British Superbike News

Rumours abound in British Superbike news of a return to the sport for one of it’s favourite riders, Chris Walker.

Walker ‘The Stalker’ as he is known to his legion of fans had a disappointing season away from British Superbike racing, having started in the Supersport World Championship, riding for the GIL Kawasaki team. Sadly the bike was not competitive and Walker ended the season riding in the five final rounds of the World Superbike series aboard the Honda VK Vent Axia.

He scored some points on his first WSB ride at Brands Hatch, but was unable to do much more than that, crashing twice at the other UK track Donington Park.

Walker was last seen in the BSB in 2007, when again by his own standards he had a pretty poor season, finishing the season in seventh place in the riders standings was not enough for his employers Rizla Suzuki and his contract was not renewed.

In fact things have been patchy for Walker since leaving his first stint in British Superbike in 2001 and moving to Moto GP. A best forgotten time for the English rider, he promptly left for World Superbikes Fuchs Kawasaki team in 2002.

He finished the WSB Championship in ninth position that year and switched bikes for the GSE Ducati with who he would record his best ever World Superbike results, finishing the 2003 season in sixth overall. The fact that his old BSB adversary Neil Hodgson won the WSB championship that year would have hurt, but Walker can take heart in the fact that Hodgson had the better bike in the form of a factory Ducati.

It was the British Superbike battles with Hodgson that stick in my mind most from Walkers career and really got me hooked on BSB. It had started for Walker in 1997 when he would battle with team mate Niall MacKenzie on the Yahamas, battles with Steve Hislop and Troy Bayliss would happen in the following seasons, until the ultimate dog fight with Hodgson.

I hope that if Walker does get a contract it is with a competetive team and perhaps we will see once again just how good he can be.