laps on the first afternoon and I managed to get a really good feel for the bike. The second day they weather turned a little more like what I’m used to back in Ireland, the track was flooded and therefore the day was cancelled. I would like to thank all the East Coast Racing team for making me feel so welcome and working so hard over the few days, I just can’t wait for Brands now.”

2011 British Supersport Dates

Rd 1 – 22 – 25th April
Brands Hatch Indy

Rd 2 – 30th April – 2nd May
Oulton Park

Rd 3 – 13th – 15th May
Croft Race Circuit

Rd 4 – 28th – 30th May
Thruxton

Rd 5 – 17th – 19th June
Knockhill

Rd 6 – 1st – 3rd July
Snetterton

Rd 7 – 15th – 17th July
Oulton Park

Rd 8 – 5th – 7th August
Brands Hatch GP

Rd 9 – 27th – 29th August
Cadwell Park

Rd 10 – 9th – 11th September
Donington Park

Rd 11 – 23rd – 25th September
Silverstone Arena GP

Rd 12 – 7th – 9th October
Brands Hatch GP

International Road Racing Dates

North West 200 – 21st May

Isle of Man TT – 30th May – 10th June

Ulster GP – 10th – 13th August

Scarborough Gold Cup – 17th – 18th September

Macau GP – 17th – 20th November

East Coast Racing

The British Supersport 2010 season ended with Phil Reed’s East Coast Racing team winning the Supersport Cup with rider Pat McDougall and seeing Jason O’Halloran at last fulfilling some of his promise.

It’s all change at East Coast Racing for the 2011 season of British Supersport as the team are preparing to race the ex Championship winning GSN Honda with two new riders.

Twenty eight year old Gary Johnson and young Irish star Lee Johnston, just 22 years old, will make up the team for the 2011 season, where East Coast Racing hope to build on the success of their maiden season in the sport.

The deal with Gary Johnson was done while Reed was watching the rider perform in Macau, having followed the Lincolnshire riders progress both on the track and road circuits.

Gary says: “I can’t wait to get on the track with the East Coast Racing team. 2010 was a disappointment for me and I have points to prove and want to come back this year really strong and get some good results in the Supersport races and also on the roads and get everything back on track and going in the right direction. I get on really well with Phil and can’t wait to get started now.”

Reed considers that he has assembled a ‘very good little team’ for his East Coast Racing’s assault on the British Supersport Championship in 2011, with testing taking place in March and bikes and riders ready to race at Brands Hatch in the season opener in April.

Lee commented; “2009 was a good start to my Supersport career but last year it got a little wayward when I ended up swapping teams half way through the season and missing a round. I wasn’t happy and want to put that in the past. I spoke with Phil and we came to a good arrangement, the Honda’s are proven and think they will suit my riding style. I’m very pleased to be part of the East Coast Racing team, I can’t wait to get testing and then back racing at Brands in April!”

Jason O'Halloran

Jason O’Halloran finally lived up to his promise with his first podium place of the season at Silverstone last weekend in the penultimate round of the British Supersport Championship.

The East Coast Racing Yamaha rider started the race in tenth place on the grid, but a good start to the race from O’Halloran was to no avail as the race was stopped after a big crash on the first corner.

Team mate Pat McDougall was caught up in the incident, hitting a fallen bike and injuring his foot in the process making it an awful weekend for him.

When the race was re-started it was reduced to just an eight laps and O’Halloran made an awesome start, settling into fourth place with some blistering lap times.

Having caught Ben Wilson and James Westmoreland, who were swapping places in an exciting race for second place, O’Halloran watched on as Wilson lost the front end of his bike on lap seven and the Australian grasped the podium opportunity with both hands.

A delighted Jason O’Halloran said

“Finally the podium I’ve been looking for all season. It’s been a hard weekend with a few ups and downs but the end result was ideal! I’m just chuffed to bits for all the team and myself, but the team have worked so hard since I joined them mid season at Mallory Park and we’ve been working for this ever since. The weather conditions certainly weren’t ideal but hopefully things will carry on like this for Oulton and I can get myself another good result there. I just like to thank everyone involved who have supported me this year and I couldn’t have done it without them!”

The third place result at Silverstone moves O’Halloran into seventh place overall in the British Supersport Championship.

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.