Peter Hickman

Hello and welcome to the start of the new season!

As you may or may not know this year I am riding for Team Q Motosport in the FIM European Superstock 1000 Championship on board the teams brand new Yamaha R1’s. Our first test of the year was held at Almeria, the south of Spain, from the 14th to the 18th of January. It was fantastic to finally get back on a bike after a couple of months off. Having got the bikes quite late they were pretty much standard, we only just had time to take off the standard fairing and replace it with a race one, put the latest Bitubo shock in the back, replace the brake lines with HEL race lines, change the sprockets and chain with Renthal and Tsubaki and some rear sets from Dynamic Precision! Having said that my team mate Leon Hunt had a bike even more standard! With the brand new Yamaha R6 only just out this year, most parts were not available; the only things we could do to it were the brake lines, chain and sprockets!  Needless to say the bike, and its rider, performed very well all week and surprised us all!

After our 2½ hour flight, it’s hard to believe endless warm sunshine is only 2½ hours away, we headed for the circuit. We had hitched a lift from our new found friend Andy Weymouth who had friends living nearby and told us there’s a short cut. Oh dear, not one of those short cuts we all thought, but actually it wasn’t bad, except for the fact that we were about 2000 feet up in the mountains, on a road just wide enough for our car, in the middle of nowhere with a sheer drop and no barrier by our side!! And the road has to be the twistiest road ever built!
We got to the circuit about ½ an hour later. The layout of the track was absolutely awesome and none of us could wait to get out on track. An hour or so later the wrecking crew arrived, Paul Veazey and Gareth Hankinson! They had flown into Malaga which is about 2 hours from the track. Paul had borrowed his dads brand new CBR600RR which he got for Christmas and put a race fairing on it which was kindly lent from the Lowes family. So all the riders were there but where were the bikes?

Mark Quelch, the team owner, had picked all the bikes up on the Friday before and had set off on the Saturday, it was now Sunday night and there was still no sign of him! Apparently the roads across the Pyrenees were atrocious; with so much snow driving was very difficult he said. We all came to the conclusion that Mark just drives slow!!

The next morning came quickly and to our surprise………….RAIN!! None of us could believe it! However, we still didn’t have any bikes so it didn’t matter too much!  Mark finally arrived at 10:30am; he hadn’t stopped since he left on Saturday! After unpacking the van we all stood around hoping the rain would stop soon! It did in the afternoon and just left a damp track, so Paul and Leon decided to do a few laps of the circuit to get the majority of the running in process out of the way, I however didn’t go out as I knew we had another four days left so didn’t want to risk something silly happening and then not being able to do the rest of the week! Although I really did want to ride my new bike!

Apart from a very windy Wednesday the rest of the week was very nice and all three of us got a lot of laps in, the circuit is quite difficult to learn as there are a lot of blind corners but once you’ve got your head around it its really good. The bike felt surprisingly good considering it was nearly standard. We didn’t even change one click on the forks from when we got the bike and the Bitubo shock works so well too.

No lap times were taken as the test was more of a shakedown to get us riders back into the groove, we are now looking forward to our next test which will be sometime in the middle of February, keep checking my website to find out when we are going and for all the latest news on myself!!!

There may also be a video or two for you to watch from Almeria!!!!!!

Many thanks for all your continued support
Hicky #60

I only heard my bike started up for the first time on Sunday and I knew with me starting from my Championship position at Mallory that the race was always going to be difficult as it’s such a hard track to pass at. I got my head down and did the best I could, I’m pretty happy and stayed on which is always a bonus.

I would like to pass on my thoughts and condolences to all the Bridewell family, he’ll be sadly missed around the paddock

It’s good to have two decent finishes and some points in the bag, the conditions weren’t ideal and I didn’t want to push it over my limit and crash. My main aim at Oulton was to finish both races, which I did and both times I got points. I’m now looking forward to Mallory Park next weekend and hope I can continue to move forward.

Cheers

Hicky

I’ve had a tricky couple of months and I’ve never had so many crashes. It’s really taken effect and hard to get your head back in full form and think positive. I knew that I had to finish and I just wanted to bring the Kawasaki home in one piece in the first race. I knew I was struggling with my times and therefore it was decided that I best not go out in the second race as it wouldn’t do me any favours.

It’s on to Oulton next, we’re I like to be more sorted and back in the points.

Hicky

This week, we’re off to Knockhill.  Let’s hope the weather behaves.  Click here to view the timetable and come back to see all the latest news.

Hicky

I would like to pass on my condolences to the family and friends of Guy Sanders who tragically lost his life in the Supersport accident on Sunday, at Mondello. Guy, was a mate in the paddock who will be sadly missed … but not forgotten.

Hicky

Click here for event timetable, and go to Round 6 to find out more about Mondello.  Come back and check out the latest news from the weekend.

Hi! Thanks for visiting my website, I hope you enjoy it. If you have any ideas or brain waves of how to make it better or would just like a general chat please don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail by clicking  ‘CONTACT’  OR comment right here on the blog !!

Cheers Hicky