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Following a successful first season of close and exciting racing with the inaugural XR1200® Trophy championship, Harley-Davidson UK and Ireland has signed a new agreement with British Superbike Championship organisers, MSVR, to continue the one-make race series in 2011.
Priority entry opportunities have already been opened up to existing teams from this year’s series, with the majority of the 22-strong grid having already showed an interest in racing again in 2011. New riders and teams will also have the chance to find out more and get involved by signing up at the Harley-Davidson stand at Carole Nash Motorcycle Live at the NEC in Birmingham.
The championship will continue to use a standard XR1200 motorcycle with a race specification upgrade kit supplied by Harris Performance. However, some further optional upgrades are expected to be permitted next year and Dunlop wet tyres will be allowed in addition to the Sportmax D211 GP tyres that are currently used.
Further details of the 2011 series including the calendar will be revealed at an XR1200 Trophy season kick-off event on Friday 3 December*, which will be attended by most of this year’s competitors, including series victor, Jeremy McWilliams, and runner-up, Mike ‘Spike’ Edwards.
Title holder and former MotoGP star, McWilliams, will also be holding autograph signing sessions and meeting fans at the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Live stand in Hall 2 on Saturday 4 December at 11-11.30am and 14.15-14.45pm.
“We’re delighted to be able to announce our continuation of the XR1200 Trophy in 2011,” says Harley-Davidson UK & Ireland Marketing Manager, Jessica Tideswell. “Our first year was great fun, the dealers and teams provided fantastic feedback, we got great TV exposure with British Eurosport and met motorcyclists at events who had never previously considered Harley-Davidson as a brand.”
“Most importantly though, our main objective was to prove that Harley can provide a great opportunity to just enjoy riding. Every rider who took part in the series – including experienced racers like Guy Martin and Niall Mackenzie – came back from riding the XR1200 race bike with huge smiles on their faces.”
Harris Performance Ian Mcleod echoes the sentiments, saying “It’s brilliant news that the XR1200 Trophy is running in 2011 and we’re really pleased to be involved. It’s been a great project to work on and very gratifying to see the results. We’ve worked with Harley-Davidson to provide a level playing field for cost-effective racing and the results on track showed that we created a successful partnership.”
BSB Race Director Stuart Higgs adds “The XR1200 Trophy definitely added a point of difference to BSB proceedings in 2010 and we hope that the new agreement means that we can continue attracting new audiences in 2011. The sound of more than 20 Harley-Davidson bikes thundering around a race track is unmistakable and has provided a fantastic spectacle for viewers. Having witnessed ambitious teenagers trying to take on legends like McWilliams this year, we’re interested to see what excitement the 2011 entries has in store!”
Dunlop Motorsport Manager Pat Walsh agrees that the series has plenty more action in store. “2010 was a fantastic start to the series, but it was also a big learning curve for many of the riders and teams. That showed in the increasing competitiveness at the later events in the calendar. Another winter of testing is likely to add to the excitement and we’re really please to be continuing the relationship with Harley-Davidson into 2011.”
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