Hickman said “This is the ride I really wanted and I have worked hard over the winter months to make it happen. At last I will be able to show what I am capable of on a really competitive bike. I will be taking my existing mechanics with me to join the Devon based team, and I know that the combination of the two former private teams will become a new force in the paddock”.

Ian Woollacott’s team, who have twice won the privateers cup, were successful in attracting a new title sponsor, Tyco Security Products late last year and this has enabled them to purchase the championship winning Hondas. Ian said “not only were we lucky enough to secure Peter as our rider, but also I know we will benefit hugely from the experience his father David will bring to our team”.

Phil Dashey, Tyco’s European Head, who is a motorbike fanatic, said “I am delighted that we have managed to sign Peter for the team. It has always been the intention to sign a young talent to partner Tommy Bridewell and Peter is the perfect choice.”

The team are due to take delivery of the two HM Plant Hondas very shortly and have already spent time at the Honda workshops in Louth to understand how the bikes differ from the previous Honda that the team ran.

Tommy and Peter have set themselves challenging targets for 2011, with both stating their intention to be in the top six for the shootout rounds.

Ian said “with the combination of these two riders and with the support of all our sponsors this is going to be our best ever year. I can’t wait for the season to start”.

Speak soon

Hicky #60

Merry christmas to you all and hope you have a cracking new year too! See you soon

Hicky #60

Still forced to use the standard engine borrowed from a stock R1, courtesy of LB Performance at Louth, Hicky was on the back foot at the fast and technical revamped circuit at Silverstone. But he was running within the top 15 in qualifying and poised to put in a fast lap on a new tyre when he encountered a technical problem which caused him to abort the lap and return to the pits. Unable to get back out he found himself down in 22nd place and forced to start race one from a sixth row grid position.

With the problem rectified Hicky began the race determined to make up ground and got away to a fine start moving through to 17th place on the second lap. But his progress was thwarted when the red flag halted the race because of rain.

Being a small privateer team and not having the manpower of the factory teams Hicky struggled to make the restart after fitting wet weather tyres. As he rode down pit lane the officials shut the gate and he was forced to start from the back of the grid instead of taking up his 17th place.

With a lot of work to do he made it through from the seventh row to settle into 20th place but unable to make further progress was disappointed to cross the finish line in 20th, well outside the points.

“We seem to be having some problems with the wet set up and then because the restart was tight we missed the pit lane exit by eight seconds so were on the back foot before we started,” said Hicky. “Although I passed seven or eight riders on the first lap I was not able to progress further because the tyre went off really quickly because the set up was not quite right.”

Because of worsening weather conditions and failing light the second race was cut from 14 to 10 laps. Hicky began from the sixth row and quickly moved through to take up 13th position. He then progressed through to complete the race in a fine 10th position to pick up a further six championship points and his best result of the year.

“It’s been a bit of a long time coming, we have been aiming for the top 10 all year and it’s finally happened. After a poor first race in which we didn’t have the settings quite right we worked on it during the break and this time I was able to ride the bike properly. Coming from 24th to 10th is just mega. I had a cracking first lap up to 13th and I am over the moon. I am so happy for the team and my sponsors who have put so much effort and faith in me and it’s nice to give them something back. Hopefully we will have the proper engine back for Oulton Park where we have three races and can score three good results to put some more points in the bag.”

The final showdown of three races is at Oulton Park over the weekend of October 8 – 10 when Peter will be seeking three top results to end his season on a high.

Mark Nolan commented: “Nolan Oils are pleased to be title sponsor for Peter Hickman of Ultimate Racing and the team for the last two rounds of BSB. It has been a difficult year for Hicky. We know he is a very capable rider but has had some bad luck with his bike this season. We are looking forward to the last two rounds and hope to see some good racing.”

Hicky aged 23, whose parents live in Willoughby near Alford is relived he now has the backing to be able to contest the final two rounds of the series and is adamant he can pull some good results out of the bag in the penultimate round of the championship at Silverstone this coming weekend.

“I am really grateful to Nolan Fuel Oils for their support. Without them we would have struggled to get the money together for fuel and tyres for the last two rounds. But now at least we don’t have that to worry about and we can concentrate on bike preparation and hopefully scoring some good results so we can end the season on a high.

“It has been a struggle all year really but we have made it to the end of the season and I am optimistic we can progress further next year.”

Free practice and qualifying take place on Friday and Saturday at Si8lverstone with two 14-lap races on Sunday, race one at 1.35pm followed by the second leg at 4.35pm.

