Bournemouth team considers BSB exit after official Kawasaki split

Defending British Superbike Champions Bournemouth Kawasaki will scale down its participation next year or exit altogether after stepping down from its official Kawasaki status, which will transfer to FS-3 Racing in 2020.

The outfit won the 2018 riders’ title under the JG Speedfit banner with Leon Haslam after scoring a record-breaking 15 wins but has endured a trying 2019 campaign with a combination of Glenn Irwin, Ben Currie and Hector Barbera struggling for results on the latest generation Kawasaki ZX-10RR.

Indeed, with a best finish of only sixth place – achieved by Barbera on his BSB debut – the team fell well short of the 2019 Title Showdown, with Kawasaki’s fortunes represented solely by FS-3 Racing and its single rider Danny Buchan.

Even so, team manager Peter Extance insists the move to step down from official Kawasaki status is motivated its own commercial interests and the focus it requires.

“For the last four years we have been asked by Kawasaki UK to open another dealership in nearby Hampshire which is an open point for Kawasaki and an important area for motorcycle sales,” he explained.

“So far, we have managed to hold off opening a new shop but we feel that now the time is right and we need to make the move, or another dealer may be appointed by Kawasaki UK which wouldn’t make good business sense.

“We have had two amazing seasons in 2017 and 2018 as the official team, culminating in winning the BSB title with Leon Haslam last year which was the proudest racing moment for our Bournemouth Kawasaki squad.”

For now, Extance said a decision on whether the team will continue in BSB 2020 is yet to be made and even if it does it’ll be a much smaller team.

“If we do decide to carry on racing, the options are to continue in the BSB championship on a much smaller scale or just concentrate on the roads,” he said.

“Whatever we decide I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all my staff for their incredible hard work, along with Kawasaki UK for entrusting us with the official team, and all of our sponsors who are still standing by us waiting for us to confirm our plans for 2020.”

Bournemouth team considers BSB exit after official Kawasaki split

Defending British Superbike Champions Bournemouth Kawasaki will scale down its participation next year or exit altogether after stepping down from its official Kawasaki status, which will transfer to FS-3 Racing in 2020.

The outfit won the 2018 riders’ title under the JG Speedfit banner with Leon Haslam after scoring a record-breaking 15 wins but has endured a trying 2019 campaign with a combination of Glenn Irwin, Ben Currie and Hector Barbera struggling for results on the latest generation Kawasaki ZX-10RR.

Indeed, with a best finish of only sixth place – achieved by Barbera on his BSB debut – the team fell well short of the 2019 Title Showdown, with Kawasaki’s fortunes represented solely by FS-3 Racing and its single rider Danny Buchan.

Even so, team manager Peter Extance insists the move to step down from official Kawasaki status is motivated its own commercial interests and the focus it requires.

“For the last four years we have been asked by Kawasaki UK to open another dealership in nearby Hampshire which is an open point for Kawasaki and an important area for motorcycle sales,” he explained.

“So far, we have managed to hold off opening a new shop but we feel that now the time is right and we need to make the move, or another dealer may be appointed by Kawasaki UK which wouldn’t make good business sense.

“We have had two amazing seasons in 2017 and 2018 as the official team, culminating in winning the BSB title with Leon Haslam last year which was the proudest racing moment for our Bournemouth Kawasaki squad.”

For now, Extance said a decision on whether the team will continue in BSB 2020 is yet to be made and even if it does it’ll be a much smaller team.

“If we do decide to carry on racing, the options are to continue in the BSB championship on a much smaller scale or just concentrate on the roads,” he said.

“Whatever we decide I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all my staff for their incredible hard work, along with Kawasaki UK for entrusting us with the official team, and all of our sponsors who are still standing by us waiting for us to confirm our plans for 2020.”