Jamie Hamilton to make Isle of Man TT debut in 2012 with KMR Kawasaki
Tuesday 22 November 2011
TT
Rising road racing star Jamie Hamilton will make his Mountain course debut at the 2012 Isle of Man TT, fuelled by Monster Energy.
The Ballymena ace will contest a full season of road racing for KMR Kawasaki, run by TT winner Ryan Farquhar, in 2012 and will contest the TT in all three 1000cc events; the Superbike, Superstock and Senior races. He will also participate in the inaugural SuperTwin TT on an ER6 Kawasaki.
Hamilton said:
“I’m really enjoying road racing and can’t wait to make my TT career.”
“I couldn’t have a better mentor than Ryan and I’m going to be working really hard during the close season to make sure that I’m in the best shape to tackle the course.”
“I’ve already been over to the Isle of Man a few times to look at the course and I’m going to spend large chunks of the winter with ‘Milky’ Quayle and Johnny Barton learning the course.”
Hamilton originally had aspirations to be a footballer, having been on the books of Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers, before switching to motocross and then road racing.
His career high point to date was winning the highly competitive 2009 Metzeler National Superstock 600cc Championship ahead of the likes of Luke Mossey, Luke Jones and current TT star Dan Kneen.
Still only 20, Hamilton continued with the Gearlink Kawasaki team in 2010, where he competed half a season in the British Supersport Championship before moving to 1000cc machines and the Irish Superbike Championship in 2011.
With his road racing debut at the North West 200 curtailed due to the weather, Hamilton then joined forces with TT-winner Ryan Farquhar’s KMR Kawasaki team, where he was a revelation in the final third of the season.
Hamilton finally made his road racing debut at the Ulster Grand Prix Bikeweek achieving two 4th places in the SuperTwin races, following this up with second at Killalane in the Junior Support race.
His outings on the roads ended with another debut, this time at Scarborough, where he again impressed greatly with 3rd and 4th in the two Phil Mellor Trophy SuperTwin races. He then wrapped up his season with 1st and 2nd in the two SuperTwin races at the Sunflower Trophy meeting, getting the better of former Grand Prix winner Jeremy McWilliams and team boss Farquhar in the opening encounter.
Farquhar said:
“I really like Jamie’s attitude to racing and right from the moment he first rode for me at the Ulster GP, he’s been a pleasure to work with. He wants to go road racing and he’s not scared of getting stuck in and getting his hands dirty.”
“He’s more than prepared to put the hard yards in and gives nothing other than 100%. I like that attribute in someone and, with a mature head on his shoulders, I’m sure he’ll put in a really solid debut at the TT. There’ll be no pressure on him so he can just go out, learn the course and enjoy himself.”