COOPER COMPLETES BUILDBASE BMW SUPERBIKE LINE UP WITH MACKENZIE HEADING STK1000 TITLE TILT

Richard Cooper will once again line-up alongside Lee Jackson to form the Buildbase BMW squad for the 2016 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, with Taylor Mackenzie joining the team to head-up a title challenge in the superstock class.

After joining the Buildbase BMW team mid-way through the 2015 season, Cooper took a handful of top six finishes and looked set to take the Riders’ Cup before an injury ruled him out of the final round at Brands Hatch.

The 33-year-old will join Lincolnshire youngster Lee Jackson in the team, which returns to fielding two riders in the Superbike class for the 2016 season.

Alongside Cooper and Jackson, Taylor Mackenzie will head up the team’s return to the Pirelli National Superstock  championship, which they won (with Richard Cooper) in 2011.

The 22-year-old former 125 GP racer is determined to be a title fighter in the 1000cc production class aboard the Buildbase BMW S1000RR.

Richard Cooper:

“It’s great to be staying on with the Buildbase BMW team. I’m looking forward to completing a full season with them as I only joined half way through last year. We made great progress in the time we had together in 2015 and I’m confident we can take this into the upcoming season. As soon as I came back to the team I felt at home immediately so sticking with them for 2016 seemed natural.”

Taylor Mackenzie:

“I’m really excited to be joining Buildbase BMW for the season ahead, they’re a well-established, hard-working team and having already spent quite a bit of time with them I’m feeling good. I’ve had a tough few years and I’m keen to put that behind me and joining a team as strong as this is the right way to do that. I spent some time on a BMW road bike in Spain earlier this week and it was awesome, so I can’t wait to get on my stocker. We’ve got a good testing programme so with a bit of hard work there’s no reason we can’t be up the sharp end and hopefully bring some trophies home!”

Steve Hicken, Team Manager:

“I’m really pleased to have secured Richard to continue with the team next year. He showed a lot of promise in 2015, he’s shown he’s capable of podiums if not more so we’ll be looking to get behind him and taking it to the next level this year. We’ll also be back in the National Superstock series with Taylor Mackenzie, something I’m really pleased about. I think he’ll be really suited to the BMW and he’s certainly talented enough to run at the front and challenge for the title. We are looking forward to releasing further exciting news in the coming weeks.”