Having borrowed an engine from LB Performance in order to race at Cadwell, Hicky was left with a race against time to prepare an engine for Croft and managed to build an engine from various spares given to him by other teams.

The team got the engine working and kept their fingers crossed it would hold out throughout the weekend and give him a chance to at least take part in the races.

Although his expectations were low, Hicky was in for a very pleasant surprise in qualifying as he made it through to the third session where only the fastest 10 riders take part to establish the grid positions for the first race.

It has been Hicky’s aim all season to make it through to the final 10 and this time he made it. In the dying seconds of the session he set the ninth fastest time and finally realised his ambition to make it into the top 10 beating a number of factory backed riders – including both HM Plant Hondas in the process.

“That was a mega result for me,” said Hicky. “I was running 10th in the second session and realised a few of the top riders were behind me. I thought they would reel me in and I would end up in 12th – which is still a good result for me. But with a few minutes to go I tagged onto the back of Josh Brookes and got the tow and was delighted to find I had finished in ninth place. We maintained that in the final session which is mega and I am over the moon to have beaten quite a few factory bikes – especially with an engine made up out of spares from four or five engines!! It’s been a top job by the team and all my sponsors who despite me having a bit of a tough year are all still here so it’s good I am able to repay them with this result.”

But things didn’t go quite to plan for Hicky who ran off onto the grass when trying to pass Chris Walker. He rejoined down in 20th place and spent the rest of the race playing catch up, his chance of a top 10 result gone. But he was able to haul himself up to cross the finish line in 12th position to pick up four championship points.

“Chris was holding me up a bit and I could see the leaders were beginning to get away so I needed to get past him. I went for it at the complex and got up alongside him but for whatever reason the bike wouldn’t stop and I had to run across the grass. I just can’t believe that, its just one thing after another and now we have found we have an engine problem as well.”

Deciding not to risk the engine Hicky reverted to the spare from LB Performance. Although it was ok it was a standard engine and therefore not so quick.

Hicky went out in the second race but was only able to secure 16th place and was disappointed with his results after such a promising start.

“Thanks to LB Performance I was able to use the same stock engine I used at Cadwell but it’s a bit of a disappointing end to the weekend that started off so well. I don’t quite know what will happen for Silverstone, we will have to wait and see.”

The penultimate race is at Silverstone on September 26 prior to the three-race finale at Oulton Park on October 10.

The weekend started badly for Hicky as he had only completed two laps of free practice when the Yamaha R1 dropped a valve. With no spare engine available it looked as if his weekend was over before it began. But one of his local sponsors – LB Performance came to his rescue with the offer of an engine from a road bike at nearby Louth.

After a hurried trip to pick up the engine and then get it fitted prior to the next practice Hicky was not expecting too much as the engine was completely standard. But he had a pleasant surprise when he found he was running well within the top 20. He then went out in the three stage qualifying session with a top 20 position in mind. He was again surprised to make it through to the second stage and ended up in 14th place, far more than he could have hoped for.

As race one got underway on Monday Hicky remained in 14th place for much of the 18 lap affair, moving through to 13th in the closing stages. He was chasing the two factory bikes of Stuart Easton and Dan Linfoot and was almost upon the pair when he took Hall Bends a little too fast and clipped the kerb with the engine casing. Down he went – race over.

Another hurried repair job unfolded but luckily the bike did not suffer too much damage and he was able to take his place on the starting grid for the second race of the day.

This time he didn’t fair so well at the start, being pushed onto the grass at turn one. That left him down in 21st place with a lot of work to do. But he fought his way back through the pack and was running in 16th place when the race was red-flagged.

“Its been a bit of a shocking weekend really,” said the disappointed rider. “We had the engine failure on Saturday morning and we thought we were going home. But our local supplier LB Performance came to the rescue with the engine from a road bike. Qualifying went really well, I thought that if I could get into the top 20 I would be happy and we ended up 14th so I was over the moon with that. The first race went really well, I was sat there in 13th place and looking at passing the two in front but I was unfortunate to clip the engine casing on the kerb at Hall Bends which lifted the front tyre off the floor and down I went. It was really annoying, not just for myself but for everyone involved in the team. F Cross have brought us here this weekend and its just such a shame that we have had such a rubbish weekend.

