Peter Hickman

Louth Superbike racer Peter Hickman had a wasted journey up to Knockhill in Scotland as the unpredictable Scottish weather played havoc with the racing, finally causing the meeting to be abandoned because of high winds and heavy rain.

Riding for the Northamptonshire based Ultimate Racing team Hicky began his practice well, circulating within the top 20 in 15th place. Saturday’s qualifying also began well with Hicky finishing the first session in an amazing seventh position and mixing it with some of the top factory backed teams.

The pace hotted up in the second session and Hicky’s privately entered Ultimate Racing Yamaha R1 was unable to match the pace of the high powered front runners, although once again he took 15th place for a fourth row start to Sunday’s planned double header.

But as race day dawned with it came the rain accompanied by high winds causing racing to be delayed until 2pm.

The first British Superbike race had hardly begun before the rain returned causing officials to red flag the event on safety grounds.

After a further delay the race finally got underway but after just four laps Hicky was forced to retire to the pits with a mechanical fault.

“The weekend had been going ok really,” said Hicky. “I was running old tyres in practice as we can’t afford any new ones and had been struggling a little bit around 17th place. But we did manage to put a new tyre in for qualifying and it made the difference that we needed. I ended up in 15th place although I should have been slightly higher in maybe 11th. I didn’t make a mistake, I just didn’t put my fastest lap together all in one go! The bike is way down on horsepower this weekend and we can’t figure out why. We know the engine is tired and needs rebuilding but we have nothing to rebuild it with so as it stands it will have to stay as it is. Other than that the boys have been working really hard to get me out there.

“I pulled in during the first race because I felt the engine tightening up and didn’t want to have it blow up on me.”

Race two suffered another lengthy delay again because of torrential rain and when they did finally get started they only made it to Sears on the first lap before seven riders tangled and fell causing yet another red flag situation. By the time the track had been cleared the wind was gusting to 70mph at times and the Race Director had no choice but to abandon the meeting on the grounds of rider safety.

“With having to pull in during the first race and then the second outing was abandoned this weekend has been a costly waste of time for me.”

Hicky will put the disappointment of Knockhill behind him and concentrate on having the bike up and running for the next round at Snetterton on July 18 in the hopes that the weather will be kinder to him.

After a disappointing non-finish in the first of the two British Superbike races at Mallory Park, Louth rider Peter Hickman bounced back to take 15th place and pick up another championship point in his second outing aboard the Ultimate Racing Yamaha R1 at Mallory Park on Sunday.

Friday’s free practice was going well for Hicky until the latter stages of the second session when he highsided at Edwina’s chicane landing heavily with the bike following through.

Although winded and bruised Hicky escaped relatively uninjured but the same could not be said for the bike. The Ultimate Racing Yamaha suffered some serious damage and the team did a fantastic job to get the bike up and running in time for qualifying on Saturday when Hicky rode through to 16th position to earn a place in the second session which determined the grid positions for the first race.

He was unable to maintain his position and ended the second section in 19th place and started the first 30-lap affair from a fifth row grid position.

“I am a bit battered and bruised after my crash yesterday, it was a big crash but luckily I got away with just a few bruises. The boys did a great job for me to get the bike up and running so thanks to them for their hard work. The times are close but I am just not quite close enough and seem to be stuck in a bit of a rut. But we will see how the race goes on Sunday, I have some different things to try out in warm-up and we will see what happens.”

But things didn’t quite go to plan for Hicky as the bike developed an oil leak which forced him out of the race after just seven laps.

Although he didn’t complete the race he did post a quick lap time and this put him up a row for the start of race two where he set off from row four top make steady progress and complete the 30 laps in 15th place.

“I got away fairly well in the first race and was just getting settled into my rhythm when I was shown a black and orange flag and had to pull in. We discovered the problem, it was the oil cooler that was leaking and it was lucky that the marshals spotted it before I either crashed or took someone else out. I would rather that happen than me fall off or cause someone else to but it was a disappointing end to my race. It was all down to the crash on Friday, we seem to have been having a few problems ever sine then.

“In race two I got away to a cracking start but unfortunately got punted at the first turn by Steve Brogan when he crashed and I ended up running across the grass to rejoin the race a long way back. After that I got my head down and picked off a few riders and ended up in 15th.

