2021 Sees Five Superbike Rookies Taking Part In Their Maiden Superbike Championship.

This years Bennetts British Superbike Season will home five new rookies to its stella championship. Their main aim being to make an impression and fight for podiums and valuable points, which all lead to the all-important 2021 showdown, which starts at Round nine at Cheshire’s Oulton Park.

Supersport runner-up Brad Jones has signed with The PR Racing Team, the 23-year-old will be riding the all-new BMW M 1000 RR for his season campaign. Brad has been runner-up in two consecutive seasons in the British Supersport championship, he is no stranger to collecting silver ware and standing on the podium. Brad’s strongest circuit seems to be Oulton Park, securing two victories there in his Supersport career. Brad knows he has a lot of learning to do but believes that’s all part of the process of becoming successful and is relishing the move up to the Superbike Class.

Reigning Supersport 2020 Champion Rory Skinner has signed a two-year deal with FS-3 Racing Kawasaki for his season campaign. Rory will be aboard the all-new 2021 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR. The 19-year-old ran away with the Quattro Group Supersport Championship in 2020; winning 10 races out of 12 and was the youngest rider to have won the Supersport Championship Title so far. Rory is eager to get testing in April and see what potential the all-new Kawasaki machinery has to offer. Rory feels like he has clicked with the team and believes they are the right team to be with at this stage of his career.

Australian rider 22-year-old Lachlan Epis has signed for NP Motorcycles Lextek BMW for his 2021 championship campaign. Lachlan took part in the last round of the 2020 British Superbike season at Brands Hatch, giving the Australian a taste of what lies in store for him competing in a full season in the Superbike Class. Epis is more well known for his time in the World Supersport Championship. He started his racing career in dirt track racing following the example of many other Australian riders. His goal is to get comfortable with the bike and to start working away to fight for midfield positions.

Japanese rider Ryo Mizuno will compete in his first season on British soil with Honda Racing UK. The 22-year-old has already got a vast wealth of motorcycle racing knowledge having competed in various championships including the Moto2 and Moto3 Grand Prix Championships. He took part in the Suzuka 8 Hours and put in some impressive lap times. Ryo sees riding the CBR 1000RR-R an exciting challenge and can’t wait to get the season started and he hopes to have a lot of success in front of the British fans. Honda Uk Team Manager Havier Beltran believes once Ryo gets to grips with the British circuits, he will be very competitive on the Fireblade SP.

The newest rookie to be announced is Japanese rider 31-year-old Takumi Takahashi, who has signed as a third rider for Honda Racing UK. Takumi is very familiar to Honda machinery, he raced in the 2020 World Superbike Championship; with a best result of 14^th. He is no stranger to winning as he has won the Suzuka 8 Hours three times and he is a multi-time champion in the All-Japan Road Race Championships. He is aiming to follow in his fellow country man Ryuichi Kiyonari’s footsteps and achieve good results and is eager to get learning the British circuits.

Will the 2021 Bennetts British Superbike rookies carry their previous success with them and make an impact on the up-and-coming season and stir things up in the Superbike Class?

The first Testing of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship is scheduled to take part on Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th of April at Silverstone.

Featured Images: Kerry Rawson photography, Bikesportnews.com, Flipboard, Speedweek, Racesport (all credits to original Photographers).