Motourage

Having recently agreed terms with TAS Racing team manager Philip Neill, reigning British Supersport champion Alastair Seeley will complete the all-new Tyco Suzuki line-up for next season’s British Superbike Championship.

The Northern Ireland rider has won two British Championships – Superstock and Supersport – for the Moneymore, Northern Ireland-based team since joining them in 2009 and will now form a formidable partnership with Australian Josh Brookes in the official Suzuki BSB team aboard the GSX-R1000.

Seeley made the all-important Title Fighters’ top six during his debut season in British Superbike in 2010, which included a memorable victory at Brands Hatch. He will also represent the team at the International North West 200 in May where he has scored five victories to date. He is the current NW200 Superbike Champion.

Alastair Seeley:
“I’m very excited to be back with the TAS team for another year, especially getting back on a Superbike, and I’m equally excited about the new Tyco Suzuki colors. The bike looks really well. Once we get some pre-season testing done my aim will be to try and win the Championship; that really is my only goal. I think the new rules in BSB will be in my favor, having already won two Championships without electronic aids, and I have every confidence in the boys at TAS to give me the best possible package. Until then I’ll be doing plenty of motocross and trials riding to hone my throttle control skills, but I can’t wait to get started.”

Philip Neill, Team Manager:
“It’s fantastic to be able to confirm Alastair Seeley as our second rider in BSB for next year and also for another North West 200 campaign in May. We have had a tremendous journey with Alastair since we brought him into our set-up at the start of 2009, quite unexpectedly. He was a relative unknown in British championship terms back then, so to be able to turn him into a double Champion in such a short space of time is very satisfying.

“He has been hugely impressive on all types of GSX-R machinery and his goal now is to go on and become the first rider ever to win three different British Championships. He had a great rookie season in Superbike back in 2010; probably the best one we have seen so far. He then took on the Supersport challenge this season with the all-new GSX-R600 and did a great job for TAS Racing and Suzuki, taking 10 wins on the way to the Championship.

“We have rewarded that success with another shot in BSB and after his performance recently at Portimao for Crescent Suzuki, standing in for the injured John Hopkins at a track he’d never seen before and posting more-than respectable times, we believe he can be a genuine title contender during 2012 in BSB.”

TAS Racing has announced Josh Brookes as the first of two signings for the 2012 British Superbike campaign. TAS Racing has joined forces with Tyco Security Products as the team’s title partner for its 2012 British Superbike and International Road Racing campaigns running under the team name of Tyco Suzuki.

Brookes had a solid debut year with the team in 2011 taking two wins from six podiums on his way to fifth place in the championship standings. Having now familiarized himself with both the TAS Racing team and its GSX-R1000 Suzuki, everyone at Tyco Suzuki believes Brookes will be a strong championship contender in 2012.

Josh Brookes:
“I thought I was heading home for the Australian summer for four months but I’m delighted to be back in the UK for a few days to re-sign for TAS Racing and I love the new look of the bike in Tyco Suzuki colors.

“It took us a while to get things to click this season, but when it did we proved how good a package we are together, so I’m looking forward to taking that to the next level in 2012. I really enjoy working with the boys at TAS and I love the Northern Ireland lifestyle – so at least there will be no surprises when I return to start the season. The goal as always is to win the championship and I really believe we can hit the ground running and do the business from round one in April. I’m looking forward to it.”

Philip Neill, Team Manager:
“Our aim this year with a two rider team in BSB is to target the championship and we believe re-signing Josh as our headline rider is a good start in making that a realistic target. He showed us glimpses of brilliance this year with his race wins and some superb lap times.

“It’s fair to say it probably took us a bit longer than we anticipated to get to know each other, and for Josh to gel with the TAS Racing GSX-R1000 Superbike – so a second year together was always going to be beneficial. It’s good to get the deal finalized and great to have Josh back onboard. Now we need to concentrate on getting him a team-mate to complete the line-up.”

Relentless Suzuki by TAS’ Josh Brookes remains upbeat and confident going into tomorrow’s British Superbike races at Croft in North Yorkshire, despite narrowly missing out on the final Q3 qualifying session by a narrow .04″ margin.

The Australian’s Q2 time would have been good enough for the front row in Q3 – that’s how close it was in qualifying – and his ideal time was fast enough for second place on the grid – so he’s raring to go and looking to pick up strong Championship points tomorrow.

