BSB rumour mill... Brookes to remain at PBM; plus new era in British Supersport

Paul Bird Motorsport Ducati and Buildbase Suzuki are the only two high-profile teams yet to announce their rider line-ups for the 2022 British Superbike Championship.

Josh Brookes looks set to remain with PBM VisionTrack Ducati for a fourth season, despite a disastrous title defence last year in which he scraped into the Showdown and finished sixth in the championship, without a race win and just four podiums.

In an interview with MCNews.com.au the Australian said, "We had an agreement made before the end of season last year, but I think the reason for having no press releases and the like, is that I believe at the moment the team is in the process of trying to bring new people into the racing sponsorship world, so if and when that’s achieved is when announcements will be made. They will try and put as much focus on a new sponsors as possible but for the moment it’s just an agreement that we know we’ve got."

Josh Brookes ditched the no.1 plate mid-way through 2021 and reverted back to #25

Team-mate Christian Iddon's whereabout this year is yet to be confirmed. Despite heavily outperforming Brookes with two race wins and a fourth place finish in the championship, he will either make way for Tom Sykes, or PBM could even keep Iddon and run Sykes on a third V4 Panigale. 

Another option for Iddon could be Buildbase Suzuki. Gino Rea decided to leave BSB for a factory-backed TSR Honda ride in the FIM Endurance World Championship, and Iddon has since been heavily linked with that vacated seat. Danny Kent missed the second half of last season after breaking a hip at Donington Park and it is unknown whether he will keep his seat or if the Hawk Racing team will have a new line-up altogether.

Going back to Tom Sykes, he also held talks with Lucio Pedercini to remain in World Superbikes and also has the option of MotoAmerica, but a return to BSB with PBM seems the most likely outcome.

Leon Haslam back to BSB with Kawasaki?

After losing his HRC ride in World Superbike, Leon Haslam has been heavily linked with a return to BSB with Kawasaki. That seems the most likely event, since there are no competitive seats left in World SBK, and Haslam already has experience on both the ZX-10R and on the British circuits.

FS-3 Racing is the official Kawasaki team in BSB and have retained Lee Jackson and Rory Skinner for 2022, so it is unknown if they will run a third bike for Haslam or if he will join a separate Kawasaki-run team.

Supersport class taking shape

The British Supersport Championship looks set for an exciting year with Jack Kennedy staying to defend his title, plus new manufacturers entering the arena.

After winning his third title in 2021 with Bournemouth Kawasaki, Kennedy has returned to the Northern Irish-based Mar-Train Yamaha team, with whom he finished runner-up to Glen Richards in 2012 after his machine broke down during the final race. You sense there is unfinished business for both rider and team.

Jack Kennedy reunited with Mar-Train Yamaha

Jamie Perrin replaced Kennedy at Bournemouth Kawasaki, presumably on the same 636cc bike. Ben Currie has moved to World Supersport but former rider Ben Wilson is now running the Gearlink Kawasaki team, with a youthful line-up of Eunan McGlinchey and Zak Corderoy.

The Appleyard Macadam Yamaha team, who have recently won titles with Kennedy and Rory Skinner, have retained Bradley Perie and have signed Harry Truelove to ride their R6s.

Astro-JJR become the official Triumph team, after making the switch from National Superstock. This is following the departure of Simon Buckmaster's Dynavolt team to World SSP. New Zealander Shane Richardson remains with the team while Irishman Rhys Irwin, who was a rookie last year, joins from Appleyard.

Damon Rees also switches from Superstock to Supersport, but remains with Ashcourt Racing on a Yamaha R6, while Lee Johnston switches his focus back to road racing.

David Jones and Dragon Racing will run a Ducati Panigale V2, while reigning Ducati TriOptions champion Josh Day is also hoping to run a V2 if he can find the budget.

With Triumph and Ducati joining the series that was in danger of being dubbed the 'R6 Cup', British Supersport looks set for an exciting new era and it will be interesting to see if any of the next crop of young talent can mount a serious challenge to Jack Kennedy.

With the North West 200 and TT set to go ahead, who are the favourites and what can we expect?

