Taz McKenzie?

[Yorick]

They kept waffling about him waiting for engine bits to give him extra 10 MPH.
They must be very significant to give that much extra.
Can't find any info. Why did team enter such a slow bike?

[Couchy]

To start with they basically had a superstock bike so pipe and remap and around 125-130hp at wheel. Once they got a full supersport motor they have 145-150 at the wheel with some proper tuning

[Skub]

The whole deal baffles me. Is that really the best ride a BSB champion can hope for,plus only riding some of the rounds?

[Yorick]

The whole deal baffles me. Is that really the best ride a BSB champion can hope for,plus only riding some of the rounds?

Yeah. His dad must have some decent contacts in the game.

[wull]

The whole deal baffles me. Is that really the best ride a BSB champion can hope for,plus only riding some of the rounds?

He was only meant to do the European or non flyaway rounds but he actually done Phillip Island and Mandalika so looks like he’ll be doing the full season.

I think it was more about when HRC were going to supply them with the parts, they were meant to have them by Assen but that hasn’t happened yet.

I think his bike shat it at the weekend.

[Bustaspoke]

The whole deal baffles me. Is that really the best ride a BSB champion can hope for,plus only riding some of the rounds?

It's all a BSB champion can hope for unless they bring lots & lots of ££££'s to the team,just like the majority of riders have to do in the BSB paddock.

[Bigyin]

He was only meant to do the European or non flyaway rounds but he actually done Phillip Island and Mandalika so looks like he’ll be doing the full season.

I think it was more about when HRC were going to supply them with the parts, they were meant to have them by Assen but that hasn’t happened yet.

I think his bike shat it at the weekend.

It was smoking in practise and went bang big style Sunday morning warm up.

To be fair to him in the Sunday race he only finished just over 2 seconds behind McPhee on the Pucceti backed ZX6 and 6 seconds ahead of Harry Trulove on the Triumph. Truloves team mate Tuuli finished 5th on the same bike.

So far this season Taz is also ahead of his team mate Norrodin who has been on the world scene for a while now with different teams and knows the circuits already.

[Bigyin]

The whole deal baffles me. Is that really the best ride a BSB champion can hope for,plus only riding some of the rounds?

Brad Ray is in a similar boat as the current champ yet can only get a part time ride as well doing the non flyaway rounds on a lower team. Tom Sykes as a former world champion on the Pucceti backed bike has only managed to finish his first race of the season after 7 attempts this weekend after a string of mechanical DNF’s at the first 2 meetings

[Yorick]

The whole deal baffles me. Is that really the best ride a BSB champion can hope for,plus only riding some of the rounds?

It's all a BSB champion can hope for unless they bring lots & lots of ££££'s to the team,just like the majority of riders have to do in the BSB paddock.

Bradley Ray and Scotty got better deals.

[Bustaspoke]

Bradley Ray and Scotty got better deals.

Yes I agree,but I don't know how much £££ they brought with them.

[Skub]

The whole deal baffles me. Is that really the best ride a BSB champion can hope for,plus only riding some of the rounds?

Brad Ray is in a similar boat as the current champ yet can only get a part time ride as well doing the non flyaway rounds on a lower team. Tom Sykes as a former world champion on the Pucceti backed bike has only managed to finish his first race of the season after 7 attempts this weekend after a string of mechanical DNF’s at the first 2 meetings

Yeah,that Sykes thing is a shit sandwich.

[Bigyin]

The whole deal baffles me. Is that really the best ride a BSB champion can hope for,plus only riding some of the rounds?

It's all a BSB champion can hope for unless they bring lots & lots of ££££'s to the team,just like the majority of riders have to do in the BSB paddock.

Bradley Ray and Scotty got better deals.

Redding got a better deal as he was just out of the WSBK paddock for a short period of time, won the BSB and was a proven race winner at WSBK level.

Sykes managed to get a decent team and a full season but turns out the particular bike/techs arent up to what he was expecting so far but again is a known quantity in the WSBK paddock and a past race winner and champion

The only better deal Bradley got was as current BSB champ he managed to get a ride in the Superbike class but same as Taz in a lower rank team and not a full season which was actually surprised at as i thought he could have got a better seat but remaining with Yamaha might have something to do with his deal.