“I would like to thank the boys for their hard work this weekend, what with the crash and then the problem with the oil in the first race they worked really hard to get the bike ready for the second outing.”

It’s a quick turn around for the team as the round is at Knockhill in Scotland this weekend, July 4. Free practice and qualifying take place over Friday and Saturday ahead of the two races that are provisionally set to run over 30 laps at 12.30pm and 4.15pm.

Despite losing a full day of free practice because of an engine problem, Louth rider Peter Hickman was able to score a brace of 13th places on the Ultimate Racing Yamaha R1 in round four of the British Superbike championship at Cadwell Park on Sunday.

Being a day behind the rest of the field with regards to practice, Hicky had to use all his resources to pull something out of the bag in qualifying on Saturday and he did well to qualify in 16th place. He was promoted a place on the grid when Gary Mason was forced to withdraw following a crash and was to make a start from the fifth row for Sunday’s 18-lap opener.

“We had a problem with the engine on Friday but unfortunately we didn’t have the required parts to fix it so we had to take the engine out and split it to see what exactly was wrong,” explained Hicky. “It turned out that one of the components was incorrect and should not have been there. It’s not anyone’s fault, just one of those things. But we don’t have a spare engine so we worked until 12.30am on Friday night to rebuild it. Then today of course we are a day behind everyone so we are on the back foot a bit really. But considering all our problems we are not that far away and if we could have found another half a second or so we could have been up in the top 10.”

As the first of two races got underway Hicky maintained his position of 15th, eventually moving through to 13th place. Although he was right on the tail of Adam Jenkinson he was unable to find that little bit extra power to overtake him and ended the race in 13th place.

“The race went quite well actually,” said Hicky. “I made a good start but unfortunately someone got in my way and going into the first turn I had to shut off which messed up my good start. But after that I got away fairly cleanly and made steady progress. I was held up behind Adam Jenkinson at half race distance and just couldn’t manage to get past him. I was quicker than him in a few places but unfortunately they were the places that you can’t really pass people. If I had been able to get past I know I would have pulled away. I am a little bit disappointed as we are still on the back foot after Friday.”

Race two went much the same way with Hicky dicing with Ian Lowry but the race was red flagged on lap 15 when another rider crashed heavily which left Hicky to finish in 13th place once again.

With the three points accrued in each of the two races Hicky finds himself in 17th position on 19 points in the rider standings.

The next round is on June 27 at Mallory Park but unless Hicky can find a sponsor willing to fund him he will be unable to make the grid at the Leicestershire circuit as his race budget has already been used to keep the Ultimate Racing Yamaha on track.

Ultimate Racing rider Peter Hickman added to his points tally after a 12th place finish in the first of two races in round three of the British Superbike championship at Oulton Park on Monday. The Lincolnshire rider rounded off his weekend with 17th in the second race just outside a points scoring position.

Qualifying didn’t go quite so smoothly for Hicky who was unable to make it through to the final section and he had to be content with a fifth row start to the first 18-lap encounter.

Prior to the race Hicky explained: “The weekend has been going alright for me. The times in qualifying were really close and although we are not that far away we are just unfortunately not quite fast enough. We ended up 17th and made it through to Q2 but then snapped a shocker, which is really unusual. That happened at Clay Hill, which a really fast section of the course and I very nearly spat myself off. But luckily I caught it and saved the crash. But that was the end of that. I ended up in 17th place and to be honest I don’t think we would have moved any further forward so, we start the race from a fifth row grid position and see what we can do.”

As the first of the two races got underway Hicky made steady progress through to 11th position but was caught and passed in the closing stages by Tom Bridewell who had been in for a ride through penalty after a jump start. Hicky ended the race in 12th place to pick up a further four championship points.

“I made my best start of the season, at least I went away with my grid row this time,” said Hicky. “The Yamaha R1 is difficult to get off the line but I came around the first lap in more or less the same position before making my way forward. The bike isn’t quite set up the way I want it as I am struggling with front end chatter. It is getting better but we are not quite there yet. But we finished the race in the points so we have to be happy with that.”

The second race didn’t go quite so well for the Lincolnshire ace and he ended up in 17th place at the flag. The race was affected by continuous showers and although Hicky started from the fourth row this time he had handling problems with the Ultimate Racing Yamaha R1.

