Hickman ready for TT return
After a three-week lay off due to injury, Peter Hickman and the Briggs Equipment BMW team returned to action at the recent Snetterton BSB test and are now eagerly looking forward to the Isle of Man TT races fuelled by Monster Energy.
27-year old Hickman made a sensational TT debut 12 months ago, scoring a best finish of 8th in the RL 360 Superstock race and becoming the fastest newcomer in the history of the event with a lap of 129.104mph in the PokerStars Senior event.
The Louth based rider will again contest the RST Superbike, RL360 Superstock and PokerStars Senior races in 2015, opting to use the same BMW S1000RR Superstock machine for all three events, and will start from number 17.
He’ll also campaign a 675cc MV Agusta for Lee Hardy Racing in the two Monster Energy Supersport events as he looks to build on his results of 2014 around the 37.73-mile course and increase his course knowledge.
Peter Hickman:
“I felt pretty good at the Snetterton test, a bit stiff obviously but it was good to get back on the bike again and get myself dialled back in again before coming to the TT. We’ve decided to just use the Superstock BMW for the three 1000cc races as it gives me one less thing to worry about. It’s only my second year and I don’t want to run before I can walk so it makes sense to make it as easy for myself as possible. Now I’m here, I can’t wait to get going and just want to start getting the laps in.”
Lee Hardy, Team Owner:
“We’re really looking forward to getting back out onto the roads and now that Peter’s got himself in a good position, fitness wise, we can’t wait for practice to get underway. He’s not quite 100% fit yet but he’s getting better all the time and although we had a few traction issues with the stocker at Snetterton, we’ve got to the bottom of them now. We’re ready for the first practice session and plan to utilise the time on the opening night for the MV Agusta to get everything dialled in. We’ve got some exciting news to be announced regarding the Supersport machine so, hopefully, the weather will be kind and Peter can get plenty of laps in.”
Monday evening will see the first full qualifying session take place for the Superbike, Superstock and Supersport machines with the action getting underway at 6.20pm although the current weather forecast is not looking good and an announcement is expected at 2pm. The following evenings will host similar sessions with the opening race, the 6-lap RST Superbike, scheduled for Saturday 6th June.
Picture by Tim Keeton – Impact Images Photography