News

Item 1

PETER HICKMAN AT SNETTERTON

Louth Superstock rider Peter Hickman claimed a sixth place finish to his Metzeler National Superstock race at Snetterton on Sunday for Ultimate Racing but he was denied the chance to add to his points tally when the second race was postponed because of the adverse weather conditions.

Qualifying had gone well for Hicky who earned himself a front row start in fourth place but he failed to capitalise on his grid position when he made a bad start to the race and dropped back to seventh place on the first lap. He lost ground to eighth for a while before regaining his composure and making it back through to seventh and then sixth where he stayed until the chequered flag. But his seventh place does not reflect the progress the young rider has made as he was up with the leaders challenging in a group of four riders for fourth place throughout the 15 laps and things could have been different if he had got away to a clean start as his lap times were on a par with the race winner.

“I fluffed the start,” said Hicky. “That allowed the leading riders to get away. But my lap times prove that if I had got away with the top three I could have run with them today.” Hicky was hoping to rectify the situation with a good start to the second race but a heavy rain storm delayed the action in the Superbike class and his race was regrettably postponed and will be run at a later date. The Superstock class are not on the race programme for Mallory Park so Hicky will not see race action for five weeks when they rejoin the action at Oulton Park on July 20.

Item 2

PETER HICKMAN SCORES MORE POINTS AT OULTON PARK

Peter Hickman powered his Ultimate Racing Yamaha R1 to a strong seventh place finish in round two of the Metzeler National Superstock championship on Monday to secure his second top 10 result in as many races for the fledgling team.

His qualifying didn’t go quite as planned and consequently Hicky from Louth in Lincolnshire found himself down in 13th place to start his second race action from the head of row four. But as the race got underway he was soon on the pace and moved through to take up 11th place on the opening lap. He kept his head down and chipped away at the deficit, making up places throughout the 15 laps to eventually cross the finish line for seventh position to pick up a further nine championship points.

“Considering this is only my second time out on the bike we are really only treating each race as a test. Its all gone really well although I did struggle a bit at the beginning of the weekend. I messed up my fast lap in qualifying, I should really have been on the second row but it was my mistake, my fault and I had to pay the price,” explained Hicky. “The race went really well, I made a good start and just dug deep and kept out of trouble. I will be doing Brands Hatch this weekend but as we didn’t compete at the original meeting I havent got a qualifying time so will have to start from the back of the grid. It will make for an interesting race as there are 40 on the grid so will see how we go!” After two rounds Hicky is placed at sixth in the championship standings on 20 points but a good result at Brands Hatch at the weekend could move him further up the table.

Item 3

Ultimate Racing sponsorship deal with Peter Hickman
PETER HICKMAN – THRUXTON

A last minute deal with Ultimate Racing saw the return of Louth rider Peter Hickman to the British racing scene where he rode to an amazing fifth position in the first round of the Metzeler National Superstock championship at Thruxton on a bike that was only prepared and race ready by Friday. Hickman was left stranded when his European Superstock ride fell through and thought his season was over before it began but he was thrown a lifeline by Ian Drake who runs a corporate hospitality business – www.ultimateracing.co.uk from his base near Silverstone race circuit. Commenting on how the deal came about Ian Drake said: “I have known Peter and his father Dave ever since he ran in the Superstock Cup and have followed his progress ever since.

I haven’t done much with bikes lately, as I have been more involved with Touring Cars. But when Peter gave me a call out of the blue after all the problems over his European ride, we got together, had a chat and here we are at Thruxton. The bike has been put together over the past two weeks and Peter and Dave have done a tremendous job to get it race ready in such short a time. To get sixth on the grid and then a fifth place finish to our very first race is a credit to all the hard work put in by them both.” Peter added: “We are just working out of a van and small pop up awning at the moment but although it’s a small outfit it is neat and tidy and we are very professional. We will build the team up this year and hope to move up to bigger things next season if all goes to plan.

“The first time the bike actually ran was Friday morning for practice and I was immediately on the pace and up to 12th in the first session. Then in qualifying I ended up in sixth place for a second row start and capitalised on that in the race. “ I would like to thank Ian and Ultimate Racing for his support and also Martin and Suzanne Sleaford and Volkswagen World at Louth for their faith in me. Also a huge thank you to my dad who has worked really hard on the bike to get it ready in time for this weekend.” Hicky will be back in action on May 6 for round two of the Metzeler National Superstock race at Oulton Park in Cheshire where he hopes he can produce another top five result.