Tsingtao WK Racing has confirmed the signing on Gloucester's Dan Cooper for the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy.

Dan is joining the team after a successful period with Centurion Racing who decided not to race this year. Dan has a long-standing relationship with the Hampshire Motorcycles based team having ridden for them in 2011 in the British Supersport Championship.

Dan will be competing in all classes at the TT Races including the bikesocial.co.uk Lightweight TT Race for the first time on board the WK650i, which had its debut with the team in 2013 with Dave Johnson. Dan will be onboard MSS performance built Kawasaki machinery for the other classes, which the team will also be using for their BSB campaign.

Dan's TT career has included a highest placed 10th in last year's Monster Energy Supersport Race 1, his highest place at the TT since his debut in 2010, but he also achieved a podium place in the inaugural Classic TT in 2013 in the Okells Brewery 350cc Race.

Dave Tyson, Team manager, Tsingtao WK Racing said: "We are really please to have completed Dan's signing. It's been on the cards since Motorcycle Live in November and to finally sit down and agree a deal has been great. I am sure all the bikes will be competitive this year and we are looking to form a relationship with Dan similar to the one he had at Centurion and work with him over the next few years. I think consistency of team and rider at road events has proven to be key over the years and I am sure it won't be long before Dan is on the podium at the TT."

Dan Cooper commented: "I am now able to relax a bit after getting the deal all sorted, and want to thank Dave and his team for the opportunity to ride in 2014. Their bikes will be competitive and we will also look to do as many Supersport rounds as I can to ensure that I'm ready for the roads."

He continued: "This is a real opportunity for me to move forward knowing that after a great relationship with Centurion I am in that family orientated team again with guys I know. Taking my mechanic Alan will also help the team as well as myself has he has so much experience. I can't wait to get testing and meet the rest of the BSB squad."

David Hailwood, son of the late great Mike Hailwood (mikethebike) will be running Mike's original factory Honda 500cc Four at the historic Prescott Hill Climb course as part of Prescott Bike Festival on Sunday 6th April. This is a rare opportunity to see and watch it run.

Amongst the hundreds of historic, classic and race bikes that will also be cranked up and taking to the course include:
•Carlos Checa’s MotoGP Ducati Desmosedici GP5 and Checa’s 2011 WSB winning Ducati 1198 F1 (courtesy of Dawn Treader Performance)
•David Jeffries' Suzuki GSXR1000 TT bike and James Toseland's Honda CBR600
•Frankie Chili’s 1998 Ex WSB Ducati 998RS and Leon Haslam's Ducati 996 RS superbike
•Kenny Roberts Yamaha 500 and Yamaha 250 bikes
•Carl Fogarty’s Ducati 996 TS and Terry Rymer's Original Old Spice Ducati 916 RS BSB bike
•The 1930 Rudge Ulster belonging to David Osborne
•Chris Sawyer's 1928 Cotton Blackburne
•A rare Sachs R800 Roadster from 2002 owned by Barry Fahey
•The 1959 Norton Dominator of Ian Cordes
•Rare Excelsior Manxmans from Dave Lee and Adrian Sellars
•Eric Bostrom’s 2005 AMA factory 999 (same bike as Neil Hodgson rode in 2005)

www.prescottbikefestival.co.uk

It is now confirmed that bike mad T.V. presenter Henry Cole form ITV4’s ‘‘The Motorbike Show’ and Travel Channel’s ‘World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides’ is coming to the BMF May show with long time restorer and friend Peter Thorne to compete in the legendary BMF Moped Mayhem.

Whilst there he will also experience the thrills of the ACU’s 1000cc sidecar racing (he’ll be in the chair!), have a look at the Mike Hailwood Collection in the Classic & Vintage zone and he’ll also be meeting the clubs in attendance and in particular the Trike clubs including the Rewaco Trike Club amongst many other things.

Show organiser Martin Chick said “We’re really pleased Henry can find time out from his incredibly busy schedule to drop in and see the show – there will be a lot of people wanting to say hello and also see him and Pete tackle the Moped Mayhem!”

www.thebmfshow.co.uk

Charity tea-drinking event set to hot up the May Bank Holiday weekend, 2nd - 5th May 2014

Road racing legend and television star, Guy Martin, asks us all to join him once again in enjoying a mug of Britain’s favourite hot drink while raising money for a fantastic cause. Kettles will be boiling in participating venues all over the Bank Holiday weekend of 2nd - 5th May 2014 to help support the groundbreaking work of Spinal Research.

For the past three years, thousands of people have put the kettle on in support of Guy Martin’s Big Brew, raising over £20,000 for Ride Out for Spinal Research. 2014 promises to be bigger than ever, with motorcycle dealerships, cafes, clubs and individual riders all over the country coming together to ‘have a brew’ while doing their bit to raise money and give something back.

The event involves bikers visiting their local motorcycle dealer, club or café and enjoying a cuppa while making a donation to Spinal Research. You can organise a ride out, poker run, bike night, quiz night, or simply sell tea and cakes. Spinal Research will provide you with a fundraising pack and support materials, plus your event will be listed on their map of events across the UK.

In 2013, City School of Motorcycling organised a Big Brew Fun Day, which included a climbing wall, mini motos, skilled balance riding competition, stunt rider display, raffle, barbecue, teas and cakes. Representative Patricia Barrett enthused, “I can honestly say that the Big Brew has been very beneficial to our business, not only did it increase the local community awareness of what we do, it also made the staff feel they were involved in something very worthwhile. We have had great feedback both from ex-students and the local community. Our Big Brew event generated a lot of good feeling, plus it was great fun!”

