Luis Carreira to ride for CD Racing at the 2011 Isle of Man TT
Tuesday 22 February 2011
TT
Portuguese racer Luis Carreira has signed to ride for Ulster-based CD Racing in the 2011 Isle of Man TT fuelled by Monster Energy.
The 34-year-old will have a full complement of machinery at his disposal.
He plans to contest the Dainese Superbike and Pokerstars Senior races on one of the all-new ZX-10R Kawasakis prepared by MSS Kawasaki, the UK’s factory Kawasaki outfit. Carreira will also be Kawasaki-mounted for the Royal London Superstock TT, but on a Yamaha YZF-R6 for the two Monster Energy Supersport races.
The four-times Portuguese Stocksport1000 Champion, who started racing in 1998, came to the attention of the TT organisers after some excellent performances at the Macau Grand Prix, where he has recorded several top 10 finishes, including fourth in 2008. Since making his Mountain course debut in 2009 he has gone from strength-to-strength.
The sixth fastest newcomer ever, with a lap of 122.062mph, Carreira took two bronze replicas and had a best finish of 18th in his debut year. He returned with his own team again in 2010, when he picked up his first silver replica for 17th place in the Superstock race, during which he also recorded his best-ever lap of the Mountain with a speed of 124.754mph.
That speed makes him the 32nd fastest rider of all time. Carreira – a wildcard rider at the Portimao round of the Superbike World Championship in 2008 - also finished in 22nd in the Superbike TT, winning another bronze replica for his efforts.
Carreira’s new team boss Chris Dowd, a former racer, is renowned for having one of the most professional teams in the paddock. A host of star names have ridden for him, including Adrian Archibald, Richard Quayle, Nigel Beattie and, more recently, William Dunlop.
Dowd said he is excited to have Carreira riding for the team.
He added:
“Everyone in the team is really excited to be bringing Luis on board. He has massive potential to make a real impression on the top 10 at this year’s TT and we will be putting everything we can into him to achieve that.”
“We are grateful for the ongoing support from our loyal sponsors, as well as the essential assistance from Nick Morgan at MSS Kawasaki.”
Carreira said:
“I am really looking forward to returning to the Isle of Man and I’d also like to thank Chris for this opportunity.”
“We have some good bikes and I think that we can do a good job. I can promise everyone that I will work hard to be able to reward everyone with good results in all races.”
“Lastly I want to thank team Benimoto for their honesty and the support that they gave me with this decision.”
TT Rider Liaison Officer and TT winner Richard ‘Milky’ Quayle said he feels the Portuguese racer is one of the riders to watch in 2011.
He added:
“Luis now has two good years under his belt at the TT. He’s a really talented rider who has applied himself well and I think that signing for an established, experienced team will see him move up to the next level on the Mountain Course.”