[Couchy]

It’s no surprise as although BSB is great to watch the regs are different to WSB and it’s quite a step up to world level. Also the market in GB isn’t great for motorbikes so why bother promoting a British rider. Motorcycling and even more so the racing is a minority thing here so we’ll be lucky to ever see a world champion again. On the plus side BSB is a great series to follow and watch.

[Yorick]

It’s no surprise as although BSB is great to watch the regs are different to WSB and it’s quite a step up to world level. Also the market in GB isn’t great for motorbikes so why bother promoting a British rider. Motorcycling and even more so the racing is a minority thing here so we’ll be lucky to ever see a world champion again. On the plus side BSB is a great series to follow and watch.

Thinking about, I can't think of anyone who might make the top level.
Lots of fantastic UK riders, but all just lacking that last 1%.
McPhee looked OK, but nows been found out.
Stan Ogden looked promising, but not taken a step up in second season.
Jane Dixon is likable, but I think he's found his comfortable level.

It's tought out there and I don't know the answer.

[Skub]

Johnny Garness? He dominated the Talent cup last year,but has fallen foul of the new age limit in Moto3,so must do another year in the same series.

One to watch,perhaps.

[Bigyin]

Johnny Garness? He dominated the Talent cup last year, but has fallen foul of the new age limit in Moto3,so must do another year in the same series.

One to watch,perhaps.

Casey O'Gorman won the talent cup 2 years ago, got to Red Bull Rookies and finished 8th in the championship. He must have impressed some people as he got another season and is currently 6th with 2 4th place finishes as well as fitting in European Talent Cup races as well. He races on an Irish license though so we cant claim him fully

The new minimum age limit for Moto3 of 18 is going to leave all these kids in lower championships waiting to get old enough. Casey is still only 15 and will be 16 later in the season so even if he wins it will still be a year too young to jump to Moto3 (red bull rookie winner and junior world champion CEV moto3 are allowed in at 17 now instead of the previous 16 limit)

Garness is looking at at least a 2-3 year wait till he can play in moto3 unless he goes to SSP300 which will be a age 16 limit

[wull]

I followed Casey closely and the money his family had to bring was ridiculous, just a shame that’s how it is because he is ridiculously good.

[Couchy]

Johnny Garness? He dominated the Talent cup last year, but has fallen foul of the new age limit in Moto3,so must do another year in the same series.

One to watch,perhaps.

Casey O'Gorman won the talent cup 2 years ago, got to Red Bull Rookies and finished 8th in the championship. He must have impressed some people as he got another season and is currently 6th with 2 4th place finishes as well as fitting in European Talent Cup races as well. He races on an Irish license though so we cant claim him fully

The new minimum age limit for Moto3 of 18 is going to leave all these kids in lower championships waiting to get old enough. Casey is still only 15 and will be 16 later in the season so even if he wins it will still be a year too young to jump to Moto3 (red bull rookie winner and junior world champion CEV moto3 are allowed in at 17 now instead of the previous 16 limit)

Garness is looking at at least a 2-3 year wait till he can play in moto3 unless he goes to SSP300 which will be a age 16 limit

The age limits have changed everything, the kid we sponsored is only 10 now and has 3 ohvale championships already. He’s been took under the wing of Danny Webb and Chas Mortimer but what does he do now ? If he does 6 more years on mini bikes it’s pointless and even then he could only go ssp300 which isn’t any good for proper race bike experience. I think there’s a Spanish 250 championship he can do on 17” wheels so we’ll see.

[Bigyin]

I followed Casey closely and the money his family had to bring was ridiculous, just a shame that’s how it is because he is ridiculously good.

A mate of mine is one of his sponsors and met the family last year when Casey was at Ellough on a mini bike and pretty much lapping everyone for fun keeping bike fit. I don’t know quite how they manage to find the money as even his basic travel costs are astronomical for the 2 championships as well as bringing money to get rides in CEV on top of the Red Bull Rookies and European Talent Cup

[Bigyin]

As Johnny Garness has been mentioned a bit in this thread thought I would put it here that he has been over at Estoril testing for European Talent Cup but sadly has been in a big accident

He came off but was struck by a following rider resulting in an immediate airlift to hospital. Scans showed a fractured skull and some bleeding on the brain. He is stable and being monitored but docs are confident he doesn’t need surgery and should make a full recovery