2021 will see ex-Moto3 world champion Danny Kent and ex-European Superstock 600 champion Gino Rea ride the Buildbase Suzuki GSXR-1000R BSB superbikes. Tim Neave, a UK Pro Flat Track champion and part of 44Teeth’s championship winning Freetech Endurance team, will compete on their Superstock 1000 machine.
Danny Kent might have had a particularly chequered past, but there’s no denying the fact that he can ride a bike. If winning a world championship in 2015 was one of the highlight of his career, then surely the ‘lowlight’ was when he lost his ride in 2019 after a bit of nastiness involving a knife and a 12 months suspended prison sentence. But that’s all in the past. As expected, Kent has said how happy he is to be joining the Buildbase Suzuki team. Last year Danny raced in the Superstock 1000 championship, so he knows how to ride a big bike, but has said he thinks his experience riding GP bikes will play a big part in his success in 2021. He’s used to a stiffer chassis, racing swingarms, slicks, things like that. He’s also said he’s hoping to be in the showdown (the top-six in the championship), so let’s see what happens.
Alongside Kent in the Superbike pit will be the European Stock 600 champ and Moto2 podium finisher Gino Rea. Rea joined the team half way through last season and it didn’t take him long to start impressing Steve and Stuart Hicken, team manager and owner. He showed he was capable of leading BSB races and fighting for podium positions, so I’m pretty sure we’ll see him near the sharp end in 2021.
Tim Neave will remain with the team for 2021 after a good year in the Superstock 1000 championship. He will be looking to score some more wins with the Mallory Park based team this year and will, without a doubt, already have one eye on the championship win. But there aren’t many championships more hard fought than Superstock 1000, so he’ll have his work cut out.
Looking forward to see how these lads get on. Grand Prix World Champions are a rare thing to behold!
Gino has had such a fascinating career, but it’d be good to see him take that step towards the top six.
BSB is an insane series. We have previous race winners scrapping for a point some weekends. There are a dozen riders with a realistic podium chance every weekend, and it’s hard to think of any other racing class that applies to.
in fairness i watch motogp n wsbk and bsb…bsb is the most compelling..eurosport do a awesome job with their coverage 10/10