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June's issue features a fantastic 8 page article on the Team NVIDIA Yamaha R1 Superstock bikes. The article penned by racing scribe Rob Hoyles details the changes made from standard to Superstock racer on both our normal 2006 R1 and the SP version.

Everything is told - open book you could say - we tell you what we have done and where we sourced the parts - there are no secrets in Superstock just very hard work and attention to detail.

Rob looks at the different ways the riders have there bikes set and the benefits and disadvantages of youth over experience (Bloody strange).

The magazine as always is just packed from cover to cover on Road Racing from Club to MotoGP everything you need to know. The cover price is worth the short cut on information on how to build a front running Superstocker go and get it

Mondello Park set just out side Dublin is always a meeting with a difference - It's currently the only British Championship round held on foreign soil. The trip over the Irish Sea usually adds a couple of days to the normal routine of a BSB race meeting. The Mondello paddock facilities can not cope with the full BSB series paddock so only races for - Superbike, Supersport, Superstock and GP 125 are held and still the facilities are lacking.

The Irish and good number of tripping spectators although are staved of this level of racing are extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable - so it usually sees a great attendance.

The Weather

Having travelled to the circuit on Wednesday we awoke early to beautiful Sunshine which only lasted long enough to erect the awning then it started to slide. The Rain throughout Saturday evening and into Sunday prompted the following statement from Race Director Stuart Higgs:-

"Due to the constant heavy rain we have been unable to prepare the circuit in a manner suitable for competition. We had warm up sessions for the Superbike, Supersport and Superstock classes and further reviewed the circuit for racing. At 2.00pm in consultation with the Mondello Park circuit and Dorna, a joint decision was made to cancel the event."

The Superstock double header scheduled for Mondello has been rescheduled for the 2 races to be run at the Donington Park MotoGP event. This will prove to be a fantastic opportunity for all the Teams, Riders and Sponsors to show their talents and wears to what should prove to again be the largest sporting event in the UK this year.

Andy, Dean Gossip of Skinflint racing and my self had a rushed couple of days in Italy at the end of last week visiting the WSB races at Monza.

The main focus of our visit was to collect some technical advances for the Team and catch up with old friends. We were the guests of Yamaha France and thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality. We left with much more info than we bargained for and met up with a host of old friends.

Then it was a blast back through Saturday night to be with my 7 year old daughter on Sunday for here 4th ever gymnastics competition. The Yorkshire Gymnastics Association competition is held on 4 pieces of apparatus - Floor, Vault, Beam and Asymmetric Bars with competitors from all around the region. Starting 8.15am I arrived a few minutes late but in time to see all of Megan's performances. Megan who enjoys her training at the Sheffield Workshop Gym 14 hours a week proved that hard work pays off taking 3rd place and collecting what we hope will be the first of many medals. It also brought a very proud tear to my eye.

We also collected from Amsterdam a 3rd Yamaha R1 SP which Andy is currently building into a spare.

Welcome David Murray and Family

We are extremely pleased to announce that Murray Transport of Carnoustie, Tayside have joined the Team. The family run company transports Strathmore water to out lets across the country as well as many other Scottish products. David Murray head of the company and very keen biker has been a fan of Steve Allan for quite a while. The opportunity arose for Murray Transport to take advantage of the advertising available by becoming part of the Team helping Steve. As part of his other biking fun and activities David and a Clan of friends will later this year venture into the depths of Africa and travel across parts of the continent 2 deliver motorcycles for the riders for health charity. These motorcycles will then be used to deliver healthcare to those who desperately need it in rural Africa.

The whole Team were pleased to welcome Manchester United and England football player and Team supporter - Allan Smith his family and friend to the British race scene. Allan and his Dad have a great passion for motorcycles and have even visited the Yamaha factory in Japan.

We left Thruxton with the pleasant surprise of Steve Brogan on the podium moving in to second place and now laying 3rd over all in the series and Jon Boy and Steve A both in the points. Thruxton had shown some need for improvement in chassis set-up and Air filter performance, so we headed off to Oulton with Brogie for the BSB test. After 3 sessions we found that the set-up gain at the last test with Steve A and Jon Boy was where we needed to be for Brogie too. Mike at Pipercross Air filters responded to our request and made a special filter ready for Oulton - fantastic work!