After two painful years without international road racing, never have we been more confident that both the North West 200 and the Isle of Man TT will finally be going ahead.

With 2019 being the last time those two blockbuster events were held, what can we actually expect in 2022?

Peter Hickman's outright lap record of 16:42.778 (135.452mph) set in 2018 on a BMW S1000RR will almost certainly be broken, provided the weather on the island plays ball. Hickman will pilot FHO Racing's new BMW M1000RR model as part of the Bavarian manufacturer's official road racing effort. An upgraded engine, chassis and aerodynamics from the old S model, plus Hickman's great form in BSB will surely pay dividends.

Despite two years away, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the riders are lapping in excess of 130mph on the first night of practice, and then go from there.

Dean Harrison remains with the same team on-board a Kawasaki ZX-10RR, with the rebranded DAO Racing team. The Yorkshireman has spent the last two seasons in British Superbikes which has undoubtedly helped him improve as a rider, and he will surely be Hickman's closest rival.

You can also never discount Michael Dunlop and Ian Hutchinson, although no announcement has yet been made over their teams and choice of machinery. Conor Cummins and James Hillier have both always been there or there abouts, with Cummins remaining with Padgetts Honda and Hillier on-board RICH Energy OMG Racing's Yamaha machinery after many years with Bournemouth Kawasaki.

Twenty three-time TT winner John McGuinness makes a fairytale return to Honda, and is set to make his 100th TT start with the manufacturer he's achieved the majority of his success with. He will be joined by newcomer Glenn Irwin, who is undoubtedly the favourite for the Superbike races at the North West 200, and I thing we can expect good things from Glenn at the TT. I don't think a 130mph lap and top ten finish by the end of the TT fortnight is an unrealistic goal for the Ulsterman, and there's certainly no better team-mate to learn from than McGuinness.

John McGuinness is back at Honda for his 100th TT start

A new era for Supersport and Supertwins

The Supersport and Supertwins classes also promises to be exciting, with more riders generally in with a chance of winning. Lee Johnston and Jamie Coward both fall into that category in both classes. Johnston took his maiden TT win in 2019 in the Supersport race, while Coward was denied victory in the Lightweight race that year by Paton-mounted Michael Dunlop.

Johnston will be riding a brand-new Aprilia RS660 which is an exciting prospect. Having Aprilia join the likes of Kawasaki and Paton will make Supertwins more diverse and (probably) more appealing to the spectators.

It will also be interesting to see what the new regulations are in the Supersport class in road racing, whether they will mirror the World and British Supersport regs. Triumph Street Triples (765cc), Ducati V2 Panigales (959cc) and the MV Agusta F3 800 are now all eligible in the Supersport class in World SBK and BSB, but will there be any on the North West 200 and TT grids? Assuming there are, the Supersport class, for me, is exciting because it's more open and anyone can win. Adding those manufacturers to the class will only make it even more exciting.

Reduced TT grids a good thing for safety

TT organisers have announced the grids for the 1,000cc races (Superbike, Superstock and Senior) will be reduced to fifty riders. For the Supersport and Supertwins classes the figure is slighty higher at sixty.

While this has been deemed a controversial move by many, I personally see this as a good thing in the context of safety.

We have to remember the TT is the most prestigious road race in the world, with the best riders. In recent years, you had riders like Peter Hickman lapping at 135mph coming across backmarkers who are 15mph a lap slower. It is a gulf in class and, for me, backmarkers at the TT spells danger.

I agree it does cause problems. TT riders are not allowed to compete at the Manx Grand Prix in the modern classes, so this does leave quite a few riders in no man's land. Inevitably, there will be several riders at the TT who won't qualify for the races they have entered. Perhaps any rider who has never lapped the TT course at a certain speed should be allowed to compete at the Manx Grand Prix, where they can prove themselves in that environment. 

There's no easy fix and it's impossible to make rule changes without pissing people off, but I do believe in a 'quality over quantity' approach when it comes to the TT. It's dangerous enough as it is and it always will be, but I'm all for increased safety measures even if that means reducing grid sizes.

But after a painful three years, I'm very excited for TT 2022 to finally go ahead!