Josh Brookes:
“It looks and feels like we are a long way off but if we keep looking at the areas where we are strong, then there are lots of positives. For personal satisfaction it’s not that great, but providing the weather stays good, we have a couple of little changes to make in the morning. Once we get on the track tomorrow I know there’s a fair bit of time still to come from me and the bike. While the others seem to give it their all in qualifying, I hold a little bit in reserve so we have nothing to worry about. A bit of fine-tuning and we’ll be there.”

Philip Neill, Team Manager:
“It wasn’t a great day for us but it’s hard to be down when your ideal lap time is good enough for P2 around Croft – which is a very difficult circuit to find the perfect set-up. I’m fairly satisfied with that performance, but obviously, like Josh, we are a little disappointed to have been bumped out of Q3 in the dying seconds by 100s-of-a-second – but that’s racing.

British Superbike Championship, Croft, Qualifying result:
1st – Shane Byrne [Honda] 1m:20.069s
2nd – Michael Laverty [Yamaha] +0.125s
3rd – Loris Baz [Yamaha] +0.195s
4th – Michael Rutter [Ducati] +0.749s
5th – James Westmoreland [Yamaha] +0.871s
6th – Stuart Easton [Kawasaki] +0.911s
7th – Dan Linfoot [Honda] +1.001s
8th – Tommy Hill [Yamaha] +1.519s|
9th – John Hopkins [Suzuki] +1.685s
10th – Peter Hickman [Honda]
11th – Gary Mason [Kawasaki]
12th – Josh Brookes [Relentless Suzuki by TAS].

The Northern Ireland-based team has enjoyed previous success at Croft, and team manager Philip Neill says his boys are fired up and ready to go.

Philip Neill, Team Manager:
“Alastair comes to Croft off the back of a decent run in the Supersport class on the all-new GSX-R600 Suzuki and Josh and his bike are good-as-new and ready for round three of the BSB series. We have had plenty of success at Croft in the past and the GSX-R1000 Superbike, as we know, works extremely well around here. As a team, we will look to re-group and all of us, including Josh, understand that it’s all about the Shoot-Out at this time of the year, so we’ll approach this round accordingly.”

Josh Brookes:
“Last year I didn’t have a great time at Croft but we had problems. This year I’m with a new team and I’m really enjoying riding for Relentless Suzuki and we’re making good progress with the bike. It’s not a matter of liking or disliking a circuit; as long as I’m riding my bike I’m happy. We know what we have to do this weekend: Be in the points.”

Alastair Seeley:
“I’ve had three podiums on the spin on the new GSX-R600 and I had a good time at Croft last year on the Superbike, so I’m looking forward to this meeting. Ben has been the man to beat so far this season in Supersport but we’ll go to Croft looking to ruffle his feathers and hopefully close the gap in the championship.”

Josh Brookes is challenged by Dan Linfoot (#4), Thomas Bridewell (#46) and John Kirkham (#10)

Josh Brookes was forced out of his debut British Superbike Championship race at Brands Hatch on medical grounds after crashing out of the opening race yesterday.

The Relentless Suzuki by TAS rider was deemed “not fit” to take part in the second race after high-siding while challenging for the lead in the opening race at the Kent circuit, after scything through the pack from a lowly 13th-placed start on the grid.  Just when the Australian was planning his attack on race-leader Shane Byrne, he suffered a spectacular high-side at the top of Paddock Hill Bend, prematurely ending his Easter Monday debut.

Josh Brookes:
“I suppose we did all right coming back from where we were in qualifying and I have to say, everything felt 100 per cent better today on my bike. As I said after qualifying, I knew what caused the problem and once we’d that sorted; we were fast in morning warm-up and in the race. While I was battling with people in the race, I couldn’t get into a proper rhythm, but once I got to P2 – which was quite easy – I was totally confident. I saw Shakey and thought, ‘I’m in a good position here,’ but it all ended at Paddock Hill. I’m upbeat because I really can’t believe how I didn’t injure myself in such a big crash. Now I’m just looking forward to Oulton Park.”

Philip Neill, Team Manager:
“Josh proved in the opening BSB race that we’d really cracked it with his set-up this morning in warm-up and I have to admit, watching him come through from 13th to second place – it’s been a long time since I’ve taken so much pleasure watching someone on a Superbike: He was so strong and made a pass on almost every lap; no one could hold him off at Clearways. He can certainly ride a motorbike and that’s why we signed him, for his ‘never say die’ attitude. He just pushed that little-too hard down Paddock Hill which caused the crash, but we’ll accept that and move on. Until then, he made the whole GSX-R1000 Superbike package look absolutely superb.