We also collected from Amsterdam a 3rd Yamaha R1 SP which Andy is currently building into a spare.

GP 125 - Lisa's gets to know Hizzy's too closely

Oulton is a fantastic rider's circuit but it is hard work on the little 125 with its many line wide open spaces. Lisa worked hard throughout practice and qualifying to secure a place on the grid but not quite matching her previous personal best times.

Sunday morning warm up saw the rain return to our race program and a smile to Lisa's face. She was running 6th fastest in the session when a mistake going into Hizzy's saw her bite the dust giving me plenty to do before the race. As the race approached the rain started to move away leaving the tyre choice extremely difficult. Half the grid started on wets the other on the correct choice slicks - we went the wrong way. Lisa started well moving through the field, but diving up the inside of another rider on the brakes into Hizzy's put her off line for the exit and down she went again - entertaining the spectators and SKY TV viewers who I am sure would have given top marks for style and elegance ?

Superstock Steve Allan puts together the Man of the race performance

Oulton is a fast flowing track which takes away the advantages of the Yamaha Chassis and brings in the power of the Suzuki's, however we were a little surprised to be down in 13th , 14th and 20th places in qualifying and Brogan taking a massive crash almost destroying his race bike. The grid split is very tight in Superstock and a little cough can move you 10 places. The first lap of Superstock as we have all witnessed at every race this season is always something to see and Oulton was in no way different. All the Team made good starts which seemed to keep them out of the mêlée which brought out the pace car for a few laps. At the restart Steve Allan and Jon Boy took advantage of the rolling restart jumping into 7th and 12th places respectively- Brogie made a huge mistake at the same place he crashed in practice and hit the deck again putting him out and dropping him to 4th over all in the standings? Steve A started to battle forward and put together lap times to equal his qualifying and very quickly moved in to contention for the last place on the podium. His fantastic effort ran out time at the chequered flag taking an excellent 4th place. This performance gained him the Metzeler Man of the meeting award.

Jon Boy put together a sterling performance pushing forward from 20th on the grid into the top 10 and looked set to grab this slot when with just a couple of laps to go his bike developed an electrical glitch making it very hard to get it through the many Oulton turns - he was forced to slow and back into the grasp of his pursuers Brands race winner Craig Fitzpatrick and a small group. Jon Boy dropped 3 places, but grabbed 1 back on the run to the line - good effort!

We feel that things are continuing to come together, Andy and I are now off to WSB at Monza to collect some technical advances from our friends ready for the next race in Ireland at Mondello in a couple of weeks - We hope to see you there !

Donington was another race full of promise yet with only 3 days from arriving home and leaving for Thruxton we had work to do burning the midnight - repairing bikes.

Andy and everyone got the job done and away for Thruxton ‘brilliant work’

We have been working with Chris Hodgeson from ADR Motorsport Chesterfield on a few things on the technical side as they are the official Mitsubishi Rally Team and Shell race fuel supplier. This fuel is working well for and was used last season to win the Superstock title. We welcome Shell fuel’s joining – Shell Motorcycle Oils as technical support. Talking about Chesterfield the Towns ‘Feltham family’ owned CMC Yamaha support Jon Boy as an employee of their Chanock branch and we would encourage you to visit one of their many branches.

GP 125 – Lisa’s confidence builds

Bouncing from her great wet race result to Thruxton saw an increase in confidence for Lisa. Thruxton scene of her very high speed crash it was good to go there with the feeling of results. Lisa does need to concentrate on pushing her dry performance forward and confidence will always help that. We started the weekend with a wet session which worked out well for Lisa always in the top half of the time sheets.

We started to struggle in the dry sessions but Lisa found some good improvements and qualified with no problem. The 15 lap race was always going to be hard but getting away well helped. Lisa started a race long battle which helped move up the rankings and improve her qualifying time. Again being the only female finisher, we now have a good footing to work on and we are looking forward to Oulton Park.

