Kirkham signs for NW200 Yamaha
Added on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Kirkham signs for NW200 Yamaha
NW200 Yamaha has signed up John Kirkham for the rest of the British Superbikes season.
Kirkham comes into the team from Jentin Racing Yamaha to replace Michael Rutter at the NW 200 team, who was cut earlier this year following a poor start to the season.
Kirkham himself was forced to sit out of the previous BSB round at Thruxton after failing to break into the top ten this season but the move to a new team has reignited his enthusiasm for the championship and the challenge that lies ahead, starting this weekend at Snetterton..
“I am really made up after this news, the past few weeks have been a real downer for me but now I just want to get to Snetterton and get going,” he told the BSB website. “I worked with Rob McElnea last season when I was in the R1 Cup and I have wanted to ride for him for years so this is like a dream come true. I am really looking forward to settling into the team and it will be good for me to work with both Chris (Walker) and Graeme (Gowland) and be able to compare myself to them and see where I can improve.
“It just hasn’t worked out with the Jentin Racing Yamaha team but now I am looking ahead to the weekend like I would at the first round of the season. The team have done a fair amount of development work so I am hoping to be able to go straight out on track and not have to adapt too much to the bike as I already have some experience of the big bang Yamaha. I have not ridden since Donington Park but I am going to use practice on Friday to get used to the NW200 Coke-Cola Zero Yamaha and go from there. I am really looking forward to Snetterton now and I just want to get going!”