“The second race didn’t go so well for me because I was having a problem with the front slipping away from me. We just went the wrong way with the suspension but it’s a lesson learnt so that shouldn’t happen again! The weather conditions didn’t help but at least we finished the race albeit not in the points.”

The series moves on to Cadwell Park for round four on May 23 when Hicky will be looking for two good results from his home round, just a few miles up the road from his home, to add to his points tally.

Louth Superbike ace Peter Hickman picked up a couple of good results at Thruxton to add to his points tally in round two of the 2010 British Superbike championship on Sunday.

Sporting a new Yamaha R1 engine in the Ultimate Racing Superbike Hicky found some extra speed and bagged his best qualifying of the new campaign with a fine 11th place, just missing out on the third and final sprint for pole which included the fastest 10 riders in the session.

“The weekend is going really well for me,” said Hicky. “I have been really happy all weekend as we have finally got a new engine in the bike which has made so much difference. Although we haven’t got as much power as the factory bikes we are a lot closer and it’s given me a fighting chance now. The bike has been working really well all weekend – I have always gone well at Thruxton anyway – the team has worked hard and I am really happy. I just needed that tiny bit more to get into the top 10 and into the final part of qualifying. This is my best qualifying position since 2006 and things are looking good for Sunday, if I can get a good start and get away we should be in for a good result.”

Race one saw Hicky get away and settle into 13th place for a couple of laps before moving forward to eventually cross the finish line in 11th place to pick up five championship points for the Northamptonshire based Ultimate Racing team.

He said: “That first race went really well for me. I got off the line ok, not brilliantly but we got caught up in the first few laps really. I couldn’t get past Christian Iddon where I wanted to so that held me up a bit. Once I finally got past him the front boys had got away then I began to struggle with tyre life as we don’t have traction control but I am pretty pleased with 11th as on paper I shouldn’t be in the top 14 to be honest because there are 14 factory bikes out there!!!”

Race two didn’t go quite so well for Hicky and he rode a lonely race to finish in 13th place to pick up a further three championship points to bring his tally to nine which place him 15th in the overall points after just two rounds.

“Not quite as good a result as race one, we had to start from 14th place because the grid goes on the lap times posted in the first race. Unfortunately my lap times were not fast enough and we were placed a row further back for the second race. I got away ok but maybe I let the clutch out a bit early and got caught up again with the same riders as in race one. I got past Iddon early on but just couldn’t keep up with Dan Linfoot as we were struggling a bit with horsepower. Other than that we seemed to be pretty close to everyone. But two finishes, both in the points, I can’t grumble at that really as we are such a small team in comparison.”

The next race is at Oulton Park in Cheshire over the May Day bank holiday when Hicky will be hoping for two good results to add to his points tally and move further up the leaderboard.

Lincolnshire rider Peter Hickman got his season off to a good start by scoring a championship point in the first British Superbike championship race of the new season at Brands Hatch on Easter Monday. But he was unable to add to his tally in leg two when his Ultimate Racing Yamaha R1 developed a technical fault on the first lap causing him to retire.

Free practice on Friday was a washout. It was raining pretty hard and Hickman didn’t see the point in going out to maybe slide off in the tricky conditions. He explained: “I thought it best to wait until Saturday when the weather was more promising. Unfortunately I only completed two laps in the dry on Saturday morning before having to come in with a split radiator but once we got that replaced I made it through the third free test without a hitch.

“Sunday it was wet once again but I was going well and was circulating within the top 10 for a long time. I decided to call it a day half way through the session and conserve my energy for the qualifying laps later in the day.”

Just as the pace was hotting up Hicky was caught out by a shower of rain, and unable to utilise his new tyre. He finished in 21st place in the first of the three sections of qualifying - just one place away from entry into the second part which was for the top 20 riders - and was to start his first race from a sixth row grid position. But he was pleased to discover that his privately run Ultimate Racing Yamaha R1 qualified ahead of former World and British champion Neil Hodgson who was riding last year’s British Championship winning Yamaha.