The 2022 BSB grid so far... And what's next for Tom Sykes?

The grid for the 2022 British Superbike Championship is slowly starting to take shape.

Unsurprisingly, McAMS Yamaha have retained their line-up of reigning champion Tarran Mackenzie and team-mate Jason O'Halloran, who scored twenty-one race wins combined for Steve Rodgers' team.

2021 runner-up Tommy Bridewell also remains with Oxford Products Ducati for a fourth successive campaign with Steve 'Wilf' Moore's successful privateer team.

FS-3 Kawasaki (Lee Jackson and Rory Skinner), SYNETIQ BMW (Danny Buchan and Andrew Irwin) and Honda Racing (Glenn Irwin, Ryo Mizuno and Takumi Takahashi) also remain unchanged, although Honda have promoted reigning Superstock champion Tom Neave to form a four-rider team.

FHO Racing BMW have acquired the services of youngster Ryan Vickers to partner the much more experienced Peter Hickman, in the team's second year of existence after taking over from Smith's Racing.

Meanwhile, RICH Energy OMG Racing remain unchanged rider-wise with Kyle Ryde and Brad Ray, but have switched from BMW to Yamaha machinery. Ray recently broke the lap record at a private test at Cartagena on-board an R1.

However, Paul Bird's PBM Ducati team are yet to announce their rider line-up for 2022. Christian Iddon, who finished fourth in the standings and achieved two victories in 2021, is still unconfirmed as to whether he's staying or going elsewhere. Likewise Josh Brookes, who endured a disastrous title defence. 

Buildbase Suzuki, Lee Hardy Racing and a few other teams are also yet to announce their plans, but more rider line-ups are expected to be announced prior to the opening official BSB test at Snetterton at the end of March.

What next for Tom Sykes?

The 2013 World SBK champion Tom Sykes was dropped by the factory BMW team to make way for Scott Redding in 2022. Since then, it's been heavily rumoured the Yorkshireman will either return to BSB with PBM Ducati or make the switch to MotoAmerica.

However, Sykes could also be set to remain in World Superbikes after all, after it emerged earlier this week he's held talks with Lucio Pedercini to join the Italian's privateer Kawasaki outfit. Sykes of course won his world title on a ZX-10RR and would surely push the Outdo TPR Kawasaki further up the grid, but it's unrealistic to expect him to challenge for podiums and wins with a low-budget privateer team.

It's definitely a good situation for the 36-year-old who has plenty of options, but surely a move to BSB or MotoAmerica would give him a better chance of challenging for wins and championships.

A return for the Pocket Rocket?

One British rider who's definitely out of World SBK is Leon Haslam. Since clinching the BSB title in 2018, his return to World SBK saw him spend a year as Jonathan Rea's team-mate at the factory Kawasaki team, followed by two years with HRC on a brand-new CBR1000RR-R, both with limited success.

Haslam, however, is still fast and hungry to win and a return to the British paddock seems the most likely scenario, as well as a ride in the Endurance World Championship.

It's rumoured Haslam could be back in BSB on a Kawasaki, but whether that's with Nigel Snook's FS-3 Racing team (Kawasaki's official BSB team) or a completely separate outfit remains unknown.

2022 BSB Rider Line-Up so far...

McAMS Yamaha
- Tarran Mackenzie
- Jason O'Halloran

Honda Racing
- Glenn Irwin
- Ryo Mizuno
- Takumi Takahashi
- Tom Neave

FHO Racing BMW
- Ryan Vickers
- Peter Hickman

TAG Racing Honda
- Luke Mossey

FS-3 Racing Kawasaki
- Lee Jackson
- Rory Skinner

Black Onyx Security Honda
- Luke Hopkins

SYNETIQ BMW Motorrad
- Andrew Irwin
- Danny Buchan

Rapid CDH Racing Kawasaki
- Liam Delves
- Josh Owens

Powerslide/Catfoss Racing Suzuki
- Bjorn Estment

RICH Energy OMG Racing Yamaha
- Bradley Ray
- Kyle Ryde

Oxford Products Racing Ducati
- Tommy Bridewell