British Superbike Race 1:
1st – Shane Byrne (Honda); 2nd – Tommy Hill (Yamaha); 3rd – Tommy Bridewell (Honda); 4th – Stuart Easton (Kawasaki); 5th – Jon Kirkham (Suzuki); 6th – Michael Rutter (Ducati); 7th – Loris Baz (Yamaha); 8th – Dan Linfoot (Honda); 9th – Martin Jessopp (Ducati); 10th – Chris Walker (Kawasaki). Josh Brookes DNF

British Superbike Race 2:
1st – Tommy Hill (Yamaha); 2nd – Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda); 3rd – Shane Byrne (Honda); 4th – Michael Laverty (Yamaha); 5th – John Hopkins (Suzuki); 6th – Stuart Easton (Kawasaki); 7th – Michael Rutter (Ducati); 8th – Dan Linfoot (Honda); 9th – Peter Hickman (Honda); 10th – Gary Mason (Kawasaki). Josh Brookes DNS.

Alastair Seeley demonstrated the pedigree of Suzuki’s all-new GSX-R600, taking it to its debut victory in the British Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch earlier today in front of a packed Easter Monday audience.

Alastair Seeley leads Jack Kennedy (#4), Christian Iddon (#21) and Dean Hipwell (#74) in Supersport race two at Brands Hatch on Monday

Supersport
The former British Superstock champion and current Superbike and Supersport lap record holder at the International North West 200, picked himself up after yesterday’s disappointment, to lead home a high-speed freight train over 26 pulsating laps. Less than a second covered the top five at the checkered flag, and despite yesterday’s DNF the Ulsterman sits well poised in fourth place, just 13 points behind the series leader.

British Superbikes
Josh Brookes will not forget his Relentless Suzuki British Superbike debut in a hurry, crashing out spectacularly in race one, which disappointingly forced a medical withdrawal from race two. Before the race one incident, the Australian had mesmerizingly scythed his way through the pack from 13th position through to second place on his GSX-R1000 Superbike. But just when he was planning out his attach on race leader Shane Byrne he suffered a wicked high-side at the top of Paddock Hill Bend prematurely ending his Easter Monday debut.

Alastair Seeley, Supersport
“I never looked behind me in that second Supersport race and it’s a good job as I think I might have scared myself! I just watched my board today, kept my head down and stuck to the game plan. Ben tried to make a break for it but I was ready for him and when I eventually got to the front I just defended my line on that last lap and brought it home for the win. Next week we’ll get a chance to stretch the legs on the wee GSX-R600 at Oulton Park, but before that I have a GSX-R owners’ day here at Brands Hatch with Suzuki.”

Josh Brookes, Superbike
“I suppose we did all right coming back from where we were in qualifying and I have to say, everything felt one-hundred percent better today on my bike. As I said after qualifying, I knew what caused the problem and once we’d that sorted we were fast in morning warm-up and in the race. While I was battling with people in the race I couldn’t get into a proper rhythm, but once I got to P2, which was quite easy, I was totally confident. I saw Shakey and thought, ‘I’m in a good position here,’ but it all ended at Paddock Hill. I’m upbeat because I really can’t believe how I didn’t injure myself in such a big crash. Now I’m just looking forward to Oulton Park.”

Philip Neill, Team Manager
“There are a number of positives to take away from this meeting starting with Alastair Seeley. He was pure class in that race today, and it’s not the first time he’s pulled this team out of a hole. He completely out-smarted his rivals and the new GSX-R600 package was nothing short of perfect. He rode the textbook race and we knew he had a better tire choice than many of his rivals. He controlled the race from the front and it was the race of the day for the fans with five of them in it at the end.

“Josh proved in the opening BSB race that we’d really cracked it with his set-up this morning in warm-up and I have to admit, watching him come through from 13th to second place – it’s been a long time since I’ve taken so much pleasure watching someone on a Superbike. He was so strong and made a pass on almost every lap; no one could hold him off at Clearways. He can certainly ride a motorbike and that’s why we signed him, for his never say die attitude. He just pushed that little too hard down Paddock Hill which caused the crash, but we’ll accept that and move on. Until then he made the whole GSX-R1000 Superbike package look absolutely superb.

“Guy [Martin] acquitted himself really well this weekend and we are really pleased how he got on running 46.5 lap times. There are not too many of the pure road racing men who could match those times here and it sets him up well for the Cookstown 100 next week, where he will ride our GSX-R Superstock and Supersport machines.”