As race one got underway Hicky made progress, moving up to 20th place in the early stages. His challenge was boosted when a rider ahead blew his engine and retired. Some of the riders held back as they thought the race would be red flagged but Hicky kept his head down and made the most of the opportunity to overtake them. He was soon up into 15th place where he remained until the chequered flag.

“That was good to get a point from that first race,” said Hicky. “I knew we were on the back foot before we started because of the crash in March so I am happy enough with that. I did make up a lot of ground when Michael Laverty blew the engine. I remember from an earlier race thinking the red flag would come out and lost ground when I was wrong so this time I kept going. As it turned out there was no oil on the track and the others who hesitated lost out so it paid off for me.”

Hicky’s progress in race two was short-lived, he had only completed half a lap when the Ultimate Racing Yamaha decided it had enough and stopped.

“I thought I was going to add to my points tally in that second race,” said Hicky. “But the bike just stopped and refused to budge. I don’t know what the problem is until we get home and strip it down but it will be up and running for the next round.”

The next round is at Thruxton on 18th April

‘Hicky’ and the Ultimate Racing Team have completed a successful test at Cartagena in Spain this weekend. The weather was a bit hit and miss at times but the team managed to get out on everyday of the four day test.

Using the team sponsors’, Robert Butt, bike on day one with a standard engine to learn the circuit, Peter and the team were eager to try some new parts on the number one bike the next day.

The following day however was marred by rain for most of the day until about 4pm when some of the riders on the Bitubo Suspension test decided to do a few steady laps. Peter managed around 15 laps on the number one bike and the first impressions of the new parts was good.

The next day was warm and sunny and the team looked forward to some good testing. Unfortunately after the first session on circuit Peter made a small mistake on his in lap, to which the team will make sure he will never forget, and slid off at the first turn. The bike wasn’t too badly damaged and the team got the bike back out in the afternoon. Hicky got to grips with the bike and was turning in some good lap times and was very happy with how things had gone.

The final day was also wet to start with until around lunch time when the sun shone down and dried the circuit. Hicky and the team were making quite a few changes to the bike and ended up with a set up that everyone was happy with and the lap times showed. Now the team is heading home to develop more on what they have learned at the test in preperation for the start of the season.

Many thanks to Darren Jones and Robert Butt for all their help during the test.

We will be back soon with more news, photos and videos!!!

Hello there boys and girls! How are you all? As you may or may not know, I have re-signed for Ultimate Racing for the 2010 British Superbike Championship with the Yamaha R1. The team have been doing some development over the winter and I’m eager to see what the differences are when we get round to doing some testing!!! Talking of testing, its getting a bit closer as we are going to Cartagena for a 4 day test starting on the 18th Feb! Cant wait! Lets hope the weather is better over there than it is here So the road trip starts on the 15th!!! Woohoo!!!! Hope everyone is groovy and speak soon!!

Hicky #60

Hi everyone, hope things are well. During the winter I have been going back to my roots…………minimoto’s!!!! They’re such good fun! Having a really good laugh on them and enjoying the racing even if it is on mini’s!! Check out this video on youtube of race 3 at Stretton! ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcP3YSr6U1A )First few laps I was being followed but the last few laps are really close!! Unfortunately the camera batteries ran out half way around the last lap, but i can assure you, I won!!!! Honest!! Hope you enjoy it as much as me, keep posted for some more news!

Hicky #60

Peter ‘Hicky’ Hickman has signed for the Northamptonshire based Ultimate Racing Team for a second season in The British Superbike Championship. Hicky and the team, who finished 2nd in last years Superbike Privateer Championship, will move up into the main championship for 2010.

The team will continue to use their 2009 Yamaha R1 and with further development are looking forward to the new year. Hicky commented ” I’m very happy to have signed with Ultimate Racing for the 2010 season. The whole team gel together very well and there is lots of good banter week in, week out. I loved the new Yamaha in 2009 and got on with it very easily, i’m looking forward to trying the new parts that have been arriving over the winter and to get on with testing.”

The Team are hoping to get out testing in mid February and all are eager for the start of the season. Sponsorship is very hard to come by though and the team are still needing help! So if you are interested in being involved with one of the most professional and hardest working teams in the paddock then please dont hesitate to get in contact with Peter through his web-site www.peter-hickman.co.uk many thanks and see you all soon!!!!