Peter Hickman at Silverstone in the BSB Series

After a successful start to the 2016 MCE British Superbike Championship, which saw Peter Hickman take victory at Silverstone on the GBmoto Racing prepared Superbike, the team is now ready to kick-start their 2016 Road Racing season at the North West 200.  

Following an extensive winter testing programme, and a successful start to their 2016 British Superbike Championship together, GBmoto Racing Kawasaki and Peter Hickman will begin their Road Racing campaign together at the iconic North West 200 event tomorrow.  

With wins at the Ulster Grand Prix and the Macau Grand Prix last year, 2016 will still only be Peter’s third year competing on the roads, making him one of the most exciting newcomers in recent years. Utilising the same factory supported Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R Superbike he uses in the BSB series, alongside a ZX-10R Superstock machine, the team is confident of a strong showing at the North West before moving on to the legendary Isle of Man TT at the end of the month.

Excited to return to the North West after missing last year through injury, Peter Hickman added, 

“I can’t wait for it! The North West is an incredible event and I was gutted to miss last year with injury, so am really looking forward to going back. Aside from the Macau last year, 2016 will be the first time I actually race on the Roads using a full-spec Superbike which is quite exciting.

It’s the same machine I use in the British championship, which is really helpful as I know what the bike’s capable of. We’ve been working throughout the winter tests to get it where I want, and I think that showed at Silverstone where we were immediately competitive and were able to take the win. Obviously the roads is a completely different discipline, but the new 2016 Kawasaki is really stable which is a great quality to have and despite only getting a day on track, we had a very strong test at the Castle Coombe circuit last week on both the Superbike and Superstock machine so I’m feeling confident of a good showing here!”  

GBmoto Racing Team Principal Mark Smith-Halvorsen concluded, 

“Last year was our first year on the roads and it was an incredible experience for the whole GBmoto Racing team. We’re coming back this year bigger and better, with more support from Kawasaki and a year’s experience under our belts. The team has been working flat out throughout the winter months to build the 2016 spec Kawasaki’s and our strong start to the British Superbike Championship is a great indication of the ZX-10R’s potential.

We’re really pleased with how the testing has gone and although it will never truly allow us to replicate the conditions experienced at the North West, TT or the Ulster it certainly gives us a great basis to begin with tomorrow evening. Pete has proven he has the talent to win at this level and we’ll be doing everything we can to provide him with the tools to do just that!”