Superstock Baywatch Brogan Jumps the podium into second

After Donington we sat both Jon Boy and Steve A down and told them now they have to start bringing the bikes to the finish line and no more fooling around in the sand pits.

Steve B has settled into the team well at such short notice and is working well with his crew led by Derek Huxley. His comments to Andy that, “he feels he has a real chance as it’s the first time in a few years he has had a proper team around him” bares testament to the hard work and fun.

From the start of testing thing seemed to settle down and although we weren’t

At the front the advances in bike set up were to prove excellent. At the end of qualifying. Brogan was 3 rd - Jon Boy 9 th and Steve A 11 th this was poor for Steve and it was to do him no favours in the race.

The race was to be a brilliant TV spectacle with the Team NVIDIA bikes in the thick of it again for full race distance. Brogie and Jon Boy made good starts with Jon Boy just getting the better of Brogie. Just a couple of laps in and the pace car was out due to a high speed incident – this gave everyone a moment to catch their breath - as the car pulled of the track it was heads down Brogie got past Jon Boy and joined the leaders for a race long dual – the pace was hot and frantic with a dangerous move from Howie Mainwaring on race leader Adrian Coates with was to cost them both Coates crashes and Mainwaring removed from the results.

The battle was now on for the lead between the Yamaha’s of Kennaugh and Brogan and Suzuki mounted Laverty. Baywatch led of the final turn and a small mistake cost him the win by 0.06 of a second. Jon Boy did a great job bringing it home in 8 th and Steve A in the points too a FANSASTIC day. Our first podium feels great for all the Team and our sponsors we will now work towards Oulton Park in 2 weeks and we hope to see you there.

Leaving Brands after such great promise with so much damage and Lisa failing to qualify did have us with heads hanging. We had so much to due in a very short time.

The technical sponsors pulled out all the stops to help - Mick and the boys at MB coach Works and Chase accident repair sorted the paint, Leo Vinci the exhaust, SES race products foot rest and fairing hangers and burning the midnight oil Andy and Gary with help from everyone else pulled it together for Donington.

We had quite a few new friends show up for their first taste of BSB although I am sure that they did not expect like us all to be out and about in such cold and miserable weather. Jason McAteer, Maik Taylor and Brian Little all with family and friends enjoyed the Team NVIDIA, BSB atmosphere.

GP 125 - Lisa takes her first points with a stunning 10th place.

After the disappointment of not being on the grid at Brands Hatch, we were heading for a repeat when Lisa got knocked off after 3 laps in 1 st  dry qualifying and the 2 nd session was very cold and wet. Lisa believed that with the pace being well off dry times there was no way she could get on the grid. We encouraged her to as normal do her best and see where that got us. Lisa is a good wet weather rider and it showed in her wet qualifying position of 9 th. Dave Francis called Lisa up to race control as after looking at the times and her fall he had decided she was worth a place on the grid and gave her 44 th and dead last. If it was to be a dry race it was going to be hard but a wet race it was and Lisa was ready and up for it – We advised her to make the best start she could then stay out of trouble through Redgate and Craner and start to ease forward after ‘the old hairpin’ at the end of lap 1 she saw P18 on her pit board after an absolutely stunning lap – now she settled down and lapping faster than the people in front her first points seemed possible. Moving in to the points and 14 th place on lap 3 now all she needed to do was hold it all together. On Lap 5 she move up another place and started to pick up the pace a little, On lap 7 she picked up another place but only managed to hold that for 2 laps before dropping back on lap 10 with only 2 to go- Lisa put in her fastest lap on the very last lap to grab a fantastic top 10 finish.