Results

British Superbike Race 1
1st – Shane Byrne (Honda); 2nd – Tommy Hill (Yamaha); 3rd – Tommy Bridewell (Honda); 4th – Stuart Easton (Kawasaki); 5th – Jon Kirkham (Suzuki); 6th – Michael Rutter (Ducati); 7th – Loris Baz (Yamaha); 8th – Dan Linfoot (Honda); 9th – Martin Jessopp (Ducati); 10th – Chris Walker (Kawasaki)
Josh Brookes DNF

British Superbike Race 2
1st – Tommy Hill (Yamaha); 2nd – Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda); 3rd – Shane Byrne (Honda); 4th – Michael Laverty (Yamaha); 5th – John Hopkins (Suzuki); 6th – Stuart Easton (Kawasaki); 7th – Michael Rutter (Ducati); 8th – Dan Linfoot (Honda); 9th – Peter Hickman (Honda); 10th – Gary Mason (Kawasaki)
Josh Brookes was withdrawn from BSB Race 2 as a precautionary measure on medical grounds

British Supersport Race 2
1st – Alastair Seeley [Relentless by TAS Suzuki]; 2nd – Jack Kennedy [Yamaha]; 3rd – Steve Plater [Honda]; 4th – Ben Wilson [Kawasaki]; 5th – Dean Hipwell [Yamaha]; 6th – Lee Johnston [Honda]; 7th – Jimmy Hill [Triumph]; 8th – Luke Mossey [Triumph]; 9th – Sam Warren [Yamaha]; 10th – Daniel Cooper [Triumph]

Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing had a tough opening day at the British Superbike Championship first round at Brands Hatch. Josh Brookes suffered several minor problems in BSB Qualifying, posting the 13th-best time and Alastair Seeley crashed out in the first of the Easter weekend’s two Supersport races challenging for the lead. Guy Martin, appearing at Brands as a BSB wildcard entry, qualified a respectable 27th in his first official time out on a Relentless GSX-R1000.

Relentless Suzuki's Josh Brookes

Josh Brookes:
“I’m disappointed with qualifying but I don’t want to make excuses. In my opinion we’re not just quite there yet and qualifying wasn’t a good showing. We made a few changes and I’ve a fair idea what the problem was, but as I say, I’m not going to make any excuses. I’m trying to stay upbeat as being annoyed is not going to help the situation. We will make a few changes for morning warm-up and see where we can improve.”

Alastair Seeley:
“I was catching Ben Wilson when I lost the front, so it’s good to be getting two bites at the cherry this weekend. The new GSX-R600 really felt great up to that point; it’s just a matter of sussing out what tires to be using for tomorrow in this heat. I suppose it’s all down to rider preference. I’m okay and the bike’s not too bad after the crash, so we’ll reload for tomorrow and go chasing a podium.”

Philip Neill – Team Manager:
“Today was a big disappointment, there’s no hiding that. We’re taking the positives as we’ve spent most of the weekend on the back foot after Josh had a small crash and an electronic problem also cost us a whole session. It’s been a baptism of fire but we’ve been here before at Brands so no one is panicking. We have the pace on a race tire and while it’s not an ideal grid position, if Josh can find a bit of consistency through the whole lap, we can come away with something from the weekend.

“In the Supersport race we felt Alastair had a good set-up and tire choice. The plan was to stay in the hunt early on and make his move towards the end, but unfortunately he made a small mistake. We’ll get back up and try again tomorrow. What I would say is he’s got to be able to run at this pace and not crash to be in the Championship race.

“Guy Martin has made steady progression and the objective was to come here so he could gain as much knowledge as possible with the GSX-R1000 Superbike, and he’s doing that. He has been going faster with every session and that’s what we expected he would do. He’s competitive and would like to be further up the grid but his lap time is respectable.”

After three years learning the ropes in the British Superbike Championship, Northern Ireland-based Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing is now ready to fight for the 2011 championship title with hard-charging Australian Josh Brookes.

Brookes finished runner-up in last season’s BSB series, but since arriving at his new base in Northern Ireland in March, the former World Supersport race winner has familiarized himself with the “Irish way of life,” not to mention his race-winning GSX-R1000 Superbike during numerous preseason tests. And after spending many hours in the Sperrin Mountain Range surrounding the team’s rural base in Moneymore on his mountain bike, the 27-year-old is now ready to race.

Josh Brookes:
“I wouldn’t be telling any lies if I said, ‘it’s all been easy for me so far here in Northern Ireland.’ I get on really well with the guys in the team and being here has brought a lot of fun back into my racing. The good thing is, I want to be here; I want to work with the guys; and I like being in the workshop when the boys pull new parts out of a box to see their reaction – it’s like Christmas for adults! Their effort doesn’t go un-noticed by me: I understand and respect the hours they put in for the team.

