MCE Ducati All Set For Silverstone
The 2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship season kicks off this Easter weekend at Silverstone with eight times champions MCE Ducati raring to go in a bid to win back their crown.
Paul Bird’s Lake District-based team won back-to-back titles in 2019 with Scott Redding and then again in 2020 with Josh Brookes but lost out last year so with Brookes back for a fourth term with the team, the Australian is back to try for his third crown.
Joining him is 2013 World Superbike Champion Tom Sykes who returns to the UK following a 13-year stint in WSBK. The chirpy Yorkshireman re-joins the team for whom he has ridden twice before, this time aboard a factory-supported MCE Ducati Panigale V4R.
Both Brookes and Sykes have undertaken a rigorous pre-season testing programme which saw both of them under the existing lap record at Snetterton recently and arriving at Silverstone for the first of the 11-round series, both riders are feeling confident of a good result.
Josh Brookes: “I’m eager to get the season started and looking forward to the first round. We’ve made significant progress in the tests, but Silverstone is the type of track which may not highlight that work. However, after the difficulties I had last year, this was one of my better tracks so I’m highly optimistic. Of course, everyone wants to win but the plan is to come away with some good points and keep out of trouble so let’s see what happens.”
Tom Sykes: “It feels like it’s been a long time coming but we’re all sorted and ready for round one. We have spun some good laps in the tests, and we have a setup which I’m very happy with. We just need to make a few tweaks as the weather at the Silverstone test wasn’t great, so we have a few things up our sleeve to try still. The weather is looking good for the weekend, so the plan is to get some solid points on the board.”
John Mowatt, Team Co-Ordinator: “Both Josh and Tom have worked hard during testing and as a result, we are in a good position ahead of the opening round. Silverstone is a tough track for the MCE Ducati, but we are confident that we have what it takes to mount a serious title bid from the off. Hopefully, the weather is looking good, and we can get three solid races in for each rider to get our season started in style.”
The opening round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship commences on Good Friday with a race Saturday and two on Easter Sunday.
Pictures courtesy of Double Red: Josh Brookes (25) and Tom Sykes (66).