“I can’t believe it worked so well today, I felt really confident on the bike in these conditions although it felt like the longest race of my life. To see the chequered flag was mixed emotions then to see the welcome from the crowd, marshals and my Team was fantastic. I am now looking to do it again very soon” beamed a very cold but happy Lisa

Superstock Baywatch Brogan hold 5th in Title chase

Again the Superstock boys were in a very close battle for qualifying the grid split by the blink of an eye. Steve Allan led the way from Steve B and Jon Boy.
The race was run in the same nuts conditions as was most of the afternoons speed frenzy. Drama unfolded on the warm-up lap as Bay-watch Brogan crashed to the ground - he remounted coved in all sorts of unmentionable stuff and joined the grid. Steve A and B made great starts and moved into the top 5 on lap 2 but throwing caution to the wind at this early stage was to catch Steve A and Jon Boy out - Bay-watch although he would have preferred to have been on a LA beach dealt better with the hideous condition combined with the crash damage sustained on the warm up lap and brought the bike to the finish line 9th place keeping his 5th overall place in the series- a great job when his team mates, although showing all the promise cant quite get their bikes to the finish line. Great things are to come from all the Team and we will continue to work looking at Thruxton this Easter weekend

See you all there

We arrived at Brands Hatch for the first race with very little together as a Team but with a good feeling. On Friday Morning with Practice starting just after lunch we agreed to a deal For Steve ‘Baywatch’ Brogan to join the Team with some support from Manchester United footballer Allan Smith and The Tower group.

Everything started well for the Team with Steve Allan stopping the Leader board where he stayed in every session all weekend – Jon Boy was 5 th and Steve B was 7 th

1 st Qualifying Steve A stayed on top, Jon Boy moved up to 3 rd and Steve B, 6 th. With 2 qualifying sessions our final grid position saw our bikes one on each of the first three rows a great start to the season.

SKY - TV’s new format for the Bennett’s British Super bike series and our great qualifying ensured from the start great TV exposure for the team and all its sponsors.

Steve A ran at the very front of the race for 25 laps of the 26 lap race with Jon Boy just behind. Baywatch Brogan made a good start but in the chasing pack. Both Steve and Jon Boy made little mistake which cost them dearly in the results while Baywatch put together a strong final few laps to take 5 th place and now hold that position in the Championship. The Guy’s secured Team NVIDIA with around 25 minutes TV on Sunday evening repeated on Monday afternoon a fantastic achievement for everyone.

We are now working hard towards the next race at Donington Park – where we hope to have all 3 riders together in the results. Steve Allan has proved his worth by leading the Team all weekend; Steve Brogan taking the result after so little time on the bike will continue to perform. Little Jon Boy Lee showed fantastic natural talent and with some more help from the Team will bring the results. All 3 guys have race winning potential which we look to exploit and with Jon Boy we may follow our past with Karl Harris and take him to a few European Championship races.

We are extremely pleased with the way things are going, and look forward to the direction our season should take

See you all at Donington.

We are pleased to formally announce our plans for the 2006 race season. After much deliberation we will return to the Superstock Championship, scene of our European Championship winning days, while continuing in the GP125 and Junior classes. The 2006 British Superstock Championship will see a raise in profile with better coverage and the official factory entry of Teams and riders. We will field 2 riders in Superstock this season using the Yamaha R1 SP. We have again gone for excitement and youth with ‘Jon Boy Lee’ but added experience of Macau race winner Steve Allan.

Lisa Thorne will stay in the GP 125 and Joe’ The Toad’ Irving will continue in Junior Supermoto using the Xsport 110 and add a 2006 Conti road racer for his first full season of road racing.

We feel that this season with the 4 classes that we have a fantastic recipe for success and brand exposure for all our sponsors. Our first promotional engagement of the year was last Saturday as guest of honour at the Grand opening of a Yamaha music store the Brotherhood of Sound. The Team Trucks and Bikes were on Display with competitions running throughout the day with TV and radio covering the day

Steve Allan No 2 Superstock
Jon Boy Lee No 78 Superstock
Lisa Thorne No 46 GP 125
Joe Irving No 667 Junior Road Race
Joe Irving No 667 Junior Supermoto

We will test for the first time with Steve Allan, tomorrow at Oulton and Wednesday at Mallory Park snow permitting. Jon Boy and Lisa will join us but both have carried out very successful tests over the last couple of weeks at Mallory and Donington Park

Team NVIDIA impressed the World as a Wild Card entry to last weekends at Brands Hatch round of the World Superbike championship.The Team and rider, Dennis Hobbs, were impeccably prepared and highly motivated entering the world championship scene.