“It took me a while to get to grips with the Suzuki during the opening test, but when we got to the Brands test it all fell into place. I didn’t feel under pressure and everything felt very natural on the GSX-R. We were able to start to make the regular changes you would during a race weekend and everything about the team flowed and was well structured.

“I have total respect for the guys I am working with and I can’t be more pleased with where I am. The only thing now is to go out there and get the results. It feels very long since I last raced, so it will be good to get the first round out of the way so the season feels like it has actually started.”

Philip Neill – Team Manager:
“Josh has been a pleasure to work with since he arrived and we are all immensely impressed with his work ethic. As a team we have put a lot of hard work into the GSX-R1000 Superbike for this year, making small steps and improvements right across the board. Josh’s build-up is now complete. He is certainly enjoying his time in Northern Ireland and will no doubt add some numbers to his fan base.

“We have all been anticipating the start of the season, as we do believe this is our best-ever chance to challenge for the Championship. The first three years in the Superbike class taught us a lot and we now feel the time is right to launch a major challenge for honors with Josh. We have put a respectable amount of miles under our belts in testing – now it’s time to race.”

Road racing veteran Guy Martin will make his debut for Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing during the Easter weekend British Superbike Championship opener at Brands Hatch alongside Australian Josh Brookes, who will also be making his debut in Relentless Suzuki colors.

While this event will be the start of Brookes’ BSB campaign, Martin will use the saddle time to gain valuable experience on his GSX-R1000 Superbike prior to the two main events on his International Road Racing calendar: the Relentless International North West 200 in May and the Isle of Man TT Races in June.

Philip Neill, Team Manager:
“The later-than-normal start to the season has already provided Guy with some great opportunities to spend time on track familiarizing himself with our full range of GSX-R machinery that he will be using during our International Road Racing campaign. However, pairing Guy with Josh for the opening Superbike race at Brands Hatch is a perfect way for us to understand how Guy reacts to some set-up changes in a race situation.

“The considerable amount of track time available throughout the four days at Brands and competing against the best riders in British Championship will enable Guy to really bring himself up to speed on the Superbike; and although our goals are not necessarily results-based, I’m sure Guy will be setting himself some personal targets over the four days.

“I’d like to thank MSVR for accepting our application for a wild card entry to this event, as the opportunity really does allow Guy to remind everyone that he is a motorcycle racer, who can ride on circuits as well as he can on the roads. This opportunity should help him prepare for his debut season with us in the best possible way.”

Guy Martin:
“I’ve been to the moon and back testing which is fantastic as I have never enjoyed so much pre-season track time before. However, practice is all right but you can’t beat a bit of racing, so I’m really looking forward to the chance of getting back out on track at Brands Hatch – and to do this in the BSB class is just perfect.

“I’m already quite familiar with the GSX-R1000 Superbike however, but this gives us the opportunity to work on some finer detail set-up stuff, which will no doubt come in handy throughout the season.”

Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing will head to Spain for the opening test of the year at Cartagena on March 3-6 with riders flying in from Northern Ireland, England and Australia.

Alastair Seeley, now in his third full season with the team, is no stranger to Relentless Suzuki’s pre-season testing program and Guy Martin is well settled after a pre-Christmas test on the team’s GSX-R1000 Superbike. Australian Josh Brookes, the team’s sole representative in this season’s British Superbike Championship, has been riding a ‘tricked-up’ GSX-R1000 in Australia, sent out to him by the team in November – letting him learn the characteristics of the Suzuki before he makes the long journey to Europe next week.

Josh Brookes:
“After riding different machinery for so long, I’m surprised just how quick the Suzuki felt so natural to me; I did feel at home on it straight away. Yes it is technically a street bike, but it gave me the chance to set up things like footrest and handlebar positioning before Spain. I’m more driven than I have ever been for a season – after a spending time at home doing different activities every day to keep myself focused – and I’ve never been so fit.

“I’m now looking forward to meeting all the guys in my new team and getting to know them before the season starts. I hear quite a few of them are into Mountain Biking and Motocross so that should be fun; we can have a laugh and hang out together.

“I’ll be in the Fox Sport TV studio this weekend in Sydney and I’m on the commentary team for the World Superbike races at Phillip Island, which gives me a chance to tell everyone what I’m doing this season and give them some information on the team before I leave for Spain on Monday.”

Philip Neill, Team Manager:
“I think everyone in the team is looking forward to getting stuck in this season, and it will be nice to have all the guys out in Spain together. Josh is pleased with what he’s achieved at home in Australia on the GSX-R1000. He had suspension and different bits and pieces sent out also, so it’s given him a base-setting and a head start before he jumps on the Superbike proper.”