With a small break in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, the FHO Racing BMW Motorrad team has been busy at the Isle of Man TT Races, where Peter Hickman stormed to victory in both Superstock races, as well as the grand finale Senior TT aboard the BMW M 1000 RR, with teammate Josh Brookes enjoying his first TT in five years with strong results and breaking the 132mph barrier.
The last round of the BSB championship took place at Donington Park across 19-20-21 May, which after the excitement of the TT Races, seems like a long time ago for the FHO Racing squad.
Heading back to the British Championship this weekend (16-18 June), Faye Ho’s team will be looking to elevate their position in the standings where Brookes is currently sitting third overall, just five points shy of the lead.
The 2023 season has so far rewarded Brookes with two race wins and three podiums aboard the M 1000 RR, but it hasn’t been plain sailing with some issues hampering progress last time out. Heading to the fourth round, both Brookes and the team will be looking to rectify the issues and work to be back at the sharp end.
For teammate Hickman, the ’23 BSB season hasn’t delivered much luck over the last three rounds. With strong lap times and pace, Hicky’s progress has been halted at times with small issues and his best finish so far has been fourth. On a high from the TT Races the team will be looking to make progress this weekend and grab some vital championship points to move up the ranks.
The FHO Girls will also be in action across the weekend, with Denise dal Zotto, Holly Harris, Jamie Hanks-Elliott and Scarlett Robinson racing in the HEL Performance British Junior Supersport class.
Track action gets underway on Friday (16 June), with Superbike first free practice at 13.00. Qualifying and the Bikesocial Sprint Race take place on Saturday (17 June), with two further races on Sunday (18 June). Click here for the full schedule.
Peter Hickman:
“I’m looking forward to Knockhil; it’s a circuit I enjoy, and it is always really good fun. It will obviously be a bit of a shock to the system coming from the Isle of Man TT and the biggest circuit in the world, to probably one of the smallest in the world, but Knockhill has generally been pretty good to me with results over the years. Last year was a bit tough so we need to rectify that for this weekend. Off the back of the TT I’ve had some good downtime this week, I’ve been staying with John and Becky [McGuinness], as they’re close to Heysham so it made sense to go there for a few days before heading North. I’m looking forward to getting back to short circuit racing, digging in and seeing if we can get the M 1000 RR working as it should towards the front.”
Josh Brookes:
“Before the last race at Donington I was leading the championship, but we had the disappointment of some brake issues which meant unfortunately we had poor results and dropped back a bit in the standings. This weekend at Knockhill obviously the idea is to try and put things right again and start bridging the gap to the lead. My history at Knockhill is kind of up and down, I’ve had some amazing events and some great results, but I’ve also had some disappointing events also. So, we’ve got to wait and see what this year has in store for us, we’ll certainly be trying our hardest to keep the momentum from the beginning of the year rolling, and I think we can do that.”
Faye Ho – Team Principal:
“The last round of BSB seems a long time ago now, but we’re looking forward to getting back to short circuit action after the TT Races. We arrive this weekend with Josh third in the championship standings, he’s had some great results so far this year and I’m confident we can get more and bridge the gap a little to the front. After a run of bad luck for Pete, he’s shown his talent with his TT wins, and with the momentum from the roads hopefully the luck will follow and Pete’s BSB season can turn around this weekend.”
