Thought I’d put up a quick post about our racing plans for 2023 in case anyone wants to keep an eye out for us if you happen to be at any BSB rounds or watching on Eurosport. After two enjoyable years in the Ducati TriOptions Cup that series came to an end and so for 2023 we’re jumping on a BMW for the inaugural year of the F900R Cup at BSB. We’ve got 9 rounds this year, with the first one already done at Silverstone and next we’re up to Oulton this weekend. First impressions of the BMW F900R are really good. Its taken a bit of getting used to admittedly but by the end of the Silverstone meeting we’d found a good setup, and what had started life as a fairly plain looking commuter was beginning to feel like a decent little race bike. Which I also have to say is in no small part thanks to Michael Rutter who we were chatting to for a good 15 minutes in parc fermé after race one. I’ve never met Michael before but he happily gave up his time to listen to a couple of issues I was having with the bike and totally pointed me in the right direction. What a genuinely nice bloke. I’m especially pleased to continue our long standing relationship with WSC Performance (wscperformance.co.uk) who are making the move from sponsor to team owner for 2023 so this will be my first year riding someone else’s bike. It wasn’t a great start when I crashed it on lap 2 of the first session that Simon from WSC had come to watch his new bike out on track at the Donington BSB test. When racing got underway at Silverstone round one we were in the group covering 19th to 28th for the ‘main event’ race on Sunday. A couple of mistakes in the last lap meant we finished at the back of the group admittedly, but we were up around 21st to 24th for a decent chunk of the 20 laps. Next up is Oulton Park, where I think the F900R will be a lot of fun, and then it’s a bit of a break before round 3 which is a support race at the Donignton round of World Superbike at the end of June. No one quite knew what to expect with the F900R Cup with it being brand new for this year so I’m really glad that so far its delivering the close racing throughout the pack and good fun atmosphere that we all hoped for. I go racing to enjoy it at the end of the day (and to try to go fast obviously) and so far its looking like there’ll be some good close racing on the BMW’s. Simon at WSC Performance has been a big supporter of the sport for a number of years, sponsoring a multitude of riders from club to national level and it’s massive to have a little bit of help when you’re trying to go racing. Please if you have a spare minute, or next time you need brake pads, oil, chains & sprockets, Eazi-Grip tank grip etc etc do check out www.wscperformance.co.uk WSC have also got a competition going on Facebook at the moment to win £160 worth of Muc-Off cleaning gear with the winner being chosen on Monday. All you’ve got to do is follow their page and share the post so its easy money (well free stuff, not money exactly). https://www.facebook.com/WSCPerformance I think there’ll be some competitions to win BSB passes via the WSC Facebook page later in the summer too so worth keeping an eye on. Also if you’re feeling really generous you can find me on Facebook and Instagram. Every little helps so shameless plug for follows / likes etc here it is. www.facebook.com/SimonBastableRacing19 www.instagram.com/simonbastableracing19 Finally, last but certainly not least, if you’re in the market for an MOT, renting a house, (limited radius applies to these two I guess..) or anything bike kit related, have a look at; Wincanton Motorsport Ltd Hamlet Lettings Helmet City Cheers Simon
what's the initial impressions compared to the V2? Obv it's a totally different bike but have they managed to be made stiff and handle well or are you missing the V2? I know moaned about the cost of the V2, and for example silly radiators that cost £2500 but overall it still seemed like a good value class, and a 'proper' race bike.
There is definitely a bit of that feeling of missing a ‘proper race bike’ to some extent, and the V2 was a particularly nice machine to switch from. It’s growing on me the more I ride it though and I think that’ll continue. That said it’s simple and so far it seems to just work with minimal niggles, unlike the Ducati. And after a bit of playing with setup it’s actually a very rideable bike. It turns and changes direction really well. And whatever it’s short comings, everyone is in the same boat so it’s all good. If I was a budding 17 year old I’d go Stock 600, not one of these, but for what I want to get out of it, it’s spot on.
Kept an eye out on telly for your number 19 today looked like you did ok? Have to say they look like a lot of fun to ride and I’d rather be sat on one of them than a superbike round somewhere like oulton lol. Great stuff
Shame you have to race against professional rejects like Richard Cooper. Totally not a series for a rider of his standard IMO. Andy