“In the second race I got away really well but then got shunted onto the grass at the first turn and that left me too far back to make much impression. I did get back up to 16th but I was gutted not to have done better. We had really been looking forward to this weekend and its just gone completely wrong.”

The next round is at Croft Circuit near Darlington when Hicky will be hoping to pick up a set of good results in order to boost his points tally.

The weekend began badly for the Lincolnshire ace when his newly refreshed engine developed a manufacturers fault in the very first session forcing Hicky to pull out of the session.

But once he finally got going he headed straight into qualifying, making it through to the second section where he finished in 19th position for a fifth row start to the first race on Saturday.

“The weekend started badly when a manufacturer’s fault with a valve obliterated the engine. We lost the first session and had to run in free practice two with the spare which is not so quick. Then it was wet on Saturday morning so we missed that session and went into qualifying with just the one session under our belts. We are a little bit on the back foot to be honest but our times are not that far away so will give it a go!”

Hicky didn’t get away to the best of starts in the first race but soon moved back through to 19th place. But the race was red flagged at nine laps distance because of rain and a new race over 10 laps was declared. Hicky circulated in 11th place for a while before dropping back to end his race in 19th position.

“That didn’t go so well for me,” said Hicky. “I got away ok at the restart but was struggling with set up in the wet.”

By Sunday the rain had moved away and both races took place in the dry with Hicky finishing 13th in the first encounter and 14th in his final outing to pick up five more points bringing his total haul to 31 with four races remaining.

“Thirteenth and 14th is really not where I want to be,” said Hicky. “It has just not come together this weekend and we have had a bit of a rubbish time to be fair. We had some problems in the first race on Sunday so changed a few things for the second race but it only made things worse so I just went backwards. It is hard work coming from 22nd place up into the points but on the plus side I did manage it both times so its ok I suppose but I am still a bit unhappy with the way the weekend has gone.”

The next round is on home tarmac at Cadwell Park – just a few miles up the road from Louth – on August Bank Holiday Monday (August 30). Hicky will be looking for a change of fortune and will hope to put on a good performance in front of his home crowd.

The weekend began with free practice and qualifying where once again Hicky made it through to the second stage of the Roll for Poll qualifying session and was placed 17th on the grid for the start of Sunday’s opening race.

Prior to that the Superbikes took to the grid in the re-run of the abandoned race from Knockhill where Hicky was placed at the back of the grid after a mechanical problem forced him out of the original race.

It was a tall order for the Lincolnshire ace to come through from last position but he was determined to give it a go and see where he ended up.

But the race was red flagged within a couple of laps when a heavy rain shower affected the track surface. At the restart Hicky came through from 26th place to 19th on the opening lap and he made steady progress through to complete the 18 laps in 15th position to pick up one championship point.

“That’s not a bad result considering we started from the back of the grid,” said Hicky. “I got away to a good start and then got my head down and kept picking people off until I passed Steve Brogan for 15th place. I had a bit of a gap to Andrew Pitt on the factory Yamaha but although I managed to catch him up with a couple of laps to go, I just couldn’t quite get past him.”

The second encounter saw Hicky make a start from row five and he was running well in 18th place when another rider cut him up, causing him to run wide across the grass. He rejoined the race in last position – 28th – and had to ride like the wind to make up ground on the back markers. One lap later he was up to 24th and then picked off the opposition until he reached 15th place. But he made a mistake on lap 16 and high sided out of the race at the Bomb Hole his race over.

Hicky started the final race from a fourth row grid position and circulated in 14th place during the first half of the 22-lap race before moving up into 10th on lap 14. The safety car was deployed for two laps and the race then extended to 24 laps to compensate. Once the car left the track the race was back on but Hicky was demoted down the order to 11th where he remained to the chequered flag.

The race went well for me overall,” said Hicky. “I went out on the sighting lap and discovered the Ultimate Racing Yamaha R1 had a misfire which was due to the crash in the previous race and throughout the race I could only use 12 ½ thousand revs so the bike was not as fast as it should have been. But even so I had a good race, I kept my head down although unfortunately I was losing the pack at the front but had a good gap behind so was ok. But then the safety car came out and that allowed the group behind to catch up and eventually I got passed by Kagayama down the back straight and that was that. But I managed to fend off Dan Linfoot on the factory Yamaha and finish the race ahead of him which is good. We were also very, very close to the top 10 which is what we are aiming for.”

The next round is at Brands Hatch on August 8 when Hicky will once again contest three races and aim his sights at the elusive top 10 finish he has been hoping for.