The first objective of the team was to get into Superpole - the top 16 places on the grid, which was achieved by out qualifying world famous names such as Norrick Abe, Pierfrancesco Chili, Ben Bostrom and Garry McCoy, to take a provisional 15th place on the grid.

Superpole is a simple spectacle for the TV, each rider in the top 16 is given 1 flying lap to settle the final grid. One lap make or brake you could be 1st and end up 16th if you get it all wrong or of course the other way round if you get it all right. Dennis has never had to do this before but he put in a super-human effort in his one lap qualifying attempt, which, despite making a small mistake, propelled him up the field to take 13th on the grid and 3rd Yamaha pushing behind him many factory bikes. After the Superpole session Hobbs commented; “I made a small mistake at Surtees, I just committed too early. But it wasn’t too bad for my first Superpole. I think if I hadn’t made that error I could have at the very least gone forward onto the third row.”

Dennis’ excellent riding did not go unnoticed by the worlds press with numerous national newspapers and worldwide TV networks following his every move on track gaining excellent coverage for the team’s sponsors. Hobbs was determined to go one better in the highly anticipated two 25-lap races of the day, knowing he would have a tough job on his hands with some big named riders behind him on the grid. As expected Dennis did not let the occasion overcome his nerves and rode a faultless first race, despite strong competition in a race long battle for tenth place, to take 13th position over the line and three greatly deserved world championship points.

The second race was just as competitive with Hobbs again making a superb start. However with the temperature sky rocketing the NVIDIA rider suffered an early race clash pushing him back from 10th to 21st and now the battle was on to try and get back to the points. Quickly pushing his way through to 18th and then the hard slog forward, with 5 laps left of the 25 lap race he hit the points and set off the make up the 2.7 second gap on 14th placed World Champions Sebastian Gimbert these were the best laps we have seen from Dennis since he started with Team NVIDIA making up the gap he missed out on passing Gimbert by 1/10th of a second. 15th place and take away another world championship point on his British Superbike R1. Dennis now sits one place ahead of WSBK full timer and ex-MotoGP rider Garry McCoy in the world championship standings.

Team Manager Brent Gladwin commented, “This weekend we showed the world what we could do. Dennis, as ever, gave everything the whole weekend. The whole team worked tirelessly, Derek and Mike put in super human efforts and we have to thank the guy’s on the Ohlin’s service truck for fantastic suspension. The results were well deserved. Everyone who has anything to do with the team is quite rightly very happy right now! But as ever the wheels in the racing world never stop and we are already preparing for the next round of the British championship at Silverstone on the 21st August. We hope to see you all there!”.

Team NVIDIA were privileged to be invited as the guests of honour for the ‘Wingate Special Children's Trust’ (registered charity number 327713) annual Summer charity ball at Cranage Hall, Cheshire on the 30th of July The Wingate Special Children’s Trust amongst other activities provides holidays for children and young people with all levels of disabilities. Each year nearly 900 children, many of whom are profoundly disabled and their carers enjoy the splendid facilities at the Wingate centre near Nantwich in Cheshire.

The team gladly donated two VIP tickets to any round of the remaining 2005 British Superbike races as a lot in the evening fund razing auction. Such was the success of the lot, team manager Brent Gladwin instantly threw in another two passes to be auctioned off, with the total of the two prizes giving the charity an impressive £1300. The team had a wonderful night, with many of the charity’s guests requesting pictures with riders Dennis Hobbs and Lisa Thorne with the NVIDIA R1, so they could themselves remember a fantastic evening.

“All the team had a great night for a very worthwhile cause while broadening our sports appeal,” commented team manager Brent Gladwin. “It was a special night and we were really proud to be a part of it. We were so pleased to raise so much money for the charity with the first two BSB VIP passes, these amount of bids were not to be missed we just had to throw in another two tickets!”

