SUB ON A SUPERBIKE

Since I first started road racing back in 2014, I’d always dreamed of lining up on the BSB superbike grid but didn’t have the foggiest of ideas when it might happen or how I’d get there. You could say I’ve taken my time, but the level of the racing in the UK right now is at an all-time high, in my opinion. In the Superstock 1000 class there are probably eight riders who can win a race, and the same goes for the Superbike class, possibly even more so, and with both classes absolutely stacked and the ‘good’ superbike team seats already occupied by race winners, getting that break into the premier class really isn’t easy. The opportunities are few and far between.

My first race meeting back following a shoulder injury at round three was at Donington Park, and it went pretty well. Unfortunately for my team-mate in the superbike class, Danny Kent, it wasn’t such a good weekend and he ended up smashing his hip pretty badly, which put him out for the remaining races of the 2021 season. I had an underlying feeling that there might be an opportunity for me to jump on his bike since my championship had been sabotaged with a string of DNFs, and superbike sponsorship often requires both seats to be filled, but I hadn’t heard a word from the team boss, Steve, in the week leading up to Cadwell, so I expected nothing.

I arrived at the circuit on the Thursday morning and headed down to the pitlane to meet the team as usual. Steve pulled me aside and casually asked if I’d be up for riding the superbike over the weekend… a very small part of me wanted to race the stocker and fight for the win