Four Chances to Win

During The Big Brew Spinal Research ask that you raise as much money as you can for their research and as a reward for your fundraising efforts, one person and a friend who raise the most money will get the chance to meet Guy at a race.

Everyone that takes part in a Big Brew event will be able to enter our free prize draw for another lucky winner and a friend to also meet Guy at a race. Our runner up will win a year’s supply of Mr Porky Pork Scratchings.

After Guy fractured several bones in his back in an accident during the 2010 Isle of Man TT, he realised just how lucky he was to make a full recovery. Guy decided to unite the two great loves in his life, motorbikes and tea, and the Big Brew was born.

Ride Out for Spinal Research Ambassador, Guy said: “The Big Brew has been running for over three years now but there’s still a way to go in the fight against paralysis. A mate of mine is paralysed from the neck down so I can see where the money is going. Get involved with The Big Brew – it isn’t asking much and you could win a competition to meet me at Scarborough and you can also get involved with the sideburns job – it’s all to raise a good few bob to help Spinal Research. Get cracking and grow a pair of sideburns. This year the person with the best sideburns as judged by me wins two tickets to the MotoGP™ British Grand Prix. Get on the website www.spinal-research.org and get involved.”

The Big Brew’s Big Sideburns Competition

You can also grow and show your support in The Big Brew’s Big Sideburns competition. Men and women can get involved by growing or creating your own ‘sidies’. Male Guy Martin fans can raise money by getting sponsored to ‘grow their own’ sideburns, while ladies can join in by designing painted and jewelled versions. The person with the best sidies, as judged by Guy, will win two tickets to the MotoGP™ British Grand Prix.

To enter, upload a photo of your mutton chops to www.guymartinbigbrew.org to be in with a chance of winning.

You can download sponsorship forms from the website above or start your own Virgin Money Giving Page.

Red Torpedo is also supporting Spinal Research. They will be giving 50p from the sale of every rider tee to Spinal Research – get buying and get supporting! 

For your FREE information pack on how to organise your own Big Brew or to find your nearest participating venue, visit www.guymartinbigbrew.org or call Isabel on 01483 898786.

It’s an exciting time for Spinal Research as they stand on the brink of clinical trials that will transform the lives of people living with paralysis, improving sensation, movement and their quality of life. But to do this they need your support.

Information

Guy Martin’s Big Brew, The Big Brew and Grow and Show are the property of Guy Martin and Spinal Research. No copying of these is permitted without the written permission of Spinal Research.

About Spinal Research

Our vision is a world where spinal cord injury doesn’t mean a lifetime of paralysis.

Every day three people in the UK and Ireland are told that they will never walk again; their lives and those of their families are changed forever. Spinal Research is here to give hope to those 50,000 people living with a spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injury can affect anyone in the community regardless of age, race or sex but it does disproportionally affect young adults aged 18 – 24.

At Spinal Research our focus is to find an effective treatment for spinal cord injury that not only improves sensation and movement for people living with paralysis, but brings us closer to a day when we finally conquer it.

www.spinal-research.org

Leading British Superbike Championship rider Peter Hickman has confirmed he will make his TT Mountain Course debut at the 2014 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy.

The 26-year old will campaign a BMW S1000RR in the Dainese Superbike, Royal London 360º Superstock and PokerStars Senior TT Races for the Ice Valley by Motorsave team, owned and run by fellow competitor Paul Shoesmith.

Hickman started racing in 2000 and after cutting his teeth in the British Minimoto and Superteen Championships, has been an ever-present in the British Championship paddock since 2004 when he won the National Superstock Cup for Hawk Kawasaki despite missing the first race because he was too young to ride a 1000cc machine.

A move to the main British Superstock Championship followed, and he finished ninth overall in 2005 with a podium at the final round before making the step up to the British Superbike Championship in 2006 when he rejoined Stuart Hicken’s Hawk Kawasaki squad.

After two seasons in the country’s premier series, Hickman was back in British Superstocks in 2008 where, riding for Ultimate Racing, he took a total of three podiums to claim an excellent third overall behind Steve Brogan and Jon Kirkham. That resulted in a move back to BSB where he sealed second in the 2009 Privateer’s Cup with a staggering 20 podiums from 26 races.

Hickman has remained in BSB ever since, enjoying his best year to date in 2011 with ninth overall, an excellent effort on the Quay Garage/Tyco Honda in a season that saw him narrowly miss out on a place in the 'Showdown'. A podium – second – was claimed at Thruxton along with no less than 16 top ten finishes whilst a number of front row positions were also taken in qualifying.

In 2012 he started out with MSS Bathams Kawasaki but, after taking a brilliant ninth in the second World Superbike race at Donington Park for Crescent Suzuki, he moved to Buildbase BMW for the second half of the season. Last year saw him part of the Lloyd's British GBMoto Honda set-up where more top ten finishes were achieved on his way to a strong eleventh overall.

Born in Burton upon Trent but now living in Louth, Hickman has visited the TT in recent years, studying the course in preparation for his debut. That homework has continued in recent weeks with more visits to the Island and his addition to the entry list adds even more depth and quality to an already excellent line-up.

Road racing is very much in the Hickman genes with father Dave having won the 1977 Lightweight Manx Grand Prix and been a British Championship regular in the late 1970s. He has since become a highly respected mechanic and engineer in the BSB paddock and was also a key member of the Norton Rotary set-up, remaining with the team in its various guises from 1988-1994.

Commenting on his TT debut, Peter Hickman said: "The TT has been on my radar for a while now when the opportunity came up with Paul Shoesmith I jumped at it. I've already met up with the rider liaison officers Milky Quayle and Johnny Barton on the Isle of Man and their advice has been invaluable and I'll be using the next few months to make sure that I get as much preparation in as possible before I make my debut."