Team NVIDIA are proud to announce their entry as the only wild card into the Brands Hatch round of World Superbikes on the weekend of August 7th. Team NVIDIA, who uses the Pirelli tyres - which are controls tyres in the World Series - in the hotly contested British Superbike championship, have been working towards this race for a long period of time and as such are extremely excited to have the opportunity to race against the worlds best teams and riders at one of its home tracks. Dennis Hobbs aboard the NVIDIA R1 will join Ducati's James Toseland and Kawasaki's Chris Walker in the chase to be the top British rider in front of the expected record home crowd at the newly revamped Kent based Brands Hatch circuit.

The team who have had a long break in racing since their last British Superbike outing are all very fired up to hit the ground running when they get to Brands in early August. Their spare time has been used well with countless hours spent in bike preparation and further power increases found in anticipation of the tough competition of WSBK. "We've had what feels like a year off even though it would only be four weeks by the time we get to Brands," commented team rider Dennis Hobbs.

"I've been waiting for official confirmation for the last through weeks and now its come through I'm really excited. I've raced full circuit a couple of times before and I really like it. I'm really looking forward to showing the boys what we can do especially with a home crowd behind us!"

Brent Gladwin’s view is “GR Motosport has a fantastic history of developing young riders and taking them to the very top of the sport. Our Team Name and Title Sponsor ‘NVIDIA’ is the World Leader in their field.

This is an unprecedented opportunity for everyone involved to bring to the world’s attention everything we have to offer! Our intention is simple – Do our best on the day and Score World Championship points!”

NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), a worldwide leader in graphics and digital media processors, today announced that following on from its successful sponsorship of GR Motorsport in the GP125s in 2004, Team NVIDIA has broken into the premier British Superbike Championship while retaining a prescence in the exciting GP 125's using Yamaha machinery in both classes for 2005.

This follows an exciting first year in the sport for Team NVIDIA, taking British Championship race wins and the Irish Championship.  “We are very pleased to be able to support such a young and promising team in a tremendously exciting sport”, says Alain Tiquet, group director of marketing EMEA at NVIDIA.  “Motorcycle racing is an exhilarating, high-speed, highly-charged sport and it is these qualities and the team’s positive philosophy that make it the perfect partnership for NVIDIA,” he added. 

“ We would like to thank all our team sponsors for their efforts in 2004”, adds Brent Gladwin, team director of GR Motorsport.  “This commitment and ongoing support has been a huge boost to the team, and has ensured our move to the elite class for 2005.”

‘ Team NVIDIA’ will continue the GR Motosport Ltd ethos of developing young talent with the retention of Lisa Thorne for the 125, and the signing of 22 year old Dennis Hobbs for the Superbike.

22 year old Dennis Hobbs, who has scored 23 podium finishes in the BSB Privateer Cup over the last two seasons, has been signed by Team NVIDIA for the British Superbike Championship.  Dennis returns to the track after making a fantastic recovery from serious injury.

“ The chance of joining a professional team with a successful history has always been my goal”, says Dennis.  “Team NVIDIA has seen past my injury and has plans for my development; I intend to repay their faith in me with results.”

Lisa Thorne, who made a name for herself last year as one of the sports few female riders, also continues in the team in the British Championship GP125s.  The following race dates have been confirmed so far:

Round 1: March 26/27/28 Brands Hatch Indy
Round 2: April 8/9/10 Thruxton
Round 3: April 22/23/24 Mallory Park
Round 4: April 30/May 1/2 Oulton Park
Round 5: May 13/14/15 Mondello Park
Round 6: June 3/4/5 Croft
Round 7: June 24/25/26 Knockhill
Round 8: July 8/9/10 Snetterton
Round 9: August 19/20/21 Silverstone
Round 10: August 27/28/29 Cadwell Park
Round 11: September 9/10/11 Oulton Park
Round 12: September 23/24/25 Donington Park GP
Round 13: October 7/8/9 Brands Hatch GP

About NVIDIA
NVIDIA Corporation is a worldwide leader in graphics and digital media processors. The Company's products enhance the end-user experience on consumer and professional computing devices. NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs), media and communications processors (MCPs), and wireless media processors (WMPs) have broad market reach and are incorporated into a variety of platforms, including consumer and enterprise PCs, notebooks, workstations, PDAs, mobile phones, and video game consoles. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and employs more than 2,000 people worldwide.