Sy Langford the motorcycle racer from Basildon steps up a level this year to compete in the Metzeler National Superstock class, which is run as one of the support races to the prestigious British Superbike Series. He will be riding a 2009 spec Yamaha R1 1000cc machine that is sponsored by local Basildon businessman Gary Purkiss of Purkiss Brothers who are based in Wickford.
Sy a 21-year-old electrician spent the last two seasons racing in the Bemsee/Mro series where he won the 600 Rookie Championship in his first year and took second place in the 600 Supersport Cup last season.
After a couple of testing sessions in Spain his first competitive outing of the season was at Brands Hatch last weekend where he took part in the MRO Morello Powerbike event. Qualifying saw Langford familiarizing himself with the Yamaha R1around the tight and twisty Brands Hatch Indy circuit and after several visits to the pits for suspension set-up changes, he eventually ended up in 15th position on the grid.
This race saw some of the most experienced club riders in The UK taking part, and starting from the middle of the pack he got away to a good start. By the end of lap one he was in 8th position, but unfortunately this was short lived as the suspension problem seemed to reappear and he dropped down the order to finish in 12th position.
"I'm not too happy with the weekend" said Sy "as I did not contest the two races on Sunday due to the weather conditions. But the whole point of the exercise was to get some practice on the bike and to gain some useful information on the set up, and from that point of view it was a useful meeting. I have two further test sessions and one race meeting planned before the British Superbike opening round at Brands Hatch on 10th April, so with the data gained from these outings we should be ready to race. The R1 is totally different to the smaller lighter bikes I've been used to riding and although the R1 has more power it is not quite as agile around the tight circuits. If you are not careful what you gain on the straights you can loose on the corners so suspension set up is very important.
I'd like to thank Gary Purkiss for his continued sponsorship, and all the people that have helped me compete again this season for without them I would not be racing, hopefully I can repay them with some good results in this very competitive championship".
For more information on British Superbikes please visit: www.msvracing.co.uk
Words & pix Eric O'Brien