McAMS Yamaha are primed and ready to battle once again in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship as the Fleetwood-based squad pulled the covers off their R1s at McAMS’ state-of-the-art, purpose-built headquarters, ahead of the R&G Official test at Donington Park this weekend.
The Fleetwood-based outfit won ten races last season and the already-proven R1 sees further upgrades from the Yamaha Racing R&D department in Italy in line with their WorldSBK counterparts for 2023.
Heading the team’s charge, Jason O’Halloran remains with McAMS Yamaha for his fifth season with the Raceways Motorcycles run outfit. Achieving 21 race wins and 47 podium finishes since the partnership began in 2019; the Aussie is more determined than ever to return to the front following a troublesome end to his 2022 campaign.
Tim Neave meanwhile makes the step up to Bennetts BSB from the Superstock class last season, which saw him secure three victories. The former flat-track ace enjoyed a positive test in Spain at the end of last season and is eager to return to the track this weekend.
The McAMS Yamaha team will officially begin their 2023 season this weekend with a two-day test at Donington Park before immediately moving on to Silverstone ahead of round one at Easter.
O’Halloran said: “It’s great to be at McAMS to launch the 2023 R1 which, like last year, looks really sharp and I can’t wait to see it on track along with my lilac colours.
“We’ll kick off our season this weekend at Donington Park which will be the first time we’ll have the team back together and the first time we’ll try the bike and really start to build up to round one at Silverstone.
“I’m feeling really good, I’m in a great place and confident ahead of the season ahead. I’m looking forward to getting started.
Neave added: “It’s a great opportunity to join the McAMS Yamaha team, a team with lots of pedigree and as a racer there’s not many opportunities like it, so I need to make sure it’s not wasted on me.
“It’s quiet a surreal feeling seeing my number on the Superbike. The bike looks mega, I’m feeling good and I can’t wait to get stuck in at Donington this weekend and Silverstone next week.”
McAMS Yamaha Team, Team Owner Steve Rodgers concluded: “It’s been a long winter so we are feeling quite ready to go now! We opted to miss Spanish testing to focus on development time in the workshop and the boys have been busy developing a new engine spec for 2023 to test with the new parts from Italy.
“It’s our fifth season with Jason on the R1 and we know what he is capable of having won more races than any other rider over the last three years. Tim is new to the superbike, so our hopes for him are that he can hit the ground running and make progress as the season goes on – he performed exceptionally on the Superstock bike last year so we look forward to seeing how he gets on.”